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Justin Fuente: A man on an island

Tom McKrackin

By Tom McKrackin
in Mean Green Football

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MeanGreenTexan Grand Master

MeanGreenTexan

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Wow.    When I read that article, rather than being scared off by Fuente, I came away aspiring to having the same kinds of expectations as the VATech fan base around here.   Sounds like the fans got pissed at him for losing teams to in-state G5s (one of them, a ranked Liberty... they were PISSED because they lost to a ranked team by a field goal!  Let that sink in). Best of luck to VATech's new coach, whoever that is.  Sounds like expectations are sky high out there, but with Clemson slipping, the door is wide open for them to get back to winning the ACC again.

Another strike against him was the lack of comradery with football lettermen.   This has always been an issue here at North Texas, and Wren has openly admitted/confronted this within the past 2-3 years & is working to fix that.   I can guarantee you he'll make sure Fuente, or whoever the next guy is buy-into the vision he has for contact with lettermen.

Another interesting point in here is that Mack Rhoades wanted him at Baylor when they hired Aranda & he interviewed there... after signing a long-term deal at VATech.   We all know how close Wren & Mack are, and I would assume this means Fuente and Baker are fairly close as well.

 

IMO, the cards are on the table.    Wren has now put himself in a corner in waiting, and if somehow Littrell wins out and gets NT to a bowl, Fuente could be gone while we're twiddling with Littrell...   Wren will be stuck with his eggs in Littrell's basket.

I don't ever root against NT.   And I'm not gonna start now.   As great a guy as Littrell seems to be, I'd love for him to have figured it out and put together a 10-year run of 8+win seasons for the Mean Green...   But man, Fuente would be a great hire.

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El Paso Eagle Grand Master

El Paso Eagle

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If were going to base if he is good enough to hire on a beat reporters article (who knows the backstory with these two) then by all means, lets make sure BV vets the candidates and gives his approval. When it comes to reporters, for the most part they are trying to clicks. JF was just let go so this is easy pickings for him. The truth is, who the hell knows what might work at UNT? We have 40+ years of not finding the right man.

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untjim1995 Grand Master

untjim1995

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First of all, I’m still nowhere near believing SL will get canned, so this is probably just wishful thinking on Fuente. And I like him a lot—he’d be a great get here. But I worry about one big thinj 
 

Fuente is used to playing home games in front of big crowds, from his Memphis days to the big time 66k at Va Tech. How’s he gonna react to a home game here in front of 15k? How does he react to locker rooms and weight rooms that aren’t like they have been at his last two stops? IOW, would he be spoiled from his previous stays and get pounded into the ground by the realities we are currently dealing with? 
 

I guess this could be where Carthel or Keeler would be a better fit. Neither have anything close to what UNT provides. Would that help them be even more enthusiastic and excited to be here?

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Greenrex Veteran

Greenrex

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3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Wow.    When I read that article, rather than being scared off by Fuente, I came away aspiring to having the same kinds of expectations as the VATech fan base around here.   Sounds like the fans got pissed at him for losing teams to in-state G5s (one of them, a ranked Liberty... they were PISSED because they lost to a ranked team by a field goal!  Let that sink in). Best of luck to VATech's new coach, whoever that is.  Sounds like expectations are sky high out there, but with Clemson slipping, the door is wide open for them to get back to winning the ACC again.

Another strike against him was the lack of comradery with football lettermen.   This has always been an issue here at North Texas, and Wren has openly admitted/confronted this within the past 2-3 years & is working to fix that.   I can guarantee you he'll make sure Fuente, or whoever the next guy is buy-into the vision he has for contact with lettermen.

Another interesting point in here is that Mack Rhoades wanted him at Baylor when they hired Aranda & he interviewed there... after signing a long-term deal at VATech.   We all know how close Wren & Mack are, and I would assume this means Fuente and Baker are fairly close as well.

 

IMO, the cards are on the table.    Wren has now put himself in a corner in waiting, and if somehow Littrell wins out and gets NT to a bowl, Fuente could be gone while we're twiddling with Littrell...   Wren will be stuck with his eggs in Littrell's basket.

I don't ever root against NT.   And I'm not gonna start now.   As great a guy as Littrell seems to be, I'd love for him to have figured it out and put together a 10-year run of 8+win seasons for the Mean Green...   But man, Fuente would be a great hire.

Good words, MGT.

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AsianEagle Explorer

AsianEagle

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3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Wow.    When I read that article, rather than being scared off by Fuente, I came away aspiring to having the same kinds of expectations as the VATech fan base around here.   Sounds like the fans got pissed at him for losing teams to in-state G5s (one of them, a ranked Liberty... they were PISSED because they lost to a ranked team by a field goal!  Let that sink in). Best of luck to VATech's new coach, whoever that is.  Sounds like expectations are sky high out there, but with Clemson slipping, the door is wide open for them to get back to winning the ACC again.

Another strike against him was the lack of comradery with football lettermen.   This has always been an issue here at North Texas, and Wren has openly admitted/confronted this within the past 2-3 years & is working to fix that.   I can guarantee you he'll make sure Fuente, or whoever the next guy is buy-into the vision he has for contact with lettermen.

