Bruce Arians makes contribution back to Tech

After a recent trip back to Blacksburg, during some time off from coaching Tampa Bay, former Hokie quarterback Bruce Arians talked about how much he enjoyed being back on his old stomping grounds. Today, he put his money where his mouth is and made a sizeable donation back to Virginia Tech.

In honor of Bruce Arians, for the gift he and his wife Christine have made, the quarterback’s room will be renamed for Bruce Arians. This does meet with the programs Reach for Excellence Campaign that is aiming to raise $400 million for Virginia Tech Football and Athletics.

“Blacksburg is such a special town and amazing place to develop a college football player. It’s my hope that this gift provides the opportunity for our program to strive for excellence, developing these student-athletes both on and off the field,” said Coach Arians.

Even more interesting is what he said next. “I’m encouraged by the trajectory of the program and trust that under (Coach Fuente’s) leadership we can get back to competing for championships. I also hope that many more of my fellow Hokie football alums find a way to reconnect and give back to the program that means so much to us.”

This is very interesting timing. He could have happily given the money and said nothing about Justin Fuente, but he didn’t. This feels a lot like a GM giving the backing to their coach when they might be a little under fire. There has been some talk about how long of a leash Coach Fuente still has here at Tech, but comments like that from people with serious influence may mean the leash is much longer than many would have predicted.