With the regular season concluding for most teams across the nation on Saturday afternoon, news has come down from across the ACC and throughout college football alike relating to coaching changes. Here is the latest news and notes with links attached to some external reports.
Virginia Head Coach Mike London Resigns
This move was hardly a surprise, but following the team’s 23-20 loss to in-state rival Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon, news broke that London was likely out in Charlottesville. That news was made official on Sunday morning, when London resigned as head coach of the Cavaliers. He was 27-46 in six seasons with the school, and was a mere 14-34 in ACC play after going 4-8 overall this season.
It came as a surprise to many that he was kept around this long in Charlottesville, but it is believed that his penchant of being an excellent recruiter was a sole source of him being retained for as long as he was as head coach. With fan attendance dwindling at home games at Scott Stadium, and the talent on the field not being up to standard, London made it easy on the Virginia athletic department by stepping down himself.
Some possible candidates for the job include Al Golden, Greg Schiano, and perhaps recently fired Georgia head coach Mark Richt, who was a candidate for the job back in 2000. Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports speculates who could replace London in his column here.
Virginia Tech Will Hire Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente to Replace Frank Beamer
The news was made public by multiple reports during Virginia Tech’s game with UVa on Saturday afternoon, but it is expected that Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente will be the successor to Frank Beamer in Blacksburg. This is a move that has been in the works for the last couple of weeks, and the hiring is set to become official in the early part of this coming week.
Fuente is 26-23 in four seasons as head coach at Memphis, but is an impressive 19-6 in his last two seasons at the school. He is considered one of the bright young offensive minds in college football, and would be an immediate remedy to an offense that has labored greatly for the Hokies in recent seasons. It is expected that defensive coordinator Bud Foster, as well as associate head coach Shane Beamer, will both stay on the staff when Fuente takes over next season.
For the full story on Fuente and his expected move to Blacksburg, read the piece by Chris Coleman of Tech Sideline here.
Georgia Fires Head Coach Mark Richt
While this tidbit is related to the SEC, the reported news of Mark Richt’s firing at Georgia by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach could have ACC ramifications. Although it has been speculated in the last few weeks that Richt was considering stepping away from football should he be released from Georgia, there is no doubt that he will be linked to one of the many coaching openings in the ACC.
Richt has aforementioned ties to Virginia, but he would also be a splashy hire for the open Miami Hurricanes coaching gig. Georgia went 9-3 this season, but struggled meeting the lofty, and in my estimation, unfair, expectations laid before them in 2015. Richt went 145-51 as head coach of the Bulldogs and will jump to the top of every athletic department’s wish list should he show interest in coaching elsewhere next season.
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