Should the Hokies Keep Frank Beamer?

Aug 30, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Frank Beamer during the game against the William & Mary Tribe at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Our week of roundtable discussions about the biggest questions surrounding Virginia Tech football continues today with one of the toughest question for every fan. The question is whether the Hokies should keep Frank Beamer beyond 2014?

There is no doubt that this is a controversial issue that Hokie Nation seems fairly split on right now as shown by one of our previous polls and how it was a fairly even split. There is also no doubt that Frank Beamer is probably on some sort of hot seat though how strong or weak his job security is seems like an unknown.

However, we’ll get to whether Beamer will be retained. Now, let’s look at our opinions on whether the Hokies should keep Frank Beamer?

Dwight Lester

Stability is a huge part of any successful football program in the country. Virginia Tech has the most stability at head coach in the entire country with Frank Beamer. Beamer has been a staple of the Virginia Tech success over the years. However, with a few years of mediocrity, the seat Beamer sits on has definitely been warming of late but should the Hokies keep Frank Beamer as their head coach?

In my opinion, they should keep Beamer as their head coach. The problems are not with the coaching of Frank Beamer but with the coaches under him. I understand a coach should be responsible for the coaches under him but part of being a head coach is being able to delegate responsibility to others in the coaching staff. On the plus side, the part of the team Beamer coaches directly has excelled for many years, and so far this season has been a bright spot.

Joe Vitulli

Frank Beamer is not going to get fired. Frank Beamer does not deserve to get fired. However, he is not above criticism, second guessing, and booing. In college football, the players change every year so the coach is the one constant in the game which means he gets the bulk of the credit when they win and the bulk of the blame when they lose.

Beamer has led a program that was a joke when he began and transformed it into a premier program winning every award and title imaginable (other than a National Championship). He has also done this without program crushing scandals, academic or otherwise, in his nearly 30 years on the job. The end is coming for Beamer but not because of this season or the recent string of disappointing years and not for his failure to “win the big one.”

Oct 4, 2014; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Frank Beamer gestures to the crowd after a win against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Kenan Memorial Stadium. The Virginia Tech Hokies won 34-17. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

He is simply getting a little long in the tooth and retirement is creeping up on him. His logical successor is Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster, whom Virginia Tech has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep in Blacksburg as he waits his turn but that is still a few years away.

Many people point to Mack Brown being pushed out at Texas and Bobby Bowden at Florida State despite having enormous success and even National Championships on their resume as proof that no one is untouchable in college football but Blacksburg is not Austin or Tallahassee.

The Longhorns and Seminoles were legitimate programs before Brown and Bowden. The Hokies were nothing before Beamer. Beamer has survived lean time before and will again now, especially with so much young talent on the roster that will start to yield results next season and beyond. There may, and likely will be, staff changes before next season, but the head coach will not be one of them.

Tim Thomas

There is no doubt that this is a tricky situation given the fact that Frank Beamer has had a ton of success in Blacksburg but the last few seasons have been quite rough for the Hokies. There have been comparisons to Bobby Bowden and his decline but Beamer could also be ready to lead a surge back just like Bill Snyder at Kansas State.

The team is underperforming but a lot of that is due to a weak offensive line and a defense that is inexperienced and trying to avoid making mistakes on some plays instead of just playing the game. Bud Foster will get the defense sorted out and the Hokies have top-15 level talent next season. Virginia Tech has the talent to contend for the playoffs next season and I think Beamer is the guy to do that.

Beamer has not lost the locker room and has seemed to gain even more trust from his players if anything right now. The Hokies need consistency and you’re starting to see that more and more every single week. This team is very young and will only be replacing 5 regular starters next season while also getting two healthy defensive playmakers back in Luther Maddy and Brandon Facyson.

Fighting Gobbler Roundtable: Should the Hokies Keep Frank Beamer?

By Tim Thomas | Nov 4, 2014

Dwight Lester

Joe Vitulli

Tim Thomas