After spending three decades coaching in Virginia, Frank Beamer's reputation among high school coaches in the state remained pretty much set in stone, for better or worse.

For Justin Fuente, it's the complete opposite situation — the state is a blank slate.

While the new head Hokie and his staff have already made some efforts to reach out to Virginia's coaches as part of their initial recruiting trips, they took their biggest step yet to introduce themselves to the state's coaching contingent last weekend. On Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, the Hokies held clinics in Henrico, Herndon and Chesapeake in an effort to reach coaches in the three main recruiting regions in the state.

The entire staff was in attendance for each meeting, but it would seem that it was Fuente who made the biggest impression on the coaches who stopped by to learn more about the Hokies.

"I could kinda tell, he's a little bit of a badass," said David Comey, an assistant coach at Chesapeake's Grassfield HS who attended the clinic in the 757. "He's gonna be a tough coach to play for, but I think at the end of the day, you can tell his players in the past respect him and he gets a lot of respect and cares about his people and his players."

"A New Deal" in the 757

Comey, a Tech graduate himself who played football under Bill Dooley, said the Chesapeake clinic was "well attended," with coaches from all over the region in the building. He attributes that to everyone's eagerness to get acquainted to the new staff, but also to the event's novelty.

"I don't know that Beamer and them have ever done (a clinic) for the coaches on that kind of scale, and I've been here since I graduated in '85, so this is certainly a new deal," Comey said. "Beamer just kind of stopped coming down here that much, so it was kind of neat."

Comey says the free clinic lasted for the better part of three hours, with Fuente speaking to the whole group for the first hour.

Glenwood Ferebee, head coach of Chesapeake's Indian River HS, said he particularly enjoyed hearing Fuente provide details not only on his background, but also his coaching philosophy and who influenced him as he moved up the ranks.

"He talked about the philosophy of his program and how he wants to take the kids that we send to him and make them men," Ferebee said. "The steps that he takes and what his program is built on and what he hangs his hat on, so to hear to him talk about that, you kind of feel more comfortable about who your kids are going to play for."

Comey agreed, adding that he was impressed by Fuente's honest discussion of his playing days as well, and how he tried (and failed) to make it to the NFL, before turning to coaching.

But it was his quick familiarity with the region's history that really stood out for Comey.

"He knew the history of our area and the Virginia Tech football program," Comey said. "He went back to the Bruce Smith days, and he started by name, naming players that came out of our area. So somebody did some research, either he did or somebody did it for him.

"He not only knew the big names, Bruce Smith and the Vicks, he knew some of the smaller names too and he was rattling those guys off, which was pretty impressive to me, because he hasn't been there that long. And I can't believe he'd know some of these guys, (Shyrone) Stith and the rest of them. If you're a Virginia Tech guy you may know them, but if you're out in the middle of the country you don't know those guys, but he knew them all and talked about the ones who were there now."

Along those lines, Comey said Fuente quickly made it clear that, because of his familiarity with the region's history, he's planning on making recruiting in the area his highest priority.

"He said 'You can see historically the 757 is a big deal to Virginia Tech's success and we realize it's a big part of our future,'" Comey said. "And he said, 'Not only are we going to recruit your kids, but we're gonna service the area.' They're going to do whatever they can for the high school coaches and share what they know and what they do, and you got a real feel that he's a genuine guy, which is really neat."

Once Fuente wrapped up his talk, the team offered two hour-long breakout sessions with individual assistants: three spoke concurrently each time, so attendees had to choose who they wanted to hear from.

Ferebee decided to sit in on sessions with some of the team's new offensive assistants to better understand the offense they'll be bringing to Tech.

"We've seen Bud Foster's defense, but I think the biggest thing was what type of offense would Virginia Tech be running now, since Bud Foster's been retained," Ferebee said. "I think that's what everybody wanted to see and everybody got an opportunity to see that."

