Frank Beamer: Son Shane 'probably knows more than I do' about special teams
Frank Beamer, the legendary former Virginia Tech head coach, figures to be around the Georgia program quite a bit this fall.
His son, Shane Beamer, joined Georgia head coach Kirby Smart's staff as a special teams coordinator and tight ends coach this past December and is leading his groups with spring practice now two weeks in.
Frank Beamer has already been in town to take in a Georgia basketball game and was back in Athens to speak at the program's coaches clinic this week. Making it easy, Frank said his family owns property not too far away from Athens.
Frank said he plans to make many more trips to Athens this fall for two reasons.
"My son is down here coaching now," Frank said. "He’s got three kids and I’ve got a wife who wants to hang around those three kids so we’re gonna be down here quite a bit."
Frank Beamer's Virginia Tech teams earned the distinction of being dubbed "Beamer Ball" due to the high level of attention his coaching staff paid to special teams.
It's one of the clear reasons head coach Kirby Smart wanted to bring Shane Beamer to his staff, to possible take in some of that knowledge that worked so well with his father. Shane played and coached under his father and therefore would seemingly have a great understanding of how important special teams can be in any given game.
"He probably knows more than I do right now," Frank said. "He was always around it and studied it -- really detailed. I think he knows everything I know and more. He’ll do a good job."
Shane hasn't spoken to reporters yet so it's unclear what exactly his particular special teams philosophy is. If it's anything like his father's, Georgia stands to be in good shape. The success of Beamer Ball at Virginia Tech led to other programs to pay for attention to special teams.
"I think we affected it early," Beamer said. "Every game we played on TV and the interview with the people before the game, we always talked about special teams somewhere along the way. We changed it a little bit. I just think there’s a different now than it was 10 years ago, 12 years ago. I think some of that came from what was happening at Virginia Tech and what people wanted to talk about at Virginia Tech."
In addition to being Georgia's special teams coordinator, Shane is tasked with coaching tight ends. It's the first time Shane is coaching this position group for the first time in his career. Even so, Frank is a believer that his son will do a good job.
"He’s one of the most detailed guys you’ll ever see and what he doesn’t know, he knows to ask or check with somebody," Frank said. "He’ll know it before he goes into a meeting and teaches it. That’s one thing I can guarantee you will happen."
This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Frank Beamer: Son Shane 'probably knows more than I do' about special teams."