Beamer's last game ends incredible era at Virginia Tech

In 1993, Frank Beamer coached his first bowl game: a 45-20 win over Indiana in the Independence Bowl. On Saturday, 22 years later, he’ll return to the Independence Bowl to coach his last. But there was a time when nobody thought he’d get this far.

At the end of the 1992 season, it looked like Beamer wasn’t going to make it in college football. After an impressive 42-23-2 record in six seasons as the head coach at Murray State, Virginia Tech hired Beamer in 1987 to rebuild its football program. However, Beamer struggled to get the team off the ground in the early years, partly because of scholarship reductions he inherited. But even after the sanctions ran their course, Beamer couldn’t seem to find wins. Virginia Tech went 17-26-1 in Beamer’s first four years before joining the Big East in 1991, and in his initial two years coaching a major conference team, Beamer went 7-14-1 with only two Big East wins.

After the Hokies went 2-8-1 in ’92, it looked more and more like Beamer couldn’t compete with the big boys of college football, and many thought he should be relieved of his duties. The next year, Beamer silenced the doubters, leading Virginia Tech to a 9-3 record, and hasn’t had a losing season since.

All he does is win

The numbers alone speak to just how great Beamer has been at Virginia Tech. If he wins his final - and 23rd consecutive - bowl game Saturday, Beamer will have coached the Hokies’ to 23 straight winning seasons. In his 29 years in Blacksburg, Beamer has picked up 237 wins. He’s coached six of Virginia Tech’s eight consensus All-Americans, 93 NFL draft picks, and won seven conference championships in the Big East and ACC.

The Hokies played in eight BCS bowl games under Beamer, winning the Sugar Bowl in 1995 and the Orange Bowl in 2009. In 1999, Beamer and star quarterback Michael Vick led Virginia Tech to the National Championship game, where the Hokies took a lead into the fourth quarter before losing 46-29. Beamer won the Walter Camp Coach of the Year award that year.

More than the numbers

Beamer’s legacy is more than just statistics, however. He invented “Beamerball,” the idea that any play - offensive or otherwise - can be a scoring play. Since taking the reins in ’87, at least one Virginia Tech player from every defensive position has scored a touchdown, and over 30 different players have scored on special teams. Even when he's gone from the sidelines, you’ll be able to see his coaching at work on Sundays via any of the 18 active NFL players he mentored, including Tyrod Taylor, Eddie Royal, Kam Chancellor and the aforementioned Vick.

Beamer’s breed is one seldom found in sports nowadays. Despite many offers over the years, he never left the Hokies for a bigger job. He played for Virginia Tech, graduated from Virginia Tech, coached at Virginia Tech, and will now serve in the front office at Virginia Tech. Nobody knows for sure what a Hokie is, but there’s little doubt Beamer is one.