Beamerball or Fosterball? Hokies' identity slowly changing

In the 1990s, Virginia Tech established a reputation on the football field for its unmatched success with special teams. Blocked kicks, punts, and touchdown returns became the trademark of the program, and soon became known as “Beamerball”, after its head coach Frank Beamer, who oversees the special teams himself.

During the 90’s, Tech averaged more than six blocked kicks per season, easily the best in the country.

Since then, the block party has become more of a casual gathering. From 2003 until 2005, the Hokies blocked only 11 kicks, half of the season average from the previous decade.

In 2009, the Hokies came up with a single blocked kick, when Jacob Sykes blocked Matt Bosher’s punt against Miami, leading to Matt Reidy’s recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.

It was well publicized for the longest time about the Hokies dedication to special teams, more specifically coach Beamer’s contributions to the success.

However, a few changes in recent years have led to the Beamerball demise.

First of all, virtually every Tech opponent began developing unique schemes in their alignment to confuse the Hokies.

In a 2002 game against Temple, the Owls spread all ten men besides the punter from one sideline to the other, forcing the Tech defense to spread their men out as well. That was one of the first games in which the Hokies’ opponent clearly made an effort to not succumb to the Tech trademark.

Since that point, many other formations and adaptations to the typical special teams strategies have kept the Hokies from blocking so many kicks.

Another reason the blocks are fewer and farther between now is coach Beamer isn’t the only man paying special attention to that area of the game, no pun intended. Many head coaches, including Urban Meyer at Florida, take care of the special teams themselves, or if they don’t they hire a very strong special teams coordinator to do the job.

Before this shift in emphasis to the kicking game, Beamer was one of the few guys on the block (man, I’m getting carried away with the play on words here) that spent a significant amount of time practicing special teams. He’s simply not on his own anymore.

The other part of the Hokies’ games that fell under the “Beamerball” classification was the team’s knack for opportunistic defensive play. Forced fumbles and interceptions are the mark of a great football team, but no team scored as many points on defense as the Hokies did during the 90’s, and that tradition continues today.

For those of you still following along, that means that the special teams, coached by Beamer, has seen a dip in productivity in recent years, while the defense, coached by Bud Foster, remains on top of its game.

Maybe it’s time to shed the Beamerball image and adopt Fosterball instead.

Let’s face it; the Hokies won back-to-back ACC championships in 2007 and 2008 thanks to a defense that was ranked in the top five nationally. Neither year was the offense very productive, ranking in the bottom 30 in total yards both seasons.

2009 saw a spike in offensive productivity, and a slight statistical dip from the defense, thanks in large part to an inexperienced front seven. Despite the early season struggles from Foster’s unit, they responded in the final five games of the season to allow exactly zero points in the second half of all those games.

Foster has been sought after by other programs year after year. Two years ago, West Virginia courted Foster for its head-coaching job. In 2008 it was Clemson doing the same thing. Just last month, Georgia head coach Mark Richt offered Foster the defensive coordinator job with his program.

In each instance, Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver tossed a sizable raise Foster’s way to keep him in town. This year, he signed Foster to a five-year deal worth over $2 million, making him one of highest paid at his post in the country.

The one item that stands above all in the Tech program is the lunch pail, a Foster establishment representing the hard work that goes into every practice, workout, and game for his defense.

It has come to be the adornment of Hokie Nation, and it will forever remain a symbol of what the program stands for.

How much clearer could it be that Foster has become the heart and soul of this program?

If he wanted to leave for a head-coaching gig, he would have done it by now.

Beamer has told me before that he will stick around as the Hokies’ coach until “the time is right,” but logical thinking says that won’t be too awfully long. Foster, 50, seems primed to hold tight in Blacksburg for another five years or so before taking over for Beamer.

The defense in 2010 will undergo a major overhaul; replacing seven players with starting experience will be no small task. But anyone who’s been around the Tech program, namely Foster, knows he will stop at nothing to have the lunch pail tradition upheld with honor.

There is not a Hokie fan on the planet that has any doubt in Foster, and that’s the mark of a program linchpin.

Where Williams’ ’09 ranks in Hokie history

Thursday night provided the country with one final look at (statistically speaking) one of the greatest freshman running backs in the history of college football, Ryan Williams. During the game, he broke the ACC record for touchdowns in a season, and the Virginia Tech record for rushing yards.

Williams provided fans with the most electrifying display of offensive ability at Tech since Michael Vick donned the maroon helmet a decade earlier. After several years of ineptitude on offense, Williams’ running, along with the impressive development of quarterback Tyrod Taylor and the receiving corps, led to a breakout season for the that side of the ball.

