Justin Fuente

Justin Fuente (born July 30, 1976) is the head football coach at the University of Memphis. He grew up in Oklahoma and attended the University of Oklahoma before transferring to Murray State University after his redshirt sophomore season where he played quarterback for each. After playing one season with the Oklahoma Wranglers of the Arena Football League, he began his coaching career in 2001 as the quarterbacks coach at Illinois State University. After six seasons with the Redbirds, he accepted a position with TCU as running backs coach. By 2009, Fuente was promoted to co-offensive coordinator and moved to quarterbacks coach. He served in that capacity through the 2011 season. On December 8, 2011, Fuente was named as the new head football coach at the University of Memphis.

High School
Fuente graduated from Union High School in Tulsa in 1995. He was named the Tulsa World's Player of the Year and the The Oklahoman's All-State Offensive Player of the Year in 1994 following his senior season at Union. That season he led the state in both passing yards (2,934) and touchdown passes (32). For his high school career, Fuente threw for 6,104 career yards and 65 touchdowns. He was recruited by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Texas A&M, but ultimately signed with Oklahoma under coach Howard Schnellenberger in February 1995.

College
At Oklahoma, Fuente redshirted the 1995 season and Eric Moore started at the quarterback position. Following the season, Schnellenberger resigned as head coach and John Blake was hired as his replacement. Entering the 1996 season, Fuente was the backup to Moore at the quarterback position. However, after opening the season with a loss to, Fuente was named the starting quarterback. He remained as the starter for eight game and compiled a record of two wins and five losses before losing his starting position to Moore following the Oklahoma State victory. For the year, Fuente completed 91 of 196 passes for 1,271 yards, and threw ten interceptions and eight touchdowns. Fuente then entered the 1997 season as the Sooners' starting quarterback. He started only five games in 1997 winning two and losing three. Following the season, he transferred to Division I-AA Murray State University where he would be able to compete in the 1998 season. For his career with the Sooners, Fuente passed for 2,289 yards.

At Murray State, Fuente was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award following the 1999 season. He still holds several single-season records at Murray State for a quarterback including: most pass completions (240), highest pass efficiency (151.21), most passing yards (3,497), and most touchdown passes (27). Following his graduation from Murray, Fuente signed a contract with the Oklahoma Wranglers of the Arena Football League.

Professional
In May 2000, Fuente signed a contract to with the Wranglers as their third-string quarterback. After seeing limited action in the 2000 season and into the 2001 season, Fuente left the team in May 2001 in order to pursue a college coaching position at Illinois State University.

Coaching career
Following his playing career, Fuente began his coaching career as the quarterbacks coach at Illinois State University in 2001. There he worked under Denver Johnson, who he played for when Johnson was an assistant coach at Oklahoma and as head coach at Murray State. After three years, Fuente was promoted to offensive coordinator, and he served in that position through the end of 2006 season when he accepted the quarterbacks coach position at TCU. At TCU he was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2009, and under his guidance both helped develop Andy Dalton at quarterback and lead the Horned Frogs to an undefeated season and victory in the 2011 Rose Bowl.

Memphis
On December 7, 2011, sources revealed Fuente would be named as the new head football coach at the University of Memphis. He was formally introduced as the Tigers' head coach on December 8, 2011, as the replacement for former head coach Larry Porter. After the Tigers opened the 2012 season with only one win over their first nine games, Fuente led Memphis on a three game winning streak to close the season and finish with an overall record of four wins and eight losses (4–8). In February 2013, Memphis extended the term of Fuente's contract through the 2017 season as a result of the gains he made in his first year as head coach of the Tigers.