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.

PurpleStuff

January 4th, 2014 at 12:53 AM ^

UT has averaged over 5 losses per year the last four seasons, and recent recruiting classes haven't been the surefire top-five kind they've had for a while now.  Not to mention they've had Stoops (four straight 10-win seasons and two BCS bowl wins), Miles (averaging 11 wins last four seasons), Briles (Heisman, conference title and BCS bowl appearance), Gundy (three 10-win seasons and BCS bowl win), Sumlin (Heisman, 20 wins in 2 years, following a 12 win season at Houston), and now Kingsbury (blowout win over ASU in first season), all doing serious work in their backyard. 

The odds that UT will just be raring to go from a personnel standpoint any time soon aren't terribly great.  It will be interesting to see what the perception is if the first couple seasons look like Brown's last few.

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funkywolve

January 4th, 2014 at 1:29 AM ^

From Rivals

 

2013 class - ranked 24th.  15 recruits.  Average star/player - 3.6 (ranked 8th in average star/player)

2012 class - ranked 2nd, 24 recruits.  Average star/player - 3.64 (ranked 7th in average star/player)

2011 class - ranked 3rd, 22 recruits.  Average star/player - 3.77 (ranked 2nd in average star/player)

2010 class - ranked 3rd, 25 recruits.  Average star/player - 3.92 (ranked 2nd in average star/player)

2009 class - ranked 5th, 20 recruits.  Average star/player - 3.85 (ranked 3rd in average star/player)

 

I'd say their recruiting has been pretty good the last 5 years.

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PurpleStuff

January 4th, 2014 at 2:00 AM ^

Those 2009 guys will all be gone next year.  And average star/player doesn't really help you if you get there by only taking 15 guys. 

Between the 2013 class and what they have so far this year, UT will have 16 guys who are rated 4-star or higher on Rivals.  Texas A&M has 27 over the same period.  Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU, and UCLA at least matched that 16 guys in 2013 alone.  Alabama has exceeded that number again in 2014 alone.  So has Tennessee. 

Those classes won't payoff for a while, but if the earlier ones were as good as advertised the Horns would probably have a better record the last four years.  Unless Mack's scouting dramatically improved as his recruiting rankings dipped, things aren't going to be a cakewalk by any stretch, yet that seems to be the way a lot of casual observers view the Texas job. 

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funkywolve

January 4th, 2014 at 10:30 AM ^

of the teams you mentioned, I don't think Texas plays any of them in the regular season. 

I've always thought there's two big keys to being a head coach in college - recruiting and player development.  Mack to me seems like he's done a good job of recruiting.  It's his player development that I question.  The same thing kind of happened to Bowden at the end of his career - solid recruiting but he couldn't translate that into much more 4 and 5 loss seasons.

 

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cbs650

January 4th, 2014 at 12:35 AM ^

his agents sucks. how he only got 5 mil/yr out of money bags Texas? with the their search was going, he should've been able to get 6.5-7 mil

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gwkrlghl

January 4th, 2014 at 12:50 AM ^

5 mil/yr is pretty freakin good for guy who hasnt done anything yet. Yeah he won a Sugar Bowl with Louisville last year but that doesnt make you worth 5 mil much less 6-7. I'm sure he's got good incentives in his proposed contract but I'd actually be shocked if they paid him 5 mil right off the bat. Too much for a guy with 4 years of HC experience in a weak conference with the aid of the future #1 pick in the draft

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BBN1

January 4th, 2014 at 12:35 AM ^

Jim Plunkett was a pretty good Stanford QB, just saying. Stanford has some ties with a couple of pretty good football guys from MEEEEEEEEEEEEECHIGAN, Fielding Yost and Jimmay Harbaugh, just saying.  " GO BLUE "

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MJ14

January 4th, 2014 at 12:38 AM ^

I think this is a fantastic hire for Texas. He was one of the best defensive coordinators in football a few years back. He then goes to Louisville and he is known for offense and Teddy. The guy knows what he is doing on both sides of the ball, recruits well, and should be a good fit. I don't see how anyone could call this questionable. I think out of realistic options Strong was actually the best choice. 

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MichiganStudent

January 4th, 2014 at 12:43 AM ^

I think Strong is a good coach, but I'd view him as an underwhelming hire at Michigan and I have to assume I have lesser expectations than most Texas fans/alums/donors.

