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Virginia Tech football in Shreveport for Beamer’s last game

By Thomas Hatcher

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Tomorrow is Frank Beamer’s last game as Virginia Tech’s head coach.

It was December 26th, and all through the house, eyes were glued to the tv, Hokie fans were on the couch. It’s Frank Beamer’s last game folks, the end of one of the greatest college coaches of all time. Let’s take a look at his impressive stats and what he’s given to Virginia Tech football.

Nov 28, 2015; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Frank Beamer reacts after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 23-20 at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

29 straight seasons as Virginia Tech Head Coach

237-121-2 record (.661 winning Pct.)

23 Bowl Appearances

2004 and 2005 ACC coach of the year award

1995, 1996, 1999 Big East Coach of the year award

1999 AP Coach of the year award

1999 National Championship appearance

The most impressive for me is the 29 straight years that he has been at Tech. That’s the one that matters. Not the bowl appearances, not the number of wins, not the national championship appearance or ACC and Coach of the year awards. All of those are impressive, but the one that is the most significant to me is the 29 straight years Frank has coached at Tech. He has never been a head coach anywhere else. That’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that’ve been given to the Hokie nation and why Frank Beamer will forever be the greatest coach in Virginia Tech history. The only two coaches to stay at a program for a longer period of time? Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. Beamer will forever be mentioned among the greats.

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I want to quickly look at the 1999 team that Beamer took to the national championship game. Remember a guy named Michael Vick? He was perhaps the most well-known player to come out of Virginia Tech and he was the star quarterback that year. Virginia Tech had a talented team but was ranked #13 preseason and wasn’t ranked in the top 2 until week 11. Clearly people didn’t think they had the talent until 11 weeks into the season to compete for a national championship, but it was Frank Beamer who brought out the best in his players and made it a season for the Hokie history books.

Tomorrow is Frank Beamer’s 23rd bowl appearance. The Hokies are favored over Tulsa by 14 points, but with the emotion his players will surely be feeling, it wouldn’t surprise me if they went out and won by twice that. Tulsa will be overmatched, and if Tech gets out to an early lead and has control of the game, they could really stick it to Tulsa.

Go Hokies, beat Tulsa.