 Fuente in 2018 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1976-07-30)July 30, 1976 (age 49) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1995–1997 | Oklahoma |
| 1998–1999 | Murray State |
| 2000–2001 | Oklahoma Wranglers |
| Position | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2001–2003 | Illinois State (QB) |
| 2004–2006 | Illinois State (OC/QB) |
| 2007–2008 | TCU (RB) |
| 2009–2011 | TCU (co-OC/QB) |
| 2012–2015 | Memphis |
| 2016–2021 | Virginia Tech |
| 2023 | Indiana (analyst) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 69–54 |
| Bowls | 2–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1AAC (2014) 1ACC Coastal Division (2016) | |
| Awards | |
| AAC Coach of the Year (2014) ACC Coach of the Year (2016) | |
Justin James Fuente[1] (born July 30, 1976) is an Americancollege football coach. He was the head football coach atVirginia Tech from 2016 to 2021 and was the 2016 ACC Coach of the Year.[2] Fuente was also the head football coach at theUniversity of Memphis from 2012 to 2015. Prior, he was an assistant atTexas Christian University from 2007 to 2011 and atIllinois State University from 2001 to 2006. Fuente attended theUniversity of Oklahoma before transferring toMurray State University after his redshirt sophomore season. He playedquarterback for both schools. Fuente played a single season with theOklahoma Wranglers of theArena Football League.
Fuente has coached quarterbacks as an assistant or head coach including three-time Pro BowlerAndy Dalton, first-round draft pickPaxton Lynch, andarena football quarterbackJerod Evans.
Fuente was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Justin married his wife Jenny in 2005 and they have three daughters.[3] Fuente and his family are Catholic.
Fuente attendedUnion High School inTulsa and played football as a quarterback, where he threw for 6,104 yards and 65 touchdowns.[4] In 1994, his senior season he led the state in both passing yards (2,934) and touchdown passes (32).[5] Statewide recognition followed, with theTulsa World naming him "Player of the Year" andThe Oklahoman "All-State Offensive Player of the Year.".[6][5] Several schoolsrecruited Fuente, includingOklahoma,Oklahoma State,Tulsa andTexas A&M, but he ultimately signed with Oklahoma under coachHoward Schnellenberger in February 1995.[4]
Fuenteredshirted at Oklahoma for the1995 season behind Eric Moore at quarterback.[7] Following the season, Schnellenberger resigned as head coach andJohn Blake replaced him.[7] Entering the1996 season, Fuente backed up Moore.[8] However, after Oklahoma opened the season with a loss toTCU, Blake named Fuente the starting quarterback.[8] Fuente started the next eight games and compiled a 3–5 record before losing his starting position to Moore following the victory overOklahoma State.[9] For the year, Fuente completed 91 of 196 passes for 1,271 yards with ten interceptions and eight touchdowns.[10] Fuente entered the 1997 season as the starting quarterback,[10] but started only five games, winning two and losing three.[11] Following the season, hetransferred toDivision I-AAMurray State University where he would be able to compete in the 1998 season.[12] Fuente amassed 2,289 yards with the Sooners.[12]
At Murray State, Fuente was named theOhio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a finalist for theWalter Payton Award following the 1999 season. He still holds several single-season records at Murray State for a quarterback including: most pass completions (240), highest pass efficiency (151.21), most passing yards (3,497), and most touchdown passes (27).[13] Following his graduation from Murray, Fuente signed a contract with theOklahoma Wranglers of theArena Football League.[14]
In May 2000, Fuente signed a contract with the Wranglers as their third-string quarterback.[15] After seeing limited action, in the 2000 season and into the 2001 season, Fuente left the team in May 2001 in order to pursue a college coaching position atIllinois State University.[16]
Following his playing career, Fuente began his coaching career as thequarterbacks coach atIllinois State University in 2001.[17] There he worked underDenver Johnson, who he played for when Johnson was an assistant coach at Oklahoma and as head coach at Murray State.[17] After three years, Fuente was promoted tooffensive coordinator, and he served in that position through the end of 2006 season when he accepted the running backs coach position atTCU.[17] At TCU, he was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2009, and under his guidance both helped developAndy Dalton at quarterback and lead the Horned Frogs to anundefeated season and victory in the2011 Rose Bowl.[6]
TheUniversity of Memphis named Fuente its head coach on December 8, 2011, replacingLarry Porter.[18] 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).[19] 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.[20]
Fuente's2014 team captured a share of theAmerican 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 theMissouri Valley Conference in 1971.[21] The team defeatedBYU in the2014 Miami Beach Bowl in double overtime, giving Fuente his first 10-win season and the Tigers' first 10-win season since 1938.[22] The Tigers finished the season rankedNo. 25 in both theAP and theCoaches Polls. Fuente was named a finalist for theEddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.[23] 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.[24]
Virginia Tech named Fuente its head coach on November 29, 2015, replacing the retiringFrank Beamer.[25] In his first season in Blacksburg, Fuente led the Hokies to a 9–3 regular season record and a trip to the ACC Championship, representing the Coastal division.[26] Fuente won the 2016ACC Coach of the Year following the regular season. The Hokies defeated theArkansas Razorbacks 35–24 in the 2016Belk Bowl, overturning a 24–0 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.[27] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic college football season, Fuente's Hokies declined a bowl invitation after a player vote, 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 losses to Boston College, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh.[28]
Tom Allen hired Fuente as an offensive analyst atIndiana in October 2023 following the firing ofWalt Bell as offensive coordinator.[29] Indiana fired Allen following the season and hiredCurt Cignetti to replace him; Cignetti retained onlyBob Bostad from Allen's staff.[30] Fuente has expressed little interest in coaching since due to the "current state of things" in college football, disliking how the relationship between players and coaches "now is purely transactional".[31]
In 2025, he became a radio color commentator for TCU games.[31] Fuente was also named a senior advisor to theCollege Football Playoff.[32]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis Tigers(Conference USA)(2012) | |||||||||
| 2012 | Memphis | 4–8 | 4–4 | T–3rd (East) | |||||
| Memphis Tigers(American Athletic Conference)(2013–2015) | |||||||||
| 2013 | Memphis | 3–9 | 1–7 | T–9th | |||||
| 2014 | Memphis | 10–3 | 7–1 | T–1st | WMiami Beach | 25 | 25 | ||
| 2015 | Memphis | 9–3 | 5–3 | 3rd(West) | Birmingham[a] | ||||
| Memphis: | 26–23 | 17–15 | |||||||
| Virginia Tech Hokies(Atlantic Coast Conference)(2016–2021) | |||||||||
| 2016 | Virginia Tech | 10–4 | 6–2 | 1st(Coastal) | WBelk | 16 | 16 | ||
| 2017 | Virginia Tech | 9–4 | 5–3 | 2nd(Coastal) | LCamping World | 25 | 24 | ||
| 2018 | Virginia Tech | 6–7 | 4–4 | T–3rd(Coastal) | LMilitary | ||||
| 2019 | Virginia Tech | 8–5 | 5–3 | 2nd(Coastal) | LBelk | ||||
| 2020 | Virginia Tech | 5–6 | 5–5 | T–6th | |||||
| 2021 | Virginia Tech | 5–5[b] | 2-2 | (Coastal) | |||||
| Virginia Tech: | 43–31 | 27–19 | |||||||
| Total: | 69–54 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
