Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992                   TAG: 9203040040
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TECH WELCOMES FORMER ASSISTANT BACK INTO THE FOLD

A Virginia Tech assistant football coach in 1970, Strock had been swept out of a job when then-Hokie head coach Jerry Claiborne was forced to quit. One of the players he helped coach in his five years at Tech under Claiborne, Frank Beamer, has hired Strock as a defensive ends coach.

"There were some bitter feelings I had at the time because of the way things were handled," Strock said Tuesday. "Time has a way of healing those wounds."

Beamer expects Strock to help heal a wounded Tech program, which went from back-to-back winning seasons in 1989 and '90 to a 5-6 record in '91, punctuated by a 38-0 loss at Virginia.

Strock, a 1962 Tech graduate, fills one of the vacancies created when Beamer dismissed Duke Strager and Larry Creekmore in February. Former Maryland assistant coach George Foussekis, also a Tech alumnus, has been offered the other job but has yet to accept.

"He and I are talking," Beamer said.

Foussekis, reached at his hotel in Blacksburg, refused comment.

Beamer said he coveted Strock's quarter-century of experience with eight-man-front defenses - although Strock coached wide receivers the past two years at Georgia Tech - and Strock's experience, period. The 52-year-old Hagerstown, Md., native has been an assistant coach for 13 bowl teams, including Georgia Tech's 1990 co-national champions.

And, because of Tech's Big East football conference membership, Beamer plans to exploit Strock's recruiting ties in the Northeast. From 1972-81 at Maryland, Strock recruited New Jersey. Beamer said it is likely Strock will have that responsibility for the Hokies, who rarely have ventured into New Jersey under Beamer.

"That's a good, strong area for us right now. We're a different school than, say, a Temple, Rutgers, Pitt" or Boston College, Beamer said. "We're an alternative."

Strock said he has kept in touch with his contacts in New Jersey, and said he began recruiting the area again for Georgia Tech last spring. That isn't all Strock thinks he can add to Tech's staff. He said he believes he can help fine-tune Tech's wide-tackle-six defense.

"They've improved the program to the point where we really need to have a big year," said Strock, who was Claiborne's defensive coordinator at Kentucky from 1982-89. "Maybe [I can] add some maturity."

Strock added that he told defensive coordinator Mike Clark, " `You guys have had success. I'm not going to try to tell you you're doing this wrong or that wrong - just little things here or there that might help.' "

Strock and Foussekis were Beamer's top choices to fill out the staff, and Beamer did not deny that their availability played a part in his staff shake-up.

Georgia Tech's Bobby Ross went to the NFL's San Diego Chargers as head coach and did not take Strock with him; Strock said he had not had any other interviews.

At Maryland, head coach Joe Krivak and his staff, including Foussekis, were let go after the season.