If the last three days have done anything, it's answered whatever questions we had about Frank Beamer and Virginia Tech being complacent.
Coming off a lackluster recruiting class, Beamer has shaken up his coaching staff by adding his son Shane Beamer (as covered extensively by Mark) and former Virginia Tech All-American Cornell Brown (as first reported by The Key Play). Shane will be the Hokies' new running backs coach and Brown will coach the outside linebackers and defensive line.
They replace Billy Hite and Jim Cavanaugh, respectively, who have taken administrative positions. What these changes signal is that Frank is willing to change his management style and adapt to a changing college football world and that the administration is willing to whatever it takes to facilitate those changes.
Hite and Cavanaugh aren't going anywhere. They're still on staff, but not on the field. That means athletics director Jim Weaver, who has been notoriously stingy in order to keep the department running in the black, is willing to fork over the necessary money to create these two new positions.
Hopefully this also will mean an increased recruiting budget that will allow Shane, Brown and the rest of the staff bolster the Hokies' recruiting efforts.
I'm not really sure whether these moves were caused by disappointing losses, a perceived down year in recruiting or a combination of the two. However, I think the changes are welcome after seeing the same faces for the last five years. I think that if the changes do anything it will at least revitalize a staff that may have been starting to show its age.
What we know now is that Frank is no longer willing to stand pat and hope what he has is enough to keep the program going in the right direction. He's willing to make changes, even when the wins are there. I think the health of the program is no longer solely judged on whether or not we put double digits in the win column.
Like a good pitcher, there's a lot more to the story than wins and losses. The BBWAA was willing to look at stats other than wins and hand King Felix a Cy Young this winter. Maybe these changes mean Frank is willing to look beyond wins and losses and possibly hand the Hokies riches we were beginning to think might be unattainable.
