Frank Beamer is working his way back to full health, five months after throat surgery forced him to take a step back from the Virginia Tech program he built.
Though Beamer led spring practice, his voice almost completely restored, he said recently during the ACC spring meetings, “Any time you have an operation, it takes a little bit and I’m getting back to close to being good. I’m not quite there yet.”
After the surgery in December, Beamer was able to coach the bowl game from the press box. But for the most part, defensive coordinator Bud Foster and running backs coach Shane Beamer led day-to-day operations until Beamer was ready to return.
While they did that, Frank Beamer needed extensive speech therapy, where he had to relearn how to talk. Along the way, he did not lose his self-deprecating sense of humor.
“Fortunately, I had a staff that did a great job,” he said. “They didn’t really need me. It hurt me a little bit, but we’ve done things the same way and they knew how we do things. Bud Foster’s been there forever, my son, Shane, so they stepped in. And it hurts me to say it, but I don’t think we missed a beat.”
He pauses and laughs, “It might have been better.”
Though the process back has been long, Beamer said the surgery helped put everything in perspective. But the surgery and rehab did not make him question how much longer he wants to coach, a subject that has become a major talking point over the past two years as Virginia Tech has dipped.
“Not as much that as appreciating what you have, being able to get out there and go to practice and being able to go to games and being around the kids,” Beamer said. "When you’re not around them, it made you appreciate them more.”
As Beamer heads into his 29th season with the Hokies, there are many who believe this is a make-or-break season for him. After eight straight years with 10 or more wins, Virginia Tech has fallen back the past three seasons.
Beamer knows full well seven- and eight-win seasons are unacceptable after the standard that he set. He hears all the chatter, so you better believe he puts pressure on himself to get the Hokies back.
“I figured out our alumni and our supporters really want to do that,” Beamer said with a smile. “But the other side of it is understanding that it’s tough to do -- but it’s doable. We’ve been there and I think we’re closer to where it was when we were getting there than we have been in some years. We’ve gone through three years there where we haven’t been as good as we need to be, but I think we’re getting close to being back.”
There is reason for optimism. Virginia Tech returns 16 starters, including starting quarterback Michael Brewer and a host of young, talented backs, receivers and tight ends. The offensive line appears to be turning a corner, and that might not be a coincidence with much-needed stability at the coaching position there.
Last year, Stacy Searels was the third different coach in three straight years for Hokies linemen to get to know. But now, Searels returns for his second season, so that should help. So should relatively little staff turnover. Only receivers coach Aaron Morehead departed after the season.
The defense should be strong up front, and returns a potential first-round pick in cornerback Kendall Fuller. Outside of the opener against Ohio State, the Virginia Tech schedule is manageable, too. The Hokies get Boston College and NC State out of the Atlantic, though they have to travel to East Carolina, Miami and Georgia Tech.
On paper, anyway, it is easy to see why expectations are growing for Virginia Tech to be back in the ACC championship hunt this year.
“I’d much rather be in a position where you got that, and expectations be that, than all of a sudden you don’t have that and expectations are still there,” Beamer said. “I think that’s part of dealing with being a college football coach or any football coach. You’ve got to produce. That’s the name of the game.”