2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE - HokieSports

John Ballein holds one of
the most important positions
in Virginia Tech athletics as
the associate athletics director
for football operations. He
was promoted to the position
during the summer of 2000 in
recognition of his excellent work
for Coach Frank Beamer and his
program.
Ballein is responsible for
all operations dealing with the
Dr. John Ballein
football program. He continues
to serve as assistant to Beamer
and as departmental recruiting
coordinator, jobs he performed
prior to his promotion.
“you name it and John Ballein
does it,” Beamer said in a Dec.
18, 1999 article on Ballein in The
Roanoke Times. “Just everything
that goes on around here — our
travel, our recruiting, our camps,
our clinics. He is absolutely the
best.”
A native of Bentleyville,
Pa., Ballein was a linebacker at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
and graduated with a degree in
health and physical education
in 1983. He later earned a
master’s in education from Old
Dominion University in 1987.
Ballein completed his doctorate of
education at Virginia Tech in 2006.
Ballein was a teacher and
football coach in 1983-84 at
Woodrow Wilson High School in
Portsmouth, Va., and at Western
Branch High in Chesapeake, Va., in
1985-86.
Ballein served on Beamer’s
first Virginia Tech staff in 1987
as a graduate assistant coach. In
1988, he accepted a position as
running backs coach at Western
Kentucky University. He returned
to Tech a year later as recruiting
coordinator.
With his office adjacent to
Coach Beamer’s, he is often
considered Beamer’s right-hand
man. He deals mostly with the
administrative side of the football
Dr. John Ballein and his wife, Stephanie, with Jalyn and Jordan.
THE MEET COACHING THE COACHES
STAFF
Associate Director of Athletics for Football Operations
program, but is one of the
favorites among players. His office
is a preferred hangout, and he
is one of the most beloved and
respected members of the staff.
“Everyone knows Coach
Ballein’s the guy that gets things
done,” said Ben Taylor, a former
Tech linebacker who was a twotime
All-American. “If it is for
Coach Beamer or the players,
he has a way of taking care of
business. Whether it was about
football, academics or an issue
in your personal life, his door
was always open. The thing I
appreciate the most about him
is the fact that he genuinely
cared about us. He is one of the
people that make Virginia Tech so
special.”
2007 VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL 51
2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE