[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 402-403]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING COACH FRANK BEAMER ON HIS RETIREMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Griffith) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Coach Frank 
Beamer on the occasion of his retirement as the head football coach at 
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University--more commonly 
known

[[Page 403]]

and fondly known as Virginia Tech--located in Blacksburg, Virginia, as 
Coach Beamer concludes his highly successful career. For almost three 
decades, Coach Beamer has been a tremendous leader in Virginia and a 
mentor to hundreds of student athletes.
  In 29 seasons under Coach Beamer's leadership, Virginia Tech football 
has enjoyed unprecedented success, notching 237 wins, three Big East 
championships, four Atlantic Coast Conference championships, and the 
opportunity to play for a national championship. His ``Beamer Ball'' 
style of play has led Virginia Tech to become one of the Nation's most 
respected college football programs.
  In 1999, Coach Beamer was named the consensus Associated Press 
College Football Coach of the Year.
  Coach Beamer's first postseason berth as head coach at Virginia Tech 
was a trip to the 1993 Independence Bowl game, which resulted in a 
victory for the Hokies. It was only fitting that Coach Beamer ended his 
coaching career with a 55-52 victory over the University of Tulsa in 
the 2015 Independence Bowl, capping off a school record 23 straight 
postseason bowl games.
  Raised a short drive from Blacksburg, in Hillsville, Virginia, Coach 
Beamer graduated from Hillsville High School, where he earned 11 
varsity letters as a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and 
baseball. He went on to attend Virginia Tech as an undergraduate and 
started 3 years as a cornerback, playing on the Hokies' 1966 and 1968 
Liberty Bowl teams.
  While attending Radford University to receive his master's degree in 
guidance, he began his coaching career in 1969 as an assistant at 
southwest Virginia's Radford High School.

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  From there, he went on to work as a graduate assistant at Maryland 
for 1 year, followed by the Citadel for five seasons, where he was 
defensive coordinator for two of those.
  In 1979, Coach Beamer joined Murray State University as defensive 
coordinator and was named head coach in 1981.
  In 1987, he made his way back to his native southwest Virginia to 
take the reins at Virginia Tech. He has brought honor to southwest 
Virginia and Virginia Tech by always being the consummate Virginia 
gentleman and a darn good football coach to boot.
  He has devoted his time and passion to the teams he has coached as 
well as the greater southwest Virginia community. In fact, in 2004, he 
was presented with a Humanitarian Award by the National Conference of 
Community and Justice for his contributions to fostering justice, 
equity, and community in the Roanoke Valley.
  As evidenced by his incredible success, Coach Beamer has much to be 
proud of and can look back on an honest and accomplished career. His 
passion for coaching led him to achieve what many coaches only dream 
of.
  He has positively shaped the futures and touched the lives of the 
Virginia boys and girls that he has dealt with--particularly, the boys 
on his football team--and has made us a better State. This is truly the 
great measure of a great coach.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to help commemorate the career of a 
remarkable man. After 29 years of dedicated leadership to Virginia Tech 
and the greater community, I would like to thank Coach Beamer for his 
service. I wish him and his family all of the best in his retirement.

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