Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer to retire at season’s end

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After nearly three decades coaching at his alma mater, Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer has decided to retire at the end of this season.

The longest tenured and winningest active coach was the face of a football resurgence in Blacksburg, piloting the Hokies to four ACC championships, three Big East crowns and 22 consecutive bowl games. But like so many coaches at the tail end of their careers, the game had begun to pass Beamer by.

Virginia Tech has been mired in mediocrity for the past four seasons, going a pedestrian 26-22 over that time. Bud Foster’s defense was always solid, but the offense could never find the right formula and even the team’s fabled Beamer Ball special teams unit missed its mark.

The Hokies have slipped into irrelevancy, despite playing in the weaker ACC Coastal Division, and it had become patently obvious that Beamer was no longer the coach to get the program back into league contention.

Fortunately, the reality of the situation wasn’t lost on the coach.

Beamer’s time has come and gone, and kudos to him for recognizing it and stepping away. This could have been a far uglier separation, because how exactly do you tell the legend who put your program on the map that his services are no longer needed? It’s not easy. Just ask Penn State or Florida State or any number of schools that held onto iconic coaches who were past their prime.

But Beamer is different than his peers, because he refuses to put his own ego in front of the good of a program he genuinely loves. He’s a gentleman, right down to this decision to retire before putting Virginia Tech in the awkward position of having to concoct an exit strategy.

Now what?

Virginia Tech is a terrific job, with the facilities, fan base and recruiting territory to get this thing turned around in a hurry. The Hokies have access to gobs of talent. They just need someone who can mold that talent into a winning production.

Defensive coordinator Bud Foster? Uh-uh. Yeah, it would be a continuity hire, and who knows the Hokies better? But Foster is not a great closer on the recruiting trail, one of the reasons why he’s never been a head coach. This program can do better. It ought to find a coach who can finally—mercifully—breathe life into the offense. Get into the Justin Fuente derby right now. Inquire about Tom Herman. Might this be a spot to bring in Lane Kiffin now that he’s done an apprenticeship in Tuscaloosa?

This is a good day to be a Hokie. Sad, but a good day nonetheless. Beamer is going out on his own terms, as it should be. And he’s creating a new opportunity for a younger coach who’ll have a chance to bring the glory back to Blacksburg.

In an era of job-hopping, headline-grabbing and egomaniacal head coaches in college football, Beamer was always a refreshing departure from the new norm. He’ll be missed. But he made the right decision to end his coaching career in 2015. Now it’s up to the administration to make the right decision by resisting the temptation to pass the baton to Foster. It’s time to look outside the program and get some fresh energy and ideas back on the sidelines at Lane Stadium.