How good? They win 9 games (the previous high under Beamer was 6, accomplished in back-to-back seasons in 1989-1990, before falling to 5 wins in 1991 and 2 wins in 1992). Then 1993 comes, and surprising to everyone, Frank Beamer’s Hokies are good. So while there was eventually some pressure to win, nobody was parking U-Hauls in Frank’s front yard a la Johnny Majors. That’s not to say he wasn’t given ample time to do so (especially when considering the pittance of time coaches receive now to prove their salt), but hey, it was the early ‘90s, Frank is an alum, and after all, it was Virginia Tech. A native of Southwest Virginia, he played as a defensive back for the Hokies back in the ‘60s, then effectively rebuilt the program from the ground up (while on probation no less) starting in the late ‘80s. They are not particularly noteworthy in any area, save one: their coach.

Then, they dropped their second-straight game to regional quasi-rival East Carolina, managed a measly 100 yards of offense in a loss to Pittsburgh and lost in four overtimes to Duke…in football…at home…on Homecoming. There’s no need to act like they should have upset the Buckeyes in consecutive seasons.

They lost a season-opening date with unanimous #1 Ohio State, a team who they knocked off just a year prior, in what some would characterize humiliating fashion. He was introducing someone, someone that I knew very well. But then Coach Allen said something that made my ears perk up. None of what Coach Allen says bears any weight, at least not to me, as I’m only in eighth grade and when it came to needing to know what the varsity was doing or concerning myself with their endeavors, I took the incredibly short-sighted approach that I would learn that when I got there. I realize after a period of a few minutes that I need to be paying attention. I twiddle with grass in between my fingers, a positively football experience that if anyone who has ever played says they didn’t do, they’re lying to you. Something is up.Īs Coach Allen speaks my attention wanes, in and out. So the fact that he’s gathered the team, forced them to change practice fields and now take a knee…in July…is not normal. He’s more of a say it once and it’s been said type of coach. At the end of Captain’s practice, which was held on the game field at Falcon Stadium, he commands the team trudge up the steep hill, past the locker room and gather on the practice field. Allen was once a three-sport star at nearby Lebanon High School, leading the Pioneers to the state championship game in three different sports (quarterbacking the football team, serving as the point guard for the state champion basketball team and the shortstop on the baseball team) in the span of nine months. Now it’s lined by a seemingly never-ending row of pine trees that surrounds the practice field.Ĭoach Scott Allen is entering his 3rd year as the head coach of the Falcons. teacher and his students built the original track in the school’s first year of existence in 1959 out of cinders discarded from a local business. It’s well over 90 degrees and the air is wet enough to see the humidity and the scorching heat emanating from the asphalt track surrounding the school’s practice field. The scene is a Captain’s practice for the Abingdon High School Falcons football team. Var parentDoc=,resizeFrame=function() ’s July of 2001 in Abingdon, Virginia. 29, either the Orange Bowl or Cotton Bowl, followed by the championship game Jan. 4 in New York, he’ll be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.īeamer will attend a CFP semifinal Dec. 2 as the panel chooses this season’s semifinalists. 9 in Houston, capping a whirlwind six weeks for him.Īs a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee, he’ll be in suburban Dallas Nov. Retirement has brought Beamer a flurry of honors, including election to the College Football Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and the 2017 Nyland Trophy for contributions to the game.īeamer will receive the Bryant honor Jan. He coached the previous six seasons at Murray State, compiling a 42-23-2 record. Beamer’s Tech teams went 238-121-2 from 1987-2015 and earned postseason invitations in each of his final 23 years.

Frank beamer shirts