Baylor is the most high-profile coaching vacancy in FBS, and it's going to have to wait a little while longer to fill the position. Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente, who had been rumored to be one of the top candidates at Baylor, announced in a tweet Thursday that he will return to the Hokies for the 2020 season.
Yahoo Sports reported on Tuesday that Fuente was planning an in-person interview with Baylor within 24 hours and was considered the leading candidate to get the job.
Fuente is 33-20 in four seasons with Virginia Tech, including a 10-4 record and ACC Coastal division title in his first season in 2016. The program has taken a step back since then. It has lost three straight bowl games, missed out on the postseason AP Top 25 for each of the last two seasons and finished 8-5 in 2019, including losses to Boston College and Duke.
2020 - Let’s go! pic.twitter.com/hSE2uNR2LB
— Justin Fuente (@CoachFuente) January 16, 2020
Baylor is looking to replace Matt Rhule, who left after posting an 11-3 record and played in the Big 12 Championship Game with a potential berth in the College Football Playoff on the line. He took over a program that was a total mess after the Art Briles sexual assault scandal, and build it back into a national contender in just three seasons.
Whoever takes over the Bears program will have the keys to a team that is on stable ground, but will have to hit the ground running on the recruiting trail. The NCAA "dead period" ended on Thursday, which means that it'll be a mad dash leading up to traditional national signing day on Feb. 5.
