Contents
The virginia tech Hokies are on the hunt for a new head football coach, and there are a few leading candidates. Who will they ultimately hire?
Checkout this video:
Introduction
Virginia Tech is in the process of searching for their next head football coach after firing Justin Fuente. There are many names being thrown around as potential replacements, but who will the Hokies ultimately hire?
The Candidates
Justin Fuente
Justin Fuente (born November 2, 1976) is an American football coach. He is currently the head football coach at virginia tech Fuente was previously the head coach at Memphis. In his four years coaching Memphis, Fuente compiled a record of 26–23. On November 29, 2015, Fuente accepted the head coaching position at virginia tech succeeding Frank Beamer.
Prior to his head coaching career, Fuente served as an assistant coach at Oklahoma (2000–2004), Purdue (2005–2006), Texas Christian University (2007–2010), and the University of Memphis (2011–2013).
Mike Norvell
Mike Norvell (born October 11, 1984) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at Florida State University. Norvell was previously the head football coach at Memphis from 2016 to 2019. In his four seasons at Memphis, he compiled a record of 38–15.
Norvell played college football at Central Arkansas, where he was a wide receiver from 2003 to 2006. He began his coaching career in 2007 as a graduate assistant at Central Arkansas before moving on to assistant positions at Tulsa (2008–2010), Pittsburgh (2011), Arizona State (2012–2015), and Texas Christian University (2016).
Norvell led Memphis to a share of the American Athletic Conference championship in 2019, the program’s first conference championship since 1971, and was named the conference’s Coach of the Year.
Chad Morris
Chad Morris is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at SMU. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator at Clemson University.
Born in Edwards, Mississippi, Morris played quarterback at texas tech from 1986 to 1989. After graduating, he became a high school football coach in Texas, where he coached for 16 years. In that time, he helped lead his teams to three state championships.
In 2010, Morris was hired as the offensive coordinator at Clemson University. Under his guidance, the Tigers’ offense became one of the most prolific in the country. In 2014, Clemson finished first in the nation in scoring offense and total offense. The following year, they won the national championship.
In 2015, Morris left Clemson to become head coach at SMU. In his three seasons there, he has led the Mustangs to a bowl game each year. This past season, they finished with a record of 10-2, their best since 1984.
Virginia Tech has not yet announced who their next head football coach will be. However, Morris is rumored to be one of the leading candidates for the job.
The Pros and Cons of Each Candidate
There are many qualified candidates for the head football coaching position at Virginia Tech, but only one can be hired. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each candidate.
Justin Fuente
Justin Fuente is currently the head football coach at Virginia Tech. He has held this position since 2016. Prior to coaching at Virginia Tech, Fuente was the head coach at Memphis from 2012 to 2015.
Fuente is considered to be a good candidate for the Virginia tech job because he has experience coaching in the ACC and he has had success at Memphis. However, some people are concerned that he does not have enough head coaching experience.
Mike Norvell
Mike Norvell (born October 11, 1984) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Florida State University (FSU). He was formerly the head coach at Memphis. In his first three years as Memphis’ head coach, he compiled a record of 38–15 () and won two American Athletic Conference championships.
Norvell was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He played quarterback at Central Arkansas before transferring to UCA as a senior. As a player, Norvell appeared in 31 career games with 22 starts and completed 554-of-905 passes for 6,999 yards with 54 touchdowns against 21 interceptions while adding 16 rushing scores.
In 2006, Norvell joined Todd Graham’s staff at Tulsa as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. Under Norvell’s guidance, the Golden Hurricane set school records for passing yards (4,942), completions (358), completion percentage (.663) and touchdowns (44) while averaging nearly 38 points per contest en route to an 11–3 mark and a No. 24 ranking in the final Associated Press poll that season.
Chad Morris
Chad Morris is currently the head football coach at SMU. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator at Clemson from 2011 to 2014. From 2008 to 2010, he was the head coach at Bay City High School in Texas. He has also been an assistant coach at Tulsa and texas tech
Pros:
-Has experience as a head coach and offensive coordinator at the college level
-Has a good understanding of the game of football
-Is considered to be a good recruiter
Cons:
-Has a losing record as a head coach (14-22)
-SMU has not shown much improvement under his leadership
Conclusion
After an extensive search that lasted nearly three weeks, Virginia Tech has decided to hire Justin Fuente as their next head football coach. Fuente, who was previously the head coach at Memphis, replaces Frank Beamer who retired at the end of the 2015 season after 29 years at the helm.
