University of North Carolina Athletics
Beamer Saga Gives Dad Roller-Coaster Ride
December 14, 2000 | Extra Points
The worlds of Tar Heel and Hokie football watched with bated breath and clenched fists over Thanksgiving weekend as Frank Beamer flirted with the Carolina coaching job. One man with a unique view was Tom Hilton of Silver Spring, Md.
A marquee coach like Beamer for son Zach, a tight end for the Tar Heels? Great!
A total disruption of a well-oiled program that soon would be the home of son Kevin, a recruiting target of Virginia Tech? No, no, please no!
"It was a very gut-wrenching period, to say the least," says Hilton. "It was tense, unsettling. One minute you were happy, 10 minutes later you were down. It was like having a bipolar disorder. It was a week-long roller-coaster ride."
Zach is a 6-6, 255-pound rising junior who's played primarily special teams the last two years but has a clear shot at playing time in 2001 with the departures of Alge Crumpler and Daunta? Finger. Kevin is a 6-3, 245-pound defensive lineman who will graduate from Good Counsel High in Wheaton, Md., this spring. He committed to Virginia Tech last summer.
"Over the last year as they've recruited Kevin, I've gotten to know coach Beamer and his staff very well," says Hilton. "They're a very impressive group. The idea that they would be coming to coach Zach was exciting. But the next minute you think--`What happens to Kevin? Who will his new coach be?'"
In the end, Hilton thinks everything has worked out for the best.
"Kevin will play under Beamer for five years and Zach would only have had two," he says. "Beamer is just such a good fit at Tech. And in the long run, I think it will prove out that John Bunting is the perfect fit at Carolina."
--Lee Pace
