Justin Fuente

Justin Fuente
Sport(s) Football
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Memphis
Record 0–0
Annual salary $900,000[1]
Biographical details
Born July 30, 1976 (1976-07-30) (age 35)
Place of birth Tulsa, Oklahoma
Playing career
1996–1997
1998–1999
2000–2001
Oklahoma
Murray State
Oklahoma Wranglers
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2003
2004–2006
2007–2008
2009–2011
2012–
Illinois State (QB)
Illinois State (QB/OC)
TCU (RB)
TCU (Co-OC)
Memphis
Head coaching record
Overall 0–0

Justin Fuente (born July 30, 1976) is the head football coach at the University of Memphis. He grew up in Oklahoma and attended the University of Oklahoma before transferring to Murray State University after his redshirt sophomore season where he played quarterback for each. After playing one season with the Oklahoma Wranglers of the Arena Football League, he began his coaching career in 2001 as the quarterbacks coach at Illinois State University. After six seasons with the Redbirds, he accepted a position with TCU as quarterbacks coach. By 2009, Fuente was promoted to co-offensive coordinator and served in that capacity through the 2011 season. On December 8, 2011, Fuente was named as the new head football coach at the University of Memphis.

Contents

Playing career

High School

Fuente graduated from Union High School in Tulsa in 1995.[2] He was named the Tulsa World's Player of the Year and the The Oklahoman's All-State Offensive Player of the Year in 1994 following his senior season at Union.[2][3] That season he led the state in both passing yards (2,934) and touchdown passes (32).[3] For his high school career, Fuente threw for 6,104 career yards and 65 touchdowns.[4] He was recruited by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Texas A&M, but ultimately signed with Oklahoma under coach Howard Schnellenberger in February 1995.[4]

College

At Oklahoma, Fuente redshirted the 1995 season and Eric Moore started at the quarterback position.[5] Following the the season, Schnellenberger resigned as head coach and John Blake was hired as his replacement.[5] Entering the 1996 season, Fuente was the backup to Moore at the quarterback position.[6] However, after opening the season with a loss to TCU, Fuente was named the starting quarterback.[6] He remained as the starter for eight game and compiled a record of two wins and five losses before losing his starting position to Moore following the Oklahoma State victory.[7] For the year, Fuente completed 91 of 196 passes for 1,271 yards, and threw ten interceptions and eight touchdowns.[8] Fuente then entered the 1997 season as the Sooners' starting quarterback.[8] He started only five games in 1997 winning two and losing three.[9] Following the season, he transferred to Division I-AA Murray State University where he would be able to compete in the 1998 season.[10] For his career with the Sooners, Fuente passed for 2,289 yards.[10]

At Murray State, Fuente was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award following the 1999 season. He still holds several single-season records at Murray State for a quarterback including: most pass completions (240), highest pass efficiency (151.21), most passing yards (3,497), and most touchdown passes (27).[11] Following his graduation from Murray, Fuente signed a contract with the Oklahoma Wranglers of the Arena Football League.[12]

Professional

In May 2000, Fuente signed a contract to with the Wranglers as their third-string quarterback.[13] After seeing limited action in the 2000 season and into the 2001 season, Fuente left the team in May 2001 in order to pursue a college coaching position at Illinois State University.[14]

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Fuente began his coaching career as the quarterbacks coach at Illinois State University in 2001.[15] There he worked under Denver Johnson, who he played for when Johnson was an assistant coach at Oklahoma and as head coach at Murray State.[15] After three years, Fuente was promoted to offensive coordinator, and he served in that position through the end of 2006 season when he accepted the quarterbacks coach position at TCU.[15] At TCU he was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2009, and under his guidance both helped develop Andy Dalton at quarterback and lead the Horned Frogs to an undefeated season and victory in the 2011 Rose Bowl.[2]

Memphis

On December 7, 2011, sources revealed Fuente would be named as the new head football coach at the University of Memphis.[16][17] He was formally introduced as the Tigers' head coach on December 8, 2011, as the replacement for former head coach Larry Porter.[18]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Memphis Tigers (Conference USA) (2012)
2012 Memphis 0–0 0–0
Memphis: 0–0 0–0
Total: 0–0
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll.
°Rankings from final AP Poll.

References

  1. ^ Bailey, Clay (December 8, 2011). "New Memphis football coach Justin Fuente 'so ready for this challenge'". The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN). 
  2. ^ a b c Hines, Kelley (January 25, 2011). "Former Union, OU quarterback Justin Fuente moving up coaching ladder". Tulsa World. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20110125_231_B1_ULNSom606154. Retrieved December 7, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Helsley, John (December 18, 1994). "Fuente, McQuarters capture honors". The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK): p. 9. 
  4. ^ a b Hersom, Bob (January 23, 1995). "QB Fuente makes his choice: OU". The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK): p. 9. 
  5. ^ a b O'Kane, Dan (January 2, 1996). "Fuente eager to talk with Blake". Tulsa World: p. B2. 
  6. ^ a b O'Kane, Dan (September 11, 1996). "Fuente's it: No. 1 QB". Tulsa World: p. B1. 
  7. ^ O'Kane, Dan (November 12, 1996). "OU tabs Moore as starting QB". Tulsa World: p. B1. 
  8. ^ a b Hersom, Bob (August 7, 1997). "Fuente knows the cure for Sooner ills". The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK): p. 23. 
  9. ^ O'Kane, Dan (October 15, 1997). "Sooners will start Moore". Tulsa World: p. 23. 
  10. ^ a b Hersom, Bob (January 7, 1998). "Sooners' Fuente transferring to Kentucky school". The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK): p. 23. 
  11. ^ 2011 Murray State Football Media Guide. Murray, Kentucky: MSU Athletics Department. 2011. p. 105. http://issuu.com/murraystate/docs/11_guide_2. Retrieved December 7, 2011. 
  12. ^ "Wednesday's Sports Transactions". Associated Press. NewsLibrary.com. May 25, 2000. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F89BE1191B6061B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved December 7, 2011. 
  13. ^ Kramer, Bill (May 24, 2000). "Ex-Sooner Fuente, Wranglers reach deal". The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK). 
  14. ^ Munn, Scott (May 13, 2001). "AFL game Aikman's first". The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK). 
  15. ^ a b c Reinhardt, Randy (February 16, 2007). "ISU offensive coordinator takes job with TCU". The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal, IL). http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-state/isu-offensive-coordinator-takes-job-with-tcu/article_3eb89509-26eb-57ba-b4ae-210f3f1e525a.html. Retrieved December 7, 2011. 
  16. ^ Stukenborg, Phil (December 7, 2011). "TCU's Justin Fuente named football coach for Memphis Tigers". The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN). http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/dec/07/sources-tcus-justin-fuente-named-football-coach-me/. Retrieved December 7, 2011. 
  17. ^ Schad, Joe (December 7, 2011). "Memphis to hire Justin Fuente". ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7328992/memphis-tigers-hire-tcu-horned-frog-justin-fuente-coach. Retrieved December 7, 2011. 
  18. ^ "Justin Fuente is Memphis' new coach". Associated Press. ESPN.com. December 8, 2011. http://espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/story/_/id/7330918/memphis-tigers-hire-justin-fuente-tcu-horned-frogs-new-coach. Retrieved December 8, 2011. 

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