ESPN had a flattering piece on Frank Beamer today:
"The King of Sports" weighs the good and the bad of football's impact on the United States, ending with a chapter on safety and money reforms that could make the game "just as exciting and popular, but no longer notorious." The book's positive example is the Virginia Tech program -- the author spent the 2011 season with the Hokies team.
Why Virginia Tech? The head coach, Frank Beamer, is the winningest active coach in Division I. He's coached at Virginia Tech for 26 years, spurning big-bucks offers from the pros. His program's 20 consecutive years with a bowl invitation shows that a team can win game after game after game without taking shortcuts in ethics or in the classroom. The engineering school of Virginia Tech has been a leader in research into reducing sports concussion risk. And Beamer represents an Old South university with an African-American graduation rate many Northern colleges can only envy...
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9863903/excerpt-king-spor...
Comments
We really are fortunate to have Beamer.
I've always been proud to say we have a class-act coach like Beamer. Could you imagine if we had to put up with the likes of a Kiffin or Leach, or an obnoxious "ole, ball coach" like Spurrier?
I think Coach Beamer's detractors among the Hokie fan-base should give considerable thought to what the Tech football program will become after he's hung up the whistle. I've seen far too many programs take a major step back when a long-term coach is either fired, resigns, takes another head coaching job, or retires. It has been the rare exception rather than the rule that a program continues to perform at the same high level after the previous long-term coach departs.
We'll be entering some uncharted territory very soon when a new Tech president and AD take over. Who knows if, and/or how, the dynamic will change between those two and Coach Beamer. That dynamic will bear watching along with who the AD might want to hire as the next head coach from among the current coaches on the staff, or from outside the program. Will Coach Beamer have any input on who the next head coach will be?
I'd be very, very surprised if Beamer is around for more than a year after the new AD is hired. That whole process is gonna take a while. As for the next coach, I wouldn't be surprised if Beamer had a good deal of input and I wouldn't be surprised if he had zero input.
I wouldn't be surprised is Beamer IS the next AD.
It's been discussed many times, but Beamer doesn't have the ability to be an AD and I don't think he'd even want to be it either. The AD needs to have a business mind. Beamer will work for the athletic department raising support, speaking at events, and raising money, but he won't be calling the shots at the top. Just doesn't fit him at all.
I seem to recall someone talking about Beamer being a special athletic department correspondent to the football program, or football operations director, or something of that nature. Such that he'd be in charge of everything football while another person did the AD job for the rest of the sports. Maybe it was just speculation on these boards, but it seemed like a good idea.
Yes, he will be given a role as a "special assistant" within the athletic department upon termination of his contract, for a period of eight years.
Source: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-09-06/sports/35274175_1_frank-be...
Several other sites confirm the information.
I know we here on the TKP boards sing our team's praises often, but damn it feels good when someone else does it!
Don't be so fast to give complete praise to the article. It goes on to say that due to Beamer's "nice guy" attitude, Virginia Tech will settle for losing the big game at the end of the year as it is balanced by having a great season prior. Obviously the main takeaway from the article is that Tech does football the right way through hard work and great coaching but I gotta say they're right. We have sputtered in numerous big games in recent history. Don't get me wrong, I am one of Beamer's biggest fans and will be sad when he finally steps down, I just wish we could win the big games more often. Looking forward to an exciting second half of the season!
Pretty sure all of us would like to see us win more big games; especially one that gets us that National Championship
I know I'm not preaching to the congregation, otherwise I'd go comment on an ESPN board for HD. I was just pointing my finger on the silver lining of the article that as great of a coach as Beamer is, there is a correlation to that empty trophy case and he seems to lack that extra oomph. Personally, I'd keep things the way they are so that when we do fill that case, it will be well worth it. The NE pats of the world can keep their Belichick's of the world with their "no lose tempers" and whathaveyou.
Listen, we all wish we would win big games. We all want our football team to be better, we'll never content unless well have an 'Bama-level product on the field.
But let's just look at what Beamer has done since joining the ACC in 2004: 4 ACC Championships, 5 BCS Bowl Appearances, 8 10-win seasons & ending the year in top 25, Top 10 in # of players sent to NFL, 9 straight years of beating UVA...all while graduating 80% of players (the 20% includes those who left early to go to NFL) and running a clean program where we never have to worry about the stuff Miami goes through...I get your sentiment but I also empathize with Shane Beamer when he mentioned that our fan base is "spoiled".
