OT - Powerful Texas booster derides Charlie Strong hire
You think Michigan has had "faction" problems in the past? Powerful Texas booster Red McCombs says the hiring of Charlie Strong was a "kick in the face" and that Strong might be a "great position coach, maybe a coordinator" but isn't UT head coach material.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10257706/booster-red-mcc…
Apologies if this discussion ends up veering into political territory. I just wanted to point out that no matter how bad people thought the infighting at Michigan following Carr was, I think we are about to see Texas go though something exponentially worse.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
after he married KK. That girl has been rode hard and put away wet. WTF????
January 7th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
The lyrical content suggests Kanye may not be 100% happy with that situation either.
As to Vinci Caeruleatum's point, you can argue that Strong's race is not relevant to the discussion. I get that. But I also think (and this may be where Yeezus is coming from) that none of us will be surprised if Strong's race has an effect on his head coaching role - and the effect could be both positive and negative depending on the situation under the microscope.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:47 PM ^
Ironically, I just ran across this nugget while researching another post. It's from Dennis Franklin, "Michigan's first 'black' quarterback."
"Every time I'd do an interview, they'd throw that tag on me. It became annoying," Franklin said. "Eventually, it went away. That's all I ever strived for."
January 7th, 2014 at 2:55 PM ^
of why it's not an overblown concern.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:54 PM ^
"BITCH YOU AIN'T A HOBBIT, IS YOU?"
I AIN'T HAPPY ABOUT IT EITHER, VERTEC
January 7th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
if you honestly believe that this 87 year old dude from the south's views on this have nothing to do with race then I commend you on your optimisim
January 7th, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^
RED MCCOMBS DOESNT CARE ABOUT BLACK RICH RODS
January 7th, 2014 at 1:33 PM ^
Sounds like some sort of staff in an RPG for Super Nintendo.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:22 PM ^
Pat Forde predicted this was going to happen.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:59 PM ^
on the other hand, it's one of the few times that pat forde has made a correct prediction.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
I like this part:
"He publicly lobbied last week for Texas to hire former NFL coach and ESPN analyst Jon Gruden."
These guys think they can buy their way into the program like the guy from UConn a few years ago.
Every time a big school hires a new coach a booster is always complaining about how his voice wasn't heard.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^
I really hope Charlie Strong wins a national championship and then calls this guy out after the game and gives him the middle finger.
And how stupid is this comment. Strong was a great coordinator at Florida for many years. There's no way he is maybe just a position coach. He is a head coach, and he will probably have more success than Mack Brown.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
Calling him a position coach, MAYBE a coordinator? I mean, could you possibly be more insulting if you tried?
Even if you don't think the guy is the greatest head coach in the country, he's still clearly a HEAD COACH. He's been a Div 1-A head coach for 4 years now and has a 37-15 record. You don't have to think he's the worlds greatest head coach, but to say he's nothing more than a position coach is a joke.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
Mccombs comment reeks of racism. Its stronger than implicit and almost damn explicit racism
January 7th, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
fuck up.
January 7th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
Apologies for the wording but not the intent.
B. Good on them. I don't care what race any of UM's players or coaches are. I'll always root for them to be successful because they're my team. In turn, I could not possibly care less how Strong does at Texas. Not because of his race, but because it's Texas. Texas happens to be a team that's Not Michigan, therefore I don't really care how they do.
January 7th, 2014 at 6:27 PM ^
Attacking me for inferring the meaning of what McCombs said? What McCombs said and the way he said it is what I was commenting on. It is not a leap of logic to come to that conclusion and alot of people agree with my take on it. You need to work on your reading comprehension if you think my post had anything to do with my own opinions or views.
January 7th, 2014 at 6:30 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 7:42 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 5:35 PM ^
I won't be doing it because of the color of his skin, though.
January 7th, 2014 at 7:45 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 3:06 PM ^
However, in this case, I thought the same thing when I read what old Red said.
It justs seemed regular implicit to me though.
January 7th, 2014 at 3:51 PM ^
Because some old guy who donated more $$ to a school than you or I will most likely ever see in our lives thought Gruden, Harbaugh or Saban were just a blank check away from coming? Strong was a good Big East/AAC coach and could be a great Big 12 coach but the fact is he's not in the same league as some names this old guy apparently thought Texas could get. The fact that his race is coming into says more about the people bringing it up than an old man who didn't imply any goddamm such thing.
