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Justin Fuente Has been Very Busy since being hired at Virginia Tech.

By Dwight Lester

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Justin Fuente has hit the ground running in Blacksburg as he attempts to continue the legacy Frank Beamer has started.

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It has been a busy month for the new Virginia Tech head man Justin Fuente. First, there was the vast amount of mystery surrounding the hiring of Fuente by athletic director Whit Babcock. Eventually the news of his hiring leaked during the final regular season game for the Hokies. The next week Fuente was formally announced, and ever since he has been nose to the grind stone, working to fill out his staff, recruit players, keep already signed recruits, and learn his way around the ACC.

As many of you already know, Justin Fuente created a huge stir by keeping stellar defensive coordinator Bud Foster. By doing so, the Hokies could have in my opinion, one of the best offensive and defensive one two punches in the country. This coaching tandem, if it comes together like I hope it will, could create a monster many teams in the ACC are not prepared for.

The rest of Fuente’s staff is going to be made up of both Hokie and Memphis Tiger staff members. There will be some familiar names for the Hokie faithful as both Torrian Gray, and Charley Wiles are returning to Bud Foster’s staff. Zohn Burden also joined Fuente’s staff, and will move from the wide receivers coach to the running backs coach after the Hokies appearance in the Independence Bowl. By Burden being retained as the running backs coach, it seems extremely unlikely that Shane Beamer will be retained, as had been previously reported. Burden gives Fuente a solid link to the extremely fertile tidewater Virginia recruiting grounds. These recruiting grounds are going to be a focus point in Fuente’s new plan to keep the state’s best recruits at home.

Justin Fuente may not have an official office at Virginia Tech, he is working out of a luxury suite in Lane Stadium at the moment, but he does have an advantage many coaches in the ACC do not. Fuente is hot on the recruiting trail. While most coaches for big name programs are preparing for bowl games Fuente is traveling all over the nation. Fuente however, did have the disadvantage of trying to keep the recruiting class Frank Beamer put together intact. So far the new coach is doing a relative good job in keeping all the talent. Fuente was even able to get Phil Patterson, a three star recruit, who reopened his recruiting process after Beamer’s retirement announcement to come back to the fold.

Not only was Justin Fuente able to keep the recruits already coming to Virginia Tech, but he was able to add some talent to the fold as well. Fuente added a major player for the offensive side of the ball just a few weeks ago. Jerod Evans the number one junior college quarterback in the country decided to transfer to the Hokies. Jerod Evans not only brings experience to the Hokies at the quarterback position, which the Hokies will need with the graduation of Michael Brewer, but he brings the talent type Justin Fuente is looking for to run his new offense. However, with the arrival of Evans on campus there is an instant quarterback controversy, as Dwayne Lawson was expected to take the helm.

Evans is not the only Junior College transfer coming to Blacksburg. Demetri Moore a 6’6 300 pound offensive lineman has decided to come join the 2016 version of the Hokies offensive line. Moore gives the line some much-needed experience and depth at a position where the Hokies struggled most of the year. One can only think the signing of Evans helped with Moore’s decision to come to Hokie Nation.

It is an exciting time for Hokie fans. The transition is scary for many Hokie fans, but the program is in good hands, and the new regime is off to a good start. The future is bright for the Hokies under Justin Fuente. If he is as good a coach as he is a recruiter the Hokies will be back to a top team in the country in no time.

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