Justin fuente and the uncertainty of leading in a pandemic

Chris Hirons

November 16, 2020

BLACKSBURG, Va. — When Justin Fuente falls asleep every night, he’s unsure of what the next day will bring.

Will he test positive for covid, forcing him to coach from his dinner table on Zoom for two weeks? Will one of his players test positive for the virus and cause him to lose an entire position group for a game or two?

“Earlier today, I took my 30th covid test of the season,” Fuente said on Monday. “Hopefully, I’ll get that text message that I’ve gotten 29 times before that says I can keep coming to work. We’re all dealing with uncertainty on a daily basis and it hasn’t gone away.”

“I think our guys have done a great job handling it … None of us really know if we’ll come to work tomorrow. We’ve gotten good training for uncertainty, but we shouldn’t have any in our preparation.”

Even with all the adversity the 4-4 Hokies have faced this season, their head coach is still thrilled to come to work every day — even in the midst of a pandemic. Though, there are some days that the fifth-year head coach doesn’t show it.

He understands what the pandemic brings to his players’ psychological health. He knows that when his players — and even the general student body — are sitting in front of a computer screen all day, patience runs out and burnout occurs.

Heck, he’s even had a few of his players choose to opt-out mid-season and go home. Linebacker Keshon Artis and defensive end Zion Debose were the latest announcements on Monday.

To him, keeping his players focused on finishing out the season strong is the upcoming off-week. He says that it’s much needed in terms of continuing to play out the season and so that burnout doesn’t set in. Virginia Tech hasn’t rested since Sept. 19 and will have played nine straight games before going home for a short break during Thanksgiving.

“We’ll practice a few times because we need it,” Fuente said. “But, our guys need some time off to rest, so we’ll give them a few days off.”

Still, he’s been pleasantly surprised that Tech, and the rest of the ACC for that matter, are on track to finish out the season and play the original schedule. Even if there were some bumps in the road.

“I think starting earlier has been beneficial, it’s given us more flexibility in the schedule,” Fuente said. “Everybody’s at a different point throughout the country. We feel like we’ve been practicing and playing for a long, long time.”

“I’m pleased we’ve been able to pull it off in a safe manner, to some extent. Almost everybody’s had their bumps in the road at different times, which makes it difficult.”

Fuente knows the situation Virginia Tech is currently in. Failing to close out games against Wake Forest, Liberty and Miami undoubtedly brought doubt to the minds of Hokies fans that Fuente is still the guy.

Saturday’s loss to Miami all but eliminated VT from having any sort of chance of playing in the ACC title game. Sitting at .500 with two of the lowest ranked recruiting classes in recent memory in 2020 and 2021, Fuente hears the criticism and refuses to shy away from it.

“We’re sitting here at .500 and I’m not gonna make excuses for that,” Fuente said. “When you take the field, it counts — whether it’s during a pandemic, or not. You’ve got to understand, when to take the field, whether it’s a pandemic or you’ve got guys out, they’re going to keep score and it’s going to count.”

Attempting to shake things up, Fuente took a page out of former defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s book and ran the scout team at practice last week. It seemed to have paid off instantly after the defense held an explosive Miami offense to 25 points, forced it to punt seven times and only allowed six third down conversions on 17 attempts.

“I fell in love with it, I wish I had done it a long time ago,” Fuente said. “It was the most fun I’ve had in nine years of being a head coach. I just approached them and said ‘look, we haven’t done a good enough job in this area and it’s my fault. I had a lot of fun and I’m going to continue to do it.”

For Fuente, he’s not listening to the outside criticism on social media. He’s motivating his players to finish out the season as strong as possible against Pitt, Clemson and UVa. Everyday, Fuente’s showing up to work without a complaint — rain or shine.