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Shane Beamer was VT assistant coach who got Wake Forest information

Shane Beamer coached at Virginia Tech under his father Frank. (AP)
Shane Beamer coached at Virginia Tech under his father Frank. (AP)

We know the identity of the former Virginia Tech assistant who was the beneficiary of WakeyLeaks info. He’s Shane Beamer, the son of former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer.

Shane Beamer has been fined $25,000 by his current employer, Georgia, for his role in the info-sharing scandal. Former Wake Forest radio analyst Tommy Elrod gave inside information about Wake Forest’s game preparation to Army, Virginia Tech and Louisville. The school discovered Elrod had been disseminating information when it saw previously-unknown formations on Cardinal playcards at Louisville’s stadium in November.

“While at Virginia Tech, I was contacted by Tommy Elrod the night before our game against Wake Forest in 2014,” the Georgia tight ends coach said in a statement. “I had known him for several years through coaching circles so I did not think it unusual he would be calling me. During these communications, however, he told me about a few plays that he said Wake Forest might run during the game on Saturday. I did not share this information with anyone, including our student-athletes, anyone on the coaching staff, or my father, nor did we use the information in the game.

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“I realize I made a serious mistake in judgment by accepting the information and failing to notify officials at Virginia Tech of the communications. I sincerely apologize to Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, the ACC and the University of Georgia for my mistake. I am truly sorry.

“I am particularly remorseful to the extent my actions may have brought embarrassment to my family, and especially my Dad. Again, I apologize for my actions and have learned from my mistakes.”

Frank Beamer has said he had no knowledge of the info sharing.

While we understand why Beamer feels the need to publicly apologize, Georgia’s actions seem a bit much if Beamer’s statement that he didn’t share or utilize the information is true. He wasn’t an employee of the school. Unless Elrod told Beamer he was about to share secrets and offered Beamer the opportunity to decline those secrets, it seems impossible from the course of a typical conversation that Beamer would be able to prevent the information from being shared.

Is he supposed to stick his fingers in his ear and scream “la-la-la-la-la I can’t hear you?” when Elrod starts giving away secrets? Drop the phone? The most reasonable course of action — outside of informing Wake Forest about the conversation — is the one Beamer said he took. And it’s far more restrained than Louisville, which said the plays Elrod gave co-offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway were shared with defensive staff.

After a woe-is-us original statement, Louisville subsequently suspended Galloway.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!