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 1:14 PM ^
as brian likes to say, and as applies to red mccombs, some people are just in charge of things because they're in charge of them.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^
This is an important reminder of the unifying quality Brady Hoke brought to our program.
January 7th, 2014 at 10:07 PM ^
January 8th, 2014 at 10:45 AM ^
By stating that Charlie Strong "...would make a great position coach, maybe a coordinator..." Red McCombs is directly implying that Strong isn't qualified to be UT's head coach.
That's an interesting position for McCombs to take, given his history.
He purchased the Vikings in 1998 and sold them before the 2005 season. As others here have noted, McCombs inherited Dennis Green as the Vikings' head coach, and Green led the Vikings to 15-1, 10-6, and 11-5 records in the first three seasons under McCombs' ownership. If Gary Anderson hadn't biffed a FG against the Falcons in the '98 NFC championship game, the Vikings would have gone to the Super Bowl that year.
In 2001, however, the Vikings fell to a 5-10 record and Green was fired after the end of the season, in spite of the fact that Green was by far the most successful Vikings HC since Bud Grant, with a winning percentage of .610 (a record Lions fans can only dream about).
So who did Red McCombs hire to replace Green for the final three seasons of his Vikings ownership?
None other than Mike Tice, who prior to being named interim coach after Green's firing had never been anything more than a position coach.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
I am a big college football fan, but far from an insider or knowledgable football IQ guy. Having said that, I have always liked Charlie Strong very much - what little I do know about him says to me that he is an excellent hire not just for them, but for any program.
Weird that they would say this, but realistically who would they be happy with? Anyone less than Saban or Lombardi would probably be viewed as a step down in their eyes.
Best of luck Charlie.
January 7th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
They thought because they are Texas, they would get Saban as head coach and then resurrect Lombardi as DC and Bill Walsh as OC. So, to have to settle for Charlie Strong after expecting THAT is quite a comedown.
January 7th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 6:11 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 6:33 PM ^
Not going to profess to have followed this closely but my dad lives in Austin and he loves the hire but says the main source of opposition is that Strong is black.
Will be interesting to see how any factions develop early on.
I think Strong will bring Texas back sooner then later and that usually quiets everyone.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
It's always best for the program when you try to fuck over the new guy before he walks in the door.
Also, exponentially worse? Like are there going to be explosions?
January 7th, 2014 at 1:18 PM ^
There might be metaphoric explosions.
I said exponentailly worse because at least no one at Michigan was trying to claim that Rodriguez was nothing more than a positional coach.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
I'm exponentially disappointed with your explanaiton for why you used the word exponentially.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
exponentially speaking, that doesn't make even an exponential bit of sense. Boom! Exponented!
January 7th, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^
" I swear to god I'm going to pistol whip the next person who says exponentially."
January 7th, 2014 at 7:31 PM ^
Oh, like exactly how Coach Rodriguez was treated at Michigan? Except Mack Brown isn't encouraging players to transfer to preserve his "legacy".
January 7th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
As in certain situations with which we have some uncomfortable familiarity, what ultimately matters is what happens on the field. Win and Red shuts up; lose and things go sour in a hurry anyway.
And while Red sounds pretty insulting here, I suspect his venom at this point is not actually intended for Strong, but for the people at the top who hired him. Red is probably just upset about the process somehow and is venting frustration.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
It certainly sounds like Red thinks he knows more about football than the people in charge and he's pissed that he wasn't consulted.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:04 PM ^
Red would be a perfect fit around here most of the time.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^
Red has owned three professional sports franchises including the Minnesota Vikings.
January 7th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
he also no longer owns any of them
and he's an 86 year old Texan so his opinions on things are probably not, well, very PC
January 7th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
Doesn't mean he really knows anything about how teams really operate. Plenty of team owners hurt their teams/drive them into the ground, etc. Or maybe that was your point.
January 7th, 2014 at 5:46 PM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 6:44 PM ^
He doesn't. Just the business school.
January 8th, 2014 at 1:01 AM ^
January 8th, 2014 at 10:58 AM ^
prick. That made me laugh MGoBrewMom!
Not everyone wants a ginormous prick!
