The highlights of Frank Beamer’s session at ACC media days
Darryl Slater
Jul 25, 2011
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said a lot of stuff today here at ACC media days in Pinehurst, N.C. Let’s get right to the highlights, with the most interesting stuff (that’s subjective, of course) coming first.
Preseason practices, by the way, begin Aug. 4—a week from Thursday.
** College football’s recent issues with NCAA rules violations have been well-documented. North Carolina’s soap opera has been going on for a year now.
As the most experienced ACC coach – and the second winningest active coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision (ninth all-time) – what are Beamer’s thoughts on this?
“I think what needs to be looked at is how quickly schools that are in question are investigated,” he said. “And if punishment is due, then get the punishment out there. I think when things happen and it takes a year, and it takes a year and a half, and it takes two years, I just don’t think it’s good for anyone. If it means hiring more people at the NCAA level, that’s what I think we need to do because I certainly want a level playing field.
“We’ve got to operate quicker. To have something happen, and then a couple years later, the people remaining there are the ones getting penalized, to me, it doesn’t make good sense in that regard. We need quicker results to get to the bottom of things if a team is investigated – to find out if there’s punishment, let’s get it out quicker.”
Then Beamer continued, unprompted, by alluding to the non-suspension of Ohio State players for last season’s Sugar Bowl, without mentioning the school by name.
“I think people would question some of the punishments that have come around – whether it’s right or wrong when a team plays in a bowl game, but the kids can play in a bowl game but can’t play the first few games [the next year]. I’m not sure that’s the right message to be sending.
“We tell the kids, ‘We try to give you the rules and now you’re responsible for your actions.’ And if you break the rules, there needs to be a response – and try to keep the responses more the same, more constant. It seemed like if you did wrong, you should be punished, and the quicker you can get that, the more chances you have of not getting something wrong again. To me, it seems that way.”
** Multi-year scholarships – they currently have to be renewed every year – and giving athletes more money in their scholarships to pay bills also have been hot topics of late.
Of multi-year scholarships, Beamer said, “I’m not for that. I don’t think people in college football run off players. I know we don’t at Virginia Tech. But I do think kids have to be held accountable to do the right thing. I don’t think you need to sit there and tell them, ‘You’ve got to do this.’ But then if he doesn’t do this he’s still on scholarship for two more years or three more years. We’re held accountable for our kids doing right, and now you need something [incentive] for them to do right.”
As for increasing the value of a scholarship, Beamer said, “I’m all for giving players more funds. But I think it’s got to be the very same right across the board. Whatever school you’re going to, you get the same amount of money, because if you don’t, then all of a sudden, there’s a recruiting advantage. What I think everybody is trying to do is keep the playing field level.”
** Beamer’s name surfaced in an odd story recently about former Georgia coach Jim Donnan being accused of making millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme with a company called GLC Enterprises. Beamer invested in GLC, but said he got all of his money back and didn’t lose any of it.
“I put some money in,” he said. “The money I put in, I got back out. And that was it. I don’t know that Jim knew what it was when he was encouraging me to put some money in. He’s a good friend and told me he had a good deal for me. That’s what I took it as.”
** Tech has an unusually high number of commitments for the Class of 2012. The Hokies are at 23. But that’s not by his staff’s design, Beamer said.
“It’s just kind of worked out that the numbers have been as much as they have been,” he said.
Is he concerned about spots running out as high-profile recruits wait until later in the process, as they usually do, to make their decisions?
“I think the No. 1 thing is you want guys that want to be at Virginia Tech,” Beamer said. “It’s hard a call sometimes: Do you wait on that guy or do you take this guy that wants to be here?”
** For what it’s worth, Beamer agreed with the media picking Florida State to win the ACC and not Tech.
“I’d vote for them, too,” he said, noting that the Hokies have a new quarterback in Logan Thomas, while Florida State’s quarterback, E.J. Manuel, is more experienced. Moreover, Beamer said, the Hokies will debut a punter and kicker.
“Those are some critical parts,” he said, adding that his defense still must prove it can limit big plays better than it did last season. “I think you’ve got some real question marks in there that have to be answered. And that’s the challenging part right now.”
