Statement From Virginia Tech Head Coach Justin Fuente

Justin Fuente responded to fans’ concern over Virginia Tech’s recent transfers. (Photo by Ivan Morozov)

In light of yesterday’s news that Eric Kumah and Chris Cunningham were leaving the program, Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente released the following statement.

“Our coaching staff remains firmly committed to developing a winning culture at Virginia Tech where our student-athletes can learn, grow and thrive in all aspects of their lives. As head coach I certainly understand when young men desire to explore their options by entering themselves in the NCAA’s transfer portal. Immediate eligibility for graduate transfers has become another piece of the changing landscape for college football student-athletes and coaches across the country.

“I respect the fact that each individual’s circumstances and situation are different. We will continue to support all our student-athletes and wish them best whether their future is at Virginia Tech or another institution. Our evaluation of all aspects of our football program is constant and ongoing. In my postseason one-on-one meetings with our student-athletes I asked for their input on what we can do better as a coaching staff and how I can better serve them as their head coach. I appreciate their feedback, as well as their willingness and desire to do whatever it takes to help us improve individually and collectively in 2019.

“With that said, I’m very excited about the character and the talent of the young men on our team and remain enthused about the potential of this football team for 2019 and beyond. We will continue working hard to get better, myself and our entire staff included. Our winter conditioning program began on Tuesday and I can’t wait to get back on the field with our players and coaches this spring. Go Hokies!”

 

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  1. I take away absolutely nothing from that statement. CJF here’s your problem. In the information age, people expect information. Also, I think he is a bad fit with Bud. It’s like a marriage, you can’t both have the same personality or strengths. One needs to be hard ass no nonsense guy – Bud and the other needs to be the father figure, mentor like Frank. My 2 cents.

    1. There’s no smoking gun, get over it and subscribe to the National Enquirer if you need a conspiracy theory.

  2. Maybe the Flowers will Bloom better come Spring. And Fuente decides to be a more open Head Coach to the people that pay for the good life on Beamer Way. I hope he and this group of coaches gets things on the same page for the 2019 season. Culture of VT is important and Beamer Knew that and made it for VT and his players.. 2019 is a very telling season. No matter who left or who stayed…

    1. How many players did Buzz get rid of when he got here ….and continued to get rid of to develop the culture he wanted….and he is right down the hall from Fuentes ….
      You think they don’t speak…..people were criticizing Buzz then and now we are in the top 20 for 2 years ….now we are criticizing Coach FU …..Think we are going to have a great 2019 🏈🏀

  3. The picture at the top of the page is telling. He looks like a hard ass in the picture. You know that saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.

      1. Couldn’t agree more with you! Saban, Urban, Dabo, Harbaugh…every coach has photos looking this way. A snapshot in time.

  4. How many other Head Coaches have had to formally address their fan base with transfers? Why VT? Are we (the fans) not “thick-skinned” enough? Do we have false expectations? Are we stuck in the past?

    Random thoughts…

    1. Stuck in the past? Surely not!!! lol. Message boards and chatter confirm that. People still having dreams about the end of third quarter scoreboard that night in New Orleans. Just under 20 YEARS AGO. (yes, I’m shouting). Everything has changed since then – all around college football. It’s run to think back to the glory days, but they literally have no bearing to the present at VT, nor to the future. We have much bigger issues w/this program – namely, how to turn current students and those recent graduates of <5 years into program $upporters, season ticket holders and attendees. The money from '99 is dying off….what's to replace it?

    2. Like he said, the landscape is changing. I’m sure other coaches are dealing with the same problems. People have been begging for Fu to speak. He spoke.

      1. I agree and I am NOT about to slam him for what he said…I didn’t expect to hear him say anything in particular, but i DID expect some type of communication to fill the info void…

        I appreciate the fact that we DID hear from him.. I don’t know exactly WHAT i wanted to hear, but I wanted to hear….i appreciate that he spoke up and spoke to the fan base..

  5. Penn State has had 12 transfers, it is the new landscape in college football so we need to get used to it and stop knee jerk thinking the sky is falling or coaching is in the tank. I know we’d like kids to stay their entire allotted time but it appears that isn’t going to be the case any longer. Nothing to really see here in my view, move on.

    1. This is the biggest factor to what is going on. People getting mad about it are blinded by their own love for VT and that’s not the worst thing in the world. It will all play out and we just have to hope for something better. The fans who are outraged could put up a ton of money to compete with the big boys if they really wanted to. Wait… no they couldn’t.

    1. What would you like him to say? He’s not going to put down a player or anybody else involved with the team in the public nor should he.

  6. Words matter and I note that he inserts the word “character” before the word “talent” in describing his 2019 football team.

    1. And he talked about the talent and character on the team going forward. He knew when he arrived that the talent was not up to his standards and he later realized that the character was not either. The culture differences from Beamer to Fuente is very wide and is fully evident now. Justin, it is now your team. Just win, period.

    2. yes, telling. And you know the words were looked over meticulously to be sure nothing could be taken out of context or even perceived as such.

    3. You can have all the character you want, without talent you’ll be out of a job real quick. Look at Charlie Strong at Texas

  7. Social media blocked at work. All I can see is a link to twitter that I cannot access. I’m sure others are in this position too. Could you please make the text visible in a non-social-media context?

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