End of Vick reign marks change at VT

David Teel

January 10 2006

Marcus Vick is gone, off to Suffolk's courthouse and perhaps the NFL. The competition to replace him will take months. Now the story becomes palace intrigue. Now the issues confronting Virginia Tech football involve trust, supervision, image and probable staff turnover.

Frank Beamer, the Hokies' head coach for 19 seasons, craves stability and believes it a cornerstone of his program's success. He's going to hate this offseason. He's going to hate it because change is a comin'.

Much of the change figures to be internal, concealed from prying ears and eyes. But it's this change that will most affect Tech, and may determine how much longer Beamer leads his alma mater.

Beamer shed tears last week when he told Vick, the first-team All-ACC quarterback, that he was banished from the program. And considering Beamer's forgiving nature and history, it's reasonable to guess he doesn't endorse the decision.

But he had no choice. When university president Charles Steger and athletic director Jim Weaver learned Friday of Vick's recent citations for speeding and driving with a suspended license, they dismissed Vick summarily.

This, of course, in the wake of Vick's stomping of a prone Louisville defender in the Gator Bowl. This in the wake of Vick's past legal entanglements.

Vick's legal present turned thorny when Suffolk police Monday charged him with three misdemeanor counts of brandishing a firearm the night before at a Suffolk McDonald's. But Vick's murky future and his fast-food etiquette are topics for another couch session.

Of more pressing concern to Hokie Nation: Did Beamer and his administrative hammer, John Ballein, fray relations with Steger and Weaver by not keeping them current on Vick's behavior? If so, how badly? Might Weaver or one of his assistants more closely monitor a football program that enjoys relative autonomy and a football coach who wields substantial power? If so, to what degree?

And what of Beamer's reputation? Charming as he is, might that good-ol-boy image be tarnished?

Some background: Vick began the 2005 season on double-public probation. Screw up once more, Tech officials told him after his 2004 transgressions with liquor, marijuana and under-aged girls, and you're done.

Vick responded with an all-conference season. Though his flipping off fans at West Virginia was boorish, Tech let him skate with a public apology.

Prior to the Hokies' Gator Bowl against Louisville, Hampton police cited Vick for speeding and driving with a suspended license. According to Tech officials, Vick then informed Ballein that his license was suspended because of a misunderstanding over insurance payments. Vick did not, officials insist, mention the citations.

Beamer and Ballein neither explored further nor informed higher-ups. They should have. After all, Vick didn't deserve an inch of wiggle room, and a phone call or two would have revealed the truth.

But the truth would have benched Vick for the Gator Bowl. Indeed, the truth might have ended his Tech career. Did Beamer and Ballein not want to know the truth?

"It never, never came across to me that way," Beamer said during a Saturday news conference. "If it should have, I apologize."

Beamer also pledged to reverse his team's play in the ACC championship game and Gator Bowl. Infrequently penalized during their first 11 games, the Hokies were flagged 24 times combined in those contests. "We've got too much pride in this program and we've done too many good things for us to not play the game the right way," Beamer said.

The right way means not only fewer penalties but also less (zero?) tolerance of throat slashes, sack dances and other taunts. This is a far cry from the 1996 season, when a television graphic compared the Tech and Nebraska rap sheets, but there's no denying the Hokies, including some in the 757 bunch from Hampton Roads, need to tone it down.

And if Beamer doesn't have enough worries: His staff may soon splinter.

Quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers, who publicly blistered Vick for the Gator Bowl cheap shot, interviews Wednesday with the Minnesota Vikings. Rogers and new Vikings head coach Brad Childress are connected by Donovan McNabb, Rogers as McNabb's position coach at Syracuse, Childress as McNabb's offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Moreover, Danny Pearman, Tech's tight ends and tackles coach, has been linked to an opening at Clemson, his alma mater. If either leaves, former Kecoughtan and Heritage High coach Curt Newsome, now assistant head coach at James Madison, could move to Blacksburg.

Begin to address these concerns and then Beamer gets to ponder a 2006 season without Marcus Vick.

David Teel can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com «