Justin Fuente confirmed at the Belk Bowl press conference on Wednesday morning that Adam Lechtenberg will coach Virginia Tech’s running backs moving forward. Lechtenberg has previously served as Tech’s tenth assistant coach with the title of Executive Director of Player Development/Assistant Head Coach, and he had a heavy role in evaluating and recruiting out-of-state players, including JUCOs.
Virginia Tech will now have a full-time position coach at all assistant coaching positions, with no one filling Lechtenberg’s old role as Executive Director of Player Development. By eliminating that position, Justin Fuente can add an extra defensive coach to his staff. With the secondary already split between a cornerbacks and safeties coach, it’s likely that the defensive line will now be split between two coaches. That could come in the form of a Defensive Line Coach and Assistant Defensive Line Coach, or a Defensive Ends Coach and a Defensive Tackles Coach.
Fuente also suggested that he is very far into the process of hiring coaches to fill out the remainder of the staff. With National Signing Day coming up next Wednesday, and a big recruiting weekend on tap in Blacksburg, it would not be a surprise to see more coaching staff names announced by the end of this weekend.
As of now, Virginia Tech’s 2020 coaching staff looks like this…
QB/OC: Brad Cornelsen
RB: Adam Lechtenberg
WR: Jafar Williams
TE: James Shibest
OL: Vance Vice
S/DC Justin Hamilton
That leaves four staff openings: cornerback, linebacker, and likely two defensive line spots.
Virginia Tech Schedules South Carolina
Virginia Tech announced a home-and-home series with the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday morning. The Hokies will play in Columbia in 2034, and they’ll host South Carolina in Lane Stadium in 2035.
Tech already has future home-and-home series with SEC opponents Alabama, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.
"We're excited to add South Carolina to our schedule, renewing a series that has its roots in the Southern Conference," Whit Babcock said. "Columbia, S.C. is also another drivable trip for our fans to a venue where the Hokies haven't played since the early 1990s. With eight future games against SEC opponents on our schedules, we feel very confident about the strength of our scheduling going forward, as well as its appeal to our fans across the region."
Tech is now set to play Alabama and South Carolina in the same season for two consecutive years. The Hokies host the Crimson Tide in 2034 and travel to Tuscaloosa in 2035.