Justin Fuente's Playlist, "Blue Collar" Style Impress Florida Visitors on Big Recruiting Weekend

When it came time for four of the prospects visiting Blacksburg for the Hokies' final recruiting weekend to head to the airport on Sunday, Justin Fuente loaded them in his car and fired up his favorite playlist.

In the roughly half hour ride from Tech's campus to the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport, Fuente took the chance to show the recruits a little more of his personality than he had in the previous two days. While the group did talk some football on the trip, with an emphasis on the upcoming Super Bowl matchup, the music took center stage — in particular, the stylings of Young Thug, Future and the Migos defined the ride, according to 2016 DE JaQuan Bailey of Jacksonsville Fla.'s Raines HS.

While Frank Beamer might've showed a bit of passing familiarity with the Migos' work in his postgame gyrations, the 39-year-old Fuente showed an affinity for the music that impressed his visitors. It might've been a small moment, but it was a meaningful one in illustrating the change at the top of Virginia Tech's program since Beamer's retirement.

"I got to see a side of him that I didn't think that he had," Bailey said. "With his playlist, we were listening to a couple of the new, hot rappers, and he kind of knew some of it."

The Hokies have had their eyes on Bailey for months now, so the former Florida commit has gotten an especially close look at the way Tech's staff has evolved in recent days.

He confesses to being "surprised" by Fuente's "pretty crazy" youthful energy, an impression he says his fellow passengers shared. Minnesota commit CB Coney Durr of Geismar, La.'s Dutchtown HS, and LB Emmanuel Belmar and DE Tomon Fox of Suwanee, Ga's Collins Hill HS, who are committed to Tech and UNC respectively, also got the chance to sample Fuente's music mix.

Virginia Tech Official Visit #VT20 #HokieNation pic.twitter.com/G0l5OFtp2A— Emmanuel Belmar Jr (@EBJr_9) January 31, 2016

All spent the weekend on official visits to Blacksburg to get one last look at the school before signing day. In particular, Bailey says he "loved" the experience, as it gave him a chance to see parts of campus and the town that he missed in his previous Tech trips.

"I got to see the whole facility, I got to see where I may be staying, I got to hang out with a couple other players, I got to see the trophy room, and the football facility," Bailey said. "I got to see where the players hang out in the town, I got to see a lot of cool stuff about the city."

He says redshirt freshman DE Houshun Gaines and the Edmunds brothers, CB Terrell and LB Tremaine, spent the most time with him, but that Fuente and DEs coach Charley Wiles stuck close by as well.

"Playing defensive end, they said it's up to me," Bailey said. "If I come in and play and come to work every day with my mindset right, where I'll be in the two deep, that's all up to me."

Beyond his contemporary taste in music, Fuente's upfront nature about where Bailey might stand on the depth chart clearly made an impression on the DE.

"I like him," Bailey said. "He reminds me of my coach at my high school."

OLB Dominique Ross of Jacksonville's Trinity Christian Academy didn't get to hear Fuente's vaunted playlist, but he came away with the same sort of impression of the new head Hokie.

"He's a great dude," Ross said. "He'll be able to bring the program to the top in a couple years, if not sooner than that."

But the UNC commit says his favorite part of his trip to Tech was his talk with a different member of the coaching staff: Bud Foster.

"We talked about what position I would be playing and where I'd fit in the defense," Ross said. "He said I'd be playing outside in the backer position."

The coaches also relied on WR Isaiah Ford, a fellow Trinity Christian alum, to show Ross a good time in Blacksburg.

"We just talked about if I came down, what I would do, and how long it would take me to get on the field," Ross said.

Ross says he spent plenty of time hanging out with Bailey, Durr and Fox as well, and he says sharing the experience helped bring things into focus for him a bit.

"You get to see what they're thinking about and see if they like it," Ross said.

Among the voices in his ear was the Hokies' newest commit, DT Jarrod Hewitt of Venice (Fla.) HS, after he made his pledge on Sunday.

"We were watching film with a few linebackers, and I was trying to convince them to come out here and jump on board and get this done, get back to that 12, 13 win seasons that Virginia Tech's all about," Hewitt said.

Hewitt was able to make the pitch with such certainty after a thorough look at campus, his second visit since he stopped by for the N.C. State game this fall.

"It's the best campus I've ever seen or been around," Hewitt said. "We got a tour of the campus, met some academic advisors and some of the other academic staff, saw all the facilities and got to meet some of the players. Not to mention the food. The food was amazing."

Beyond Tech's legendary culinary options, Hewitt credits the defensive staff for convincing him to make Blacksburg his new home.

"It's a great tradition there, and the defense staff is staying, so I can't be more excited to be a Hokie," Hewitt said. "I can't wait to be playing for Coach Foster and those guys who have been there for so long."

Hewitt says he was with Wiles "pretty much the entire time" during his trip, but he also got to meet all the new offensive coaches as well. Like Ross, he came away awfully impressed with Fuente in the pair's second meeting since an early visit to Hewitt's school in December.

"He's definitely a blue collar guy, he's going to do things right and he's going to get it done," Hewitt said. "I couldn't think any more highly of him, and I think he's going to make Virginia Tech special again."

That's why, when Hewitt's mind was made up to become a Hokie, he gave the news directly to his new head coach.

"I knew at the beginning of the trip that there was a very, very big possibility that I was going to commit on the trip instead of waiting out to signing day," Hewitt said. "But at the end of the trip, I talked to my family and we decided that it was the best decision to do it, so Sunday morning, when I had my visit with Coach Fuente, we made it a done deal."

Hewitt was just the fourth commitment Fuente's received since he took over as coach (not counting WR Phil Patterson's recommitment), so he was certainly glad to get the good news.

"He was pretty happy," Hewitt said. "We took some pictures, it was a good time for me and my family."

VT 20' #HokieNation pic.twitter.com/JQSnoQ7WP9— Five -Five (@HewittJarrod) January 31, 2016

Now, Hewitt's hoping to return for Tech's spring game this April to get another look at campus and spend some more time with the staff.

Ross' future is less certain. He says he'll wait to announce if he'll be sticking with UNC or flipping on signing day with an event at his school.

Bailey is in the same boat. Even with his recent trips to Tech and Tennessee, he says he has no top group heading into signing day, and will also make an official announcement from his high school.

"(I'll think about) where I was the most comfortable at, what place stood out to me the most, the place where I felt most comfortable around the players and the program," Bailey said. "The place that most felt like home."

The Hokies have to hope that Fuente's DJ skills have made Southwestern Virginia sufficiently welcoming.