ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 28, 1996 TAG: 9611290021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
COLUMN: COLLEGE NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
Reporters were surprised this week when Virginia quarterback Tim Sherman was asked if he had gotten to know any Virginia Tech football players.
Sherman played against All-America defensive end Cornell Brown in high school, but the player with whom he has had the most contact is Shane Beamer, son of the Hokies' head coach, Frank.
``We've had some conversations about playing [at the school] where your father is a coach,'' said Sherman, whose father, Tom, coaches the wide receivers at UVa. ``We've written some letters and I actually got a chance to meet him earlier.''
The meeting took place in Charlottesville after the Cavaliers played North Carolina State on Oct.19. The Hokies had an open date that weekend.
``I basically relayed my experience here,'' Sherman said. ``He was worried about not being comfortable around players [who might be] thinking he might be going to his father with stuff.
``I told him that's most likely not going to happen. None of the players on this team ever worry about saying something or doing something around me that's going to get back to the staff.
``When I talked to him more recently, he was having a great time. People have accepted him for him and not as the coach's son.''
Sherman was reminded that he told reporters earlier this season that he might not have gone to Virginia if his father had been quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator.
``Now, I actually did say that to him,'' Sherman continued. ``I said it's a little different situation with me because I'm not being coached directly by my father. But, I told him I didn't think it would be a major problem.''
PROBLEMS ON HORIZON: Officials at Virginia Tech and Virginia are concerned about conflicts that could arise in the future because the Gator and Carquest Bowls both have tie-ins with the ACC and Big East.
Because the teams play during the regular season and have been in the top half of their respective conferences, the potential for a problem exists for those bowls that want to avoid repeating a regular-season meeting.
``I've never heard it discussed,'' UVa coach George Welsh said, ``but it's a point of discussion we need to enter into. If you can't have match-ups that you had during the regular season, that might put you out of a bowl game.''
Tech athletic director Dave Braine, chairman of the NCAA special events committee, said a possible solution could be tradeoffs with bowls not currently aligned with the ACC and Big East. However, he has not come across any other conferences with obvious conflicts.
Virginia could have even bigger problems in the future, Welsh said, because it has home-and-home series scheduled with Boston College and Syracuse, in addition to its series with Tech. North Carolina and Syracuse played this season.
UVA COMMITMENT: Virginia got a jump on a couple of programs looking for coaches when the Cavaliers received a commitment from All-Southwest Ohio selection Tony Brown, a 6-foot-2, 245-pound defensive end from Patterson High School in Dayton.
Brown, rated the No.21 prospect in Ohio by SuperPrep magazine before the season, made the top eight in the state as a heavyweight wrestler and has been timed in 4.8 seconds for 40 yards. He was offered scholarships by Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina State and Louisville.
``I liked the coaches and what I could see of the football program,'' said Brown, who was one of 14 prospects who took recruiting visits to Charlottesville last weekend. ``All that was left was to go down there and check the place out.''
MORE RECRUITING: Bobby Sabelhaus, the No.3-rated quarterback prospect in the country two years ago, has surfaced at Pierce Community College in Woodland Hills, Calif., after leaving the University of Florida.
Sabelhaus, who enrolled at Pierce too late to play football, hopes to graduate May 15 and have three seasons of Division I-A eligibility. Virginia is high on Sabelhaus' list, although the Cavaliers have shown only token interest, and he also faxed a letter to Virginia Tech.
COACHING CAROUSEL: East Carolina coach Steve Logan reportedly is high on the list of Boston College athletic director Chet Gladchuk, possibly because the Pirates won last year at Syracuse and have victories this season at two other Big East sites, West Virginia and Miami.
Money could be an issue because Logan, who has been the head coach at ECU for five seasons, will receive a $1-million annuity if he stays for 10 years. Former Boston College assistant Randy Edsall, the secondary coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, has been mentioned in connection with the BC and Maryland openings.
Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach at Penn State for 29 years, said he is interested in the Maryland job. Sandusky, the Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator, put together a plan for Maryland when Joe Krivak resigned in 1991 but ultimately turned down an interview request.
``There are a lot of jobs open, but I like to think there is only one great job open,'' said new Pittsburgh athletic director Dave Pederson, looking for a successor to Johnny Majors, the fourth consecutive Panthers coach to resign with time remaining on his contract.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB