Frank Beamer
Encyclopedia
Frank Beamer is an American football
coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech), a position he has held since 1987. From 1981 to 1986, Beamer served as the head coach at Murray State University
. He is currently the winningest active coach and longest tenured coach in Division I FBS.
, went to high school in Hillsville, Virginia
, and 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 Bowl
s. He graduated in 1969 and attended Radford University
for graduate school while serving as an assistant football coach at Radford High School.
. After one season, he became an assistant coach at The Citadel
under Bobby Ross
. He spent seven seasons at The Citadel, 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 compiled a record of 42–23–2 (.642) in six years. On December 22, 1986, Beamer was hired as the head coach at 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. Virginia Tech's new athletic director
, Dale Baughman, who was hired to replace Dooley in that capacity, received 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."
Beamer took over a Virginia Tech football
program that was largely unsuccessful in its first century, having reached only six bowl game
s to that point. Beamer has since built the Hokies into a perennially ranked team. In 24 years at the helm of VT, his overall record is 198–95–2 (.675), making him far and away the winningest coach in school history. His teams have made 18 consecutive bowl appearances, and Beamer has gone 8–10 in those 18 bowls, including 1–4 in BCS
bowls and 1–1 in BCS-precursor Bowl Alliance
bowls. During the bowl streak, Beamer has amassed a record of 174–55 (.760).
During Beamer's tenure at Virginia Tech, 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 four ACC titles. Beamer has been named the Big East Coach of the Year three times, in 1995, 1996, and 1999. In 1999, he won a number of national coach of the year honors when he led Virginia Tech
to an undefeated regular season and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl
, where they lost a bid for the national championship to Florida State
. Beamer was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2004, his first year competing in the conference. 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
. His team was also given the Fall Sportsmanship Award in its inaugural season in the ACC.
Frank Beamer is currently the winningest active coach in Division I FBS.
During Beamer's tenure at Virginia Tech, putting points on the scoreboard has become a full team effort with the offensive, defensive and special teams units. 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 35 different players have scored touchdowns on Virginia Tech's special teams.
.
In July 2006, Beamer and his wife, Cheryl joined with Virginia publishers Mascot Books
to publish their first children's book Yea, It's Hokie Game Day!
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.
‡ The Big East did not begin full round–robin play until 1993
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
(Virginia Tech), a position he has held since 1987. From 1981 to 1986, Beamer served as the head coach at Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
. He is currently the winningest active coach and longest tenured coach in Division I FBS.
Early life and playing career
Beamer grew up in Fancy Gap, VirginiaFancy Gap, Virginia
Fancy Gap is a census-designated place in Carroll County, Virginia, United States. The population was 260 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Fancy Gap is located at ....
, went to high school in Hillsville, Virginia
Hillsville, Virginia
Hillsville is a town in Carroll County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,607 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carroll County.-Geography:Hillsville is located at ....
, and earned 11 varsity letters in high school as a three-sport athlete in football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
. He then attended Virginia Tech and was a starting cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
for three years on the football team, playing in the 1966
1966 Liberty Bowl
The 1966 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Miami Hurricanes at Memphis Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee on December 10, 1966. The game was the final contest of the 1966 college football season for both teams, and ended...
and 1968
1968 Liberty Bowl
The 1968 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Ole Miss Rebels from the University of Mississippi at Memphis Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee on December 14, 1968...
Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...
s. He graduated in 1969 and attended Radford University
Radford University
Radford University is one of Virginia's eight doctoral-degree granting public universities. Originally founded in 1910, Radford offers comprehensive curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, and graduate programs including the M.F.A., M.B.A...
for graduate school while serving as an assistant football coach at Radford High School.
Coaching career
Beamer's college coaching experience began in 1972, when he became a graduate assistant for the University of Maryland, College ParkUniversity of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
. After one season, he became an assistant coach at The Citadel
The Citadel (military college)
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...
under Bobby Ross
Bobby Ross
Robert Joseph Ross is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at The Citadel , the University of Maryland, College Park , the Georgia Institute of Technology , and the United States Military Academy , compiling a career college football record of 103–101–2...
