ESPN.com ran a series on the "Face of the Program" for many NCAA Football Teams.
They picked Head Coach Frank Beamer as the face of the Virginia Tech program, and listed assistant coach Bud Foster and former players Frank Loria, Bruce Smith and Michael Vick as the other 4 candidates.
I agree wholeheartedly with the decision to pick Beamer as #1 (as do 49% of the voters so far). At the moment, Vick is #2 in voting (36%), followed by Loria (6%), Smith (4%) and Foster (2%). I think the order should go like this:
1. Frank Beamer I'm just going to quote ESPN's Heather Dinich here: "Not only has Beamer coached the Hokies to bowl games, but he also helped get them there as a three-year starting cornerback (1966 to 1968). Beamer has led his alma mater to 15 straight bowl appearances, two ACC titles, two ACC Coastal Division titles, three Big East championships and a trip to the national championship game. The only thing left is to win the big one. Beamer's overall record heading into 2008 after 21 seasons at Virginia Tech is 167-85-2. He became the program's winningest coach in 1997 and was named the ACC coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005."
2. Michael Vick: Probably the most famous VT player of all time (for some of the right reasons as well as some of the wrong ones), Vick led the Hokies to the National Championship and the team was 22-2 during his stay in Blacksburg. There is really no need to go further on about the electrifying player/dog electrifier.
3. Bud Foster: Foster is probably the second most-beloved man in Blacksburg (behind Beamer) and is the brainchild of the Lunch Pail Defense. You can go to his Wikipedia page linked to his name if you want to review his awards and such, but he's built the strong and dependable Virginia Tech defense over the years.
4. Enter Sandman: It may just be a song to most of you, but it's a way of life to Hokie fans. Combine this with "key play" and "LETS GOOOOO! HOOOOOOOOOKIESSSSSSSSSS" and you'll see why Lane Stadium was rated #2 by ESPN in the "Scariest venues for opposing teams" article.
5. Bruce Smith: You know the records and the awards. "The Sack Man" was an All-Pro 8 times and ended his NFL career with 200 sacks. He was the first overall pick many moons before Vick was.
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What about Carroll Dale who played for the Green Bay Packers in the glory years? Remember Ray Scott calling, "Starr, Dale, touchdown" on CBS? In those days, I always wondered about a school named Virginia Polytechnical Institute.
ReplyDeleteDale and Loria are probably #6 and 7 on my list. The thing that keeps them from being top 5 in my book has less to do with their talent and the level they played at Tech and more to do with the semi-flawed system of "The Face of the Program." Fans were really asked to name the top 5 players/coaches/things that screamed "VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL" at them, and current VT students and recent alum probably outnumbered people who have seen Dale play by a large bit on ESPN.com.
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