Big Smith’s Reunion

I recently attended a reunion hosted by an old college pal, “Big Smith.” He called the reunion the “Old Head Termite Reunion.” The origin of this title comes from the Southern football coaches we played for at Virginia Tech. They constantly screamed at us in practice, “Today we’re going to find out who wants to play! It’s time to eliminate the termites that are eating away at the foundations of this football team!”

I was one of the youngest attendees at this reunion – most of the others had been seniors or had already graduated by the time I arrived at Tech. Nearly all of them were former Tech football players. Many of these former players suffered through three years after a coaching change, when the new coaches tried to get rid of as many of the players who had been recruited by the old coaches as possible. I had the good fortune, depending on how you look at it, of only having to endure one year of the daily physical and mental anguish these coaches dished out on the players in a way that would have made a Marine drill sergeant proud. Each day every one of us was pushed beyond our limits in ways that we never could have imagined.

Years later, when I was a college football coach, I ran into one of the coaches from that staff and asked him why they used the strategy they did when dealing with the players. He said, in a very even voice without a hint of remorse, that he knew during those first three years Tech’s extremely tough schedule meant the odds were stacked against them. The coaches’ strategy was to try and break the spirit of all of the players, believing that the ones who withstood this without quitting would form a team that was one of the toughest around with players who would fight on every down until the final whistle.

He also suggested that the ones who did survive this torment would share a bond with each other, as a result of what they went through, that could never be broken.

As the sun set on the reunion that beautiful spring day in Richmond, I thought back on that coach’s statement. Well, I thought to myself, at least he got that last part right.

I gazed around at all of the older ex-players and thought that this was far from a group of termites eating away at the foundation. This was in fact a group of people I was proud to be a part of, the group that built the foundation that allowed the Virginia Tech Hokies to go 8-3 my senior year and play Miami in the Peach Bowl. We also in some ways laid the foundation for the many winning seasons under coaches Bill Dooley and Frank Beamer.

I can assure you that the mythical toughness that “Beamerball” is noted for has its roots firmly within this group. After all, Frank was one of us.

Have a great weekend,

Ro

Special thanks to “Big Smith” and “Bucky Wheats” for all of their efforts in bringing this group together. Also to all my brothers who helped set the example of how to persevere through those difficult times so long ago. They were truly “the best of times and the worst of times.” But we made it through.