Virginia Tech Gets Best of Both Worlds with Justin Fuente, Bud Foster

If there's one thing coaching searches prove, it's that a football program can't always get what it wants. After all, moving on from a coach, whether through a firing or resignation, is the easy part. The difficult part is finding the next guy who can either maintain a certain level of success or, more desirably, raise the bar.  

That shouldn't be the case at Virginia Tech, which has hired Memphis coach Justin Fuente while retaining longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster. The news became official Sunday following reports linking the two sides from ESPN's Brett McMurphy and other outlets: 

Hiring Fuente while keeping Foster, who is almost as synonymous with Virginia Tech football as Frank Beamer, gives the Hokies the best of both worlds.

The program gets the young—Fuente is 39 years old—bright offensive mind to kick-start an offense that hasn't averaged more than 30 points a game since 2010 when it led the ACC in scoring. Under Fuente, Memphis has ranked in the top 25 nationally in scoring offense each of the last two years, including a No. 7 ranking this year.

A release from Virginia Tech states "Memphis enjoyed a 15-game winning streak over a 12-month span starting in October 2014. That victory string included a 37-24 win over No. 13 Ole Miss on Oct. 17 of this year, marking the highest-ranked opponent that Memphis had ever defeated. Memphis outscored its opponents by an average margin of 20.7 points per game during that run of 15 consecutive wins, scoring 652 points (43.5 ppg), while allowing only 341 (22.7 ppg)."

Steve Helber/Associated Press

In Fuente's final year as TCU's co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2011, the Frogs finished ninth in points per game. 

At the same time, Virginia Tech holds on to its identity as a blue-collar, defensive-minded program by retaining Foster. By doing so, the Hokies keep one of the best defensive minds in college football and maintain a sense of program continuity. Foster has been with the Hokies since Beamer's first year in Blacksburg in 1987. 

Keeping coaches from previous staffs can be a tricky situation, especially when someone has been so closely tied to one head coach like Foster has with Beamer. Oftentimes, a new head coach may keep an assistant or two around but will clean house and bring in his own staff. 

Yet, the release from Tech says Fuente asked Foster to stay in the same capacity, to which Foster agreed, saying the following:  

"

I’ve been privileged to work for a legendary coach who always did it the right way. I enjoyed that chapter and the success we’ve had, however, I am equally excited for the next chapter and working for Justin. Justin and I share a vision for the future of our program. After spending time together, I’m convinced he’s the right person to continue building on the standard we’ve established at Virginia Tech. I’m truly looking forward to working with him and supporting him. 

"

Keep in mind that Foster openly admitted earlier this month to reporters that he wanted to be considered for the head coaching job at Virginia Tech. And with the coaching carousel being the busiest and most wide-open it's been in years, there are more than enough vacancies for which Foster could interview (and probably get) if he wanted. 

The marriage between Fuente and Foster sounds great because it can be one of the better head coach-coordinator combos in college football. It's the joining of two great minds on either side of the ball. But make no mistake: Getting this to work requires a tremendous amount of trust on both sides. It sounds like Fuente and Foster are ready to make it happen. 

The next step is getting recruits to buy into the combo, which shouldn't be that difficult given the results both have yielded over the years. However, recently Tech has had less recruiting success.

The Hokies have the No. 9 class in the ACC for 2016, according to 247Sports. Tech regularly gets out-recruited by the likes of Clemson and Florida State, but as Foster noted to Norm Wood of the Daily Press, winning in-state goes a long way toward the success of this program: 

"

We’ve got to get back to winning our state. When we did that, we were a top 10 football team. When we haven’t the last few years, [and] we’ve got the top kids have left the state, then all of a sudden we’ve become just a little bit above average. Where you get a couple guys that are difference-makers, then the next thing you know you’re winning nine, 10, 11 football games. That’s where we’ve got to get back to doing that.

"

Fuente hasn't been in many high-profile recruiting battles yet, but Memphis' 2015 class did rank third in the AAC, per 247Sports. Moreover, Fuente's recruitment and development of Tigers quarterback Paxton Lynch is an indication he knows talent when he sees it.

Get the right kids on campus—though there are enough players on Virginia Tech's roster right now to compete—and Fuente/Foster should be back in the ACC Championship Game regularly. 

From 2005-11, Virginia Tech dominated the ACC Coastal Division. That hasn't been the case as of late. However, it's a wide-open division. Getting Fuente went a long way to getting the Hokies back to those glory days under Beamer. Keeping Foster took it a step further. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.