Virginia Tech football: 5 top replacements for Justin Fuente in Blacksburg
By Scott Rogust
If the Virginia Tech Hokies move on from head coach Justin Fuente, here are five potential options to replace him.
The Virginia Tech Hokies entered Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 record, preparing to face off against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Things did not go to plan, as the Hokies trailed as large as 28-0 midway through the third quarter before losing 28-7.
Head coach Justin Fuente has been with the program since 2016, where he holds a win-loss record of 41-28 in that span. He led the team to bowl games in his first four years on the job, where the Hokies went 1-3 in those contests. They have not played in bowl season since their 37-30 loss in the Belk Bowl against Kentucky in 2019.
If the Hokies decide that they have seen enough with Fuente at the helm and decide to pay his hefty buyout fee, they could look towards these five candidates to replace him.
5. Jay Norvell, Nevada
Jay Norvell took over as Nevada’s head coach back in 2017 after spending one year as the passing game coordinator for Arizona State. After a down first season, Norvell coached the Wolf Pack to three consecutive bowl game appearances, winning two of them. This year, Nevada is 4-1 prior to Saturday night’s game against Hawaii. One of their biggest wins came on Oct. 2 when they defeated the Boise State Broncos.
Overall, Norvell has a 29-23 record during his time with the Wolf Pack.
Norvell’s resume as both head coach and as an assistant should make him a viable candidate for the Virginia Tech job.
4. Shane Beamer, South Carolina
Shane Beamer is currently in his first year as head coach of South Carolina, but he does have a family history at Virginia Tech.
His father, Frank Beamer, spent 29 years with the program from 1987 until 2015, where he held a 238-121 overall record. Beamer led the Hokies to 23-consecutive bowl game appearances from 1993 until his final season with the team, where they won 11 of them.
Having Beamer, who was an assistant head coach at Oklahoma the previous three seasons, take over on the sidelines to wear his father spent nearly three decades would be quite the story.