January 7th, 2014 at 9:28 PM ^
Being a Vikes fan, I strongly object to any pairing of the word 'professional' with 'Minnesota Vikings'. Unless you meant it in the way the Three Stooges were professional.
January 8th, 2014 at 1:02 AM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 2:52 PM ^
Red certainly has overstepped his bounds here that's for sure. I mean who in the fuck is he to give advice on the HC hire? Does he think he's the Ambassador to Liechtenstein or something?
January 7th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^
hiding beneath one.
January 7th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
I'd have to think that one donating in excess of $100 million dollars to the university gives him more right to speak than your average "donor".
January 7th, 2014 at 6:50 PM ^
give him a better opportunity to speak his mind, he sure as hell has no more right than any other alum.
January 7th, 2014 at 7:17 PM ^
See, I disagree with that.
January 7th, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^
IMHO--particularly at a public institution
January 8th, 2014 at 1:06 AM ^
January 7th, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^
committee. They must have left him off.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
Agree with you. Seems he is mostly pissed that he wasn't asked to give his blessing. But, as he seemed to think that every football coach in america should be begging for the job, maybe the rest of the Texas higher ups thought he was too delusional to be involved.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
What is it going to take for people to STFU about Jon Gruden? Jesus, the guy hasn't been a head coach in over five years and hasn't shown one inkling of going back into the NFL, let alone college.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
Yeah, I don't get it. And it's not like he was that great of a coach. He was fine, certainly above average. But people act like he was Belichick or Parcells.
Why is Gruden mentioned for every opening while Brian Billick never gets mentioned. They're practically the same guy.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^
because Gruden has turned himself into the Tebow of coaches. Guy puts himself in front of every camera possible, grills a couple college QBs before the draft and bam; demigod status achieved.
January 7th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
Maybe I'm just too young to know, but did John Madden get connected to every job opening after he retired ? Obviously media wasn't as all-encompassing back then as it is now, so he couldn't be quite as visible, but Madden was a young, super bowl champion coach who was on tv and extremely popular.
January 7th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
nothing mattered to anyone before the media machine takeover.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:18 PM ^
Can he concentrate on coaching rather than dealing with boosters and their unrealistic demands? I wonder how much time he is given to bring back UT. I say if does not make the playoff by his 3rd year, he is gone.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^
You think I'm making that up, but read the article. He really did...In fairness, he also seems to have disliked the process, but I'm not sympathetic since in my view they did very well for themselves.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
This is what happens when an MLive poster (or the Texas equivalent) happens to have given $100,000,000 to a school.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:20 PM ^
The black rich rod
January 7th, 2014 at 1:33 PM ^
That's more inane today than on yesterday's Charlie Strong thread where you made the exact same comment (http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/texas-coach-charlie-strong-presented-without-comment)
January 7th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
Sorry, yes It looks to be quite seriously indeed.
January 7th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^
Oh look you can copy and paste a link. Must be rough being so easily offended. I think the comparison is valid, and I'll be damned if someone thinks calling a person "the black ____" or "the white ____" or "the purple ____" is fucking racist.
January 7th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
I keed, I keed - Kanye's music and Eminem's music are fairly different animals, of course, with their own virtues and vices. And they have so many other differences that the fact they are of different races seems a tertiary difference at best. Kanye loves fashion, Eminem seems indifferent to style. Kanye's parents were well-educated and politically involved, while Eminem's ... weren't. Kanye comes from a middle class background, while Eminem famously comes from lesser means. And on and on.
As far as the kerfuffle about the "black RichRod" from yesterday and today, I get the sensitivity to some extent. It may not have been necessary to reference race (since Strong's race has not to my knowledge come into play in his newfound role), but it does not seem to be as egregious as some are making it out to be. You can argue it either way. What I don't get is why it's such an emotional issue here. It's not exactly like Yeezus is race-baiting here. He may have unnecessarily referenced Strong's race, but it just doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
The bigger point is that RichRod's situation and Strong's have some fairly strong similarities at first blush. They are both facing some institutional hurdles that are uncommon even in big-time college football. I suspect (without much evidence) that the good-old-boy network at UT-Austin is a deep one. What I hope is that Strong gets better advice on how to deal with that network than what RichRod apparently got.