College Football: 10 coaches on the hot seat entering 2019 season
By Dante Pryor
6. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
The Hokies have had a rash of transfers in the last couple of years. According to Roanoke.com, they’ve lost five players from their 2017 signing class. They’ve lost 10 percent of their scholarship players in Blacksburg which includes starting quarterback Josh Jackson to the transfer portal — that is an anomaly even in this era of the transfer portal.
It didn’t start out this way, though.
When Justin Fuente took over in 2015, the Hokies went 9-3 and played Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. By 2017, he was the first Virginia Tech coach to win 19 wins in his first two seasons and got a contract extension. This past season Fuente went 6-7 and has had all these transfers.
The question the brass in Blacksburg has to ask, “Is this a cultural issue that Fuente has created?”
The cupboard isn’t bare at Virginia Tech, but how can you set up a system always having to start young players? Fuente has Ryan Willis to potentially replace Jackson, but who will replace top receiver Eric Kumah? They aren’t in the same division as Clemson, so why haven’t they been able to take hold of the ACC Coastal?
What do you see? Lots of question marks. When you have these many transfers this quickly you are left with more questions than answers. Coach Fuente must answer those questions because another six- or seven-win season might have him looking in the want-ads.