Tweet

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente confirmed Thursday that secondary coach Torrian Gray has resigned his position to pursue another opportunity in his home state of Florida.

A native of Lakeland, Florida, outside Orlando, Gray originally came to Tech as a student-athlete, earning All-BIG EAST honors three times during his playing career from 1992-96. A second-round pick by Minnesota in the 1997 NFL Draft, Gray returned to Tech as an assistant coach in 2006.

“Coach Fuente has been great to me and I know the future will be bright at Virginia Tech under his leadership,” Gray said. “This wasn’t about dollars and cents or anything else. Virginia Tech made me a very generous offer to stay, but this was simply a career opportunity and chance to return home to my Florida roots that my family couldn’t pass up.

“I can’t thank Coach Fuente enough for offering to do more to encourage me to stay, but Florida was one of the few opportunities that would even make me consider leaving Virginia Tech. I wish Coach Fuente and his staff the very best, and I’ll continue to follow the progress of the great young men in the Tech locker room. I’m going to miss them all.”

After learning under associate head coach Bud Foster as a student-athlete, Gray has aspired eventually to become a coordinator himself, according to Tech’s longtime defensive coordinator.

“Torrian’s been a fine player and a fine coach for Virginia Tech,” Foster said. “I know he was torn about this decision, but ultimately we both understood that for him to advance in his career, this day would eventually come. We’ll always appreciate his contributions to the Hokies even though he’s going home to Florida. We’ve been through changes on our staff before, and I know Coach Fuente will find a great fit to help us continue our tradition of excellence on defense at Tech.”

For updates on Virginia Tech football, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Football and on Instagram @vthokiefootball