The numbers speak for themselves: 1,654 rushing yards, 22 total touchdowns, 10 100-yard games, and two four-touchdown performances. That’s the stat line Ryan Williams finished with upon Tech’s 37-14 drubbing of Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

In his first year in the lineup, Williams certainly had a season for the ages. With that said, it brings the question: how does Williams’ season stack up against some of the other greatest in the Frank Beamer era?

Michael Vick 1999

Like Williams, Vick wasted no time making his impact felt on the field, scoring three rushing touchdowns in his first half of football ever. He would continue to complete 59.2 percent of his passes, with 12 touchdowns and 184 yards per game.

Those numbers don’t exactly jump off the page and hit you in the face, but Vick’s running ability, coupled with his knack for long-yardage pass plays made him a legend in Blacksburg.

As a runner, Vick carried the ball 108 times for 782 yards, second most on the team. His average of 5.4 yards per carry is the best in school history for a quarterback. He also ran for eight touchdowns.

More important than any individual statistic, Vick led the Hokies to their first-ever undefeated season in the modern era, and a berth in the BCS Championship Game against Florida State.

The Hokies lost the game 46-29, but Vick’s performance on the biggest stage of his Tech career was unforgettable. He completed 15 of 29 passes for 225 yards while also rushing for 97 yards on 23 carries.

Lee Suggs, 2000

Lee Suggs was a redshirt sophomore in 2000, and after scoring then-NCAA record 27 touchdowns on the ground that season, many people wondered if he had started in 1999, the Hokies may have won that national championship game.

Suggs came from nowhere to dominate college football in his first year as a starter. Entering the season, Vick was receiving more face time in the national media than the Backstreet Boys, but it was Suggs who outshined his quarterback for much of the year.

Of the eleven regular season games for the Hokies that year, Suggs scored at least two touchdowns in nine of them. His best performance came in a 37-34 win over Pittsburgh, when he carried the ball 28 times for 164 yards and three touchdowns.

That game was one of the most important of his career, as the Hokies lost Vick to a sprained ankle midway through the third quarter, and had to ride the shoulders of Suggs to a narrow victory.

Two games later, Suggs scored five touchdowns on the ground against Central Florida in a 44-21 win. The five scores were good enough to put Suggs in second-place all-time for rushing touchdowns in a game, behind Tony Francisco’s six-touchdown performance against VMI in 1966.

Suggs capped his season in the Gator Bowl against Clemson, scoring three touchdowns in a 73-yard performance that was largely overshadowed by Vick’s final collegiate game.

DeAngelo Hall, 2002

Hall turned in one of the best seasons ever for a Tech defensive back, scoring three touchdowns but providing much more excitement than simply touchdowns.

Hall intercepted four passes in his sophomore season, returning them for an average of 31 yards, including one touchdown in the season-opener against Arkansas State.

As he was still establishing himself as a lockdown cornerback, Hall quickly became one of the most dangerous punt returners in the country. He averaged 16.4 yards per return, the fifth-best rate in the country. He also scored two touchdowns in the return game.

It’s worth mentioning that prior to that season, Hall registered the fastest 40-yard dash time in program history with a time of 4.15 seconds. With a number like that, it’s no wonder he was one of the most feared players with the ball in his hands that year.

Jim Druckenmiller, 1996

in his senior season at Tech, Druckenmiller capped off an illustrious career as the starting quarterback that included back-to-back Big East championships. The second of those titles came in this season, when he was named first-team all-conference.

He finished the year with 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions. In the Orange Bowl against eventual national champion Nebraska, he completed 16 of his 33 passing attempts for 214 yards and three touchdowns.

The best performance of his season, however, came against East Carolina when he completed 15 of 23 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in a nationally televised 35-14 win.

Kevin Jones, 2003

The man whose school record for yards Williams broke, Jones finished with 1,647 yards and 21 touchdowns in his junior season. The statistics are eerily similar to Williams’ in fact. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry and 126.7 yards per game.

Jones’ best game came against Texas A & M on a Thursday night, when Hurricane Isabel’s wrath had climbed across the Blue Ridge Mountains and ravaged the New River Valley. In a torrential downpour, Jones carried the ball 30 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-19 win.

Until Thursday night, Jones’ season was the most productive in school history. Unfortunately for the Hokies, a late-season slide led to a disappointing 8-5 finish, including a 52-49 loss to California in the Insight Bowl.

Jeff King, 2005

King is unquestionably the best tight end to play for the Hokies under Beamer, and second greatest all-time after NFL Hall-of-Famer Carroll Dale.

