For years there was a thought that Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster would one day be the successor to longtime head coach Frank Beamer.
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Memphis coach Justin Fuente will be hired as Frank Beamer’s successor, which was heavily reported on Saturday and confirmed by the school on Sunday.
Virginia Tech officially introduced Justin Fuente as the new head coach of the football program on Monday. That year, London was named the ACC’s coach of the year.
Some possible candidates for the job include Al Golden, Greg Schiano, and perhaps recently fired Georgia head coach Mark Richt, who was a candidate for the job back in 2000. Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri, Southern Cal, Miami, Syracuse, Maryland, Rutgers, Memphis, Tulane, Central Florida, North Texas, Toledo and Louisiana-Monroe are also now looking for new head coaches.
This change comes after the Cavaliers lost for the 12th consecutive time to the rival Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday afternoon.
Having come to the school in 2010 after winning a national championship at Richmond in 2008, the 55-year old London finishes his career at UVa with a record of 27-46 overall.
Mike London watches the final few moments of his last game as Virginia’s football coach. LSU finished the regular season 8-3, and finished with a 5-3 record in conference play. During Fuente’s time there the Horned Frogs were the only school in the country with two different quarterbacks ranked in the top 10 in the nation for passing efficiency. Fuente, who agreed to a five-year extension in December of 2014 with Memphis at $1.4 million per season, turned down an eight-year offer worth $3 million over the past two weeks to remain with the Tigers. He was the offensive coordinator for TCU teams that put up big numbers.
Fuente signed a six-year contract worth $20.45 million in total base salary and supplemental compensation. He went 35-15 in four seasons with the Rockets, including 9-2 this season with victories over Iowa State and Arkansas.
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He said with recruiting, urgency is a priority but also said the University of Memphis will make sure they hire the best fit to the lead the program forward. This year’s squad averages 42.7 points per game, good for seventh-best in the FBS.
