Babcock and Foster both separately credited Fuente for the idea.

“Beautifully done,” Babcock said.

“Just brilliant,“ Foster contended.

Fuente’s new tradition: The most outstanding special teams player from the previous week would wear the No. 25 jersey, which belonged to Beamer when he played at Virginia Tech in the 1960s, on game day. It was a simple, impactful gesture that sent an important message to the legendary coach: Yes, you are still welcome here.

Fuente said Beamer, in the early days of his retirement, went out of his way to make it clear he would not be looking over his successor’s shoulder. Added Foster: “If he’s come to practice, he’s snuck in. I haven’t seen him.”

Babcock appreciated the approach.

“I thought Coach Beamer handled it beautifully,” Babcock said. “You don’t want to be hawking over them all the time like you’ve seen other coaches do.

“But we didn’t run him all the way distant.”

Beamer was given a luxury box in Lane Stadium. He’s welcome there every Saturday when he’s not in Oklahoma watching his son Shane serve as Lincoln Riley’s assistant head coach with the Sooners.

Fuente invited Beamer to address the team before its 2016 regular-season finale, a home game against Virginia. The first thing Beamer told the players: Not every transition goes as smoothly as this one. He credited Fuente.

Beamer remains careful not to cross what he considers the line. For example, when being interviewed for this story, he was reluctant to sit in his old office, which now belongs to Fuente. Beamer instead wanted to chat in a conference room.

Babcock thinks Beamer and Fuente have “figured out a great balance.” Just as Beamer credits Fuente for making him feel honored and welcome, Fuente credits Beamer for his acceptance.

“(Beamer) makes it so easy to pay tribute to him because of how he is,” Fuente said. “His wife has been fantastic with my little girls and my wife. For somebody to move in here and become the head football coach and take over for somebody who is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, who I did not know. …

“I didn’t work for Coach Beamer. I didn’t play for Coach Beamer. We don’t have a history. For him to treat us the way he has speaks volumes.”

Some days, Beamer wakes up and wonders why a 70-year-old man would get a dog. He said his wife asks that question just about every day.

Other days, Beamer wakes up and thinks about how grateful he is for Hank.

A few years ago, Beamer settled on a Beaglier as his breed of choice. The family once owned a Beagle, and some friends of the Beamers in Georgia had a King Charles Cavalier.

“I thought that was the cutest little dog,” Beamer said.

Ballien, whom many credit as a steadying force in the transition from Beamer to Fuente (though he prefers to remain behind the scenes), did some research and found a Beaglier in Tennessee.

“When I first got him, I said, ‘This is the Frank and Hank show,’” Beamer said. “(Now) it’s a little more Hank than Frank. People got so used to seeing him walk around campus, (if) I don’t have him for some reason, I came from somewhere else or whatever, people see me and they go, ‘Where is Hank?’

“I think Hank is more popular by far.”

Beamer said people in Blacksburg treat him better now than they did when he was still coaching, when “they were still upset with us for not playing better on Saturday.” He’s happy to take pictures with people in public, because he can remember a time when nobody wanted a photo with him.

To Beamer, Blacksburg is a “respectful, caring, I-got-your-back kind of place.” He and his wife have no intentions of moving. He loves waking up in the morning and gazing out the window above his patio toward the mountains. He likes that no other houses obstruct the view.

Babcock said Beamer looks and feels better in retirement. The AD also recognizes Beamer’s presence in town as invaluable.

“Coach Beamer just walking around campus, to watch 18- and 19-year-olds stop him for pictures … it’s not out of ego,” Babcock said. “People are really grateful for what he did here.

“His visibility in town and on campus is great. It’s like having your grandfather around every day, and everybody in the family gets along well.”

Thus, the transition is completed in tranquility.

The smoothness of the process and the resulting harmony would not have been possible without two themes: the lack of ego and the presence of professionalism. The fusing of relationships between all involved is rare, if not unheard of, in the world of college football.

Beamer and Babcock. Babcock and Foster. Foster and Fuente. Fuente and Babcock. Beamer and Fuente.

And, of course, Hank and Virginia Tech.