Justin Fuente: Difference between revisions

| current_title = Analyst

| current_team = [[Indiana Hoosiers football|Indiana]]

| current_conference = [[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]]

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|707|30|mf=yes}}

| player_years1 = 1996–19971995–1997

| coach_years7 = 2023–present2023

| coach_team7 = [[Indiana Hoosiers football|Indiana]] (Analystanalyst)

| championships = 1 [[American Athletic Conference|The AmericanAAC]] (2014)<br>1 [[Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC]] Coastal Division]] (2016)

| awards = [[American Athletic Conference football individual awards#Coach of the Year|AAC Coach of the Year]] (2014)<br>[[Atlantic Coast Conference football honors#Coach of the Year|ACC Coach of the Year]] (2016)

'''Justin James Fuente'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://jpda.murraystate.edu/greenstone/collect/dullrich-boardo59/index/assoc/HASHba6e.dir/doc.pdf | title=Murray State University Board Report: Undergraduate Degrees Conferred | date=December 16, 1999 | access-date=October 20, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305044620/http://jpda.murraystate.edu/greenstone/collect/dullrich-boardo59/index/assoc/HASHba6e.dir/doc.pdf | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> (born July 30, 1976) is an [[American football]] coach who currently serves as a football analyst for the [[Indiana Hoosiers football|Indiana Hoosiers]]. He was the head football coach at [[Virginia Tech]] from 2016 to 2021. He was the 2016 ACC Coach of the Year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Justin Fuente accepts ACC Coach of the Year award |url=https://247sports.com/college/virginia-tech/Boltarticle/Virginiavirginia-Techtech-Hokieshokies-head-coach-Justinjustin-Fuentefuente-awarded-the-ACCacc-Coachcoach-of-the-Yearyear-Awardaward-49482290/}}</ref> Fuente was the head football coach at the [[University of Memphis]] from 2012 to 2015. He was an assistant at [[Texas Christian University]] from 2007 to 2011 and previously at [[Illinois State University]] from 2001 to 2006. Fuente attended the [[University of Oklahoma]] before transferring to [[Murray State University]] after his redshirt sophomore season. He played [[quarterback]] for both schools. Fuente played a single season with the [[Oklahoma Wranglers]] of the [[Arena Football League]].

Fuente has coached quarterbacks as an assistant or head coach including three-time Pro Bowler [[Andy Dalton]], first-round draft pick [[Paxton Lynch]], and [[arena football]] quarterback [[Jerod Evans]]. He also was unable to Coach [[Hendon Hooker]] who then transferred to Tennessee and was a Heisman Candidate

Fuente was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Justin married his wife Jenny in 2005 and they have three daughters.<ref>{{cite web | title=How pro wrestling shaped the life of Virginia Tech's Justin Fuente | url=httphttps://www.espn.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/91724/justin-fuentes-great-grandfather-was-a-wrestler-known-as-the-spanish-red-devil|last = Adelson|first=Andrea| date= March 16, 2016|publisher=ESPN|access-date=September 8, 2018}}</ref> Fuente and his family are Catholic.

The [[University of Memphis]] named Fuente its head coach on December 8, 2011, replacing [[Larry Porter (Coach)|Larry Porter]].<ref name="ESPNhire2">{{cite news | url=httphttps://espnwww.goespn.com/dallas/ncf/story/_/id/7330918/memphis-tigers-hire-justin-fuente-tcu-horned-frogs-new-coach | title=Justin Fuente is Memphis' new coach | work=[[ESPN.com]] | date=December 8, 2011 | agency=Associated Press | access-date=December 8, 2011}}</ref> After the Tigers opened the 2012 season with only one win over their first nine games, Fuente led Memphis on a three-game winning streak to close the season and finish with an overall record of four wins and eight losses (4–8).<ref name="1stSeason">{{cite news | url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/nov/24/memphis-tigers-clobber-southern-miss-third-straigh/ | title=Memphis Tigers clobber Southern Miss for third straight win | work=[[The Commercial Appeal]] | date=November 24, 2012 | access-date=December 9, 2011 | author=Stukenborg, Phil | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202103444/http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/nov/24/memphis-tigers-clobber-southern-miss-third-straigh/ | archive-date=February 2, 2014}}</ref> In February 2013, Memphis extended the term of Fuente's contract through the 2017 season as a result of the gains he made in his first year as head coach of the Tigers.<ref name="MEMextended">{{cite news | url=httphttps://espnwww.goespn.com/college-football/story/_/id/8945165/memphis-tigers-coach-justin-fuente-receives-one-year-contract-extension-2017 | title=Memphis extends Justin Fuente | work=[[ESPN.com]] | date=February 13, 2013 | agency=Associated Press | access-date=February 14, 2013}}</ref>

