ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512130018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Frank Beamer and Vince Dooley were both in New York City on Tuesday. Beamer dined at a Bowl Alliance luncheon paid for by CBS. Dooley attended the National Football Foundation dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Maybe they met in David Letterman's audience or somewhere else. However, if they did, you can bet the Georgia athletic director didn't greet the Virginia Tech football coach by saying, ``Nice job you've done up there replacing my little brother.''
Dooley is a solo search committee to fill a coaching job he held for 25 years, a vacancy front-runner Gary Barnett of Northwestern said Tuesday wasn't what he wanted. Beamer is said to be intrigued by the Georgia job now and has been before, a notion that should surprise no one. Atlanta newspapers today are reporting Beamer is the leading candidate.
However, considering the circumstances under which Beamer got the Tech job in 1987 and considering the considerable family ties and egos involved, if Georgia is going to hire a former Virginia Tech coach, it is more likely to be Bill Dooley than Frank Beamer.
Beamer, in some ways, doesn't seem a likely candidate.
Nor should he be.
Sure, the Georgia job that fired alumnus Ray Goff relinquishes after a Peach Bowl against Virginia is a very good one. Beamer would double or more the dollars in his first-year Tech deal. He could earn as much as $700,000 annually. He owns a summer home in Georgia.
The Hokies are bowl-bound for a third consecutive holiday, so Beamer deserves to be a candidate - just as he deserves to go to Houston today for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year dinner, as a finalist for that award.
With the Hokies hitting the Sugar Bowl, Georgia may seem a real sweet spot to Beamer. At the least, Beamer surely is trying to leverage Tech AD Dave Braine to spice up his Hokie deal.
However, the red sweater with the black ``G'' on the front doesn't seem to fit. Just winning isn't enough at Georgia, which hasn't had a Southeastern Conference championship since 1982. Goff couldn't satisfy the Bulldogs even in years when he was 7-4 or 8-3, and he was one of them.
The coach who replaces Goff had better win soon and big. Beamer, a nice man and good coach, has a sensitive side that bristles at even measured criticism. Take it from someone who knows personally. Or listen to Beamer turn porcupine at times when callers to his radio show start second-guessing.
Goff's successor needs a thick skin, because he's going to have more Bulldogs than jowly mascot UGa V barking at him. And it isn't like the program is primed for a quick turnaround. Georgia is in the Peach Bowl because it's a ``home'' game, because Alabama was on NCAA probation and because the Big East couldn't fill a third bowl slot that went to the SEC.
In the bowl pecking order, Georgia is about SEC No. 6, and that's with the Tide rolled. In Goff's seven seasons, the Bulldogs were 24-28-1 in the SEC. Even the alumni loyalty factor couldn't help Goff any longer. Beamer should understand that.
It's unlikely a coach with a diploma from a different school would have been able to keep the Tech job he has without reaching a .500 record until the 10th game of his ninth season. The Hokies love Beamer. The Carroll County native is one of them. With the Sugar Bowl, no one will have coached more games at Tech.
Who wants to see a nice man go to the 'Dogs? I like Beamer. How can you not like a head coach who isn't caught up in his position or success, a man who has righted a program while doing things right? How can you not like a head coach who returns phone calls promptly?
The fund-raising for the new, $6 million Tech football facility he wanted is approaching $5 million. Beamer's salary and broadcast income this year reached $250,000, which isn't Gobbler feed. He's getting a bowl bonus of about $12,000. He may get additional bucks for winning the Big East, where, by the way, it is easier to win than in the SEC.
The Boston College job was Beamer's to turn down five years ago. He did. It just wasn't the right fit. Beamer certainly is qualified to coach at Georgia, but does he really want what goes with that?
The grass isn't always greener on the other side of Hillsville.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. Atlanta newspapers are reportingby CNBFrank Beamer is the leading candidate to replace Ray Goff at
Georgia. color.