Hall of Fame
Beamer helped put the Murray State football program on the map in the 1980s, spending two years as the defensive coordinator and six years as head coach before leaving to guide his alma mater, Virginia Tech, to 238 victories over 29 seasons before retiring this past year.
Beamer was hired by Mike Gottfried in 1979 and introduced the wide tackle six defense to the Ohio Valley Conference. It immediately made the Racers a national contender as the squad ranked second in the nation in rush defense and fourth in scoring defense his first season; that team ended up being one of four selected to the I-AA playoffs. A year later that defense allowed a nation’s-best 9.1 points per game.
As the program’s head coach he compiled a 42-23-2 overall record and numerous appearances in the nation’s Top 25 polls including a streak of 22-consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 20. During his final season Beamer guided MSU to 6-1 record in the OVC, a regular season co-championship and berth in the playoffs.
Overall Beamer finished his coaching career with a combined 280-143-4 record (making him the 15th winningest coach in college football history), 22 bowl appearances and eight conference championships.