Each took a few minutes to discuss the underlying principles of the offense, as well as some of the specifics of the scheme, showing highlights from their time at Memphis to illustrate the types of concepts they'll be importing. Ferebee seems to have liked what he saw.

"I think it's gonna be special," Ferebee said. "We all know in the Tidewater area and the state of Virginia that Virginia Tech has always played defense, so to know that they've got an offense of this magnitude, it's gonna play a big part in the recruiting.

"I think, around this area for the athletic kids that play offense, they want to be able to go somewhere where they feel like they can succeed with the other schools like the Oregons, and the Clemsons, things along those lines. That's the type of offense that it kind of reminds you of, the Clemsons and the Oregons of the Chip Kelly days."

Comey said he chose to stop by the sessions hosted by receivers coach Holmon Wiggins and assistant head coach/DTs coach Galen Scott, since he had yet to meet either of the new assistants.

He said both provided quick introductions about their backgrounds, but spent the bulk of their presentations on "x's and o's." Specifically, he said Wiggins detailed the team's practice methods and preferred drills, and even showed a few highlights of the team's offseason workouts.

But Comey said he was pleasantly surprised by Scott's presentation, and his emphasis on the scheme he coordinated under Fuente at Memphis.

"He knows his defensive football, so that was really encouraging to see," Comey said. "Because you see a young guy like that come in and you're thinking, 'Well, what does he actually know?' but he did a nice job of setting out some of their packages that they use and he had some video for it and it was really good."

In particular, he came away with a new appreciation for Scott's mastery of how to pressure the quarterback (and he adds that's even since exchanged emails with Scott to learn more about some of his concepts to start using them at Grassfield).

"Scott had boundary blitzes and field blitzes, and middle blitzes that he was doing off their different schemes that they use, and his was all x's and o's, which was really interesting, and some of the stuff he had was real clever," Comey said. "Which is really weird because everybody thinks of Bud Foster having such blitz packages, he's the guy with blitzes and this and that and bringing pressure and all, and here's Scott telling you what he did and showing you what he did as much as he could.

"He focused on maybe six different blitz packages that they use, and they showed you the film of it, and what went wrong and what went right, and the whole philosophy behind that call and why he called it when he called it. So it was all good stuff, typical coaches clinic stuff, but to me, I'm sitting there going, 'This is what I'd expect to hear from Bud Foster's clinic session.'"

Comey admitted that he was especially intrigued about how Scott and Foster might blend their unique schemes together.

"It'll be interesting to see, now that I know some of their stuff, how much of it makes it into Tech's defense, and I bet some of it will," Comey said. "Bud's not gonna turn down something that works. Or maybe it'll be some hybrid of what he's using and incorporate it with some of Bud's stuff. That keeps Bud's stuff fresh. Bud's been in the league for quite a while now, but these teams, they have enough film on Bud Foster. After a while, every coach starts getting a little bit predictable, so you try to change it up, so this certainly would help Bud do that if he tried to incorporate some of this other stuff, so that's kind of exciting as a Tech fan. There's a whole other dynamic, it's just a matter of how much of that will make it into the playbook."

Indeed, Comey was so enamored with Scott's energy and mastery of the scheme that he mused that "if the time comes when Bud leaves, he would just sort of be a natural for Fuente to tap him as the next defensive coordinator." Even still, he worries that the change for Scott from the head of a defense to merely an assistant under Foster could lead to some bruised egos on the staff.

When the clinic wrapped up, and Fuente and the rest of the staff took some time to meet the attendees one-on-one, Comey said he even brought those concerns directly to the head coach.

"I introduced myself to him and talked to him for a little bit, and I said, 'You know, I've managed insurance agencies and businesses and I've been involved and managed them while you're bringing in a couple together, and bringing two offices together,' and I said 'That's your biggest task, as I see it, making sure everybody's going on the same bus down the same road,'" Comey said. "And he sort of laughed and smiled and said 'I think you're probably right. I think we've got a good handle on it, and everybody's bought in.' So you take them at their word, and just see where it goes."

