Beamer honored
Former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer receives a Paul “Bear” Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award. Story,
Former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer will receive the 2019 Paul “Bear” Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to college football on and off the field.
The award's sponsors, the American Heart Association and Marathon Oil, announced the recognition Thursday.
Beamer won 1999 Bryant Coach of the Year honors when he steered the Hokies to an undefeated regular season and the national championship game against Florida State.
Past recipients of the Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award include coaching giants Darrell Royal, Bo Schembechler, Tom Osborne, Barry Switzer, Vince Dooley, Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier and Jimmy Johnson. Beamer contemporaries Mack Brown and Barry Alvarez are the most recent honorees.
“Frank Beamer has always gone beyond winning, teaching players leadership skills for life,” Marathon Oil president and CEO Lee Tillman said in a news release.
Beamer in the release said he is “honored and humbled. … I'd like to thank all the fine young men who I had an opportunity to coach, as well as their parents who entrusted their sons to me. Without our coaches and support staff, we could not have built the program and enjoyed the success we did. A big thank you to them and their families for their commitment and loyalty. …
“I also owe a debt of gratitude to our fabulous fans, administrators and alumni at Virginia Tech who allowed me to enjoy a 29-year coaching run at my alma mater. Finally, and most importantly, I am especially grateful for my wife, Cheryl, and our family.”
No Football Bowl Subdivision head coach has led his alma mater for longer than Beamer guided the Hokies. Bryant coached his alma mater, Alabama, for 25 seasons, from 1958-82.
Beamer's Tech teams went 238-121-2 from 19872015 and earned postseason invitations in each of his final 23 years. He coached the previous six seasons at Murray State, compiling a 42-23-2 record.
Retirement has brought Beamer a flurry of honors, including election to the College Football Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and the 2017 Nyland Trophy for contributions to the game.
Beamer will receive the Bryant honor Jan. 9 in Houston, capping a whirlwind six weeks for him.
As a member of the College Football Playoff selection committee, he'll be in suburban Dallas Nov. 30-Dec. 2 as the panel chooses this season's semifinalists. On Dec. 4 in New York, he'll be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Beamer will attend a CFP semifinal Dec. 29, either the Orange Bowl or Cotton Bowl, followed by the championship game Jan. 7 near San Francisco.
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