BLACKSBURG, Va. – Ahead of the big show Wednesday night, 10 News Anchor John Appicello sat down with coaching legend Frank Beamer about the origin of Virginia Tech’s cherished tradition of playing “Enter Sandman” by Metallica as the football team’s entrance.
“Just seeing our fans celebrating together, jumping together, singing together, having a good time, and hopefully getting ready to win a football game, it’s just a really special thing that we have here,” said Beamer.
In 2000, Virginia Tech had installed a new video scoreboard in Lane Stadium, and they were looking for something new as they debuted the new equipment
Tim East from the marketing department ultimately chose the song, and Coach Beamer says it has become a great piece of Hokie tradition.
When asked if he would be attending the highly anticipated Metallica concert, Beamer responded with: “Absolutely! I’m gonna be right there in the middle of it, and I very much look forward to it.”
The tradition of “jumping” during the song reportedly started in the second year, when a member of the Virginia Tech Marching Virginians band started jumping, and his bandmates joined in. The rest...is history.
Coach Frank Beamer was 280-144-4 in his coaching career, including 238 wins in 29 seasons at Virginia Tech. He led the Hokies to the National Title game at the conclusion of the 1999 season(January 2000). His teams earned their way into the postseason every year from 1993 until Beamer’s retirement in 2015. Coach Frank Beamer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018.