In 2005, King hauled in 26 passes for 292 yards, including a team-high six touchdowns. He was the security blanket for quarterback Marcus Vick, and was a key component in the Hokies’ ACC Coastal Division title in its inaugural season.

Andre Davis, 1999

As Vick exploded onto the scene in the Hokies’ undefeated season, Davis was just as integral a part of that magical run. His 962 receiving yards still stands as the all-time single season record.

Of the fourteen touchdowns the Hokies threw that season, Davis scored nine of them. His average of 27.5 yards per catch is easily the best all-time at the school.

The most fascinating statistic of all for Davis that season was his rushing numbers. Three carries…72 yards… three touchdowns. The Hokies went to the reverse play with a 100 percent success rate, thanks to Davis. Maybe he should have carried the ball more often…

With all of the aforementioned individual seasons being some of the best in school history, what Williams did this year should rank right at the top. This year falls short of Vick’s unprecedented year in ’99, but is about on the same level of Suggs’ season the following year.

The one important note that separates Williams from all but one other player on this list: the star running back is only a freshman. Not only was this his first year in the maroon and orange, but he was only listed as the third-string running back entering preseason camp.

With the stage set for a spectacular encore in 2010, this list might just have to make way for another unforgettable year for “Lil’ Sweetness”.

Beamer’s case to fill Bowden’s shoes

Frank Beamer’s connections to Bobby Bowden run deeper than interdivisional rivals in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In light of the announcement of Bowden’s retirement as Florida State head coach this week; it seems appropriate to consider the similar legacy Frank Beamer is leaving at Virginia Tech.

Like Bowden, Beamer took over a program vacant of tradition. Tech only played in six bowl games before Beamer took over in December 1986. Its record in those games was 1-5.

Florida State had also played in seven bowls in the 30 years prior to Bowden’s hiring. Its record in those games was 2-4-1.

It’s safe to say neither program was exactly on the Mount Olympus of the college football world.

Both coaches hail from rural backgrounds in the south. Bowden grew up in Birmingham, Ala., one of the richest breeding grounds for football talent in the country. Beamer grew up just down the road from Blacksburg in Fancy Gap, Va., where football was big and the mountains were bigger.

Both coaches have a reputation of being two of the friendliest, down-to-earth coaches in the business, thanks in large part without a doubt to their southern roots.

After taking over at their respective schools, the unheralded traditions of both programs were appositely reversed.

Bowden endured a single losing season in Tallahassee before leading the Seminoles to an 10-2 record, ending the 1977 season with 40-17 win over Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl.

Beamer took over a rebuilding Hokie program and spent two seasons in football misery before finishing the 1989 season with a 6-4-1 final record. Four seasons later, the Hokies were 9-3, capping off the season by winning the first ever bowl game under Beamer, beating Indiana 45-20 in the Independence Bowl.

Although it took Beamer six years before tasting postseason glory compared to Bowden’s two, it’s hard to blame the Tech coach for not arriving to the party as quickly.

Consider the natural recruiting base Bowden had to work with. High school football in Florida annually produces cream-of-the-crop athletes to choose from. Virginia’s reputation as a recruiting hotbed did not come until the late 1990s. It was much easier for Bowden to find the necessary talent immediately than it was for Beamer.

Once Beamer took the Hokies to that first bowl game, they have not missed the postseason since. 2009 marks the 17^th consecutive season the Hokies will go bowling.

Once the ship was righted at Florida State, Bowden also took his program to unprecedented heights. The Seminoles missed the postseason in 1978 and 1981, but other than that have played a postseason game every year to date.

Every superhero needs a good sidekick; every CEO a right-hand man. Bowden and Beamer each have theirs in the form of a defensive coordinator. Mickey Andrews has been on the sidelines for Bowden since 1984. Bud Foster joined Beamer’s staff in 1987 and became defensive coordinator in 1995.

Both assistants have been instrumental in maintaining the high level of success at their respective schools, and neither Bowden nor Beamer would be the coaches they are today without them.

Between 1987 and 2000, Bowden’s Seminoles set an NCAA record by winning at least ten games every season. If the Hokies win their bowl game in a few weeks, they will be nearly halfway to reaching that mark themselves. The current streak of double-digit win seasons at Tech is five, the first of which coinciding with its inaugural season in the ACC.

The glorious run came to an end Tuesday, when Bowden walked away from the game at the age of 80.  It seems only natural for the torch as college football’s elder statesman, and good ol’ southern boy to be passed directly to Blacksburg.

The one facet of program dominance that separates Bowden and Beamer is postseason success. At Florida State, Bowden is 20-9-1 in bowl games, while Beamer is 7-9.

