Texas to hire Charlie Strong

Submitted by winterblue75 on
Per Horns 247
@BobbyBurton247: BREAKING: Horns247 first to report that Texas will hire Louisville coach Charlie Strong.

ixcuincle

January 3rd, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^

Good hire for Texas. The state of Texas has a lot of talented football teams right now. I wish the Big XII didn't have to separate like it did a few years ago. I miss the old days. 

gwkrlghl

January 3rd, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^

I've mentioned before that I'm skeptical Narduzzi really wants to be a HC since he seems awfully reluctant to actually be a head coach, but Louisville would make a lot of sense for him. Major school job in a decent conference, good foundation to build on from Charlie Strong, in the recruiting footprint he's probably familiar with, etc. Could be a great fit for him.

Don

January 4th, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^

want to be a head coach? There's absolutely no basis in fact for that idea.

This article at the Freep is archived behind a paywall, but I read the print version and it gives a great in-depth look at his background as a coach.

http://www.freep.com/article/20131031/SPORTS07/310310050/

I agree with you that he simply doesn't want to take a dead-end job like EMU, and there's no reason he should. It doesn't mean he can expect a major program in his first HC stint, but he'll get some mid-major or MAC sort of position before long.

club2230

January 3rd, 2014 at 11:41 PM ^

It may seem like they struck out on quite a few names, but let's be a bit realistic.  

Saban is at a prestigious school already and has something pretty good built.  

Harbaugh is in the NFL where he wants to be.  

Sumlin is at pretty good place in A&M plus he would be switching to a in-state rival.

Briles is in the same conference.  How often does that happen?  At least Saban went to the NFL before coming to Alabama from LSU.

Mora is doing a pretty good job at UCLA which is a pretty good school to be at.

Fisher is coaching FSU in the title game.

Malzahn is coaching Auburn in the title game.

To say that Texas struck out is kinda silly (although you seem to simply be stating facts here).  This list is a list of longshots.  Schools are going to call the longshots because maybe there is a chance.  The bottom line is that these were pretty much all lateral moves at best with the exception of Briles, but that woudl be an intra-conference move.

 

Mr. Yost

January 3rd, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^

What an ass like comment, but I'm going to entertain it.

We didn't have NEAR the options Texas even thought they had. They landed on their like 8th choice and it was a good hire. But we went hard after Harbaugh, Miles was always a question and then who else?

We didn't have near the options. It was just a bad year to fire your coach. There wasn't anyone out there.

Even when we got Rich Rod, there wasn't anyone really out there for Michigan.

In hindsight, sure, we would've loved to have had Strong, but he wasn't who he is today at that time. David Shaw wasn't David Shaw when we hired Rich Rod or Hoke.

So who? Kirk Ferentz? Dan Mullen?

The same thing happened to Tennessee, they fired their coach in a bad year and ended up with Butch Jones. 

OSU lucked up and Meyer was available when they needed a coach.

It was bad luck that we just picked a bad year and there weren't many options to begin with.

Reader71

January 3rd, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^

I think the dumbest thing about that comment is that Charlie Strong has yet to coach a game at Texas. Brady Hoke has a winning record at Michigan. After the Coach Rod era, why do people continue to assume that some schools just win automatically?

BlueCube

January 3rd, 2014 at 11:35 PM ^

I'm not sure if he was truly the 8th choice. It would not surprise me to see coaches uses this search to secure new contracts. It also could have been that Texas approached many people to judge interest even if they had a single target. Mora could have removed his name because he could tell there wasn't much interest and he wanted it to look like his choice.

I agree with your assessment of the Michigan search although I think it's far too early to call Hoke a bust. As the depth is replenished, I expect improvement over the next couple of years and beyound.

Mr. Yost

January 3rd, 2014 at 11:41 PM ^

No confidentiality and too many big egos...it was a joke.

They asked every single one of those guys and thought they had a shot...because they're Texas.

What they didn't realize is they MAY have gotten one if they didn't force his hand with the media.

They became everything we knew they were...arrogant and media crazy. If you can't run a coaching search properly, what's the media going to be like when the coach is actually there?

I think eventually they ended up with a candidate that didn't care about the circus because it was such a big step up for him.

TheNema

January 4th, 2014 at 2:51 AM ^

Exactly my thought. They got a guy who was at least as hot as RR was in '07 and ran the search a million times smoother than that catastrophe we saw here back then (even if they had some bumps).

The Hoke hiring process was relatively smooth but ended in what I think most of us would say was peculiar choice at the time, even if it wasn't surprising. It also was capped by some embarrassing comments by Brandon (saying he never offered Harbaugh the job and "all that glitters is not gold").

So we haven't been good at this.

 

freejs

January 4th, 2014 at 12:46 AM ^

this is not directed only at you - I've heard this mess from many people.

You land Charlie Strong on January 3rd-4th, it's a successful f'n search.

