Virginia Tech’s coaching search is barely underway, but two names with deep ties to the program quickly surfaced as fan-favorite possibilities — Shane Beamer and Michael Vick. Both carry obvious connections — Vick as the Hokies’ most iconic player and Beamer as the son of legendary coach Frank Beamer — but industry insiders caution that neither should be considered a serious candidate to replace Brent Pry.
“Obviously, when you go into this kind of process, you see the candidate lists and people throwing out names that could make sense for the job,” CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz said on the CFB Insiders podcast. “I’m sure you’ve seen the same thing with Michael Vick, who’s obviously a prominent alum, and Shane Beamer, who has the ties he does to the school. I just don’t see any scenario right now where either of those ends up being a legitimate possibility to be the next head coach at Virginia Tech.”
Vick, now in his first season at Norfolk State, has a strong history in Blacksburg and his stated interest in the job. “I think, first of all, Michael Vick is something of a booster wish-cast pick,” CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson said. “It’s the feel-good ‘takes us back to a different era.’ I think there are some people who could envision Michael Vick as a candidate similar to Deion Sanders or Eddie George. You put great coordinators around him and you allow him to be the front for fundraising, etc. That’s kind of the vision there. It’s a little early to say Michael Vick would be a leading candidate. I would not put him as a leading candidate at all.”
For Beamer, speculation is nothing new. Every time the Hokies’ job has opened since his father’s retirement in 2015, the South Carolina coach has been tied back to his alma mater. But Beamer has repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to the Gamecocks.
“I think the week of the Virginia Tech game I told everyone how I feel about South Carolina and my love for this place,” Beamer said during a Sunday teleconference. “That’s where my focus is right now, getting our football team better because I don’t like where we are right now, and that’s my responsibility.”
Beamer’s current contract only reinforces that point. He signed an extension after last season that pays him $8.1 million annually — nearly 40% more than Pry earned at Virginia Tech — with a buyout starting at $5 million.
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