Virginia Tech coach Beamer lets slip a few nuggets

Frank Beamer didn't have a whole lot to say at the ACC Kickoff this week, but he did talk for about 40 minutes with print reporters, so there had to be some nuggets of information in there.

Here are some leftover odds and ends from Beamer's media session:

* Beamer was succinct with his praise for walk-on redshirt freshman receiver Charley Meyer, who quarterback Logan Thomas gushed about the previous day.

"Charley had a great spring practice," Beamer said. "Full tilt. Very dependable. He'll fool you with his speed. I think he's got a big role right now."

Meyer finished the spring as the third-string split end, according to the depth chart on Beamer's website, although playing time figures to be up for grabs among Tech's inexperienced receivers this August.

* Like everyone else, Beamer loves linebacker Jack Tyler‘s success story, from walk-on to starter to All-ACC pick.

"When you watch him on tape in high school he was just a guy that was undersized but he made plays," Beamer said. "Now, he's still undersized and still making plays. He's a football player that's earned everything. Very dependable and very consistent. You know how much we talk about those things. He's a guy that's just really played well and really worked to be a good player. Makes it a great story."

* Beamer has high hopes for freshman cornerback Kendall Fuller. Getting the youngster on the field early fits his thought process that "the further you get away from the football the better opportunity you have to play quickly. And he's back a ways from the football in the secondary."

This quote gives you an idea of how talented Beamer thinks Fuller is. He nearly slipped into making a pretty declarative statement.

"When we got the fourth one there and four talented guys and Kendall's probably ... very, very talented, that kind of makes a statement about your program too," Beamer said.

You can tell Beamer nearly said "the most talented," which is saying something, considering how good the other three from that family have been.

* Beamer said he'd have a sitdown with his offensive coaches soon to figure out where guys are going to play on the offensive line. One of the topics will be having Andrew Miller, last year's center, play right guard, which would mean Caleb Farris would be the center.

"I think No. 1 is who do you have at center and what can you do with that," Beamer said. "And try to get your five best, six best, seven best guys on a football field and in roles that they can be successful."

There's also a matter of where David Wang might fit into things.

"If he can stay healthy, he's a heck of a player," Beamer said. "He's athletic. He's always been a prominent guy. We just can't keep him well. That's what I'm hoping this year."

* Beamer, on Thomas' goal of throwing fewer than five interceptions this year: "Logan is a smart guy and he'll learn from last year. He wants to do the right thing and wants our team to be good. He's not a selfish guy at all. I think winning football games is his main priority and he understands that throwing interceptions doesn't help you win football games."

Beamer gave a sense of what he thinks Thomas' culpability in last year's offense's struggles were with this quote.

"I have every confidence that Logan's going to be just fine," Beamer said. "We have to get the other pieces right."

* The coaching staff has skewed considerably younger in recent years with the new hires. Beamer said that was never really the aim, just to bring in good, smart coaches.

"Well, when you get as old as I am, everybody that's going to come in is going to be young," he joked. "I never really thought about them being that young, but I guess they are. I think knowledge and how you are as a coach, that's what's important to me."

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