Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 8, 1994 TAG: 9405100003
SECTION: DISCOVER NRV PAGE: 22 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Just check out the wins and losses. A coach who comes out ahead in most of his football games is going to be a winner with the public. Frank Beamer knows that.
A coach who watches losses pile up like dirty laundry is often hung out to dry by fickle fans and scribes. Frank Beamer knows that, too.
"Coaching is a tough business," he said. "You're judged on 11 Saturdays in the fall. Those games stay with you the whole year."
In the past two seasons, Beamer has been on both ends of the popularity curve. After experiencing a dismal 2-8-1 season in 1992, his Hokies rebounded in 1993 by going 9-3 and winning the Independence Bowl.
Beamer's winning streak continued when he was selected the favorite coach by an overwhelming majority of New River Valley readers who responded to the Discover poll in the Roanoke Times & World-News.
Beamer's personal victory was a blowout similar to the one posted by his team in the Independence Bowl, when the Hokies suffocated Indiana 43-20. That victory provided a fitting finish to Beamer's seventh and best season at Tech. It also solidified his standing as the New River Valley's favorite coach.
"I would hope that if you had taken this [poll] last year, it would have come up the same," said Beamer. "I know it probably wouldn't have. I would probably have just gotten [votes from] my mom, dad and the four other people in Fancy Gap."
It is that aw-shucks, down-home image that makes Beamer so popular with Hokies in the New River Valley and beyond. He's viewed as such a nice guy by fans and the media, he probably would have won the honor a year ago, probably by another wide margin.
He's a local boy who did good, a Tech graduate whose dream was to return and coach his alma mater. Tech fans accept him as one of their own.
"Tech grad comes home in style," wrote one reader who voted for Beamer.
Another wrote, "He's done more with the Hokies than anyone else has as far as I can remember."
"He's such a nice guy!" another reader proclaimed.
That genuine nice-guy image has made Beamer a popular speaker on the banquet circuit this spring. He draws big numbers whenever he speaks at Hokie Club gatherings. A standing-room-only crowd showed up when he appeared at a banquet in Hillsville, where he attended high school.
"In this area, people have always been nice to me, regardless of what's happened on the field," Beamer said.
In this area, people are Hokie fans, regardless of which team is on the field.
"I love all Hokie sports," wrote one reader.
The Hokies scored points with the folks who responded to the survey. The football team, men's and women's basketball squads, and the men's soccer team all received numerous mentions, but most people just wrote "Hokies" when asked who was their favorite team.
"That's neat," said Beamer. "I think it's appropriate that when you talk about the Hokies, you're talking about the team in the New River Valley.
"I still think we've got a long way to go. We want this program to get bigger and stronger. I still see a lot of hats that have a lot of other places [and other colleges] on them. I want to see more Virginia Tech hats around here."
While Beamer finished hat, head and shoulders ahead of the crowd, several other coaches made good showings in the survey. There were no losers.
Steve Ragsdale, Joel Hicks, David Crist and Norman Lineburg - the upper-crust of New River Valley high school football coaches - received numerous mentions, especially Ragsdale (called "a super coach with great talents" by one reader) and Hicks ("He loves and cares about his players as much as he does the game of football").
Ragsdale coached the Giles Spartans to the Group A, Division 2 state championship last fall. Hicks and the Pulaski County Cougars won the Group AAA, Division 6 championship in 1992 and finished as state runners-up in 1993.
Radford's Lineburg ("a gentleman's gentleman") and Blacksburg's Crist ("A good role model for kids") have each won two state championships and both are pillars of their respective communities.
It's interesting to note the connections most of these successful high school coaches have with Beamer and Tech. Beamer was a young member of Lineburg's coaching staff when Radford won the 1971 state championship. Beamer's son, Shane, plays football for Crist. Hicks has sent several of his players to to play for the Hokies.
Other coaches who received several mentions were Tech men's basketball coach Bill Foster ("seems real dedicated") and women's coach Carol Alfano ("gives her all"), Radford University basketball coach Ron Bradley ("well educated, well prepared"), and Tech men's soccer coach Jerry Cheynet ("a hard worker").
All of the local high schools received votes as a favorite team, especially Pulaski County and Giles (winning state championships always scores points in a popularity poll).
by CNB