What, are there freaking style points in play here?

You wouldn't want Charlie Strong coaching your team?

Who cares what happened before landing a guy if you land a great coach?

Who gives a damn?

TIMMMAAY

January 4th, 2014 at 12:40 AM ^

OSU (and Meyer) knew all about Tatgate back then, and secretly planned to submarine Tressel and risk major sanctions for the new coach they were methodically putting in place three years prior. Meanwhile in Gainseville, Urbs is playing his part with the precision of a Namibian bush surgeon. He cunningly gambles his family life in a beautiful con spanning three years, ending at God's Toilet Seat (the Shoe). 

You will surely have undying fame for uncovering this diabolical plot. Get Giraldo on this shit, STAT. 

trueblueintexas

January 4th, 2014 at 12:03 AM ^

I should have given more background.
1) this is not who the powers that be (big money donors) wanted.
2) fan expectations were /are much higher. There was a belief by many fans that Mike Tomlin (yes, the Steelers coach) or Nick Saban would be the next head coach. I addresses that issue in a thread a few weeks ago.
3) A&M hired a black head coach and now Texas follows suit. If you think the MSU infactuation on the board lately has been bad, live a day in the life of the UT/A&M mutual inferiority complex in this state.
4) expectations are for 11 win seasons at least. Not 10 wins, 11 at least. Mack set that standard and couldn't live up to it. You saw what happened to him. I think Strong is a good head coach, just not a consistent 11+ wins a year head coach when Sumlin is doing what he is doing at A&M.
5) finally, but most important, being the head coach at UT is about so much more than what you see on Saturday. strong seems like a good guy, but doesn't have that special personality that is required to be the face of Longhorn nation.

Swayze Howell Sheen

January 4th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^

point 1 - probably good to ignore donors during hiring search

point 2 - fans (as we know) are silly about their expectations, also should be ignored

point 3 - seems oddly racist

point 4 - of course he has to put Texas into the national championship picture; why else would he go there? also, it's a little easier now, you just have to be in the top 4 (not 2)

point 5 - well, i guess we'll see; winning solves a lot of "personality" problems

trueblueintexas

January 4th, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^

Point 1) UT is very proud of its status as the richest program in the country. If you looked at the makeup of the "selection" committee, there are many links to the big donors. If they go with Stong, there will be many who are not happy. (Doesn't matter that the reality is that the people they did want we're not going to come anyway).
Point 2) no need to argue about the stupidity of some fans. But in a a state like Texas where you are splitting fans up between, A&M, Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, and to some degree TCU, keeping the fans is vital.
Point 3) no way to sugar coat it, racism is alive and well in parts of Texas. More so than I have experienced up north.
Point 4) all I can say is it is different. The best way I can explain it is by comparing it to the board lately. There are many posts on MGoBlog talking about 10-3 being a good year next year if Michigan beats at least one rival. That standard does not fly in Texas. At least 11 wins, beat Oklahoma, be in the mix for the National Championship, do better than A&M. That's it. Doesn't matter the reality, that's the expectation.
Point 5) Mack Brown created "Come early, stay late, wear orange". He brought UT's program back from the doldrums of mediocrity not just on the field, but in the hearts of the fans. Granted the on field performance played a big role. The day he "retired", there were billboards up around town with his picture and " Class Act". Not the week after, not the day after, THE day. For all the negative comments about the past few years performance, people here still love him for what he did for the program. That is hard to follow. Just ask RichRod.

MH20

January 4th, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^

just not a consistent 11+ wins a year head coach when Sumlin is doing what he is doing at A&M.

Sorry to get hung up on this point, but I really don't think it helps your argument.  Yes, A&M won 11 games in 2012.  However, Sumlin has zero conference title appearances and his only noteworthy victories are at Alabama and OK-State in the Cotton Bowl.  He is about to lose a once-in-a-decade type player in Manziel and one of the best WRs in the country in Mike Evans.  Also, his teams play zero defense.

A&M is about to regress.  Actually they already did this season -- 8-4 is probably going to be their baseline for the foreseeable future.

trueblueintexas

January 4th, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^

That comment is in reference to two things. The first is recruiting. Sumlin has already gotten recruits in head to head battles with UT that easily would have been UT commits in the past. That may not make A&M national contenders, but what it does is lessen the talent gap UT has had over every other program in this part of the country for years. Baylor's recruiting has also affected UT's talent advantage over everyone else. One example is Ahmad Dixon. He was a UT verbal until he switched to Baylor. (In that particular case, there may have been some other issues. Nothing was ever confirmed). The second is more perception based. The impression in Texas is that A&M has been the better program the past few years (you could argue they have). This does not sit well with UT fans. Kind of like MSU's recent success and how some UM fans have reacted. Because of the "success" of A&M the microscope on Strong would be even more acute because there will not only be pressure to succeed on a national level, but to fight the local perception of A&M's current success.