Ferebee said he also got a chance to speak with Fuente once the event wrapped up, though it wasn't his first time meeting him, after he successfully convinced 2016 Indian River LB Tavante Beckett to sign with Tech. But Ferebee did still value the chance to meet "every last coach," including all the new offensive assistants, and spend more time with Zohn Burden, his school's recruiter.

Great Turnout in the 757 Thank You#ThisIShome pic.twitter.com/htDJHGFJnO— Zohn Burden (@CoachBurdenVT) February 22, 2016

"Me and Zohn go back a good way," Ferebee said. "I''ve known Zohn for like 10, 11 years now. Me and him have always had a close relationship, when he was at Richmond, at ODU, the guy recruiting this area."

Comey says he also broached the topic of recruiting with the coaches, and they told him that Scott would handle schools in the "peninsula" region, while Burden would recruit the "south side" of the 757, including Grassfield. Unlike Ferebee, Comey came away less enamored with Burden's abilities.

"The only thing I'm concerned about as a Tech guy, because I like to see as many of these good players go to Tech, I'm not gonna hide my bias by any means, but Stinespring was a salesman," Comey said. "Those kids loved Bryan Stinespring, and I saw him in action. He's a sales guy, and Cornell Brown was not, he recruited our area, so they put Stiney back down here. And I'm not sure about Burden.

"He's certainly not Bryan Stinespring, but maybe it's too early. I don't want to pass judgement on him yet, but of all the changes that took place, that was the one I was sorry to see happen because I know what Bryan Stinespring brings to recruiting trail. But time will tell, he may do fine. I tried to talk to him a little bit, he's just kind of quieter than Stinespring. Stinespring's got a big mouth, but he's quieter. And me being in the insurance business, I'm a sales guy, and I can talk, so he wasn't like that, so I just kind of hold my judgement. But time will tell and maybe he'll figure it out."

Those reservations aside, Comey said the clinic has only confirmed his confidence in the direction the program is heading since Fuente was hired.

"As a fan, I'm pleased, as a high school coach, I'm pleased," Comey said. "That's what that's all about, they're trying to build relationships with the people down here."

A "Model for Winning Championships" in Herndon

But the coaches weren't just hoping to build relationships in the 757 — the Northern Virginia area is increasingly becoming a pipeline of talent for the program, and Fuente and company also made an appearance in the region last weekend.

Unlike the Chesapeake clinic, Fuente and the coaches joined a pre-existing event, the Nike "Coach of the Year" clinic, at a Herndon hotel instead of hosting their own gathering. Other speakers included Alabama's Nick Saban, SMU's Chad Morris and UVA's Bronco Mendenhall, but the Hokies stood out by bringing their entire staff to the event.

Jonathan White, the head coach at Virginia Beach's Bayside HS, made the trip up to Northern Virginia to hear from all of the football luminaries in attendance, and he says Tech's presentations helped make the visit worthwhile.

Like in Chesapeake, Fuente gave an hour-long speech at the event, and it would seem it didn't differ greatly from his talk in the 757 — White says he used the time to detail his philosophy and vision for the program.

"I thought Fuente had a wonderful message that he got across to everybody," White said. "I see where he wants to take his program, and I see why he was successful with Memphis. He has a great model for winning championships and things are gonna work out fine for him."

Specifically, White admired Fuente's focus on setting his players up for futures that don't necessarily include football by "establishing a moral compass for his players."

"They don't just want to emphasize the do's and don't's of how you want to matriculate, but he wants his guys to do more than just graduate from Virginia Tech," White said. "He emphasized that he feels like that's what you're supposed to do, and I fully agree with him.

"You're supposed to graduate. You're not just going to school just for this and just for that. But once you've played football at Virginia Tech and then you graduate from Virginia Tech, then what? So that's the whole emphasis that he has and I think that's a great message."

White says he also sat in on a presentation from new offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen for more specifics on Fuente's brand of offense, and he said he enjoyed hearing from such a "knowledgeable" coach on the high-octane scheme the staff developed at Memphis.

