VT Hires Justin Fuente

DocCrimson

All-SEC
Jan 3, 2010
1,731
128
82
East TN
Pretty impressive they got him. I felt he was the primary (1a or 1b) target for every significant opening this year, so for VT to snag him was impressive.
 

Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
18,711
9,897
187
A good hire for them. if Smart leaves, I'd like to see him take the Memphis job. It would be good training for him as a head coach (a la Mac at Colorado State) and he could come back here when Saban hangs it up. It would be a good hire for them (other than the fact they know he'd bolt in a heartbeat) because he knows the recruiting area.
 

gtowntide

All-American
Mar 1, 2011
4,286
1,092
187
Memphis,TN.
He has done a really good job at Memphis. He'll have much more to work with at Va.Tech. I also read that Bud Foster will stay on as DC. Fuentes is an offense guy.
 

Ole Man Dan

Hall of Fame
Apr 21, 2008
8,959
3,392
187
Gadsden, Al.
Good hire by VT. Justin employes a wide open offense. Give him a decent defense and VT will be a force in their conference. VT has better facilities than Memphis, so JF will have better players and better facilities.
 

rolltide_21

Hall of Fame
Dec 9, 2007
11,415
7,430
187
NW AL
Great hire. He inherited a mess at Memphis. They tried to keep him by making him the highest paid coach in the AAC. Whoever follows him at Memphis will inherit a much better situation. He will do well at VT especially with Bud Foster staying on staff.
 

freefall

1st Team
Apr 30, 2009
327
1
37
Leesburg, VA
Pretty much everyone I talk to is very, very happy with this hire. IMO the only maybe-better selection would have been Mullen, and there's no guarantee that he'd have taken the offer anyway. Locking this up early was a very smart move. We're also very glad that Foster decided to stay even though he had to be disappointed that he didn't get the job. As for the rest of the staff, Fuente is bringing at least Wiggins and Shibest with him, and has hinted that more are coming but that he wants to wait until after their bowl game to say who. We're assuming at least one of Dickey or Cornelsen (the two co-OCs) and probably Vice (OL coach). On the defensive side, it's been reported longtime Foster assistant Charlie Wiles (DL coach) will be part of the new staff, which leaves LB and DB assistant spots open, although I assume Torrian Gray will stay on as the DBs coach.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,810
15,647
182
Boone, NC
Pretty much everyone I talk to is very, very happy with this hire. IMO the only maybe-better selection would have been Mullen, and there's no guarantee that he'd have taken the offer anyway. Locking this up early was a very smart move. We're also very glad that Foster decided to stay even though he had to be disappointed that he didn't get the job. As for the rest of the staff, Fuente is bringing at least Wiggins and Shibest with him, and has hinted that more are coming but that he wants to wait until after their bowl game to say who. We're assuming at least one of Dickey or Cornelsen (the two co-OCs) and probably Vice (OL coach). On the defensive side, it's been reported longtime Foster assistant Charlie Wiles (DL coach) will be part of the new staff, which leaves LB and DB assistant spots open, although I assume Torrian Gray will stay on as the DBs coach.
I'll be glad to see you guys return to form. It'll be good for the ACC too.
 

freefall

1st Team
Apr 30, 2009
327
1
37
Leesburg, VA
I can't believe they are paying the money (I assume) instead of taking the budget route.
It's a 6-year deal with a base salary of $500k. Supplemental compensation starts at $2.7M in 2016 and rises each year, topping out at $3.15M in 2021. So he'll make a minimum of $3.2M next year and $3.65M in 2021, plus a fairly standard set of incentives for postseason play, awards, academic progress, etc.

Full details here, if you're interested.

Given that you guys are shelling out roughly $7M/year I'm not sure whether this qualifies as the "budget" route; I guess we'll have to wait for the results over the next few years to know that. :)
 

CB4

Hall of Fame
Aug 8, 2011
9,380
13,306
187
Birmingham, AL
Honestly I'm more impressed with Bud Foster and how he handled this. Many assumed he was the unnamed "coach in waiting" for when this day came to fruition. Lots of others (probably even myself) would have been thoroughly hacked to be overlooked for another. But to Coach Foster's credit, he has handled the situation with a lot of grace and humility. He must really love Blacksburg and that university.
 

drwho

Suspended
Dec 11, 2013
1,685
0
55
Honestly I'm more impressed with Bud Foster and how he handled this. Many assumed he was the unnamed "coach in waiting" for when this day came to fruition. Lots of others (probably even myself) would have been thoroughly hacked to be overlooked for another. But to Coach Foster's credit, he has handled the situation with a lot of grace and humility. He must really love Blacksburg and that university.
I've read a few accounts of Foster stating he didn't want the HC, that he was perfectly happy with what he was doing. Made it real to go after an offense-minded HC.
 

Chukker Veteran

Hall of Fame
Feb 6, 2001
10,588
5,061
287
Congrats to Virginia Tech for handling this in an "old school" manner. This story has it all. A well respected coach, beloved by his school's fans, retires with his dignity intact. After 29 years he goes out on his own terms. If he was pushed out, it was done behind closed doors, with no boosters determined to belittle him on the way to the door.

We've got the longtime assistant coach who evidently loves the school where he has been working, and understands the meaning and value of loyalty. He's bound to be a little miffed to be passed up to replace Beamer, but that doesn't cancel out the good will he's built for the school after working there for a while. Beamer handled things with class, so has Foster.

And then we've got the up and coming Fuente. He fulfilled his commitment to Memphis by staying longer that one or two years. He hasn't compromised his word jumping at a bigger paycheck shortly after taking the job at Memphis. He stayed a respectable period of time which I imagine let his former employers at Memphis wish him well, rather than turning him into an villain because he left them high and dry.

So we've got a long term head coach who retires with class. His top assistant demonstrates loyalty and satisfaction with the school where he has been working for a good while. And the new guy doesn't pull a one and done screwing of the school that first hired him. How absolutely refreshing, I hope they have a ton of success.
 
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