January 7th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^
I am rarely the type of person who thinks those things (involving implied racism that is)...I think it was more the "coordinator" comment, but it just sounded that way to me...maybe it had nothing to do with race...just seemed that way to me.
January 7th, 2014 at 6:33 PM ^
Agree with you. His comment reads very similar to someone telling women to go to the other room because men are talking. To say an accomplished head coach at a division 1 school would make a good position coach or maybe a coordinator is completely different than saying we could have and should have attracted a more accomplished/experienced coach
January 7th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^
So if someone said the exact same thing about Hoke... a "good" HC at a lower-tier school, great position coach who got a Tier-1 HC job... it'd be construed as... what?
January 7th, 2014 at 9:31 PM ^
Michigan "fans" have stated as much this past season. I'm guessing they think he's black? Who knew?
I find it quite telling when people project their own bigotry upon others and then claim foul. He's rich and he's from Texas, he must be a racist.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:03 AM ^
BCS bowl win as Head coach...DC for an SEC National Championship caliber team
January 7th, 2014 at 6:36 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^
Even if you don't think the guy is the greatest head coach in the country, he's still clearly a HEAD COACH.
In fairness, I don't think he's saying Strong isn't qualified to be a head coach anywhere. He doesn't think he's qualified to be the head coach at Texas, which McCombs says "should be one of the three most powerful university programs in the world."
I think the issue is more that he has an exaggerated view of how good the UT job is - it's good, but not necessarily so good that any coach will drop what he's doing to go there.
January 7th, 2014 at 8:14 PM ^
How arrogant would you have to be to think the head coach of Louisville is only good enough to be a f'ing POSITION coach at Texas?
January 7th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
way Strong's wife wears her hair, they are just pikers.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
Man, I would be so stoked if I was a Texas fan. Strong seems like an awesome hire, and I can't think of many, if any, better hires they could have made in this situation.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
If we imagine a world in which Coach Hoke retired this December to become a Franciscan monk, I would have been thrilled to see Michigan hire Strong.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
Since there already seems to be grumpy infighting I think by 2018 you'll see him get canned or see success and hop to the NFL like BOB did. Just by being the HC at Texas he's on the NFL radar for a head coaching gig there
January 7th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
The guy is an ignorant jackwagon. He is blaming the AD for not hiring Jon Gruden.
Personally I would have suggested Bill Bellichek or the ghost of Vince Lombardi, but McCombs likes Gruden...
January 7th, 2014 at 2:07 PM ^
ghosts don't make great college coaches. NFL, maybe. but in college you have to know how to text and email recruits.
January 7th, 2014 at 10:17 PM ^
Strong appears to be a good recruiter- reality is- it helps when you walk into a parents house that you look like part of the family already.
January 7th, 2014 at 11:38 PM ^
We know Meyer's opinion of Mattison's abilities. Clearly, recruits and their families must be looking past something as shallow as his race. Personally, I think you are insulting Strong's talents and hard work by tying any of his recruiting prowess to his skin color.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
"I don't see how they can miss," McCombs told the paper. "They can get anyone they want. They can close their eyes and go 'Eeny-meeny-miny-moe' and end up with someone good."
that Texas booster ego is unreal.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^
that's right, anyone. i mean call up jim mora if you want him. or nick saban. oh wait.
January 7th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
...if you had a freaking statue of yourself inside the UT Stadium!
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/cnishared/tools/shared/mediahub/06/16/00/slid…
Schools need these guys to support their $100 million plus athletic departments. And once you take someone's money (and build them a statue), they're going to have opinions -- lots of 'em.
January 7th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
I'm so glad there's nothing like that inside Michigan Stadium...I do appreciate his open love of Satan.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:33 PM ^
"I don't see how they can miss," McCombs told the paper. "They can get anyone they want. They can close their eyes and go 'Eeny-meeny-miny-moe' and end up with someone good."
I like to think that this is what sort of happened here, ending up with someone good, even if Strong was not their first choice. As others mentioned, he seems more upset with the process than anything else, but I think Texas should have some success with Charlie Strong at the helm - I will be interested to see how the staff comes together.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 1:41 PM ^
That is why I was afraid this would veer into a political discussion. You have to wonder if a white head coach with 4 years of experience, a 35-16 overall record and coming off of a 12-1 season would be disrespected this incredibly.
Nothing the guy said was outright racist. But the amazing disrespect definitely makes you take pause. He's basically saying that Strong doesn't deserve to be a football head coach, which is obviously not reality.