Fuente's [[2014 Memphis Tigers football team|2014 team]] captured a share of the [[American Athletic Conference]] championship, compiling a 7–1 conference record and 9–3 overall regular season record. This was the Tigers' first conference championship since winning the [[Missouri Valley Conference]] in 1971.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/sports/tigers/football/tigers-clinch-share-of-aac-title-with-41-10-win-ep-803930580-325693621.html | title=Tigers clinch share of AAC title with 41-10 win | work=[[The Commercial Appeal]] | date=November 29, 2014 | access-date=November 29, 2015 | author=Weber, Mark}}</ref> The team defeated [[2014 BYU Cougars football team|BYU]] in the [[2014 Miami Beach Bowl]] in double overtime, giving Fuente his first 10-win season and the Tigers' first 10-win season since 1938.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/12/22/lynch-memphis-top-byu-55-48-in-miami-beach-bowl/20782867/ | title=Memphis wins Miami Beach Bowl, then brawls with BYU | work=[[USA Today]] | date=December 22, 2014 | agency=Associated Press | access-date=November 29, 2015}}</ref> The Tigers finished the season ranked {{Abbr|No.|Number}} 25 in both the [[AP Poll|AP]] and the [[Coaches Poll]]s. Fuente was named a finalist for the [[Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year]] award.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://memphis.247sports.com/Bolt/Fuente-one-of-eight-finalists-for-Eddie-Robinson-Award-33686737 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20141230154631/http://memphis.247sports.com/Bolt/Fuente-one-of-eight-finalists-for-Eddie-Robinson-Award-33686737 | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 30, 2014 | title=Fuente one of eight finalists for Eddie Robinson Award | work=[[247Sports.com]] | date=December 8, 2014 | access-date=November 29, 2015 | author=Milner, Grant}}</ref> Fuente's contract was extended and he received a raise at the close of the 2014 season for a total of a 5-year deal at approximately $1.4 million per year.<ref name="si.com">{{cite news | url=https://www.si.com/college-football/2014/12/18/justin-fuente-memphis-tigers-contract | title=Memphis, Justin Fuente agree to new five-year contract starting at $1.4M | work=[[Sports Illustrated]] | date=December 18, 2014 | access-date=November 29, 2015 | author=Thamel, Pete |author-link=Pete Thamel}}</ref>

[[Virginia Tech]] named Fuente its head coach on November 29, 2015, replacing the retiring [[Frank Beamer]]. In his first season in Blacksburg, Fuente led the Hokies to a 9-39–3 regular season record and a trip to the ACC Championship, representing the Coastal division.<ref>{{cite web |title=Virginia Tech officially names Justin Fuente head football coach. In his first season with the Hokies, he led the team to an ACC Coastal championship. |work=Hokiesports |date=November 29, 2015 |url=http://www.hokiesports.com/football/recaps/20151129aaa.html }}</ref> Fuente won the 2016 [[Atlantic Coast Conference football honors#Coach of the Year|ACC Coach of the Year]] following the regular season. The Hokies defeated the [[2016 Arkansas Razorbacks football team|Arkansas]] Razorbacks 35-2435–24 in the 2016 [[2016 Belk Bowl | Belk Bowl]], overturning a 24-024–0 deficit at halftime and winning three consecutive bowl games for the first time in the program's history. Virginia Tech finished the season ranked #16 in both the AP and Coaches Poll. On April 3, 2017, Fuente and Virginia Tech agreed to a contract extension through 2023. <ref>{{cite web|title=Virginia Tech's Justin Fuente agrees to extension through '23|url=httphttps://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/19070401/virginia-tech-coach-justin-fuente-agree-contract-extension|website=ESPN.com|date=April 3, 2017}}</ref> In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic college football season, Fuente's Hokies failed to qualify for a bowl, snapping the program's 29-year streak of bowl games, the longest such in the country at the time. Virginia Tech and Fuente agreed to mutually part ways with two games remaining in the 2021 season after bad losses to Boston College, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 16, 2021 |title=Virginia Tech announces head football coaching change |url=https://hokiesports.com/news/2021/11/16/virginia-tech-football-announces-head-football-coaching-change.aspx |access-date=November 16, 2021 |website=Virginia Tech Athletics |language=en}}</ref>