. He spent seven seasons at The Citadel, the last two as the defensive coordinator
Defensive coordinator
A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
. He moved on to become the defensive coordinator at Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
in 1979 under Mike Gottfried
Mike Gottfried
-External links:*...
. After two seasons, he was promoted to head coach and compiled a record of 42–23–2 (.642) in six years. On December 22, 1986, Beamer was hired as the head coach at Virginia Tech. Beamer was to replace Bill Dooley
Bill Dooley
Bill Dooley is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , and Wake Forest University , compiling a career college football record of...
, 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. Virginia Tech's new athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
, Dale Baughman, who was hired to replace Dooley in that capacity, received 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."
Beamer took over a Virginia Tech football
Virginia Tech Hokies football
The Virginia Tech Hokies football team is a college football program that competes in NCAA Division I-FBS, in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They have more wins in team history than any other program in the ACC. Their home games are played at Lane Stadium which seats over...
program that was largely unsuccessful in its first century, having reached only six bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
s to that point. Beamer has since built the Hokies into a perennially ranked team. In 24 years at the helm of VT, his overall record is 198–95–2 (.675), making him far and away the winningest coach in school history. His teams have made 18 consecutive bowl appearances, and Beamer has gone 8–10 in those 18 bowls, including 1–4 in BCS
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
bowls and 1–1 in BCS-precursor Bowl Alliance
Bowl Alliance
The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship bowl game and to provide quality bowl game matchups for the champions of its member conferences...
bowls. During the bowl streak, Beamer has amassed a record of 174–55 (.760).
During Beamer's tenure at Virginia Tech, the program has evolved from independent status to a member of the Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
to a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
. His teams have won three Big East championships and four ACC titles. Beamer has been named the Big East Coach of the Year three times, in 1995, 1996, and 1999. In 1999, he won a number of national coach of the year honors when he led Virginia Tech
1999 Virginia Tech Hokies football team
-Regular season:Michael Vick led the Hokies to an 11–1 season and to the Bowl Championship Series national title game in the 2000 Nokia Sugar Bowl against Florida State. Although Virginia Tech lost 46–29, Vick was able to bring the team back from a 21 point deficit to take a 29-28 lead into the...
to an undefeated regular season and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl
2000 Sugar Bowl
The 2000 Sugar Bowl was the designated Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game for the United States 1999 college football season and was played on January 4, 2000, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana...
, where they lost a bid for the national championship to Florida State
1999 Florida State Seminoles football team
The 1999 Florida State Seminoles football team was the national champion of the 1999 college football season. The team finished with a perfect 12-0 record, and was the first in NCAA history to go "wire-to-wire," being ranked continuously as the nation's #1 team from the preseason through the bowl...
. Beamer was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2004, his first year competing in the conference. 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
2005 ACC Championship Game
The 2005 Dr. Pepper Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game was the inaugural contest of the game. It was a regular-season ending American college football contest at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Florida State Seminoles. The...
. His team was also given the Fall Sportsmanship Award in its inaugural season in the ACC.
Frank Beamer is currently the winningest active coach in Division I FBS.
Beamerball
Personal life
Beamer is married to the former Cheryl Oakley and has two children, Shane and Casey. Shane played football at Virginia Tech and was a member of the 1999 team that advanced to Sugar Bowl to play for the national championship. He is currently the associate head coach and running backs coach alongside his father at Virginia TechVirginia Tech Hokies football
The Virginia Tech Hokies football team is a college football program that competes in NCAA Division I-FBS, in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They have more wins in team history than any other program in the ACC. Their home games are played at Lane Stadium which seats over...
.
In July 2006, Beamer and his wife, Cheryl joined with Virginia publishers Mascot Books
Mascot Books
Mascot Books is the largest publisher of licensed children’s sports books in America. Based in Herndon, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., Mascot Books creates children’s books for professional teams, colleges, and even elementary schools...
to publish their first children's book Yea, It's Hokie Game Day!
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
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
, 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.
Head coaching record
AP rankings from NCAA Division I–AA Poll‡ The Big East did not begin full round–robin play until 1993