Another interesting point in here is that Mack Rhoades wanted him at Baylor when they hired Aranda & he interviewed there... after signing a long-term deal at VATech.   We all know how close Wren & Mack are, and I would assume this means Fuente and Baker are fairly close as well.

 

IMO, the cards are on the table.    Wren has now put himself in a corner in waiting, and if somehow Littrell wins out and gets NT to a bowl, Fuente could be gone while we're twiddling with Littrell...   Wren will be stuck with his eggs in Littrell's basket.

I don't ever root against NT.   And I'm not gonna start now.   As great a guy as Littrell seems to be, I'd love for him to have figured it out and put together a 10-year run of 8+win seasons for the Mean Green...   But man, Fuente would be a great hire.

If Dave Aranda leaves for another job, like LSU or some other place, will Fuente be Baylor’s target again? If so, how are we going to compete with Baylor?

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Cr1028 Grand Master

Cr1028

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4 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Wow.    When I read that article, rather than being scared off by Fuente, I came away aspiring to having the same kinds of expectations as the VATech fan base around here.   Sounds like the fans got pissed at him for losing teams to in-state G5s (one of them, a ranked Liberty... they were PISSED because they lost to a ranked team by a field goal!  Let that sink in). Best of luck to VATech's new coach, whoever that is.  Sounds like expectations are sky high out there, but with Clemson slipping, the door is wide open for them to get back to winning the ACC again.

Of course they have high expectations, he was replacing one of the winningest coaches in college football history. He had to replace a legend. Hard for anyone to live up to those expectations.

We haven’t had anything close since Rod Rust replaced Odus Mitchell in 1967.

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Aquila_Viridis Rising Star

Aquila_Viridis

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Coach Andy Mac
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"Good insight"

Aquila_Viridis was awarded the badge 'Helpful' and 15 points.

VT is sort of like an established Appalachian. (For the sake of human dignity, I refuse to support letting them call themselves 'App State'.) For the Hill people of SW Virginia, a very very winning football team is a matter of life or death, because without it there is nothing.

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UNT Mean Green Proficient

UNT Mean Green

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Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, Wag Tag said:

Sounds similar to Holgerson and West Virginia. 

Great article. There can be some similarities drawn with Dana, minus the drinking and the partying.

Edited by UNT Mean Green
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LongJim Experienced

LongJim

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9 hours ago, Aquila_Viridis said:

For the Hill people of SW Virginia, a very very winning football team is a matter of life or death, because without it there is nothing.

 

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TIgreen01 Veteran

TIgreen01

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Frank Beamer's last 4 years at VaTech (29-23; 3 7-6 years with an 8-5 in the middle) 56%

Fuente's 6 years (43-31) 58%

Fuente was a slight uptick from Beamer.  However, prior to those last 4 years, Beamer had 8 straight 10+ win seasons and 13 10+ win seasons in a 17 year span).  It seems VaTech has 10+ win expectations.  Fuente delivered that in year 1, treaded water for next 3, then pretty dramatically fell off the last 2 years after Bud Foster retired.

Really don't need to read a long winded article to see why Fuente was fired.  It's about Wins and Losses.  Period.

Littrell delivered 2 9 win seasons with a mediocre/bad defense.  We were completely off the tracks as of Oct 15, 2021, and that was after 2 really disappointing years.  The fact is that if North Texas had the same level of expectations as VaTech, Littrell would be in the same unemployment line as Fuente...but we don't and shouldn't at this point.

I don't get all the fuss over Fuente.  He's fine.  Not great.  Not markedly better than Littrell from what I can tell.  Especially not if bringing him in means PB leaves in the offseason.

Edited by TIgreen01
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El Paso Eagle Grand Master

El Paso Eagle

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16 minutes ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

I’m starting to think Fuente isn’t our guy now…

 

Why? Because a biased article from the local beat reporter? JF is easy picking now and he will be blamed for every problem at VT.

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wardly Grand Master

wardly

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1 hour ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Why? Because a biased article from the local beat reporter? JF is easy picking now and he will be blamed for every problem at VT.

All articles are biased if we don't like their content.

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Tom McKrackin Grand Master

Tom McKrackin

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Justin Fuente stood on the track at the old Highland Springs football stadium wearing an inconspicuous black jacket. It was late 2015, and Fuente had been named Virginia Tech’s football coach one week earlier.

He had come to Highland Springs to watch a state semifinal game against Indian River. The Springers had two future NFL players on their roster, K’Von Wallace and Greg Dortch. That day, Dortch scored three touchdowns, and Wallace made a one-handed, diving catch in the end zone.

But Fuente left the school without offering either player. Dortch, who was never offered by Virginia Tech, went to Wake Forest, where he was named an All-America punt returner.
 

read more:  https://richmond.com/sports/high-school/why-virginia-techs-justin-fuente-never-won-over-richmond-area-recruits/article_63cb5714-129e-5406-9148-d5a3cdc47caa.html

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