BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Late Tuesday morning, four days before the biggest game on Virginia Tech's campus in years, Frank Beamer stood in front of the football operations building and rolled a tennis ball back and forth to his dog, a five-month-old beagle named Hank Beamer.
The pair walk the campus regularly these days, Frank to keep active, Hank to burn off some puppy energy. Staff, players and students wander by, and some fail to notice him at all. Others stop, say hello, ruffle the pup's ears and ask Beamer about life as a retired legend.