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Reports: Justin Fuente leaving Memphis for Virginia Tech

Those within the college football industry said Whit Babcock and Virginia Tech would be the first major program with a head coaching vacancy to make a hire. It appears they were correct.

As his team beats SMU down something fierce, reports indicate Memphis head coach Justin Funete is on his way out the door for Blacksburg.

Fuente, 39, arrived from TCU following the 2011 season and brought Memphis out of the college football abyss and into the national consciousness. The Tigers went 7-17 in Fuente’s first two seasons, then skyrocketed to 10-3 with a share of the American Athletic Conference championship in 2014 and a (soon to be) 9-3 mark in 2015.

Memphis opened this season 8-0 -- running its overall win streak to 15 games -- with a win over Ole Miss, rising as high as No. 13 in the College Football Playoff poll.

In Virginia Tech, Fuente inherits a program many described as the best current opening outside of USC, as the Hokies battle for Virginia for a berth in their 23rd straight bowl game.

And keeping around one of the most respected defensive coordinators in the business? That’s a heck of a start to get the Hokies back on top again.