"He emphasized the (run-pass option) offense and everything like that, showed some great film of Paxton Lynch and why they were successful," White said. "He just showed how you can break things down simply and do some really, really big things with it if everyone works toward a common goal."

White also got a chance to chat with Cornelsen once the presentation was over to go over the "brass tacks" of the offense, and he was even able to get a few minutes with Burden (his school's lead recruiter) and Fuente himself. He says he'd already gotten to know those two a bit, as they recruited WR commit Phil Patterson in this most recent cycle, but it was nice "catching up" with them once more.

Between his prior experience with Fuente and his time at the clinic, White emulates his fellow 757 coaches in his bullish feelings on the program's direction.

"He's a guy that really knows what he wants to do, and he's putting forth some effort to get those things done," White said. "It's basically like he has a plan and he's working his plan. He's making sure that the guys are accountable, moving forward toward a common goal, I think he has an opportunity to do something real big."

Resonance in Richmond

In order to spread the word about his vision in the Richmond area, Fuente brought the staff to the Commonwealth Coaches' Clinic at Henrico's Hermitage HS as well.

Mendenhall's staff was also in attendance, in addition to coaches from other Virginia schools like JMU, ODU and Richmond, but Ricky Irby, head coach of Hopewell HS, said it was immediately clear which speaker attendees were most interested in hearing more about.

"I think most people wanted to hear from Coach Fuente, him being recently hired," Irby said. "Not a lot of Virginia coaches have gotten a chance to hear from him yet."

For Irby, another Tech graduate in the high school head coaching ranks, it was an especially easy decision when it came time to choose who to go see. Though he says some of the other Tech assistants were holding sessions at the same time as Fuente's speech in the main auditorium, he knew where he wanted to be.

Irby says Fuente discussed the various phases of his career and the "pillars of his foundation of what he believes in," a message that he thinks appealed to more than just similarly sympathetic Tech supporters.

"I have a few guys on my staff that are UVA guys, and they were impressed with Coach Fuente and how he spoke," Irby said. "He just never seemed at a loss for words, and the things that he said really resonated for everybody that was there listening to him."

Like at the other stops, Irby says Fuente took a few minutes for a personal meet and greet with the attendees, though he notes that the head Hokie was a bit "bombarded" with attention following the talk, making it hard to spend much time with him.

Yet Irby notes that DEs coach Charley Wiles made some time for him, as did director of player personnel Chuck Cantor, who he says has served as point person for the team over the last few months during the transition to the new staff.

He also made a point to seek out Burden for a chat, since the staff told him that the RBs coach will now be handling recruitment at his school in addition to the 757.

Overall, Irby says the clinic just confirmed his belief that the transition to the new staff has been "all positive" so far, and he added that the rest of his coaches are itching to learn more about the new Hokies.

"Every year in the spring, we go to a coaching clinic at a different school, so back in September, we're sitting in the coaches locker room and we're talking about football and I asked the guys 'Where do you think you want to go this year?' And they all said 'Memphis,'" Irby said.

"They wanted to go to Memphis to see the things that Coach Fuente and them were doing on offense there, and I told Coach Fuente that...and he said 'Now you've just got to come to Blacksburg,' so it makes a lot shorter trip for us for sure, so I'm kinda looking forward to everything."

Irby and company will have the opportunity to take Fuente up on his offer sooner rather than later. Ferebee noted that the Hokies will be holding another clinic in Blacksburg the first weekend in April, and he'll be among the high school coaches they've invited to speak at the event.

But the staff will surely make an effort to put in more facetime with these coaches around the state between then and now as well. Comey, Irby, Ferebee and White all feel confident they'll get to see the Hokies again soon as their 2017 recruiting efforts heat up.

Before long, the new staffers won't seem unfamiliar at all in their new home state.

"I think our guys will always be on their radar, and hopefully they can make some more moves down the line," White said.