For Immediate Release … Sunday, Nov.
1, 2015 … Contact: Pete Moris 540.231.9965
Frank
Beamer Announces His Retirement at Conclusion of 2015 Season
Iconic
Virginia Tech coach owns 277 career victories, including 235 with Hokies
Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer announced
Sunday his intention to retire upon the conclusion of the 2015 season. Beamer
informed Virginia Tech officials, his players and coaches today.
“I have always said that ‘I want what is best for
Virginia Tech,’” Beamer said. “Because of my love and passion for this great
university, this program and our tremendous fans, I have decided after 29 years
that it’s time. Today, I informed Dr. Timothy Sands and Whit Babcock of my
decision to retire at the conclusion of the 2015 season.
“I was going to wait until the end of the season
to make this announcement, but I’ve always believed in being open and honest
with my players and coaches. I know Hokie Nation will continue to give our
players and our coaches their full support in these last three games, and hopefully
through a bowl game. I will be forever grateful to everyone who made these past
three decades the best years of my life. It’s an emotional day for me and my
family. I am so honored and humbled to have served as your head coach.
“I will speak about my retirement at my regular
press conference tomorrow, and after that, my sole and absolute focus will
return to coaching these players as best as I can and encouraging our coaches
and staff who I care for so deeply.”
Beamer owns a
277-143-4 (.656) career head coaching record in 35 seasons, including a
235-120-2 (.661) mark during his 29 years at Virginia Tech. His 277 career wins
are the most of any active FBS coach and are sixth all-time in the FBS. But perhaps two of his most notable
accomplishments are the fact that 100 percent of his senior football
student-athletes have graduated dating back to 2012 and that 25 different sets
of brothers have played for him at Virginia Tech.
A 1969
graduate of Virginia Tech, Beamer was a three-year starting cornerback for the
Hokies and was a member of the school’s 1966 and 1968 Liberty Bowl squads. After taking over as the
Hokies’ head coach in 1987, he built the football program at his
alma mater into a national power. He has guided the Hokies to 22 consecutive
bowl games, the longest active streak recognized by the NCAA. A former
defensive back for Virginia Tech, Beamer’s No. 25 jersey was retired by the
school in 2002. On Aug. 6, 2015 the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors officially renamed
Spring Road in front of Lane Stadium as “Beamer Way.”
“Coach Beamer contacted me earlier today with his
decision to retire following this season,” Virginia Tech Director of Athletics
Whit Babcock stated. “Coach will always remain one of the most beloved figures
in college football history. He’s a future Hall-of-Famer, an educator and a
role model. His contributions to Virginia Tech and the game of football - both
on and off of the field – are unquestionable and beyond measure.
“It’s been an unbelievable honor and privilege for
me to work with the winningest active coach in college football for the past
two years. Like the hundreds of players and the thousands of lives he has
touched and impacted in such a positive and profound manner over his life and
career, he has positively impacted mine as well and I am a better athletic director
for it.
“He coached the game the right way and no one
coached it better, no one. You cannot ‘replace’ Coach Beamer. What an amazing
run it was over the past 29 years! He will be missed on the sideline, but he
and Cheryl will always be part of the Virginia Tech family.
“Moving forward, first and foremost, we will focus
our efforts on supporting Coach, his staff, and most importantly our students
who play football, in order to finish this season on a high note. I’m confident
the Hokie Nation will rally around them and do the same. Coach will lead our
program through the remainder of the season and hopefully in a bowl game for the
23rd consecutive year.
“Today is about Coach Beamer and celebrating all
that he and his staff have meant to Virginia Tech. Once the regular season is
completed, I will speak about our search and finding the next great leader for
our program. That is for another time. Today is both a sad and proud day for
the Hokie Family. We will stay strong, together.”
Beamer’s legacy as one of the game’s most influential
coaches will be marked by consistently stellar special teams play and
exceptional defense. The Hokies have blocked 136 kicks (67 punts, 41 field
goals and 28 PATs) during his tenure. Dating back to 1996, no Power Five
program has registered more sacks (740.0) or interceptions (335). Since the
start of the 1995 season, Ohio State (15) is the only Power Five program that
has produced more seasons with 10 or more victories than Virginia Tech (13). A
total of 93 Virginia Tech players under his tenure have been drafted by the
National Football League, while numerous others have signed NFL free agent
contracts.
Beamer guided the Hokies to four ACC titles (2004, 2007,
2008 and 2010), five ACC Coastal Division crowns, three BIG EAST Conference
titles, two “major” bowl victories, six BCS appearances and a trip to the 1999 national
championship game. Tech won the BIG EAST title in 1995 and 1999, and shared it
in 1996. The Hillsville, Virginia, product was voted BIG EAST Coach of the Year
by the league’s coaches each of those seasons and was tabbed the Atlantic Coast
Conference Coach of the Year in both 2004 and 2005. Following the 1999 season,
he earned eight national coach of the year honors.
“Over the past three decades, Virginia Tech and Coach Beamer
have transformed the university and the football program together and have
created a legacy on which we will continue to grow,” said Virginia Tech
President Dr. Timothy Sands. “Coach Beamer built our football program into a
consistent winner through continuous innovation, a relentless work ethic and a
commitment to integrity, while Virginia Tech was becoming a major research
university with global reach.”
“Virginia Tech and our football team share these values,”
Dr. Sands continued. “The spirit of ‘Ut Prosim’ (That I May Serve) and the
strong community we call Hokie Nation have created a special bond between our
university and its football team, a result that would not have been possible
without Coach Beamer’s leadership through his words, but most importantly,
through his integrity and actions.
“Laura and I want to thank Frank and Cheryl Beamer for their
many contributions and we look forward to celebrating the indelible
contributions of these remarkable Hokies.”
Beamer’s illustrious coaching career began as an assistant
at Radford High School from 1969 through 1971. Then, after one season as a
graduate assistant at the University of Maryland, he went to The Citadel where
he worked five seasons under Bobby Ross and one year under Art Baker. His last
two years at The Citadel, Beamer was the defensive coordinator. In 1979, he went
to Murray State as the defensive coordinator under Mike Gottfried. He was named
head coach at MSU in 1981 and went on
to compile a six-year record of 42-23-2.
He is married to the former Cheryl Oakley of Richmond,
Virginia. They have two children, Shane, a former member of his father’s football
team at Virginia Tech and now the associate head coach/running backs coach at
Virginia Tech; and daughter Casey, a 2003 graduate of Tech. He has four
grandchildren, Sutton, Olivia and Hunter, children of Shane and his wife,
Emily. Casey, who married former Virginia Tech wrestler Canaan Prater in 2012,
had her first son, Hudson, in February.
Beamer was born in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, and grew up in
Hillsville, Virginia. At Hillsville High, he earned 11 varsity letters as a
three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball.
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