Memphis names Justin Fuente new football coach

Tigers turn to former TCU co-offensive coordinator

Justin Fuente, who spent the last five years as part of Gary Patterson’s TCU staff, was introduced as the new head football coach at the University of Memphis on Thursday afternoon.

Fuente, 35, spent his last three seasons in Fort Worth as the Horned Frogs’ co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. During that time, TCU lost just three of its 38 games and possessed some of the most productive offenses in the program’s history. He tutored Andy Dalton, who earned NFL Rookie of the Year honors with his performance for the Cincinnati Bengals. Fuente coached the Horned Frogs’ running backs in 2007 and 2008.

Prior to being hired by Patterson and TCU, the Tigers’ new coach spent six seasons as the quarterbacks coach at Illinois State University. He was also the Redbirds’ offensive coordinator during the last three years of his tenure. Fuente’s offensive unit ranked in the top ten nationally in 2005 and 2006 in total offense. The 2005 team produced nearly 40 points (39.2) per game.

Like his predecessor Larry Porter, this is Fuente’s first head coaching position. He talked a little about how he plans to run his program.

“We are going to run our program like a family. Families are honest. Families work hard. Families get results together.”

Fuente discussed the opportunity that he believes exist with the Memphis program and briefly mentioned some of his plan to address some of the program’s current issues.

“Well, we have several (issues to address). We have to engage this community. That’s the first thing we have got to do. I want people to feel invested in our program. I want them to feel like they have a chip in the game.”

Fuente, who played his first two years at Oklahoma, finished his playing career at Murray State. Therefore, he does possess some familiarity with the city and region.

Stay tuned to cusa-fans.com for more coverage as Fuente begins to assemble his initial staff.