Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
By the end of this year, only two other head coaches in 102 Tech seasons will have coached more games and autumns than Beamer.
One is his Tech mentor, Jerry Claiborne. The other was Claiborne's predecessor and former boss, the late Frank Moseley. Beamer begins 1995 workouts this weekend only two seasons short of tying those men for a decade on the Hokie sidelines.
``Really?'' Beamer said, seemingly somewhat amazed.
Amazing has been Tech's climb from where the program stood exactly two years ago during a similar high noon dialogue with Beamer. The Hokies were coming off a 2-8-1 finish in 1993 and appeared headed for something other than back-to-back bowl bids for the first time.
So, why shouldn't Beamer be comfortable? His team is 17-7 the past two seasons and has played a dozen times on TV. The program has used conference affiliation as a launching pad. He has a new five-year contract, starting this season at $141,450.
Season-ticket sales are at a record 13,500 and still climbing. Beamer's alma mater and its supporters are about to build a $6 million football wing onto the Jamerson Athletic Center.
Why is Beamer fidgeting in his office chair?
``Well,'' he said of the projection that by 1997 he will have coached more Tech football games than anyone, ``I'm not there yet.''
Nor is his program where he thinks it can go. Beamer, 48, has guided Tech from embarrassment to riches without an embarrassment of riches. His team is picked third in the Big East this season, a prediction Beamer thinks is realistic.
``I don't mind expectations,'' he said. ``Their being high can carry disappointment with it, but you want support, you want season tickets sold, you want bowls, you want good recruiting.
``Still, whether you win one or lose one, there's a fine line, and that can get so vicious. It can get out of whack real quickly. Then, if you don't have expectations, that's a slow death, too.''
Asked whether it's tougher to get to the top or stay at the top, Beamer thought back to the not-so-distant history.
``Let's just say I don't want to go through trying to get there again,'' he said.
There is a certain comfort zone as the Hokies begin the season. Both coaching coordinators from last season are gone, but the new men in those jobs are familiar faces. Ten starters return on defense.
There are those questioning whether untested quarterback Jim Druckenmiller can bring stability to Tech's offense, but Beamer isn't among that legion. The head coach is looking for someone to carry his headset cord on the sideline. His son, Shane, has given up that role for uniform No.80 as a freshman walk-on.
It's a far cry from the early Beamer years, when assistant coaches were yukking it up with disc jockeys on the radio, and then the next night the Hokies were getting cranked by Tulane.
It's also a measure of the expectations created by Beamer's program that when the Hokies' recruiting year was picked apart by analysts, the head coach's fellow alumni started making the same sounds they did during season-ending losses to Virginia and in the Gator Bowl against a far-superior Tennessee team.
And if the Hokies are any less than a conservative 7-4 and a bowl bid against a schedule that includes Akron, Navy, Cincinnati and Big East doormat Temple, Beamer knows he won't be the only alumnus who is dissatisfied.
In his early years back on his home campus after coaching success at Murray State, Beamer was told he'd done everything except win. He's done that now, too, but his Tech record still is six games under .500.
``It's the place I really want to be, but it has been a tough eight years,'' said Beamer, courted last winter by higher-profile programs. ``I wouldn't want to leave, but through it all, you have to remember it's a business.
``There's no question I have a great love for this place, and I guess what means the most about still being here is that our status is changing now.
``I've said there are only so many football programs that can do that, and this is one of those. We've gotten it this far, and we have to keep going.''
Where Beamer wants to keep going is bowling during the holidays, and, although he loves the neighborhood, he doesn't mean at Triangle Lanes in Christiansburg.
by CNB