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Will Justin Fuente Survive?

Mar 4, 2006
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As a fan of another team who has also followed VT football since 1992, I’m wondering what the pulse of the fan base is with regard to Coach Fuente. It’s not easy to replace a legend like Coach Beamer, and it is a given there is going to be pressure on the successor. When Fuente was named the head coach, I thought this would be a home run hire. It still may be, but I’m starting to wonder. Transfers and injuries along with some uncharacteristic poor play on defense hasn’t helped Fuente’s cause. What does Hokie Nation think?
 
I would give him more time if this year is so-so if only because he has recruited so well in 2019. A good offense begins with a good line and this is the best I've seen in a class.
 
Fuente's decision making convinced me 2 years ago that he is not cutout for Power 5 schools. If we have another losing season, I'd like to see him gone. I am confident there are better options out there to replace him.
 
The problem with VT started with Frank Beamer. His lack of recruiting the last 4 years hurt us, and him keeping an inept offensive coordinator around for over a decade destroyed recuiting on the offensive side of the ball. All of that spilled over to wins/losses on the field and Franks last three years showed in wins and losses and the recruiting further plummeted. Then Fuente is hired. He inherited an absolute mess that would have and will take 10 years to fix.

When he took over, he inherited 3-4 previous years of ugly recruiting which showed on the field in talent. Then the the problem perpetuates itself to lots of losses and recruiting is effected more. That's where our program is. Fuente can't fix it and neither can anyone else. From the day Beamer left, it was a 10 year problem to fix. Three to four years before Frank left, he kept a certain person on staff that had no trust among Va High School Coaches and that made it a 14 year problem. We are half way through our sentence. It's a good 5 years or more before we are relevant. So, from this fans opinion. It ain't Fuente. It was Beamer and his offensive "protege" who has never had one BCS or Div 1 offer since he left. He's not even a coordinator. That shows us what other schools and coaches think if his talent. We won in the 2000s in spite of that offensive coordinator and Beamers refusal to fire him. VT, as a fan base and by having a weak and good ole boy AD, helped keep that OC around. That decision is effecting us to this very day. No need to feel sorry for us. As a fan base, we did this to ourselves.
 
The problem with VT started with Frank Beamer. His lack of recruiting the last 4 years hurt us, and him keeping an inept offensive coordinator around for over a decade destroyed recuiting on the offensive side of the ball. All of that spilled over to wins/losses on the field and Franks last three years showed in wins and losses and the recruiting further plummeted. Then Fuente is hired. He inherited an absolute mess that would have and will take 10 years to fix.

When he took over, he inherited 3-4 previous years of ugly recruiting which showed on the field in talent. Then the the problem perpetuates itself to lots of losses and recruiting is effected more. That's where our program is. Fuente can't fix it and neither can anyone else. From the day Beamer left, it was a 10 year problem to fix. Three to four years before Frank left, he kept a certain person on staff that had no trust among Va High School Coaches and that made it a 14 year problem. We are half way through our sentence. It's a good 5 years or more before we are relevant. So, from this fans opinion. It ain't Fuente. It was Beamer and his offensive "protege" who has never had one BCS or Div 1 offer since he left. He's not even a coordinator. That shows us what other schools and coaches think if his talent. We won in the 2000s in spite of that offensive coordinator and Beamers refusal to fire him. VT, as a fan base and by having a weak and good ole boy AD, helped keep that OC around. That decision is effecting us to this very day. No need to feel sorry for us. As a fan base, we did this to ourselves.

Sorry but Fuente has been here now 4 years. This will be his 4th recruiting class. He had to go to JuCo route to get some DL's in the last class, why, because his staff cannot recruit even ordinary DL's. The JuCo's he brought in were average, not the ones that Power 5 schools were recruiting. What does that tell you? Look at what Dumbo Sweeney did at Clemson. From the day he was hired, he started bringing in stud recruits despite the fact that he was replacing a coach who was run out of town. He can't coach Dallas Cowboys to a win against a college team, but he can recruit. Why can't Fuente and his this staff do that? What happened before he got here is irrelevant now. After his first 1 or 2 classes, he should be able to at least sign half of the top 10 Virginia kids. He cannot. He must go. Bring in someone like Clemson DC and watch our recruiting take off virtually overnight. I guarantee that. And he is a much much better coach too.
 
