JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer coordinates the special teams himself, and the Hokies are annually considered one of the best in that area.

Virginia Tech is known for its prowess in the oft-forgotten phase.

Special teams coach Jeff Choate might have the most difficult job of any Bronco on Monday night.

His opponent: the man Choate calls "the godfather of special teams in NCAA football."

Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer coordinates the special teams for the Hokies and spends about the first 45 minutes of every practice working directly with the specialists.

The No. 10 Hokies and No. 3 Broncos meet at 8 p.m. Monday at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.

Choate owns a book Beamer wrote and videos of him speaking about special teams.

"For a guy like myself, there's probably no bigger test and to a certain degree I'm a little bit flattered to be on the same field with a guy like Frank Beamer," Choate said.

Special teams often are critical in season openers and the kicking game should be under additional scrutiny in this one.

Boise State was ranked No. 1 in special teams last year under a formula created by preseason magazine publisher Phil Steele.

Virginia Tech was No. 13, but the Hokies might have the nation's strongest tradition of special-teams excellence.

"I've been very impressed with Boise's special teams," Beamer said. "They don't take a back seat to anybody."

Beamer's emphasis on special teams was handed down to him by his former coaches and bosses, he said. He used to assign each special-teams unit to a different coach -- a practice some schools still use -- but decided to coordinate the special teams himself when a couple of those coaches left.

"I kind of found that was a very efficient way to operate," he said.

That decision, Choate said, helped create jobs for special-teams junkies like himself.

Choate doesn't have the typical pedigree for an assistant coach at a top-10 school. He played at Montana-Western and was a high school coach before catching on at Utah State and Eastern Illinois.

His work with special teams caught Boise State head coach Chris Petersen's attention.

"I really think [Beamer] changed the game as much as anybody in the last 20 years," Choate said. "Twenty years ago there weren't a lot of guys who were special-teams coordinators at this level. Now there's not hardly a team that doesn't have one."

Special teams also are a tradition at Boise State, which doesn't get as much notoriety for it as Virginia Tech. Dan Hawkins was the special teams coordinator from 1998 to 2000 and continued to emphasize the kicking game as the head coach from 2001 to 2005.

That carried over to Petersen, who took over in 2006. The Broncos work on special teams extensively and use their stars on those units.

"That's where the games are won and lost," said senior wide receiver Titus Young, a kickoff returner and possible punt returner, "and we know how big it is."

The Broncos, who blocked three kicks last year, return almost everyone except for punt returner Kyle Wilson. Young scored two TDs on kickoff returns last year. And fourth-year starting kicker/punter Kyle Brotzman expects to eliminate the one significant flaw in his game, the left-hash field-goal misses.

"We want to score more touchdowns and block more kicks," sophomore linebacker J.C. Percy said.

Virginia Tech scored three TDs on special teams last year, including Dyrell Roberts' 98-yard kickoff return in the season opener against eventual national champion Alabama.

Beamer is so into blocking kicks that he calls his punt-block team "Pride and Joy." The Hokies only blocked one kick last year but their pressure can force mistakes.

"They're creating a field-position advantage whether it's through reality or through perception," Choate said. "Either way, it's good for them."

Said Brotzman: "There are some big dudes on that punt-block line and also some guys that are just freakishly fast. I've just got to make sure I get the right reads and get the ball out quick."

And it won't be backups and freshmen chasing Brotzman. Choate has seen as many as nine starters on a Virginia Tech special-teams unit.

"We can't say that -- ever," he said. "That speaks to the level of importance they're placing on it.

"They're really well-coached and sound in every single phase. That's an impressive thing. Usually there's a chink in the armor somewhere."