OT: Texas dismisses ninth player(!)- Charlie is seriously cleaning house
I cannot remember anything like this with the exception of Saban's "cuts" which I believe are for a different reason. Don't often want to dismiss starters during the season if you are just trying to open up schollies. Not sure what is going on in Austin with that team.
The 6-foot-7, 290-pound junior started nine games and played in 16 during his career. He took over the right tackle spot last season when Josh Cochran was lost to injury. He was also suspended for the Alamo Bowl last season after being ruled academically ineligible.
Estelle is the ninth player dismissed by Strong since March, joining former starters Kendall Sanders and Joe Bergeron and backups Leroy Scott, Chet Moss, Montrel Meander, Jalen Overstreet, Chevoski Collins and Deoundrei Davis.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^
It's like he has the mother of all vaccuum cleaners.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^
I like how he's trying to change the culture of the program. If he were to go back on that and let players stay after breaking the rules again, it would undo everything he's already built.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^
Strong better be careful. Discipline is one thing. Dismissing 10% of your team? That's going to turn more than a few heads.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^
I agree. It shows a short leash. Maybe just a first year thing?
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:45 PM ^
It seems like it, but I think what he's done so far is fair.
Sanders and Meander were arrested for sexual assault and were dismissed right away. Most of the other players had academic and rule violations from last season, but I believe they were still given two chances by Strong.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:48 PM ^
Both Bear Bryant and Bo Schembechler legendarily chased off a whole bunch of players when they took over at A&M and Michigan, respectively. Hence "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions" (which apparently Bear used before Bo, though Bo didn't necessarily know that).
Of course, they both took over in an era of unlimited scholarships, so losing 10% of your players wasn't quite the deal it is today. And both coached in an era when it was easier for a coach to be a legendary hardass and disciplinarian. Which makes it all the more interesting to see whether this works out in Strong's favor in the end.
September 23rd, 2014 at 7:17 PM ^
Oh I agree with Strong's decisions here, I just think he better be ready for some serious backlash one of these days.
September 23rd, 2014 at 7:32 PM ^
As an outsider, I'm rooting for him and support the hardline clean start approach he's taking. If I were a Texas fan, I'd be very nervous. I don't get the feel from Texas fans that they have a lot of patience for a rebuilding process. A disciplinarian, after Mack, is a positive thing, but winning is going to matter more. If he can't win, this will go from a positive to a negative faster than Hoke's colloquialisms.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^
"The softness has to be exterminated"- Charlie Strong
There isnt a more underachieving team in the nation than texas.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^
ummmmmm.......... Let's go with glass houses and all that.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:48 PM ^
Point well recieved.
But I was speaking about Texas's recruiting advantages.
Texas should be a football golitath. Even historically, they seem to have underacheived. IMO
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:11 PM ^
Underachieving relative to 'crooting you say?
Rivals rank: Texas / Michigan
- 2008: 14 / 10
- 2009: 5 / 8
- 2010: 3 / 20
- 2011: 3 / 21
- 2012: 2 / 7
- 2013: 24 / 5
- 2014: 20 / 31
Average Texas = 10.1
Average Michigan = 14.6
If 4 slots on average over 7-8-10 years matters that much on what is nearly total guesswork, well you got a point I guess. Yes Texas recruits slightly better. But we are doing a great job wasting our talent too.
Texas seasons since 2008:
- 12-1
- 13-1
- 5-7
- 8-5
- 9-4
- 8-5
I won't list ours since women and children might read this.
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:16 PM ^
I think it goes back way further than that
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:37 PM ^
you need to offset the two columns. The 2008 recruits were featured players on the 2010 and 2011 teams, not the 2008 season when most of them redshirted.
Their upperclassmen now come from classes ranked 3, 3 and 2. That's a lot different from our 20, 21 and 7.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
I think the point he was making is the "advantage" that Texas has when it comes to recruiting. With the talent that they have right in their backyard, they should mop up in recruiting and then on the field. Texas is a very talent rich state in terms of HS prospects, where Michigan is not.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:48 PM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:46 PM ^
Hi Casanova?
Yes...it's Michigan on the line.
September 23rd, 2014 at 7:56 PM ^
*stops throwing pebbles out of shattered glass house*
I was wrong.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^
I hope the alumni don't do a Brandon on him.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:44 PM ^
I have no problem with this, as long as it's for disciplinary or academic reasons.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:44 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 24th, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^
The Texas rebuilding is not going to be fast -
it is one thing to have good players - it is another thing to get that elusive team chemistry everyone talks about
Strong wants his guys or at least guys who are willing to do it his way. I wonder if the top recruits are willing to put in the work required of them, or if becuase they have been so coddled over their lifetimes they are not willing to work hard.
A 2* recruit comes in with a chip on his shoulder and knows he has to haul @ss.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:48 PM ^
I like a guy of action not words. Their offense is a tire fire this year anyhow - they basically are just a defense and a not much else so this year is in the can. It sends a hell of a message for the future. He is in year 1 and can afford this stuff.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^
Until I got to the last sentence of your comment I thought you were talking about Michigan.
Sigh.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:54 PM ^
The folks at Burnt Orange Nation are all over it, of course - LINK
The news came one day after Strong said that Estelle would return to practice this week along with senior offensive tackle Desmond Harrison, who is now serving his second suspension of the season after being suspended for the opener and then briefly reinstated before drawing another suspension several days later.
In addition, they've been down junior WR Daje Johnson since the start of the season too, although he is still technically a Longhorn for now supposedly. Like others, I sort of admire Strong for doing exactly what he set out to do and change the culture in Texas actually. He sort of set this tone in his introductory press conference and he's making it actual policy, which is better than a lot of people in the business world really.
September 23rd, 2014 at 7:08 PM ^
From one of Strong's pressers earlier this year regarding players on thin ice. I'm a big fan.
September 23rd, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 7:49 PM ^
September 23rd, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^
He had better be careful. We Michigan fans know only too well how this could end for Charlie. Gotta be careful with the "my way or the highway" business nowadays.
September 23rd, 2014 at 9:30 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^
means squat if you don't end up winning. Randy Shannon changed the culture at Miami. And was fired after 4 years for not winning enough games.
It all sounds good until fans decide they'd rather have wins than choir boys.
September 23rd, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
Good for him. Sounds like he isn't happy with the culture down at Texas, so might as well change it.
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:05 PM ^
September 24th, 2014 at 7:08 AM ^
Does Texas have a deal with Coke to fill the stadium?
September 24th, 2014 at 8:57 AM ^
Strong did something very similar at Louisville and it reaped big rewards in years 2 and 3.