Semi-OT: Charlie Strong out at Texas At End of the Year
Speculation and rumors running rampant about the job security of Charlie Strong at Texas:
Just days after reports after athletic director Mike Perrin said coach Charlie Strong’s Texas program would need evaluation but not immediate wholesale changes, Sports Illustrated is reporting that Strong will be out as the Longhorns’ coach at the end of the season.
If this seems a little odd...it is. The impact to the current team and any recruits would be tough:
If Texas has indeed decided to part ways with Strong, waiting until the end of the season, especially with at least eight games remaining, seems ridiculous. Anything could happen in those eight games. Texas hasn’t had a winning season since going 8-5 in 2013. The Longhorns could sweep the rest of the season or it could be mediocre. Either way, it’s now out there that Strong is a lameduck coach, which will no doubt have an effect on the way the Longhorns play.
From another article, it is ramping up to be an amazing number of high-profile programs likely looking for coaches:
With Strong expected to be gone at the end of this season, the stage is set for one of the most robust coaching carousels in the past decade. There's an expectation that jobs could open at Texas, Auburn, USC and Oregon to join the opening at LSU. (There's still a chance Penn State could move on James Franklin, but athletic director Sandy Barbour made definitive statements to the Altoona Mirror this week that Franklin "is not on the hot seat" and "is going to be our football coach.")
Lots of potential openings, but leaving Strong hanging around all year doesn't seem like the best approach.
Thoughts as to replacement that fits in with the Texas "brand"? (Paging Dave Brandon)
I'd be yelling too:
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:53 PM ^
But I'm pointing out a poor comparison. So... A message board user? I dunno.
October 3rd, 2016 at 3:16 PM ^
Well, you're definitely not the sarcasm police... ;-)
October 3rd, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^
I find no joy in life.
October 3rd, 2016 at 4:27 PM ^
Oh God, me either. Wanna pull a male Thelma and Louise later this week? I'm in...
October 3rd, 2016 at 7:41 PM ^
of those Michigan teams - CMU, WMU, EMU, GV, UM, MSU - which has the worst record? Asking for a friend.
October 4th, 2016 at 10:25 AM ^
(and I'm sure you already know but I like seeing it in print)
- Michigan 5-0
- Western Michigan 5-0
- Grand Valley State 5-0
- Eastern Michigan 4-1
- Ferris State 4-1
- Wayne State 4-1
- Central Michigan 3-2
- Hillsdale 3-2
- Saginaw Valley 3-2
- Northern Michigan 3-2
- Michigan State 2-2
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^
LSU or Texas? I honestly don't think you could go wrong with either, when it comes to recruiting, but the easiest road the playoff is the Big (weak) 12.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^
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October 3rd, 2016 at 1:17 PM ^
Texas. More money, more resources, no state income tax...Austin > Baton Rouge.
And then there's the football stuff.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:20 PM ^
Texas looks good but I would go with LSU. Saban won't be at Alabama forever and they seem to be stocked with defensive talent every year.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:34 PM ^
At Texas, you don't even have to wait for a Saban to retire. Your biggest competition at this point is effing Baylor.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:50 PM ^
I disagree. Texas high school football seems to be all spread teams and I don't know that they are taught how to hit or play D. Strong is a defensive coach and he hasn't been able to get that side of the ball turned around, and it doesn't seem like that's due to a lack of Texas talent.
October 3rd, 2016 at 3:23 PM ^
And that style they use in the B12 with so many of those Texas recruits doesn't seem conducive to winning NC's. The B12 is in poor shape right now. I would go with LSU as the better job right now.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:56 PM ^
At LSU you can build a top 5 roster pretty easily but you still have to deal with several programs in your division that can recruit at a high level (A&M, Auburn, Alabama) plus an anual crossover with Florida that also can recruit at a high level. Alabama will fall back to the pack once Saban leaves but whoever replaces him will still probably recruit at a top 10 level.
