Frank Beamer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Frank Beamer | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Title | Head coach | |
| College | Virginia Tech | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Team record | 176-89-2 | |
| Born | October 18, 1946 | |
| Place of birth | Mount Airy, North Carolina | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 217-112-4 | |
| Bowls | 7-9 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Championships | ||
| 3 Big East Conference (1995, 1996, 1999) 3 Atlantic Coast Conference (2004, 2007, 2008) |
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| Awards | ||
| 9 Coach of the Year Awards (See Awards) 2004 Humanitarian Award |
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| Playing career | ||
| 1966-69 | Virginia Tech | |
| Position | Cornerback | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1972 (GA) 1973-76 (DL) 1977-78 (DC) 1979-80 (DC) 1981-86 1987-present |
Maryland The Citadel The Citadel Murray State Murray State Virginia Tech |
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Frank Beamer (born October 18, 1946 in Mount Airy, North Carolina) is the current head coach of the Virginia Tech college football program.
Beamer grew up in Hillsville, Virginia where he earned 11 varsity letters in high school as a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. He then attended Virginia Tech and was a starting cornerback for three years on the football team, playing in the 1966 and 1968 Liberty Bowls. He graduated in 1969 and then attended Radford University for graduate school while serving as an assistant football coach at Radford High School.
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[edit] Coaching
Beamer's college coaching experience began in 1972, when he became a graduate assistant for the University of Maryland, College Park. After one season, he became an assistant coach at The Citadel under Bobby Ross. He spent seven seasons at The Citadel, with the last two as the defensive coordinator. He moved on to become the defensive coordinator at Murray State University in 1979 under Mike Gottfried. After two seasons, he was promoted to Head Coach and spent six seasons as the Head Coach at Murray State, compiling a record of 42–23–2. On December 22, 1986, Beamer was hired as the head coach of Virginia Tech. Beamer was to replace Bill Dooley, whose nine-year tenure was the most successful—in terms of total wins and winning percentage—in school history. Beamer signed a four-year contract worth $80,000 annually, and at the time, new Tech athletic director Dale Baughman—hired to replace Dooley, who also served as both Tech's athletic director and head football coach—received some criticism for hiring Beamer. "Some people have questioned this decision because he is not a big name," Baughman said at the time. "But it's a sound decision, and I'm standing by it."[1]
Beamer took over a Virginia Tech football program that was largely unsuccessful in its first century, reaching only six bowl games in that time span. Beamer has since built the Hokies into a perennially ranked team. In 21 years at the helm of VT, his overall record is 176–89–2. His teams have made 16 consecutive bowl appearances but Beamer has gone 7–9 in those 16 bowls. He also has records of 1–3 in BCS Bowls, and 1-1 in Alliance bowls which preceeded the BCS. Besides his less than stellar record in bowl games, he's also struggled against top ten teams (AP Poll) with a record of 6–25 at Virginia Tech, though he is 4-6 in his last 10 such games.
During his tenure as coach, the program has evolved from independent status to a member of the Big East Conference to a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. His teams have won three Big East Championships and three ACC Championships.
He won Big East Coach of the Year awards in 1995, 1996, and 1999. In 1999, he won consensus National Coach of the Year honors when he led Virginia Tech to an undefeated regular season and appearance in the National Championship game against Florida State University. Beamer was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2004, his first year competing in the league. He repeated as ACC Coach of the Year in 2005 while leading his team to the ACC Coastal Division title and an appearance in the inaugural ACC Championship game.
