When Justin Fuente arrived in Blacksburg two years ago, most CFB reporters and analysts said Whit Babcock hit a home run hiring Fuente. Two years and 19 wins later, that statement has been proven true with other schools wanting Fuente to be their next head coach.
While other schools have shown interest in Fuente, the Hokies’ second-year head coach has rejected their inquiries. For now, Fuente is very comfortable as the head coach of the Hokies with no plans of leaving as he said during the Camping World Bowl media teleconference.
"For me it's been easy. I've declined to talk to everyone who's called. I think everybody knows I'm incredibly happy at Virginia Tech … It's been pretty much nipped in the bud at the start." @CoachFuente on handling interest from other schools
— VT Football (@VT_Football) December 3, 2017
Justin Fuente said that he has rejected any interest from schools that have called him, not even going into any conversations with those schools. Fuente’s name was listed as a top candidate for the Florida State job when it opened, but his name fell off the radar quickly as it became clear that he had no intentions of even considering leaving Blacksburg.
In a year where there has been plenty of coaching turmoil and lots of coaches being unafraid to have their names attached to rumors, Fuente has stayed out of that mess. It seems like every time Fuente’s name has popped up (Florida State, Tennessee, Texas A&M), his name fades away almost immediately as it becomes clear that the interest is completely one-sided.
Fuente’s comments show that he is currently committed to Virginia Tech in a similar manner to a man he looks up to in the coaching industry, TCU’s Gary Patterson.
Patterson has had plenty of chances to get a premier job yet he has stuck with TCU. Patterson has been linked with jobs like Tennessee in the past, but has never come close to leaving. While that could change for Justin Fuente down the road, it’s clear that at least for the next few years, he is fully committed to Virginia Tech and not interested in even entertaining a phone call with another school.
Fuente’s statement shows that Hokie fans have no reason to be concerned about him leaving in the near future.
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