The Virginia Tech football team's success has become a rite of autumn in Blacksburg, with victories accumulating as consistently as the foliage that falls over the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Hokies have reached a bowl game each year since 1993, and only Ohio State and Florida have more wins since 1995. On Monday night, 10th-ranked Virginia Tech will face No. 3 Boise State at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Although much of the focus is on the Broncos, who have evolved from underdogs to national title contenders, Virginia Tech has its own story of an improbable rise. When Frank Beamer was hired as the coach in 1987, he had to build a tradition rather than continue one. Virginia Tech was not in a conference, had one bowl win in its history and would soon be placed on probation. 'We were digging ourselves out of a deep, deep hole,' said the defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who, like Beamer, is in his 24th season with Virginia Tech. The program's gradual rise was built on stability, stubbornness and special teams, and it was an early blueprint for the Boise States of college football to follow. Beamer, who played cornerback for Virginia Tech from 1966 to 1968, was afforded the patience that does not always exist in today's win-now-or-else era. 'They could see we were doing things right but just needed a little time,' he said of the administration. Soon after Beamer was hired, the NCAA placed the Hokies on probation and stripped them of a total of 20 scholarships over the 1988 and 1989 seasons because of violations committed under the previous coaching staff. Virginia Tech went 5-17 in Beamer's first two years and failed to reach a bowl game in his first six. The assistant Billy Hite said game plans were sometimes created hastily, with each assistant offering his five favorite plays. 'We didn't have an identity yet,' said Hite, now the associate head coach in his 32nd year with the program. Beamer believed in Virginia Tech at a time when others did not. When recruits attended Saturday breakfasts on campus, he told them the team would play in the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. 'I'd sit there thinking, 'Wow, does he really think we're going to be able to do this here?'' said John Ballein, a graduate assistant in 1987 and now the associate director of athletics for football operations. Virginia is a hotbed of high school talent, especially the Tidewater area, which has produced players like Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress and Ronald Curry. But it took time and a change in perception before athletes of that caliber regularly considered the Hokies. 'There was no stampede out the door to go to Blacksburg,' said Lew Johnston, who coached Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, Va., from 1985 to 2006. 'It's a five-hour ride from here to the mountains. For Tidewater kids, that's the sticks.' Johnston said that early in Beamer's tenure, the Hokies seemed to send a different coach to the area each year, resulting in a lack of continuity. 'If you can't control your own state, you're in trouble,' said Hampton High School coach Mike Smith, in his 40th season. 'But then character became a factor with them. They started taking people that teams like Virginia and North Carolina didn't want, and they got good, solid kids.' In 1991, Johnston told Beamer about Jeff Holland, a Western Branch defensive lineman who had potential but no scholarship offers. Beamer made one to Holland the day he met him, and Holland became a starter for the Hokies. He blocked a field goal in the Hokies' 1993 Independence Bowl win over Indiana, the first of Virginia Tech's 17 consecutive bowl game appearances. 'Jeff was the kind of guy that I think personified what they were trying to do,' Johnston said. 'The guys that Coach Beamer gave a chance to really helped turn things around.' Virginia Tech's assistants were each assigned an area of the state in which to recruit and develop relationships with high school coaches. It was difficult for the Hokies to lure elite players, so Beamer emphasized the search for special-teams players. Beamer knew that if his coaches left, the bonds they had developed around the state could be broken, so he created an atmosphere that made them want to stay. Families of assistants were welcomed in the football offices, and Beamer encouraged them to bring their children to Tuesday night dinners in the athletic trainer's room. Each offseason, Beamer took his coaches, the support staff and their families on a vacation. There have been cruises, trips to remote islands and visits to Las Vegas. Seven Virginia Tech coaches have been with the program for at least 15 seasons. The Hokies, who joined the Big East Conference in 1991, also developed a blue-collar style, built around a powerful running game and an unforgiving defense. In 1995, Virginia Tech went 10-2, winning a share of the Big East title and defeating Texas in the Sugar Bowl. The team began carrying a battered lunch pail to each game, symbolizing its work ethic. After nine seasons of searching, the Hokies finally had an identity. Four years later, Vick, then a dazzling freshman quarterback, guided Virginia Tech to the national championship game. The team's popularity soared despite its loss to Florida State, especially on the coast of Virginia. Twenty-four players on the current roster are from the Tidewater area. The Hokies have won three Atlantic Coast Conference titles since joining the league in 2004, but they still carry the battered lunch pail, still emphasize special teams and still seek recruits who have been overlooked. Now, however, it is no longer as difficult to lure the ones who have not. After 23 seasons, Beamer now has a tradition to uphold. 'I might have been a little naive in my expectations when I got here,' he said. 'Maybe I didn't look around and see exactly where we were. But I always thought it had everything it took to be successful.' 