Only time will tell on this one, but they definitely did not have him on the top of their list.

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MichiganStudent

January 4th, 2014 at 12:47 AM ^

To me, Hoke was very underwhelming. It was like opening a Christmas present and its socks. They're useful and could get you warm... maybe even slide you into a nice new pair of shoes, but its not what you wanted.

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Clarence Beeks

January 4th, 2014 at 12:52 AM ^

My biggest question will be whether he can recruit as well at Texas considering that he's known for his state of Florida connections. When it comes to recruiting in Texas, I don't think he will be able to out recruit Sumlin and Briles on the offensive side of the ball (both of whom run far more attractive offenses). Perhaps this may be Texas taking a stand that defense can be played in the Big 12...

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MJ14

January 4th, 2014 at 1:02 AM ^

He just coached the guy who will be the number one draft pick in 2014. An offensive guy even. He has recruiting ties to probably the second best recruiting area in the country. He's coaching at the school where they normally get to pick and choose their recruits from the best recruiting area in the country. Yeah, I'm sure he'll have recruiting problems.

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Clarence Beeks

January 4th, 2014 at 1:55 AM ^

Where that QB is from. Florida (Side note: he only ended up at Louisville after Randy Shannon was fired at Miami). How many players on the Texas roster are from east of Louisiana. Three. How many from Florida? Zero. How many players on Louisville's roster are from west of the Mississippi? Two. How many from Florida? 35. Winning at Texas REQUIRES winning recruiting in the state of Texas; something that Strong had precious little experience with and has shown no ability to do as a college coach. The potential is high that A&M and Baylor will absolutely dominate instate recruiting while Strong gets his feet under him in the state of Texas. It's not that he's not a great coach (I'm not saying that). It's just that Texas really isn't a school that historically recruits all that much outside of Texas. Sumlin and Briles already have those Texas relationships.

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Clarence Beeks

January 4th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^

Saying that Sumlin and Briles run an offense that is more attractive to most offensive skill position recruits isn't a knock on Strong's offense. Very few coaches in the entire country run a more creative offense than either of those two. It's just stating the obvious: he will have a hard time recruiting offensive skill position players against those two coaches.

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Reader71

January 4th, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^

I understood your point. I disagree. Michigan has had no problem landing offensive skill position players despite their awful offense. I think that with regard to recruiting, the school itself and the head coach are far more important than the particular unit or scheme.

Look at our line recruiting; why would any youngster want to learn from Funk about Borges's offense? Because they get to play at Michigan for Brady Hoke. And we have had no problem convincing guys of that.

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Erik_in_Dayton

January 4th, 2014 at 12:57 AM ^

This looks like a great hire to me. What Strong did at Louisville was very impressive. Texas seems like a place where you're especially likely to be sunk by politics, but I think Strong will have major success if that doesn't happen.

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810steveo

January 4th, 2014 at 1:22 AM ^

this was a surprise hire I would thought he would hold out for the job at Florida after Muschamp ever got canned or wait to see what Golden does about PSU job. Strong could of went to one of them since he has strong recruiting ties in Florida which both Florida and Miami need to best FSU in state. I thought this would be Franklins job to go to Texas and Golden to PSU

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bronxblue

January 4th, 2014 at 3:29 AM ^

I guess it makes sense, but the culture fit at a place like Texas is so unique that a youngish coach from a small school has some unknowns. That said, Strong can coach and recruit, which are always huge.

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FrankMurphy

January 4th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^

Great hire for Texas, great move for Charlie Strong. With Bridgewater moving on, his stock will never be higher. The Louisville job is a better job than it was when they hired Strong, not just because Strong is leaving the program in great shape, but because they're moving to the ACC next season. They would be wise to give Narduzzi a call.

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BlueCube

January 5th, 2014 at 6:13 AM ^

Strong will be named as coach today with a press conference to be held Monday. Interesting question is what happens to defensive line coach Clint Hurtt who is not expected to follow Strong to Texas. Hurtt is under sanctions for providing illegal benefits to recruits while at Miami. He was the primary recruiter of Bridgewater. Miami's AD is also claiming they will be able to retain Golden as their head coach.

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