Today it was announced that the prodigal son would be returning home. Okay, a bit hyperbole but you get the idea. Shane Beamer is going to replace Billy Hite as the Hokies' Running Backs coach. What does it mean? Well, that's tough to identify less than 12 hours after the announcement but here are some possible results of this move.
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Youth infusion- It's no question that one of the best things about Frank Beamer's staff is the unbelievable amount of experience they have. The downside of that of course, is that players may not find the coaches all that close to them. No one wants to play Madden with Billy Hite after practice. It would just take too long to teach him. Shane Beamer is a young voice, the very type of voice that has helped Mike London recruit well. Speaking of the 'R' word ...
- RECRUITING!!!!!- Tech had a down offseason recruiting-wise, and it's no secret. If you're curious how bad, ask the fans that follow the stuff in depth. That is, if you can find them at the bottom of the cliff they jumped off when the 2011 class was announced. Or when names trickled in. Or when such and such picked Clemson over Blacksburg. Either way, they'd tell you that the big name coaches at Tech aren't doing all that much on the recruiting path. That's where someone like little Beamer can come in and do a great job. He's served as a recruiting assistant under the Ol' Ball Coach, who has turned in some impressive classes lately. Can't hurt, right?
- Bigger wealth of experience- I know, little Beamer doesn't have all that much experience. But, he's been South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech since leaving the 'Burg. So, not only does he have experience, he has it from big time programs. He wasn't coaching long snappers at Bridgewater College, he was learning on a big scale. On top of SB's experience, Hite is still on the staff. He has been given the title of 'Assistant to the Head Coach and Senior Advisor'. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I'm sure he'll still be involved in a big way. If anything, this was probably a move to get SB back to Blacksburg, and maybe ease Hite's workload a bit. Young and hungry coaches are never a bad thing to have.
- Lastly, it's important for Tech to bring people to Blacksburg that won't get there and wonder where the heck they are. Shane Beamer played at Tech, and obviously he grew up around the program. I'm sure he has a special place in his heart for the program and that's important to Hokies everywhere.
Once again, it's close to impossible to figure out what the impact of little Beamer's impact will be at Tech. But there is some food for thought until f4h comes back and writes a manifesto.