I can empathize with Shane, too, but he IS a little too close to the issue to be remotely objective. Also, it wasn't the fan base that put up the empty trophy case - that was HCFB's idea.
Putting that up said to the fans "THIS is the only goal we're shooting for." And yet, every year, there's the aw-shucks quotes about preserving our 10-win streak, or our bowl streak, or being in control of our own destiny for the ACCCG. (That last one should be a goal every year - not so much because of us, but because the rest of the division isn't much to speak of.)
That's where MY personal frustration with HCFB comes from. Love him - he made us something from nothing, and is WAY better than a Bill Dooley. And I know that FSU showed what can happen if you screw the succession up. (And ask UT fans how getting rid of Phil Fulmer - who DID win the NC - worked out.)
But. There are times when I get tired of realizing, in late September, that playing to get in to the ACCCG is all we have left. And I feel like it's time for someone hungrier - like Bud. WWBFD?
+1 for Dooley reference and for class of '88!
I like having the stated goal of a championship, but it does put a bit an an albatross around the neck of the program.
When Beamer vacates (and I hope it's after Bristol, and done in a classy way) I wonder if the next hire removes the trophy case?
(Or maybe it has something inside by then.)
I just finished reading this in the Acc blog..I thought it was excellent praise for the Virginia Tech program that win the right way. I'd rather my team win without cutting corners then cheat and win a BCS title.
I normally let it slide but given the context here I feel the need to correct it
than*
I just finished reading this in the Acc blog..I thought it was excellent praise for the Virginia Tech program that win the right way. I'd rather my team win without cutting corners than cheat and win a BCS title.
HUGE difference.
Oh man, such a huge difference. Thanks bro for correcting my dyslexia..I really do appreciate it.
its a daily struggle... +1
I wrote this several years ago, and still stand by it.
There have been additional incidents at other schools since this, making it even more true to me.
http://100proofbackfield.blogspot.com/2011/01/franks-our-man.html
I need to read this every morning during breakfast. It makes me appreciate Coach Beamer, the Hokies, Blacksburg and trying to do the right thing everyday. I am going to find a way to "pay it forward" today and tell them it was compliments of a Hokie fan. Thanks for the great message!
Yeah, that was Jan 2011. Still stand by this, and love having Beamer as our HC. He IS what is right with big time college football.
Thank you for the kind words...and Go Hokies!
awesome blog post!
If you're bored, you can read about the trip we just took to Scotland and Ireland...on Golf Digest's dime. They are the most recent posts. Haven't been able to keep up with the college ball due to work and kids soccer games.
I don't suppose you're Drew Weaver, are you?
No, just a Hokie that graduated in '97. Was there for the 2-8-1 season, then the rest is history.
Wish I had his game and resume. I won the trip actually. Did shoot 78 on the Old Course without hitting a bunker.
Launched a new business venture making headcovers and trying to get up w de Jonge to see if he would sport one or a set on tour.
Coach Beamer and Blacksburg were meant for each other. Period.
I REALLY hope that the university, boosters, fan base do not Bobby Bowden him in the next few years.
I don't see us going into a downtrend like FSU did though.
This goes hand in hand with a tv interview I saw over the summer on the NFL network. Prior to posting this I looked and looked and couldn't find it.
A guy was talking to NFL commentators about the change in the college game, and passing of the guard if you will. How teams usually spend 5-6 years as a competitor, then fall to the wayside and rebuild. This conversation goes on for awhile, then right before it ended he said, "unless you consider Virginia Tech, this team reloads so well that they can be on a national stage over and over".
I love hearing about this, but let's not get too caught up in this.
I live in State College, PA. I can tell you first-hand that the most self-righteous fans on the planet are (were) Penn State fans. Every kid that comes through this program has better character, higher morals, strives to win a Nobel Prize, and generally is made of gold. Every fan stands up for the right things, appreciates rainbows and sunshine, and never does anything wrong. No NCAA infractions, no docked scholarships, no probation, no criminals, no bad seeds, never sacrifices quality people for wins. And it's all because of Saint Joe Paterno.
Please don't let us become that program.