Feb. 16, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
It was bound to happen at some point and Illinois State's former offensive coordinator Justin Fuente feels that now is the right time. Fuente, whose Redbird offense ranked in the top 10 nationally the last two seasons, turned in his resignation to head coach Denver Johnson after accepting an assistant coaching position at TCU.
"The Redbird offense is in capable hands," Fuente said. "(The offensive coaches) know what they are doing and each has played a major role in the success that we've had over the last couple of years. I expect it to be a seamless transition, but it's going to be a hard for me to leave those guys. We spent a lot of time together and I can honestly say we are all good friends."
Fuente's closest ties on the Redbird staff are with Johnson. When Fuente was a player, the Redbird head coach mentored him at Oklahoma and later at Murray State, when Johnson received his first head coaching position.
"I have known Coach Johnson for a long time through a lot of stages in my life," Fuente said. "I met him when I was in high school and I played for him when he was an assistant and again when he was a head coach. We had a year apart and then we were together when I was a young entry-level coach all the way up to now. Not only have we had a good relationship, but we have had a relationship that is always changing. Our relationship has really grown over the years and I owe a lot to the Johnson family."
Fuente, a highly-recruited high school product from Tulsa, Okla., set a then-Oklahoma freshman record with 11 touchdown passes before moving on to Murray State where he became one of the most prolific throwers in I-AA football. He set 11 Racer records, including total offense and passing yards in a season and game. Fuente was the 1999 Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award.
After a season in the Arena Football League with the Oklahoma Wranglers, Fuente got his coaching break when Johnson hired his former quarterback to lead the Illinois State signal callers. For six seasons, Fuente coached the Redbird quarterbacks, including 2006 all-Gateway first team selection Luke Drone.
Prior to the 2004 season, Fuente was promoted as Illinois State's offensive coordinator and the Redbird offensive records have never been the same. In three seasons, 13 individual season school marks and seven season team records have been re-written. The Redbirds led the Gateway Football Conference in passing offense each of the three seasons in which Fuente called the offensive plays.
During 2005, the Redbirds averaged a league-best 477.55 yards per game, which ranked No. 5 nationally, and averaged 39.2 points per game. Last season, ISU's total offense ranked No. 8 nationally with 397.5 yards per game.
For Johnson, having Fuente leave the Redbird staff is like saying goodbye to a son.
"There is a never a good time to lose a great coach," Johnson said. "I have known Justin for a long time, broke him out in this business and I have always thought very highly of him. I've always told my staff that part of my job is to help them advance in their career. This is a wonderful opportunity for Justin to do just that. Although I hate to see him go ¬- I'm excited for him. He's going to a great program with a great coaching staff in a great town and it will be an exciting new chapter in both he and Jenny's life."
Fuente and his wife, Jenny, the former associate head volleyball coach at Illinois State, weighed the decision.
"Moving is never easy and leaving a place like Illinois State is especially hard," Fuente said. "Especially when you are leaving a program that is on its way to the top. Jenny and I have a lot of ties to the Bloomington-Normal community, and I wasn't going to leave for just any deal. It had to be something pretty special to get me to leave Illinois State. I'm really going to miss the players, the coaches and the community."
