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A sign of changing times for Virginia Tech football came during Big East Media Day in 1994. Just three years earlier, a scant number of sportswriters interviewed Hokies coach Frank Beamer, to the point where I felt compelled to hang out and chat with him, just to keep him from getting bored. But in 1994, he attracted a media horde so big that he exceeded his allotted time, answering all of their questions.

Virginia Tech had been one of the surprise teams of 1993, finished with a rousing bowl win, and was now getting exposure unprecedented under Frank Beamer (and maybe for any Hokies coach, considering the burgeoning media outlets not available under previous regimes). ESPN’s Beano Cook called the Hokies “One of the three most exciting teams in the country.” The AP poll ranked the Hokies No. 21, CNN/USA TODAY ranked them No. 19, and The New York Times had them at a lofty No. 13.

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