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.
3. Charles Huff, Marshall
Charles Huff spent the previous two seasons as an assistant head coach and running backs coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide. College football fans saw just how well the Crimson Tide running backs did in those two years, especially the performance of Najee Harris in their National Championship-winning campaign in 2020.
Huff took on the Marshall head coaching job this season, his first as head coach. He currently holds a 4-3 record as of this writing.
2. Hugh Freeze, Liberty
After his stint as head coach of Ole Miss came to an end after five years, Hugh Freeze immediately pivoted to being the sideline boss for the Liberty Flames in 2019. The success has been there thus far.
In 2019, Liberty went 8-5 on the year, culminating in a 23-16 Cure Bowl win over Georgia Southern. Last year, Freeze coached the Flames to a 10-1 record and their second-consecutive Cure Bowl victory, this time at the expense of Coastal Carolina. This year, Freeze has Liberty sitting at a 5-1 record as of this writing.
The Liberty football program has been in the NCAA for four years, and Freeze had led them to early success in three of them. That could very well net him another job if he so chooses.
1. Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina
It should come as no shock that Jamey Chadwell would make the candidates list. What he has done with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers has been downright impressive.
Chadwell took over as head coach to start the 2019 season, where the Chanticleers finished with a 5-7 record. This past year, Coastal Carolina went 11-1 on the season, with their only loss coming in the Cure Bowl against 37-34 to Liberty. In 2021, Coastal Carolina is 6-0.
Considering what Chadwell has done, imagine what he can do with Virginia Tech?
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.