There is an impressive tally of Arena Football alumni who’ve traded in their helmets for headsets.

One might have guessed that after watching this year’s college bowl season, which saw West Virginia drop 70 points on Clemson, Oregon outduel Wisconsin in the highest-scoring Rose Bowl in college football history, and Baylor and Washington entertain a nation in a record-setting offensive shootout in Aaron Garcia’s new backyard.

More than a few folks around the country are beginning to wonder if Arena Football has come to the NCAA.

Perhaps it has. In some cases, one needs to look only as far as the Head Coach.

The University of Houston led college football in net yards (8,387) and points per game (49.3) in 2011.

The school’s new Head Coach? Former wide receiver and defensive back for the 1996 Minnesota Fighting Pike, Tony Levine.

How about the Wisconsin Badgers, who ranked fourth in the nation in total points (618) behind college football’s all-time single-season passing efficiency leader, Russell Wilson?

Well, Head Coach Bret Bielema played offensive and defensive line for the Milwaukee Mustangs in 1994.

Or Florida State, who overcame a 14-point deficit by scoring 18 unanswered points to beat Notre Dame in the Champs Sports Bowl this year?

Head Coach Jimbo Fisher was a quarterback for the Chicago Bruisers in 1988.

Add one more name to that list: Justin Fuente.

On December 8, 2011, the University of Memphis named the 35-year-old former Oklahoma Wranglers quarterback the school’s next Head Football Coach.

Fuente – the Co-Offensive Coordinator of Texas Christian’s high-powered scoring attack the last three seasons – didn’t emerge as a top candidate for the opening until late in the interview process, which is why the hiring came as a bit of a surprise, even to him.

“I went home that night [after the interview] and basically told my wife it was a great experience and maybe something else will come up,” Fuente said. “Then the next day, I went to work and went to our staff meeting with Coach Patterson and when I got out, my phone was ringing off the hook. I realized that maybe it was a little bit more serious than I had anticipated. I flew out there and took the job.”

Memphis considered a number of candidates, including former Alabama Offensive Coordinator and newly hired Colorado State Head Coach, Jim McElwain, and former Arizona Head Coach Mike Stoops – who recently accepted the position of Co-Defensive Coordinator at Oklahoma University.

Coincidently, Stoops was one of the original 80 Arena Football League players in 1987 as a wide receiver and defensive back for the Pittsburgh Gladiators. After ArenaBowl I, Stoops swapped his pads for a clipboard and has been coaching ever since.

Fuente followed a similar path. A star quarterback at Union High School in Tulsa, Fuente played two seasons at Oklahoma before transferring to I-AA Murray State to finish his college career as a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, the annual award given to the most outstanding offensive player in the subdivision.

Looking for an opportunity to continue his football career, Fuente turned to the Arena game.

“I went to the NFL combine and didn’t get signed, but the AFL team in Oklahoma City needed a backup quarterback,” Fuente said. “I stayed there for basically a year. I came in the middle of the season and stayed till the middle of the next season, but it was a lot of fun.”

Fuente spent time in 2000 and 2001 on the Oklahoma Wranglers roster, but soon decided his best chance of sticking in football might come on the sidelines.

“I didn’t play a whole lot, so I think I took away the idea that maybe I should start coaching,” Fuente said.

Who knew that ten years later he’d be accepting the top job at the University of Memphis – a program Fuente insists has the look of a “perfect recipe.”

“I think we have all the things a guy could want to build a program the right way,” Fuente said. “Support from the community, support from the administration, facilities, potential facility upgrades, financial support, location, and a conference with the opportunity to compete in.”

Of course, it won’t be without challenges. Fuente is the Tigers’ second first-year Head Coach in three seasons.

“We’ve got to change everybody’s expectation level, work ethic, accountability, and discipline,” Fuente said. “It won’t be offense, defense, special teams, schemes or any of that stuff. It’ll be the core characteristics of our team.”

Fortunately for Tiger fans, Fuente is no stranger to turning programs around.

