33 / 204
STAFF
HOKIES
HISTORY
PROS
MEDIA
REVIEW
BEAMER
#HardSmartTough
#Hokies
#LPD
FUN FACTS ON THE FUENTES
• Fuente’s great grandfather,
Jack, supported his family
during theGreat Depression
as a professional wrestler
under the nicknames “The
Spanish Red Devil” and
“Spanish Jack”.
• The most popular
conversation
piece
in
Fuente’s office is a WWE
title belt that was presented
by
Memphis
native
Jerry “The King” Lawler
after Fuente’s Memphis
squad won a share of the
2014 American Athletic
Conference championship.
• Other notable pieces of
wrestling memorabilia in
Fuente’s office include a
pair of personalized photos
from Hall of Fame wrestling announcer Jim Ross, who once served as a high
school football referee in Oklahoma.
• Current Virginia Tech offensive line coach Vance Vice held that same role at
Murray State when Fuente was the Racers’ quarterback. Vice is also an Oklahoma
native and once played in a high school game where Ross was an official.
• Current Tech assistant head coach Galen Scott introduced Fuente to his future
wife - the former Jenny Kabbes - while Fuente and Scott were roommates at
Illinois State.
• Jenny was an accomplished athlete in her own right as a volleyball student-athlete
at Illinois State. The 1998 Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year was
a first-team all-conference choice in 1999. After major shoulder surgery, sidelined
her in 2000, she returned to the court to earn second-team All-MVC honors in
2001 and first-team accolades
as a senior in 2001. She holds
a business degree from Illinois
State in addition to earning a
master’s degree in kinesiology
and recreation with an emphasis
in sport management.
• An avid golfer and fisherman
in his limited free time, Fuente
enjoyed the thrill of playing
Pebble Beach in June.
• The Fuentes are the proud
owners of two dogs – Petey &
Bear.
FCS ROOTS AT ILLINOIS STATE
• The composition of the Fuente’s current staff traces some key roots to his
initial coaching assignment at Illinois State as four of his nine assistants – Brad
Cornelsen, Galen Scott, Vance Vice and Holmon Wiggins – worked with him
there. In an ironic twist, the hometown of Bud Foster (Nokomis, Ill.) is actually less
than 100 miles from Bloomington, Ill.
• After beginning his tenure at Illinois State coaching quarterbacks in 2001, he
added offensive coordinator duties to his assignment for his final three seasons
with the Redbirds (2004-06).
• Under his direction in 2005, Illinois State ranked fifth in both total offense (477.6
ypg) and scoring (39.2 ppg) among FCS squads.
B I L L
BL ANK ENSH I P
Fuente played for Blankenship at Tulsa’s
Union High School. Blankenship later
served as head coach at Tulsa (2011-
14) and worked with Fuente at Memphis
(2015). He currently is the head coach
at Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville,
Ark.
“I’d still run through a brick wall for him. Many years later, he’s still my coach, but he’s also become a
great friend, confidant and mentor. I’m eternally grateful for everything he’s taught me over the years,
lessons that have extended far beyond the football field. He’s taught me about life, how to treat people,
how to deal with success and how to overcome adversity.” – Fuente
D I CK
WI NDER
The late Winder served as Oklahoma
offensive coordinator when Fuente was
quarterbacking the Sooners in the 1990s.
Winder retired as Gary Patterson’s
quarterbacks coach at TCU following the
2006 season and encouraged Patterson
to interview Fuente for that position.
“Coach Winder was as rough and tough and as hard as they come. I would have jumped in front of
a train for him, though. He was the polar opposite of Coach Blankenship personality-wise, but what
an amazing coach. While my demeanor may be different, a lot of techniques and idosyncracies of
coaching offense and quarterbacks specifically, I took from Coach Winder.” – Fuente
GARY
PAT TERSON
Before accepting the challenge of
rebuilding the Memphis program, Fuente
spent five invaluable seasons working
with Patterson at TCU from 2007-11 as
the Horned Frogs emerged as a national
power.
“I patterned many organizational pieces of our program based on the structure of what Coach
Patterson had developed at TCU. Working with Gary really prepared me in a number of facets to
become a head coach. Gary’s expertise was on defense, but I really appreciated the balance he stuck
between giving us his input on the offense and then giving us the freedom to operate, while being
mindful of the overall picture with defense and special teams. It was a great lesson and it’s a style I
try to emulate with our staff.” – Fuente
COACHING INFLUENCES