2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE - HokieSports

2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE
MEET THE COACHES
Head Coach
Frank Beamer
Veteran Coach Leads Tech
to Orange Bowl in 21st Season
at the Helm of the Hokies
Fresh off an ACC title and
heading into a berth in the FedEx
Orange Bowl, Frank Beamer is
concluding his 21st year as the
head football coach at Virginia
Tech, and with a solid foundation
in place, he continues to take the
Hokies to higher levels.
After leading the Hokies to a
10-3 record and a trip to another
bowl game in 2006, the two-time
Atlantic Coast Conference Coach
of the year proudly took on the
challenge of having to live up to
the high expectations set in July
by the ACC media, who for the
first time in four years, picked the
Hokies to capture the outright ACC
Championship crown.
While Beamer had a senior
class looking to become the
first class in Tech history to win
at least 10 games each year,
the Hokies entered the season
with injuries on the offensive
line that looked to possibly
dash any thoughts of reaching
the Bowl Championship Series.
Suffering what was thought to
be a devastating non-conference
loss to LSU in the second game
of the season, Beamer did not
lose confidence in his squad and
stayed the course of winning the
ACC as he molded the group into a
cohesive unit that would outscore
opponents 357-146 following the
defeat in Baton Rouge.
During the stretch, Beamer
recorded his first win ever
against famed Florida State head
coach Bobby Bowden, while also
putting BeamerBall on full display
against Bowden’s son, Tommy,
at Clemson. In the game against
the nationally-ranked Tigers, the
Coach Frank Beamer celebrates with his players following the Hokies’ win over Boston College in the ACC Championship Game.
32 VIRGINIA 2007 VIRGINIA TECH TECH FOOTBALL FOOTBALL 2007
Hokies scored three nonoffensive
touchdowns off
an interception, a punt
return and a kickoff return.
Tech concluded the regular
season by defeating
Virginia on the road in
what was arguably the most
important game in the history
of the in-state rivalry as the
winner would win the ACC Coastal
Division title and advance to the
ACC Championship game. With the
victory over the Cavaliers, Tech
became one of two Division I FBS
teams to post 10 or more wins
in each of the last four regular
seasons. The momentum carried
over to Jacksonville as Beamer
and the Hokies proved the media
right by winning their second ACC
title, this time beating Boston
College, 30-16.
There’s no doubt Virginia Tech
couldn’t have asked for anyone
better than Frank Beamer to
guide its football program into
the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In 2005, he led the Hokies to an
11-2 record, the Coastal Division
title, a spot in the inaugural
league championship contest and
a bowl game. In 2004, Beamer
guided another young Tech team
— picked to finish sixth in the
ACC — to a league title and a
BCS Bowl. That team also won the
league’s 2004 Fall Sportsmanship
Award for football, yet another
tribute to the program Beamer
and his staff have built.