The former Tulsa World “Player of the Year” spent his first three years on the sidelines as a Quarterbacks Coach at Illinois State University before being promoted to Offensive Coordinator in 2004. Under his guidance, the Redbirds increased their points per game average by nearly 30 percent and enjoyed one of only two seasons with nine or more wins since 1970. Fuente’s quarterback, Luke Drone, even earned First-Team All-Gateway Conference honors after leading the league in passing average and total offense. Drone was a rookie quarterback for the Dallas Vigilantes last season.

Fuente’s success at ISU caught the attention of Gary Patterson at Texas Christian University. After the 2006 season, Fuente was introduced as TCU’s new Running Backs Coach. In 2009, Fuente was promoted to Co-Offensive Coordinator and moved back to coaching quarterbacks. That was also the year the Horned Frogs earned their first BCS berth in school history, losing in the Fiesta Bowl to Boise State. The next season, they finished at an undefeated 13-0, beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. With Fuente as the offense’s primary playcaller, TCU boasted the nation’s most balanced offensive attack, averaging 226.8 passing yards and 232.4 rushing yards per game.

“I don’t attribute it to any great creativity,” Fuente said. “I think I envision myself as being someone very entrenched in the fundamentals of playing the positions correctly, executing correctly and trying to take advantages of schematic mismatches.”

Fuente’s offensive unit did just that in 2011. Despite returning just two offensive starters, the Horned Frogs averaged 41.7 points per game and finished the season with a record of 10-2. In fact, as an offensive coordinator, his offenses have scored 30 or more points in 85 percent of their games, 40 or more points in 50 percent and 50 or more points in 24 percent. Over the last two seasons, Memphis’ offense scored more than 30 points just three times and never eclipsed 40 points.

But even with all the statistics and accolades, Fuente is quick to pass the praise elsewhere.

“I’ve always thought that Gary Patterson was very creative,” Fuente said. “Just the way he thinks about defense is different than anybody I’ve ever been around and I’ve always admired him for his creativity. I never thought of myself as being real creative, but I did have some good players, which helps!”

One of those players was current Cincinnati Bengals starting quarterback, Andy Dalton.

Under Fuente’s tutelage, Dalton broke every major passing record in TCU history and became a two-time Mountain West Conference Player of the Year before being selected by the Bengals in the second round of last year’s NFL Draft.

“[Andy] was great,” Fuente said. “The thing with Andy is you get to a point where you’re not teaching him where to throw the ball anymore. All you’re worried about is teaching him how to handle his emotions and the ups and downs of the game. He knows it as well as you do, so when you get to a certain level, there’s just not a lot left to teach except for the way to play quarterback and how to handle everything. I really enjoyed that aspect of Andy because he’s such a perfectionist. He adapted well and was a pleasure to coach.”

Dalton’s rookie season in Cincinnati was highlighted by a wildcard playoff berth and a selection as an alternate for the Pro Bowl. Fuente’s prize pupil thrived in his first year with Bengals Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden – another Arena Football alumnus.

“I met Jay a couple times when they came down to visit Andy,” Fuente said. “I was really impressed with him. I think he’s got the perfect demeanor to work with Andy.”

Gruden, a six-time ArenaBowl champion, joined the Bengals staff in February 2011 after 17 years in the Arena game.

But regardless of what sideline the coaching comes from, Fuente says there’s one thing that doesn’t change.

“Ultimately, it’s about people,” Fuente said. “I got into this because I really liked the ‘Xs and Os’ of the game, but it didn’t take me long to realize that teaching somebody how to do something and then watching them go out there and do it – that’s a pretty good rush. That’s a great feeling of accomplishment. Helping somebody along the way to accomplish something that they may have never accomplished if you hadn’t been there, for me, is a pretty special feeling.”

Whether or not the college game continues to gravitate towards the high-scoring, quick-hitting offensive action usually reserved for “Arena Football Fridays” is anyone’s guess.

But as long as there are coaches like Justin Fuente – pushing not only the boundaries of offensive possibilities, but working to build strong programs with quality people – the game of football is in good hands.