Vols Football: Justin Fuente Likely Won’t Be An Option For Tennessee
By Zach Ragan
The Tennessee Vols could be interested in Virginia Tech’s Justin Fuente if/when Butch Jones is fired.
If you’re hoping Justin Fuente, the current head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies, will coach the Tennessee Vols in 2018, you might be end up being disappointed.
Fuente would obviously be a tremendous choice to replace Butch Jones next season (Fuente turned Memphis completely around and he won ten games at Virginia Tech in his first season), but it might not be realistic.
I’m not sure how interested Fuente would be in leaving Virginia Tech after two seasons, but his potential non-interest wouldn’t be the biggest roadblock for Tennessee.
Fuente’s mammoth buyout might prevent him from leaving Blacksburg at any time in the near future.
According to Football Scoop, Fuente (or whoever hires him) will owe Virginia Tech $6 million if he leaves before December 15 (it’s $5 million after December 15, but it’s doubtful anyone waits that long). To put that number in perspective, James Franklin owed Vanderbilt $1.5 million when he left Nashville after the 2013 season.
It gets even more expensive when you consider that Tennessee will owe Jones anywhere from $6 million to $9 million if they fire him (reports and interpretation of Jones’ contract varies).
So at the minimum, Tennessee would be looking at $12 million to get Fuente under contract, and that doesn’t even take into account his yearly salary.
Fuente currently makes $3.2 million a year at Virginia Tech (Jones currently makes $4.6 million a year). Tennessee would likely have to pay Fuente north of $5 million a year to get him to Knoxville.
That’s a pretty huge investment.
Is it worth it?
Probably so. But Fuente isn’t the only good option for the Vols. I’m not saying they need to go budget on their next hire, but there are coaches in the same category as Fuente that are more economical (Scott Frost and Greg Schiano for example).
Next: Top 5 Coaches To Replace Butch Jones
I’d love to see Fuente on the sidelines at Neyland in 2018, but due to his large buyout and probable commitment to Virginia Tech, I just can’t see it happening.