Meanwhile, at Texas only Oklahoma can come close to building a comparable roster and you never have to play them on the road.
Miles averaged 10 wins a year from 2005 to 2015. It was clear that LSU needed a change since Miles wasn't going to get them over the hump but my feeling is that the next coach (even Herman) will be hard pressed to replicate that.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^
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October 3rd, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^
Just fire the guy.
Personally, I'm hoping Brian Kelly doesn't come to his senses then and offer him the D/C job.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:09 PM ^
The SI reporter breaking this story is the same one who made up most of the story slamming Okie State last year. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he doesn't have a source at all. It's an easy enough claim to make.
October 3rd, 2016 at 3:18 PM ^
with a defense like Texas has, what are the odds Texas survives in the Big 12 and Strong isn't fired? Pretty low. Saying "I hear Charlie Strong will be fired at year end" would be about as bold as saying "I hear Brady Hoke is going to be fired at year end" after we lost to Rutgers.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:22 PM ^
If Texas gets Herman then LSU will look like fools. The reason you fire Miles early is so you can work the guys agent and get a tentative deal in place. If Texas swoops him out from under you... ouch.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:25 PM ^
Could not agree more.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:42 PM ^
I think the powers that be in LSU are aware of that. What I wonder is if they have potentially underestimated how much Herman would want to go to UT.
Pure speculation on my part. Or maybe LSU already has an unspoken agreement in place with Jimbo Fisher. Who the hell knows?
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:43 PM ^
I thought so too - to me, the only obvious reason you do this now, even with some dignity still potentially left if you do OK the rest of the way, is to buy some time to try to get who you want without being saddled by who you don't. If that is what LSU was going for here, then you can only hope they are already deep into negotiation. If not, and Texas came out ahead in the Herman sweepstakes, then that's just embarrassing because either you didn't move when you should have or the offer was crap.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:24 PM ^
If Texas gets the jump on this, they can put themselves in a solid position to land Herman. He has loads of connections in the state and was a GA there. I know Lousiana isn't far from Texas, by any means. But I imagine that that would be the place Herman would choose to go if he leaves Houston.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:36 PM ^
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October 3rd, 2016 at 1:42 PM ^
SI should have more credibility, but they needs the clicks.
October 3rd, 2016 at 9:17 PM ^
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October 3rd, 2016 at 1:37 PM ^
becomes the highest paid college football coach in history next year?
For all of Herman's offensive genius at Rice, Iowa State, Ohio State and now Houston, the Cougars are only ranked 19th in total offense nationally.
It is the Houston Cougars defense that is ripping opponents to pieces, ranked 6th in total defense behind Michigan (only 250 ypg).
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:48 PM ^
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:51 PM ^
Not sure if this is true or not, but if it is, this is a BAAAAAAAAAD look for Texas. Even if they get Herman, if you're going to fire a man, just fire him and get it over with. Don't string him along and make him endure the media circus that you created. You think he wants to stand up there and hear people ask him about who his own replacement is going to be?
Charlie Strong is a human being, and he does not deserve crap like that. This is Business Ethics 101. People are at their most vulnerable when they've been fired, and now you're going to make him endure this for two months? If this is true, this is honestly Dave Brandon-level shit.
I'm guessing Strong wouldn't go this route because he wouldn't want to abandon his players, but he wouldn't be out of line to tell the UT administration to go fuck themselves and clean out his office today.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:02 PM ^
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:55 PM ^
Sounds Like Nick Saban is going to get 5 raises this off season. Maybe the Bama alumni group will payoff his lake house, his cars and his boat.
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:03 PM ^
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:02 PM ^
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:06 PM ^
Yeah but there is some value in firing someone with dignity.
Strong put himself in this position, to be certain, but UT is just giving itself an awful look to drag Strong through the mud for the next two months while everyone around him is asking who his replacement is going to be.
