5 best college football coaches that never won a national championship
3. player. 847. . HC | 1987-2015. Hokies . Frank Beamer
Frank Beamer came close to a national championship with Michael Vick.
The next three coaches on this list are on a level above the two previous head coaches that I wrote about. Starting with long time Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, they all have over 200 wins as a head coach in college football.
Beamer attended Virginia Tech as a cornerback from 1966-1968. His first college coaching job was as a graduate assistant at Maryland. After this Beamer would hold a variety of assistant jobs before landing his first head coaching job at FCS school Murray State. From there he would be hired as the head coach at his alma matter in 1987.
His first few seasons started rough as Beamer’s Hokie squads would go a combined 24-40-2 in his first four seasons. This was due to scholarship deductions from the NCAA following Bill Dooley’s tenure in Blacksburg. The program would rebound in 1993 going 9-3 and would never suffer another losing season under Beamer’s watch.
At the helm of Virginia Tech, Beamer would win seven total conference titles ( 3 Big East, 4 ACC). In 1999 Virginia Tech would be invited to play in the second BCS National Championship Game. Led by quarterback Michael Vick, the Hokies would fall to Florida State 46-29. This would be the closest Beamer would ever get to winning a national title.
Despite not winning a national championship, Beamer would be named AP coach of the year in 2000 and win five total conference coach of the year awards as well. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Of all the coaches on this list, Beamer is the highest on the all-time head coaching wins list placing No. 11 going 238-121-2. He is without a doubt one of the greatest college football coaches ever.