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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Coach of the Year Runners-Up

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Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
11-1 record
No. 2 national ranking by AP
AP, AFMA Coach of the Year

Frank Beamer had a "blueprint for success" when he took the reins of the Virginia Tech program 13 seasons ago. And in the 1999, that plan of attack began to pay its biggest dividends to date. The Hokies, which had been making steady progress since Beamer came to Blacksburg, closed out its first undefeated, untied regular season in 81 years and collected a Big East championship and a berth in the national championship game vs. Florida State.

Beamer's troops led the nation in scoring offense at 41.4 points per game while averaging 253.9 yards rushing and finishing ninth in the nation in total offense with 451.8 yards per contest. But on defense Virginia Tech might have been even more impressive, finishing first in scoring defense (10.5 ppg.), third in rushing defense (75.9 yards per game), third in total defense (247.3 yards per game) and seventh in passing efficiency defense (98.1 points).

Beamer is Virginia Tech's winningest coach in school history, with a record of 88-60-2 (.600), and is the first active coach to be inducted to the school's hall of fame.

Mike DuBose, Alabama
10-3 record
SEC Champions
SEC Coach of the Year

What a long, strange trip it's been for Mike DuBose during his last 12 months as Alabama's head coach. A year ago at this time, DuBose sat on one of college football's hottest seats. The wins were not coming in large enough bunches to please most Tide fans and, more conspicuously, the U of A had settled out of court with a former university employee who had accused DuBose of sexual harassment, causing DuBose to lose two years off of his contract and have his pay docked to help fund the settlement.

But one year later, DuBose's world looks bright again, coming off of a 10-win season and a New Years Day bowl game, reveling in a Top 10 recruiting class and having got those two years put back on his deal.

Last season was a return to glory for Alabama. The Tide won their first SEC crown since 1992, and the 10 wins were six more than the number posted during DuBose's dreary 4-7 debut season in 1997.

DuBose's '99 crew hung its bell around the neck of a stingy, athletic defense, which finished No. 2 nationally in rushing defense and ninth in total defense.

Dennis Erickson, Oregon State
7-5 Record
Oahu Bowl Participants
OSU's first bowl bid since 1965

As you may recall, Oregon State's head coach was named an AFM Coach-of-the-Year Runner-up last year. Then it was Mike Riley, currently head coach of the San Diego Chargers, who led the Beavers to their first five-win season since 1971. This time it's first-year OSU Coach Dennis Erickson, who helped end another draught in Corvallis, leading the eager Beavers to their first bowl bid since the mid 1960s and their first winning season in nearly three decades.

Erickson didn't get it done with smoke and mirrors. His team won the games it was supposed to win and mixed in a few upsets. Granted, the Pac-10 was not its usual strong self in '99, but the Beavers took care of business when it mattered most, closing the regular season by winning four of their last five games.

Harking back to his days at Miami (Fla.), Erickson installed a pass-happy offensive attack, which ranked 14th nationally at 287.3 yards per game. Mix in an effective running game, and the Beavers went on to average 434 yards of total offense per contest, ranking No. 10 in NCAA Division I-A.

Tyrone Willingham, Stanford
8-4 Record
Pac-10 Champions
First Rose Bowl since 1971

It wasn't supposed to happen this year for Stanford. Sure, the Cardinal returned a whopping 19 starters. But after basically the same group had finished an unimpressive 3-8 the year before, preseason pundits gave Tyrone Willingham's team little chance to finish higher than middle of the pack in the Pac-10.

Well, the prognosticators were looking pretty astute after Texas laid a 69-17 drubbing on Stanford in early September. However, the Cardinal would use their horrific start as a rallying point and snapped back with three big wins over conference foes Washington State, Arizona and UCLA before suffering their second-consecutive befuddling loss to Bay Area nemesis San Jose State. But as was the case following the Texas setback, Stanford was able to channel a staggering loss into an inspiring positive, and four wins in its last five regular season games followed.

In football, it can be said that the true character of any player or coach cannot fully be measured until adversity is present. Tyrone Willingham and his Stanford team passed that test in 1999.






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