Who knows? Does Herman sit there, look at a situation like this, and say I don't want to work for someone who does that to their employees? He'll probably find a way to look past it if the money is right, but people have turned companies away for lesser offenses.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:02 PM ^
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:06 PM ^
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October 3rd, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^
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October 3rd, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^
You still have to think about the current team. There is no Texas assistant qualified to take the reins as an interim head coach. I think you have to let Charlie Strong coach the season out. The amazing thing about Strong's staff is that only 2 assistants remain from the staff he brought in when he was hired in 2014. And one of those guys is DC Vance Bedford who was demoted today. 5 of his nine assistants are in their first year at Texas. No one on his staff has HC experience. Who do you turn the team over to?
It is not a huge deal anyway. Their regular season ends on Thanksgiving so any firing at the end of the season would happen several days before the rest of college football. You can still vet interest in your potential candidate before then and lay the groundwork for a deal after a potential future firing.
It was just a bad fit for Charlie Strong in the first place. He should have held out for an ACC or SEC job. He would have been perfect at Miami.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:12 PM ^
I assume Tom Herman will pick his favorite team, then everyone else will be scrambling. Texas doesn't have a Harbaugh waiting in the wings, though, unless there's someone with deep ties waiting to come home I've not heard of. Maybe they'll go after Petrino or Saban (again), but they are sort of screwed if they don't get Herman.
Of course, this might mean Easy Ed Orgeron will stay at LSU, which is how the universe should work.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:46 PM ^
I know that it was Mizzou...but still...
I have been flirting with the idea that LSU might just pull off a win against Alabama...they have the talent to do it.
October 3rd, 2016 at 5:53 PM ^
LSU absolutely has the talent. I think Saturday was a bit of an aberration, but this is still a team with lots of talent at the skill positions but a seeming unwillingness to exploit it. I mean, LSU had Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry and still lost 3 games. So I absolutely buy a world in which a no-pressure Ed Orgeron team just blows by teams by letting their athletes just play in an open offense. Dural and Dupre are really talented; Dupre was a top-25 recruit.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:18 PM ^
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October 3rd, 2016 at 2:22 PM ^
Herman is actually from Southern California and USC has big-time resources as well. Texas and USC have many things in common, including disfunctional athletic department leadership. Unless LSU can lure Jimbo Fisher, they are going to be scrambling to land a big name college coach.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:31 PM ^
I would love for UT to back up the money truck and pluck Nick Saban away, just to see all the smug Bama fans go apoplectic. Wasn't there talk of Saban getting sick of the entitled fans at Bama a couple years ago and Texas making a push but for the bungling of their AD?
What the hell, I'll play the carousel game. In addition to Saban to UT, I think it makes sense for, or at least it would be fun to see . . .
Hermann go to Oregon
Jimbo to USC
Fedora to FSU
Mork Dantoni to LSU
Fleck to Purdue
Les Miles to Auburn
Art Briles to Hell
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:45 PM ^
He's never even given a hint, despite working for coaches that like to spread it out and tirre you with talented, faster players, that he will do anything but "Man ball." It is difficult to change a coach's philosophy and if the philosophy is at odds with what you want, there is no need to even test the waters as to interest.
He is getting a ton of credit now for what he does, and he should. However, what many fans don't understand is many of "the three stars he develops into top-noth players" are just .02, an inch too short or 1 lbs to light from being among the top 300. Given the fact the line has been drawn at the top 300, this leaves so damn many fine players and the reason so many of the better coaches such as Harbaugh, Meyer and Saban have no problem extending scholarships to these players when it would be easy to appease fhe fan base by filling up with nothing but 4 and 5 stars. Minus kickers, each of these three could do it.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:46 PM ^
Nick Saban is about to turn 65 years old this month. He is not going anywhere unless he decides to scratch the NFL itch.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:47 PM ^
those are crabs he got from one of the "hostesses"
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:55 PM ^
And didn't he also sign a huge extension with Bama recently?