[edit] Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | Rank# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murray State Racers (Ohio Valley) (1981–1986) | |||||||||
| 1981 | Murray State | 8-3-0 | |||||||
| 1982 | Murray State | 4-7-0 | |||||||
| 1983 | Murray State | 7-4-0 | |||||||
| 1984 | Murray State | 9-2-0 | |||||||
| 1985 | Murray State | 7-3-1 | |||||||
| 1986 | Murray State | 7-4-1 | 1st | ||||||
| Murray State: | 42-23-2 | ||||||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies (Independent) (1987–1990) | |||||||||
| 1987 | Virginia Tech | 2-9-0 | |||||||
| 1988 | Virginia Tech | 3-8-0 | |||||||
| 1989 | Virginia Tech | 6-4-1 | |||||||
| 1990 | Virginia Tech | 6-5-0 | |||||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies (Big East) (1991–2003) | |||||||||
| 1991 | Virginia Tech | 5-6-0 | |||||||
| 1992 | Virginia Tech | 2-8-1 | |||||||
| 1993 | Virginia Tech | 9-3-0 | 4-3 | 4th | W Independence | 20 | |||
| 1994 | Virginia Tech | 8-4-0 | 5-2 | 2nd | L Gator | 24 | |||
| 1995 | Virginia Tech | 10-2-0 | 6-1 | 1st | W Sugar | 9 | |||
| 1996 | Virginia Tech | 10-2-0 | 6-1 | 1st | L Orange | 12 | |||
| 1997 | Virginia Tech | 7-5-0 | 5-2 | 2nd | L Gator | ||||
| 1998 | Virginia Tech | 9-3-0 | 5-2 | 3rd | W Music City | 19 | |||
| 1999 | Virginia Tech | 11-1-0 | 7-0 | 1st | L Sugar † | 3 | |||
| 2000 | Virginia Tech | 11-1-0 | 6-1 | 2nd | W Gator | 6 | |||
| 2001 | Virginia Tech | 8-4-0 | 4-3 | 3rd | L Gator | 18 | |||
| 2002 | Virginia Tech | 10-4-0 | 3-4 | 4th | W San Francisco | 14 | |||
| 2003 | Virginia Tech | 8-5-0 | 4-3 | 4th | L Insight | ||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies (ACC) (2004–present) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Virginia Tech | 10-3-0 | 7-1 | 1st | L Sugar † | 10 | |||
| 2005 | Virginia Tech | 11-2-0 | 7-2 | 1st (Coastal) | W Gator | 7 | |||
| 2006 | Virginia Tech | 10-3-0 | 6-2 | 2nd (Coastal) | L Chick-Fil-A | 18 | |||
| 2007 | Virginia Tech | 11-3-0 | 8-1 | 1st | L Orange † | 9 | |||
| 2008 | Virginia Tech | 10-4-0 | 6-3 | 1st | W Orange † | 14 | |||
| Virginia Tech: | 176-89-2 | ||||||||
| Total: | 218-112-4 | ||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season. | |||||||||
[edit] Beamerball
During the 'Beamer Era' at Virginia Tech, putting points on the scoreboard has become a full team effort - offensive, defensive and special teams. Often when the team scores one or more non-offensive touchdowns, the style of play is described as Beamerball. Since Beamer's first season in 1987, a player at every position on the defensive unit has scored at least one touchdown. And at least 25 different players have scored touchdowns while on VT's special teams.[citation needed]
[edit] Personal life
Beamer is married and has two children, Shane and Casey. Shane played football at Virginia Tech and was a member of the 1999 team that advanced to the National Championship. He is currently the cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for the South Carolina Gamecocks football team.[2]
In 1954, when Beamer was seven years old, he used a push broom to help keep a pile of burning trash in place. When the job was done he returned the broom to the garage, not knowing that its bristles were still smoldering. A spark ignited a can of nearby gasoline, that exploded in front of him. His 11-year old brother, Barnett, saved him by rolling him around on the ground, but Frank was left with burns on the right side of his neck, chest and his shoulders. Over the next few years dozens of skin grafts left him with permanent scarring.[1]
[edit] Awards
- 1999 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year
- 1999 GTE Coach of the Year
- 1999 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
- 1999 Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
- 1999 Associated Press Coach of the Year
- 1999 Walter Camp Football Foundation/Street & Smith Coach of the Year
- 1999 Maxwell Football Club Coach of the Year
- 1999 Woody Hayes Coach of the Year
- 1995, 1996, 1999 Big East Coach of the Year
- 2004, 2005 ACC Coach of the Year
[edit] Quotes
- "There's a certain culture they have up there, they are all grounded kids and we want to have that same kind of culture here."—Then-Atlanta Falcons head coach Jim L. Mora on Beamer's program.
[edit] References
- ^ Smith, Tim. "Beamer realizes dream to coach Virginia Tech," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. December 24, 1986. Page D3.
- ^ Shane Beamer
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Bill Dooley |
Virginia Tech Head Football Coach 1987– |
Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by Bill Snyder |
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award 1999 |
Succeeded by Bob Stoops |
| Preceded by Bill Snyder |
Walter Camp Coach of the Year 1999 |
Succeeded by Bob Stoops |
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