'He Had a Vision About This Place'
After 20 Seasons, Beamer Has Left an Indelible Mark on Virginia Tech

By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

BLACKSBURG, Va.

Frank Beamer always saw more in Virginia Tech than anyone else could. He first started coming here more than 50 years ago, driving the hour from his home town of Fancy Gap, Va., to watch the Hokies play in Miles Stadium. The other kids in Fancy Gap never dreamed of playing big-time college football, and if they did, they dreamed about playing it at North Carolina or Alabama or some other big school. Frank Beamer dreamed about playing at Virginia Tech.

Once he finished playing, he wanted to coach Virginia Tech, more than he wanted to do anything else. While he coached at Murray State, he would drive his family through Blacksburg and show them his alma mater. After he was hired in December 1986, Beamer sat in high school kids' living rooms and told them Virginia Tech was going to play for the national championship one day. He believed it.

"I had been here nine years," Virginia Tech associate head coach Billy Hite said. "And I wasn't thinking like that."

Most everyone interested or involved in college football thinks like that now. Two decades after he arrived as head coach, Beamer has proved the state engineering school tucked in the mountains of southwest Virginia could become home to one of the biggest, flashiest and best college football teams in the country.

On Saturday, when Beamer leads the Hokies against Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl -- the program's 14th consecutive season capped by a bowl -- he will complete his 20th season at Virginia Tech, his eighth 10-win season there and third in a row. Before Beamer arrived, the Hokies had won 10 games in a season once. Beamer has delivered not only the victories, but also all the trappings of an elite program: blue-chip recruits, state-of-the-art facilities, a rabid fan base and huge salaries for himself and his loyal assistants.

Over 20 years, Beamer has survived lean seasons and resisted overtures from other programs. He never wavered, never panicked and never changed. He's still the same down-to-earth coach whom defensive coordinator Bud Foster played for 27 years ago, still the same honest man his wife, Cheryl, met on a blind date 38 years ago. Beamer, the humble son of an elementary school teacher and assistant highway engineer from Fancy Gap, has transformed Virginia Tech football from an afterthought to a power, turning it into one of those big schools for which kids yearn to play.

"That's the way he's always felt," Hite said. "That's what he's always believed in. I just think he had a vision about this place, about how it could be such a special place."

From the Ground Up

Sitting at his desk -- three coach of the year trophies shaped like golden footballs resting high on the bookcase behind him -- Beamer can look out his office window at the new practice fields and Lane Stadium, now a 66,000-seat marvel. It rises like a castle out of the plain and is filled for every home game. The new weight room. The new academic center. The new rehab facility. Everything is new.

It wasn't always this way, not even close. A small service road used to run where the new buildings are, with shrubs all around it.

"There could have been some creatures in those bushes," Beamer said. "It was thick."

Beamer inherited a fractured program when he arrived. Outgoing coach Billl Dooley had landed Virginia Tech on a three-year probation, stripping the Hokies of scholarships. Beamer won 16 games those first four seasons combined, but bottomed out in 1992. The Hokies went 2-8-1, and fans buried Beamer in criticism. In private moments, Cheryl could see how much the losing wore on him, that he felt as if he was letting people down.

But during practice and at the coaches' office, his demeanor didn't change. He didn't think about the problem, only what could be done to fix it. While burning garbage at his parents' house at age 7, Beamer burned the right side of his body. For four summers, Beamer endured more than 30 operations for the damage the fire caused. His mother would make him walk the halls of the burn ward and look at the other patients. There was always someone in worse condition than him.

"It was kind of her way of saying, 'Hey, don't feel sorry for yourself,' " Beamer said. " 'Do something about it. There's no need to pity yourself.' "

In 1992, after a midseason loss to Louisville, the phone rang in the Beamer house, and daughter Casey, then 10, answered. A man's voice asked to speak with Beamer. "He's not home," Casey said. "Could I take a message?"

The voice starting cursing at little Casey. The man said: "Tell your father he's a terrible coach. Tell him he should be fired."

Casey ran into the living room, tears streaming down her face, to tell Cheryl what happened. Crushed, Casey curled up on the couch the rest of the night. Cheryl met Beamer at the door when he walked in and told him about the phone call. He walked to the coffee table next to the couch and sat down.

"Casey, sometimes in life we're up here," he told her, raising a fist above his head. "Sometimes we're down here. Right now we're down here. But I'm going to work hard, and Daddy's a good football coach. One day, we're going to be up here again."

He believed it. Virginia Tech went to the Independence Bowl the next season, and has been to a bowl game every season since.

"I've often told Frank, I think he's at his best when things are at their worst," Cheryl said. "When he gets down, that's when he gets going."