Coaching ain't fixing it. A nice shiny new coach is nice and sounds good, but it ain't fixing. Rockhead Beamer left a 10 year problem the day he left. Talk to me in 6 years. Be as patient as you were for over a decade with
Dumbspring.
 
It's a good thing that I am not the AD or Fuente would be clearing his office right after the game tonight. He was completely outcoached in every facet of the game. He does not belong in ACC, maybe not even AAC.
 
You got to hand it to Dook. They look like men playing us boys out there tonite. Our patchwork OLine is bad, our DLine is lame, and our playcalling is unimaginative. Duke called a game that kept us off balance.
 
The playcalling was probably the worse in VT history. I believe we had 35 yards passing in first half.

A change is probably needed at QB.
 
This is the biggest loss for VT since joining ACC. Fuente has completely killed this program. I really feel for Bud. He deserves a better send off than this.
 
Fellas, I’m at a loss as I know all of you are. I’ve followed the VT program since ‘92 and have had the opportunity to attend a few games in Lane Stadium over the years. This isn’t Hokie football. I really thought Fuente was a good hire and could build upon what Beamer had accomplished. I realize there have been some transfers and injuries, but the cupboard is not completely bare. Other than 2016 and the 2020 class which is far from being completed, you guys have had Top 25 recruiting classes. Perhaps I’m missing something. I do hope that the ship can be righted and the season turned around.

On a side note, that fake punt call with a a 4 TD lead was bush league by Cutcliffe. I was really surprised by that move. That will be something you know the coaching staff will remember.
 
I hope the recruits at the game can see how much they are needed and that they can play early.
 
I hope the recruits at the game can see how much they are needed and that they can play early.

That may seem reasonable for mid level recruits (3 star), but most 4 and 5 star recruits are not going to want to come into a situation like that, especially not now when a bunch of speculation exists on whether the head coach will be there in a year or two.

As someone who worked with a big Hokie fan at NADEP (NAS JAX) in the late 1990's to 2000, I came to respect VT. They were a force to be reckoned with. Clemson and VT have had some big games since the 1980's. It is hard to get a handle on it that they are now losing and struggling with teams like Old Dominion and Furman, and get blasted by Duke.

I saw VT play Clemson in Death Valley in 1984 when Danny Ford was Clemson's head coach, and when Bruce Smith was a VT defensive lineman, just to let you know how far I go back.
 
Fuente seems lost. The telling stat in this game was 35 yards passing at halftime. Time for a QB change.
 
Fellas, I’m at a loss as I know all of you are. I’ve followed the VT program since ‘92 and have had the opportunity to attend a few games in Lane Stadium over the years. This isn’t Hokie football. I really thought Fuente was a good hire and could build upon what Beamer had accomplished. I realize there have been some transfers and injuries, but the cupboard is not completely bare. Other than 2016 and the 2020 class which is far from being completed, you guys have had Top 25 recruiting classes. Perhaps I’m missing something. I do hope that the ship can be righted and the season turned around.

On a side note, that fake punt call with a a 4 TD lead was bush league by Cutcliffe. I was really surprised by that move. That will be something you know the coaching staff will remember.
I saw that fake punt coming. If our coaching staff didn't then they were clueless, and need to find something else to do. Again, this staff is out of their league and need to be replaced with someone who knows how to coach at the highest level. The mere fact that Kill has been brought in as an assistant tells you how lost they are and are in desperate mode. Fuete hiring was a huge mistake. The sooner he is removed the lesser damage would be done to the program.
 
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