Beamer proves sticking with the right coach pays dividends

In 1992, Frank Beamer and his Virginia Tech Hokies had a 2-8-1 record, bringing Beamer's six-year mark in Blacksburg to 24-40-2.

"I don't believe many people would survive (that) in today's time," Beamer said.

In today's atmosphere, Beamer probably would have been fired after the 5-6 season of 1991. Before that, his teams had won no more than six games, and he began his tenure at Virginia Tech 2-9 and 3-8.

He did start out with scholarship restrictions because of the NCAA violations committed by the previous coaching regime.

Still, 2-8-1 and 24-40-2 hardly seem indicative of great things.

But the Virginia Tech administration stuck with Beamer. In 1993, the Hokies were 9-3 and went to the Independence Bowl.

Tonight, Beamer and his Hokies play in their 19th consecutive bowl game. This year, it's the Sugar Bowl, a lucrative Bowl Championship Series event, against the University of Michigan.

The moral to this little story is that if you believe you have the right coach for the job, stick with him, though good times and bad. If your beliefs are correct, the payoff is huge.

Beamer's worse record since 1992 was 7-5 in 1997. The Hokies currently are working on the longest streak of seasons with at least 10 victories in the Football Bowl Subdivision, eight and counting.

And the Hokies have won at least 10 games in 11 of their past 13 seasons.

Beamer's longevity at Virginia Tech is at once a commendation for and condemnation of college football.

Virginia Tech stuck with the coach in whom it believed, despite the early results. College football is a mess because such a situation is unlikely to occur again.

"I think the money's gotten up there where people want results right now," Beamer said.

"I think the way information gets out, it doesn't have to be right. It may be wrong. But then, people are talking about it. The way the whole situation is, I just don't think coaches will last as long as we've been able to do at Virginia Tech."

More's the pity.

As important as it is to stay with the right person, it's equally important to know when a coach has run his course. Joe Paterno stayed too long at Penn State, as did Bobby Bowden at Florida State.

Beamer, in his 25th season in Blacksburg, still is at the top of his game. He has capable recruiters. He saw a need to infuse youth in his staff after the 2010 season and did so.

Beamer's son Shane, the associate head coach at Virginia Tech, is a head coach in waiting. That does not mean he is the future head coach at Virginia Tech.

But you'd have to have spent the past year in deep study of the Iowa caucuses to miss the signs the younger Beamer one day will be a college head coach.

The father hopes his son will enjoy the same success and benefits — Frank makes about $2.3 million per season. But the elder Beamer knows what his son faces.

"I think we are where we are," Beamer said. "Shane certainly understands the coaching profession. He certainly understands it's not only year to year, it's week to week.

"I don't see the money going the other way. I don't see the media going the other way. Did you win last Saturday or not? It's kind of that way, really."

If Beamer ran college football, several things would be different, chief among them the time coaches get to build a program.

"Things don't happen quickly," Beamer said. "In today's world, people seem like, 'OK, we'll fire this guy, hire this guy, pay him a bunch of money and everything's going to be OK.' I don't think it's necessarily going to be OK in a real short period of time."

Virginia Tech's administration stayed with Beamer in 1992. The decision still is paying dividends in 2012.