** Beamer still isn’t sure who is punter will be – and said it could very well be senior wide receiver Danny Coale.
“The only thing we know is people will not return punts against us, because we don’t know where it’s going, they don’t know where it’s going,” he joked. “So there’s not a chance in the world guys could be returning punts on us. That’s the only good thing I see out of it.
“If everything stayed equal, I’m going to go with a guy [Coale] that’s been in pressure situations and is kind of used to the heat you’ve got back there. That’s going to be one of our priorities starting fall practice, getting our punting situation squared away.
“The tough thing is [Coale] being in there in third down and then coming in and punting. That’s a little bit of a question right there. It’s important enough that I think you consider what your third-down [receiver] grouping [is]. You’ve got to be able to punt the football. To me, that’s really one of the critical teams in college football, is your punting team.”
** Beamer was asked about the whip linebacker position (a major issue last season because it forced Tech to play a lot of nickel defense) and whether he might rotate juniors Jeron Gouveia-Winslow and Alonzo Tweedy of Hermitage. Gouveia-Winslow emerged from spring practices as the No. 1, with Tweedy close behind.
“I think G-W would be the guy there,” Beamer said.
** What question marks does he still have on his depth chart?
“I think in the big picture, maybe a couple freshmen could come in and maybe help on the defensive line,” he said. “I think we need to be more consistent. I think the Hopkins guys [starting tackles Derrick and Antoine], those two guys need to play well, and I think they will. I think we’ve got a couple defensive linemen that could figure in there for playing time.
“I think the further you get away from the ball, the easier it is to play [as a freshman]. For an offensive lineman, I think it’s really hard because you’re always working with somebody else. For a defensive linemen, it’s a little bit more: Learn your technique and chase the other color. But still, things happen quickly.”
So early in August, keep an eye on defensive tackle Kris Harley, one of the highest-rated members of the incoming freshman class. He could factor in as a backup. End Corey Marshall of Dinwiddie was also a highly rated recruit.
** Xavier Boyce would be a junior wide receiver this season, but Beamer said his status with the team remains “up in the air right now.” Boyce has been indefinitely suspended since being arrested in March on felony child abuse charges for an alleged incident involving his infant daughter. Boyce is not on the roster or in the media guide.
** Would junior David Wilson’s status as the new No. 1 tailback prevent Beamer from having him return kickoffs – an area where he has been so successful during his career?
“We’ve got to talk about that,” Beamer said. “I think he’s such a threat that any time you put him in open spaces – and you kind of get some open spaces there [on kickoff returns] … We’ll see. I think he’s a real talent on that part of the team. I don’t think you play the game scared. I think when you start trying to protect, that’s not the way to play football.”
** Beamer really likes his receivers – seniors Jarrett Boykin, Coale and Dyrell Roberts, and junior Marcus Davis. The group conjures memories of the 2007 receivers: Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan, Justin Harper and Josh Hyman.
“I think that has a chance to be the strongest point of our football team,” Beamer said.
** Beamer hasn’t set a deadline to figure out who the No. 2 quarterback will be, partly because redshirt freshman Ricardo Young is returning from a foot injury that sidelined him for almost all of the spring.
“You need to give him a look,” Beamer said. “I think we need to get it squared away. But for us to set a deadline right now, I don’t think we want to do that.”
** We’ll close with a question Beamer got about wanting to win a national title before he retires.
“That’s got to be your goal, and it is our goal,” he said. “We’re in the mix, but what’s happened is we just haven’t quite fit together. When we were good defensively, we were a little bit too young offensively. And then when we were good offensively last year, we were a little bit too immature defensively. It’s just kind of all got to come together, and then you’ve got to be a little bit lucky.
“I think we’re in the mix. It’s just got to fit together and have a little luck. That’s what you shoot for. I think you understand it’s hard. Things have to fall right and you’ve got to be good and you’ve got to be a little bit lucky. We’re going to keep working for that, though.
“What I’m probably most proud of is I don’t think Virginia Tech is thought of the same way now as they were 10 years or 15 years ago. How we’re thought of on a national level I think has changed. I think you have to be consistent for your name to be mentioned at a high level.”
