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“The Wide Tackle [Six] has been a good defense for us, and we’ve been ranked here at times. The game has become more spread out – three wide receivers, four wide receivers. The speed and quickness is amazing. For us, it was the right time [to change schemes]. Our defense was very inconsistent. Some say that’s coaching, some say that’s the players. For whatever reason, the defense didn’t play well. And we have some good freshmen who redshirted last season, and I think it will help them out starting four-deep.” –Frank Beamer in 1992, in the midst of his search for a new defensive coordinator

“Bringing Phil Elmassian in here, he was really what we needed at the time. He was a different guy, a different coach, but he was exactly what this program needed at that particular time. That probably was No. 1.” –Beamer in 2011, when asked to name the best coaching decision of his career

Virginia Tech’s 1992 season was a disappointment but in some ways it also had promise. The squad finished with a 2-8-1 record, but most of the losses were narrow and many of them were actually blown fourth-quarter leads. It seemed like the Hokies had the right pieces on the field — it was the staff that was behind the times. With that in mind, Frank Beamer fired several coaches (including former teammates and long-time friends) not long after the season ended. To fill the gaps, he added Rod Sharpless and J.B. Grimes to the staff, moved Terry Strock from defensive ends coach to receivers, promoted graduate assistant Bryan Stinespring to tight end coach and promoted quarterback coach Ricky Bustle to offensive coordinator.

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