One of those 20 bowl wins for Bowden came in the form of a national championship, against, you guessed it, Beamer’s Hokies. It took him 24 years at FSU before winning his first and only BCS national title. Beamer is in his 23^rd at Tech. Isn’t that Taylor guy and that Williams kid coming back to Blacksburg next year?

Virginia Tech unveils state-of-the-art uniforms

The Virginia Tech football team unveiled its new look for this week's game Monday morning on campus. 

Along with Nike executive Loren Hoppes, Frank Beamer, Cody Grimm and Tyrod Taylor, Bill Roth hosted the event, which took place outside Squires Student Center. 

The uniforms the Hokies will be wearing this Saturday are made from Nike's new Pro Combat design, built to enhance player's performance. 

Along with the jerseys, Nike is selling T-shirts featuring a school-specific slogan. Nike's slogan for Virginia Tech is "Good Guys Wear White." 

10 teams across the country will wear these uniforms in the coming weeks, including Texas and Florida State. 

"Nike has always been very good to us, and we are excited about wearing these new uniforms Saturday," Beamer said.

The uniforms have white helmets, jerseys, pants and cleats. The numbers and stripes are a blend of maroon and orange, a unique design designated the "Beamerball look" according to Hoppes. 

On the top of the pants' backside, the school's motto "Ut Prosim" is printed, as well as the phrase "Beamerball" on the back of the neckline. 

The helmets have two stripes, one each of maroon and orange, with the same maroon "VT" logo the team currently dons on a normal week.

 The Virginia Tech cheerleaders and dance team, the High Techs, kicked off the event, which lasted nearly an hour. Bill Roth, the voice of the Hokies MC'd the event, but was also joined on stage by Beamer and former Hokie legends Bruce Smith and Antonio Freeman. 

T-shirts with the "Good Guys Wear White" slogan and VT logo are now on sale for $20, while replica jerseys will be for sale online later this week, and will hit local stores following the Maryland game.

Young Beamer making his own legacy

The year was 1989. It was late in the fourth quarter as coach Shane Beamer gazed upon the field from above, ready to send in the winning play call.

Instead of being inside Lane Stadium in front of 50,000 raucous fans, Frank Beamer’s 12-year-old son could only pretend he was in his father’s shoes. He stood on the wooden deck behind his house, looking down on an empty pasture.

This day, he was lucky enough to have found a friend to send down to the pasture with one walkie-talkie, while he held the other. They used the toys to communicate imaginative strategies, just like Shane saw his father do on Saturdays.

He had already spent the morning in the kitchen reading the game day itinerary aloud to his younger sister, Casey.

He had spent all week in the back of his father’s office, scanning old playbooks for a tip on this week’s game plan.

Twenty years later, Shane Beamer is forging his own path along the sidelines at South Carolina.

The son of the legendary Virginia Tech coach is responsible for the strong safeties, special teams and is the recruiting coordinator for the Gamecocks.

If families are rated on a scale from 1-10 based on frequent stress, those with coaches are an 11.

“When Shane told me he wanted to get into coaching after he was done playing, I said ‘you’ve lived in this house your whole life and you want to do this; are you nuts?’” Frank Beamer said.

Despite all the chaos that came from growing up as the son of a Division I football coach, a young Shane took advantage of his resources.

He began carrying the cord for his father’s headset on the sidelines at age 10. Around that same time, he began reading through stacks of papers tucked away in Frank’s office. Though he was introduced to the deepest secrets of coaching at an early age, he didn’t always appreciate his good fortune.

“If I have any regrets, I wish I had asked more football questions than I did,” Shane said.

As a high school player, Shane was never the best athlete on the field, and had a decision to make as his career drew to an end. He could walk on to his dad’s team, and risk never playing a snap, or play for a small school and continue playing football.

For advice, Shane looked to someone familiar to his situation: Terry Bowden. At the time, Bowden was the head coach at Auburn University, but long before that he had been a walk-on for his father Bobby at West Virginia.

Shane wrote to Terry, asking for consultation on what he should do after high school. Bowden explained to him that if he ever wanted to coach, he should stay with his father where he would learn much more than if he played at a lower level.

It was the first sign of the motivation Shane had to become a figure like his father, yet his parents never knew he had such drive at that time.

“We never knew he sent that letter, until Terry came up to us at a camp and told us,” Shane’s mother Cheryl said.

Shane went on to play for Frank at Tech, where he would become the starting long-snapper for the punt team, or the “Pride” team as it as known in the Hokies’ program. Fittingly, Frank has plenty of pride for what his son had accomplished even before graduating college.

“It was a real treat to get to see him every day for four years,” he said.

