College Football Playoff Names Justin Fuente Senior Advisor for Football
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Failing up?
24 Replies
10mo
They needed the recruiter/salesman/hype man in the pre-NIL/House settlement days. They needed the Xs & Os tactician once a front office could go buy all the players on behalf of the coaches.
(In response to this post by One4VT)
10mo
And people will ignore the obvious and compare apples to oranges.
(In response to this post by Synaesthesia)
I
icelus
10mo
(In response to this post by Synaesthesia)
10mo
Like yeah there were always bagmen, but nowhere near the dollar amounts seen now (it was only back in 2010 that 180k was mentioned in conjunction with Cam Newton's recruitment, VT reportedly had multiple players eclipsing that last year). Any recruiting-specific skillset that a coach has, whether it's Pry or any other coach for that matter, is rapidly becoming vestigial. By 2030, the value of recruiting skills and salesmanship may go completely to 0, replaced entirely by the front office's skill in identifying high player value (skill : price ratio, scheme fit, etc.). So, when Pry was initially evaluated as a hire, they looked at his various pluses and minuses, but if any of his pluses at the time were considered to be recruiting, sales pitch, in 2025 and beyond, it's no longer all that useful.
(In response to this post by icelus)
10mo
My guess is he just doesn't want the pressure of coaching right now and spend time with his kids. I still think he had a great football mind. I know a lot of people disagree with that but in the right situation I think he could be a great head coach again.
(In response to this post by One4VT)
10mo
Vs weaknesses in that role
(In response to this post by Jwunderdog)
10mo
at Tech as I am not sure he was a good fit for us. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a decent head coach, just not for us. You see it with players also. Hooker did not excel here, but did at Tennessee. That program was a better fit for him and I don’t hold anything against him for going elsewhere.
(In response to this post by Jwunderdog)
10mo
(In response to this post by techer1983)
10mo
But he developed as a passer here in 2019
Covid happened in 2020 and he wasn’t right…had all kinds of issues.
Heupel at Tennessee had a system that also fit him better than Cornelson’s plus Heupel wasn’t a straight up jerk like Corn was
By the way Fuente wasn’t given funds to replace Corn when he wanted to in 2020
** Edited by hokiepro at 9/9/2025, 6:31:03 PM
(In response to this post by techer1983)
10mo
(In response to this post by Jwunderdog)
10mo
again. Maybe to late by then.
(In response to this post by Zanderhokie)
10mo
Going here at VT...he should been arrested for impersonating a head coach...took VT to the cleaners and Babcock watched...carry on
(In response to this post by Jwunderdog)
10mo
Buyouts aside I feel like they'd much rather win than get fired. Fuente did not want to fail here, for that matter neither does Pry, even though he is, and I've heard people refer to him as a scammer too. About the best I can give you is that Fuente was tired of swimming upstream here against the administration. On Pry while doesn't want to fail, I feel like he is in over his head.
(In response to this post by JRHokie)
R
RJHokie
10mo
It was more like trying to climb up and over Hoover dam…..
(In response to this post by TekkNerd)
10mo
anymore. This is the worst Hokie take going.
(In response to this post by JRHokie)
10mo
Then Covid derailed just about everything he had in the works
(In response to this post by JRHokie)
10mo
He really hated all the protocols and not knowing who was available (sure I’m sure most did)…this just seemed to change his focus and perspectives
How that year affected him from what I know about him…it really took some of his love for coaching major college football away. It’s my opinion that perspective change led him to not pursue coaching roles while focusing on his kids’ athletics (his oldest daughter is a D1 volleyball recruit)
The relief he had after that Covid year UVA win really showed how stressed he’d been, coupled with the personal mental battle he saw one of his players go through (Fu intervened along with other staff to prevent a potential player suicide) as well as Laaser’s dad’s death (Laze mentioned Fu as one who’d really helped him thru that) and the toll he saw it take on Laze…it really seemed to weigh on him
(In response to this post by One4VT)
10mo
So no time for players to learn system the KljHam and other members of Defensive staff got Covid to start the season if I recall corectly
(In response to this post by One4VT)