The Hokies' first big win under Frank came in 1989, a 12-10 upset of No. "It was worth every bit of it." One to remember "Mom and Dad wanted to make sure I did my part and helped pay for the flights, so I had to get a summer job at the parks and recreation department as a counselor for camps and also did field maintenance," Shane said. But even when he started playing high school ball, he would find the earliest flight possible on Saturday mornings and fly by himself to be there for all of the Hokies' away games and then fly back with the team. He resumed playing football in the eighth grade. "Anything I could do to be around the team, I was going to do," Shane said. Before wireless headsets, he was the one who carried the cord on the sideline for his dad. He loved interacting with the players and even quit playing football so he could be at all of the practices and games. Shane loved being around the Virginia Tech program more than anything as a kid. That next season, we broke through and went to a bowl, and he's been to one every year since." Following in Dad's footsteps "There were six games that season we led in the fourth quarter and just couldn't get over the hump, but the administration hung with him. It was also great for me when I became a young coach because you saw what a fine line there is between winning and losing. I've tried to remember that with my own kids. "He always had time for us and never let football get in the way of being our father. "That was hard, but the thing I admire most about him is that he never brought it home with him and was never in a bad mood no matter how bad it got," Shane said. She was naturally shaken, and so were Shane and his mom, Cheryl.īut Shane said his father was a rock, and his resolve and grace through those difficult times were a source of strength for the entire family. When she told him her father wasn't home, the caller unloaded on Casey and told her what a horrible coach her father was. She was only 11 at the time, and the caller asked for Frank. The call he'll never forget was taken by his sister. "Amazingly, our phone number was still listed, and we'd get nasty calls at home," he said. He was old enough to know his dad was in trouble and was starting to hear comments from kids at school and people around town. Shane was a sophomore in high school that sixth season (1992) when the Hokies finished 2-8-1. In today's coaching climate, he would have never made it to Year 6. Rebuilding his alma mater proved to be a massive undertaking, and Frank had only two winning seasons in his first six years on the job. "As a kid, the thing I remember most is that they were flying back on Christmas Eve and had flight issues trying to get back to Kentucky, and he was doing everything he could to get back for Christmas. 23, two days before Christmas," Shane said. "I remember they interviewed him in Nashville, and he was introduced on Dec. Shane and his younger sister, Casey, stayed in Murray, Kentucky, to finish school. Shane was 9 when his father accepted the Virginia Tech job in 1987 and 10 when the whole family moved to Blacksburg, Virginia. It has been an emotional past few weeks for everybody in the Beamer family, but Shane shared with his own personal scrapbook from his father's three-decade career at Virginia Tech through the eyes of a son, player, opposing coach and now his father's right-hand man as associate head coach. Shane has watched his father's Hall of Fame career unfold from seemingly every vantage point, and he'll be there alongside his dad Saturday at Lane Stadium when he coaches his final home game against No. Other than Frank Beamer himself, nobody has had a better seat or a keener perspective of what "Beamer Ball" was truly about than Beamer's only son, Shane. SC On The Road: Shane Beamer reflects on his father's legendary career You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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