'Very Proud' of His Program

Virginia Tech's coaches gathered in a meeting room, expecting the worst. It was a Sunday night in 1995, the first coaches' meeting of the week. The day before, Cincinnati had handed the Hokies their second straight loss to open the season. The assistants expected Beamer to scream and berate them. Hite thought to himself: "If I was the head coach, I'd come in here and fire every one of these guys here, because I could have done as good a job myself doing just what these guys did."

Beamer walked calmly into the room.

"Our players really want to win," Beamer said in a steady voice. "We've got Miami this week. Put them in the best position to win this football game."

And then Beamer walked out. Not one coach budged; they just sat and stared at each other.

"We all realized we're the luckiest coaches in America," Hite said.

Virginia Tech beat Miami that week in a game still considered the most important in school history. The Hokies won their next nine games, too, beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl and raising the profile of the program. Several years later, Beamer would land a quarterback from Newport News named Michael Vick, and in 1999, Vick led Virginia Tech to the national championship game.

The success brought suitors. Boston College, South Carolina, Clemson and Alabama all wanted to hire him. In 2000, when North Carolina wooed Beamer and his staff, Beamer nearly left. The Tar Heels had superior facilities and offered higher pay, particularly for his assistants. Beamer loved Virginia Tech, but he also wanted to be the best and recognized North Carolina's resources might have given him a better chance at that.

Beamer met with North Carolina administrators in Chapel Hill on a Sunday in late November and finalized a prospective deal. He walked out and coyly told reporters North Carolina was a nice place.

Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver called Hite that day and told him to make sure Beamer didn't take the job yet, that he wanted to meet with him Monday. Beamer flew back to Blacksburg on Sunday night.

When Beamer drove onto campus for the Monday meeting, a crowd of people greeted him. They held signs that read, "PLEASE FRANK, DON'T GO," and other placards with the same message were posted all over. Hite met Beamer in the parking lot, so he could shuffle him past the assembled reporters. When Hite saw him, he was certain Beamer had decided on taking the North Carolina job.

They walked into Beamer's office.

"When you retire from this place, I honestly believe they'll put a bronze statue of you up," Hite told him. "If you leave now, you're nothing but Bill Dooley to all these people."

Beamer walked straight into a meeting with Weaver and several other Virginia Tech administrators. They offered him everything North Carolina had and more -- the facilities, the money, the commitment. They wanted to make sure Beamer was the Hokies' coach until he retired. He accepted that day.

"Growing up, if I ever thought I could have gone to some of the places I could have gone to, I mean, it's amazing to me, some of the schools that had shown an interest," Beamer said. "But when it's all said and done, when this thing's all over, well, that stadium changed, our schedule changed, the way those fans support the program, and you've been a part of that. . . . That's kind of been always the bottom line when I got ready to make a move. I've been a part of this. I'm very proud of it."

Elite Company

In 1994, Beamer went on his first Nike coaches' trip, an annual getaway paid for by the shoe company for programs that use its equipment. On the way back from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the coaches had a layover in the Houston airport. Beamer and his wife went to grab a sandwich, and he noticed a couple old coaches munching on lunch with their wives. They waved him and Cheryl over.

"I'm thinking, 'Gee, my whiz, I'm sitting here with Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno,' " Beamer said. "I was kind of amazed at that."

Bowden and Paterno are the only two current coaches who have coached longer at one school and compiled more victories than Beamer. He has become one of the sport's grand old men in an era when coaches get fired at the first sign of struggle.

When asked about why he's been able to remain here so long, Beamer answered after a lengthy pause.

"I think I treat people right," Beamer said. "I think that's big in this business. There's always going to be a crisis. And so, when that happens, there better be a lot of trust and belief in each other. If you don't, you're probably not going to be able to solve the problem. I think that's one of the things we've done here that's helped us survive."

He's as much a CEO as football coach now. Hite has been here for 29 years. Foster has been with him 28, including his time as a player. Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring and recruiting coordinator/strong safety-outside linebackers coach Jim Cavanaugh have both been with him for at least 11 years. Beamer spends one night with the defense, one night with the offense and trusts his assistants.

Some football coaches can't relax. Beamer can. He finishes his work and leaves Virginia Tech's complex most nights by 8 p.m. while other coaches work, until midnight some nights. He plays golf (he's about a 12 handicap) in the offseason. He cooks out with his family. He owns a place and a boat on Claytor Lake.

Beamer is at a place more special to him than any other, surrounded by people with whom he shares a mutual loyalty to the football program he built with them. He still, perhaps, can see more in Virginia Tech than anyone else.

"As far as how this operation runs, I think it's very efficient," Beamer said. "I don't put as many hours in, but feel it gets done properly.

"From that standpoint, I am happy. I feel thankful. And very, very happy."