You hire who you know, and Friedgen has watched Shane grow up. O'Leary has the ideal Hokie mole in his midst. No one knows the Virginia Tech players or the head coach better than Shane Beamer. Yet O'Leary has steadfastly refused to use Beamer as a resource in assembling a game plan. O'Leary is also being careful because he doesn't want Shane to become a double agent.
Blood is thicker than water, and all that.
Shane reveled in Virginia Tech's run to the edge of glory last season. But he knows what coaching is really like. He recalls his high school years, when Hokies fans wanted to run his father out of Blacksburg. Nevertheless, he wants to coach. It's the family business.