After graduating, Shane decided to trade the Blue Ridge Mountains of Blacksburg for the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta, accepting a graduate assistant job at Georgia Tech. In his only year with the Yellow Jackets, he worked on the offensive side of the ball with Ralph Friedgen, now the head coach at Maryland.

After a season where the Jackets finished 9-3, including a seven-game winning streak to finish the regular season, Shane moved to Knoxville to work under Philip Fulmer at Tennessee. It was under Fulmer where Shane learned the defensive side of the football, as well as recruiting in the cutthroat SEC.

“Coach Fulmer was very influential from a recruiting standpoint. He was very intense when it came to recruiting,” Beamer said.

Landing a graduate assistant job at a big-time program is nearly as easy as going twelve rounds with Mike Tyson. Those who don’t know Shane might assume he let his surname carry him to such great schools, while in reality he worked tirelessly to give himself those opportunities.

“Having connections helped, but it was writing a lot of letters to coaches and doing everything I could myself that got me the jobs,” he said.

Shane’s first full-time coaching job came in 2004 at Mississippi State under Sylvester Croom, the first African-American coach in the Southeastern Conference. Shane coached the defensive backs. Croom’s ruthless work ethic and strong disciplinary background helped Shane learn the work it took to build a successful team from the ground up.

In 2007, Steve Spurrier, the former national championship coach at Florida who had returned to the college ranks at South Carolina, hired Shane to coach the outside linebackers.

Until then, Shane had only ever worked for coaches with philosophies marked by great defense and power running games, let alone growing up as the son of one.

Spurrier was a horse of a different color, though. In the 1990’s he made Florida great by instituting his “Fun N’ Gun” offense, which emphasized passing more times per game than Elvis had number one hits.

The change in styles was an adjustment for Shane, but his new boss and father had many more similarities than differences.

“They are both great competitors, whether its football or golf, they both hate to lose. Their strategies might be different, but they are both intense and want to win in everything they do,” he said.

After the 2008 season, Spurrier named Shane was named his recruiting coordinator; perhaps the toughest job at any SEC school. Nevertheless, he was well fit for the job.

“He is so good about writing handwritten notes to recruits. When he calls them he knows their whole life history it seems. His attention to detail is great, just like his daddy’s,” Cheryl said.

Obviously, signing high school kids to play for South Carolina takes more than a simple note, and Shane goes to great lengths to secure the best prospects he can.

“Recruiting in the SEC is cutthroat, lasting 365 days a year. You have to be up to it every day,” Shane said.

In the first recruiting class since taking the coordinating job, South Carolina’s commitments were ranked 12^th in the country, according to rivals.com.

Even with their busy schedules, Shane and Frank manage to have great communication during the season.

The two speak on the phone at least once a week, usually on Thursday nights, and the subject rarely deviates from football.

“We’ll talk a lot about X’s and O’s, the previous game and the upcoming one. When we do talk, it’s usually about football,” Shane said.

Through hard work, persistence, and some ultra-strong bloodlines, Shane, 32, has developed into one of the strongest up-and-coming assistant coaches in the country, which begs one obvious question: when will father bring son back to Blacksburg?

“I think they would love (to coach together),” Cheryl said.

Several obstacles stand in the way of Shane’s possible return to Blacksburg. One is the continuity of the staff at Tech. There have only been four coaches leave the Frank’s staff since 2000. The loyalty of the assistants to the Tech program is unparalleled, and the head coach is hardly one to break that up simply to hire his son.

“It has to be the right situation, but I do think he is a great coach,” Frank said.

The second roadblock in Shane’s path home is the scrutiny he would face as a part of his father’s staff. Just 120 miles away, Virginia coach Al Groh had to fire his son and offensive coordinator Mike under tremendous pressure from the fan base to make the change.

Several other sons of great coaches have always been under a close watch. Terry and Tommy Bowden were both head coaches at Auburn and Clemson, respectively, and had to constantly deal with the pressure of being Bobby’s son.

Jay Paterno has caught great criticism at times over the years for the lack of production from the quarterback position at Penn State.

Obviously, any coach whose players aren’t performing at a high level will hear the jeers of the fans. Being the son of a coach is even worse, though, as you can be accused of only keeping your job because of your dad.

If that “right situation” ever does occur, you can bet Shane will be on the Lane Stadium sidelines once again; this time with a big-boy walkie-talkie, and real players instead of his sister.

Shane’s eventual return would only make sense for the Beamer family, whose impact on the university and community is indescribable.

Should he ever return, very little would change around the Tech program. When asked to name a difference between her husband and son, Cheryl Beamer was at a loss for words.

“Let’s just say this: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”