Mike Gundy Recruited Virginia Tech Coach Justin Fuente out of Union High School

Justin Fuente’s coaching days have been marked by a rapid rise through the ranks as he went from TCU running backs coach to Virginia Tech head coach in just eight years. Justin Fuente’s playing days were marked by the opposite. He started at OU and finished at Murray State.

Fuente was a superstar quarterback at Union High School in the mid-1990s. He had his choice of big boy schools around these parts, and Oklahoma State (and an offensive coordinator and QB coach named Mike Gundy) recruited him hard.

Gundy, who noted that Fuente was one of the few big-time throwing QBs at the time along with his brother Cale, spoke on Sunday about failing to land the Union signal caller.

“We really wanted him, but it didn’t work out well for us,” said Gundy.

Fuente spent just two years in Norman under Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake, and it was as bumpy as it gets for a star QB from the state at its flagship school.

But Fuente never really considered the Pokes. In fact, he said at the time Tulsa was more in the running than OSU was. Tulsa!

Fuente visited OU, OSU, TU and Texas A&M. “It came down to OU and Tulsa,” Fuente said. “Without a doubt, (TU) coach (Dave) Rader is a great guy, and he runs an offense that really suits me. I felt more comfortable at OU, but one of the toughest things I’ve had to do was tell coach Rader that I was coming to OU. ” [NewsOK]

Fuente talked about Gundy’s recruitment of him on a conference call on Sunday.

“Coach Gundy is a legend in Oklahoma,” said Fuente. “When I was a kid growing up, both he and his younger brother being the first quarterbacks that I ever remember in Oklahoma who threw the ball and went on to play in college. When I got to high school and got a chance to meet him … and be recruited by him, I was a little bit in awe of him just because I had seen him play so many times on television.

“It was a pretty neat experience for a guy like me who as a kid growing up was a huge fan of football in the state of Oklahoma.”

Former @UnionFootball Justin Fuente on being recruited by Mike Gundy in high school, and now coaching against him in the Camping World Bowl. #Hokies #OKState pic.twitter.com/oXDz4oeoOR

— Scott Pfeil (@scottpfeil) December 4, 2017

It’s quite a world that a 27-year-old Gundy recruited a 17-year-old Fuente nearly a quarter of a century ago in the state of Oklahoma, and now the two will tee it up in Orlando and be paid $7 million combined this year to try and beat each other en route to a 10-win season for their respective schools.