By Mark Pszonak
Many coaches jump from job to job frequently. But that hasn’t been the case with Justin Fuente, who has been off the grid since he was fired by Virginia Tech at the tail end of the 2021 season. Now he has resurfaced, but he won’t be on the sidelines in 2025.
Fuentes’ coaching career had an interesting and quick rise and fall. After starting at Illinois State, he landed at TCU, where he coached running backs and then became co-offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011. This led him to be named the head coach at Memphis, where in four seasons he led the Tigers to a 26-23 record. While that may not be impressive, it was his final two seasons in Memphis, when he went 19-6, that earned his move to Virginia Tech.
Fuentes’ 74 games as the head coach in Blacksburg saw plenty of ups and downs. It started off well with a 19-8 start during the first two seasons, but then quickly regressed. Over his final four seasons he led the Hokies to a 24-23 record and only two bowls, which were both losses.
Since his firing, Fuentes’ whereabouts have been mostly unknown. There was a story that he was hired as an analyst by former Indiana head coach Tom Allen in 2023, but Fuentes denied those. Because of this, this news of his return to TCU, as a television analyst, comes as a surprise to most.
Having already earned more than $30M as a head coach, it will be interesting to see if Fuentes’ new role at TCU is his new career path or just a random U-turn before he returns to the sidelines.
