Nehlen talks Beamer, Virginia Tech rivalry
Two legendary coaches from the Black Diamond trophy game will soon come face to face at midfield once again.
Only this time, it will be for a pregame coin toss.
Former West Virginia head football coach, Don Nehlen, and former Virginia Tech head coach, Frank Beamer, have been selected to serve as honorary captains for their respective programs when the two teams face off at Fedex Field on Sept 3.
Nehlen and Beamer clashed 14 times for the Black Diamond Trophy at their respective schools, but have remained friends off the field.
“I’m anxious to see Frank because when I coached he was one of my favorite guys,” Nehlen said. “Whenever we played, it was always a good football game.”
But unfortunately for Nehlen, receiving this honor means that he’ll have to cancel his original plans for the game.
“I was going to sit at home, have a hot fudge sundae, and watch that daggone game,” Nehlen said. “Now I got to get to Washington D.C. to flip a coin.”
Prior to becoming West Virginia’s all-time winningest coach, Nehlen arrived in Morgantown knowing that the program’s rivalries centered around Pitt and Penn State.
After Beamer arrived in Blacksburg in 1987, Nehlen and his Mountaineers captured wins over Virginia Tech in 1987 and 1988, but then dropped three straight to the Hokies from 1994-1996.
“When I first came here, all I ever heard about was Pitt and Penn State,” Nehlen said. “Frank came on the scene and had some tough sledding for a couple years, and he got it going.”
Nehlen recalls two Virginia Tech quarterbacks that turned this former Big East rivalry around in the Hokies’ favor in the 1990’s; Michael Vick and Jim Druckenmiller.
“In my opinion, Michael Vick was the best college football player that we ever played against,” Nehlen said. “He could flat out run...There’s not much answer for a scrambling quarterback, especially as good as he was.”
Vick and Druckenmiller led the Hokies to four victories over the Mountaineers in from 1995-2000.
From 1994 until 2001 Virginia Tech dominated the rivalry, racking up seven wins in those eight matchups.
“(Virginia Tech) had two number one round draft picks in a row,” Nehlen said. “When (Beamer) ran into those two guys, his program took off.”
Beamer bested Nehlen in 14 head-to-head matchups, achieving a 9-5 record over the Mountaineers from his first year with the Hokies in 1987 until Nehlen’s retirement in 2000. West Virginia still holds a 28-22-1 all-time record against Virginia Tech, but the two teams have not squared off since 2005.
With the rivalry returning this season and again in 2021 and 2022, Nehlen is excited to see the revival of not only the Black Diamond Trophy game, but also the Backyard Brawl and the program’s rivalry with Penn State.
West Virginia is scheduled to play Penn State in 2023 and 2024 and Pitt from 2022-2025
“Pitt, Penn State, and Virginia Tech when I coached here, they were monumental games,” Nehlen said. “Everybody looked forward to them. Our kids did. Our fans did. And so the fact that somebody’s coming back on the schedule, it’s big.”
