Virginia Tech football: 3 candidates to replace Justin Fuente

Virginia Tech football is now looking for a new head coach, and these three men should be on their shortlist.

Virginia Tech football announced on Tuesday that they have fired Justin Fuente after six seasons as the Hokies’ head coach. Fuente was 43-31 in his time in Blacksburg.

Before coming to Blacksburg, Fuente was the head coach of Memphis football. He helped Memphis win their first bowl game since 2005 and won 10 games in 2014. Under his coaching, quarterback Paxton Lynch would become a 1st round selection by the Denver Broncos.

In his first season at Virginia Tech, the Hokies made an appearance in the ACC Championship game and finished with a 10-4 record. Unfortunately, the team could never keep the momentum going..

Brandon Marcello of 24/7 Sports had this to say about Fuente’s performance as head coach back in October:

"“Frustratingly bad doesn’t begin to explain the late-game losses (Notre Dame’s rally and game-winning field goal two weeks ago sticks out) and in the land of Frank Beamer, such spurts of incompetence will not be tolerated much longer. Fuente is also struggling to land the best recruits in the state, which is a no-no at any Power Five gig, but couple that with signing classes ranked near or at the bottom of the ACC in 2021 and 2020, and a clear disconnect with boosters, and it’s clear why he’s on the hot seat with a miserable 22-22 record since 2018.” “More alarming are the performance in tight games, particularly at home. Fuente has led the Hokies to three-game losing streaks inside Lane Stadium three times in four seasons; Beamer suffered through two such streaks in 29 years (!) leading the program.”"

Despite the lack of success over the past couple of years, Virginia Tech should be an attractive job opening for a head coach. Legendary coach Frank Beamer had incredible success in Blacksburg, and the team made 27 consecutive bowl game appearances from 1993-2019.

Here are a few names you’ll most likely hear about in the coming days:

Why not go back to the Beamer family tree to resurrect the Hokies?

Shane Beamer is only in his first season at South Carolina, but he has done a great job of rebuilding the Gamecocks so far. They currently sit at 5-5 on the year, an improvement from their 2-8 record in 2020. They will need to beat either Auburn or Clemson over the next two weeks to get to their first bowl game since 2018.

Beamer played at Virginia Tech under his father, and would later serve as an Associate head coach/Running backs coach. He also spent time at Georgia and Oklahoma before coming to South Carolina to be its head coach.

It will likely be hard to pull Beamer away from Columbia after only a season, which is why he is low on this list. He has even said publicly how coaching at South Carolina has been one of his dream jobs.

Opportunities to coach at your alma mater are rare though, and even SEC football analyst Paul Finebaum believes Beamer might be attracted to the VA Tech job.

Even though the odds are low of him leaving the Gamecocks, don’t be surprised if Beamer is at least approached by Virginia Tech officials.

Chadwell’s name seems to be on everyone’s head coaching wish list, but there is a reason for it. He has built Coastal Carolina into a consistent winner.

Since taking over in 2019, Chadwell has gone 24-10. He has also coached at North Greenville, Delta State, and Charleston Southern, which he helped take to the FCS playoffs.

His Chanticleers have become one of the most entertaining teams in college football with their fast-paced spread option offense. Their offense guided them to an 11 win season in 2020, and they have ranked in the AP top 10 poll for the first time in program history. Their defense also played well, as they ranked in the top 20 in points allowed per game.

He has also developed great players on offense such as Grayson McCall, Jaivon Heiligh, and CJ Marable.

Chadwell is a native of Tennessee, and he has spent most of his coaching career on the east coast, so he knows the area well and wouldn’t have any trouble recruiting. Coastal Carolina is currently ranked No. 1 in Sun Belt recruiting rankings.

The question Virginia Tech might ask themselves is if they want to go the route of hiring another Group-of-Five head coach again like Fuente. If they choose to go that route, Chadwell would be their best head coaching option.

If Virginia Tech wants a proven Power-5 head football coach leading the team, Dave Clawson should be their guy.

Wake Forest football is 9-1 this year and ranked in the top 10. They are a favorite to win the ACC Championship this year and play in a New Year’s Six bowl.

In eight seasons at Wake Forest, Clawson has a 49-46 record. This season will be their sixth straight season of playing in a bowl game, the longest stretch in program history.

Prior to his time in Winston-Salem, Clawson coached at Bowling Green for five seasons, leading them to a 10-win season in his final year with the program.

Luring Clawson away from within the ACC might be tough, but the Virginia Tech job, with its great facilities and recruiting lure, might be attractive enough for him to leave Wake Forest.

Clawson has proven he can find success at every stop he’s been on, and he can lead the Hokies to the top of the ACC if he takes over in Blacksburg.