Now that it's apparently done I'll cross-post some tweets and a little more here.
I heard the rumor about this yesterday but didn't want to say anything because (1) it was just a rumor and I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to Cherry if there was nothing to it, and (2) I'm not a good reporter because I care more about the program than about making news. If there was any truth to it, I wanted the coaches to be able to resolve it quietly without Texas fans and opposing fans jumping in and basically calling Cherry a coward — like they did — making the job of keeping him harder for the coaches.
Everything I heard is out in public now. Long story short, Cherry was frustrated — which is very normal. Just about every freshman across the country is finding out right now that they weren't as good as they thought they were and that college football is harder than they thought. Most of them have family, old coaches and friends to encourage them. Brian Davis had the great scoop there that that was not the case with Cherry. Everyone here has experienced that at least once in their life, that fear that you're in over your head and can't hack it. Now imagine expressing that to someone you trust and respect and having them say, "I told you so. It's OK. Come home."
People are mocking the Florida 5 thing right now because they're missing the points. First, what was remarkable about the Florida 5 was that Charlie Strong, in his first true recruiting class, walked into Florida and landed commitments from four of the top 50 players in the state, plus the #60 player (Cherry) and Johnson, who would have been #71 if he'd been a high school senior. The accomplishment was getting those commitments (and most of the signatures), and the fact that most of them didn't make it doesn't take away from that accomplishment.
Second, the exciting part about the Florida signees was that fans expected them to bring a new attitude to Texas. It turns out we didn't need them to; Malik, Williams, Hager, etc. have brought the attitude themselves. I've never seen a freshman class shake things up like this class has. Charlie Strong is going to go out and get "dogs" wherever he goes. It doesn't matter if they're from Texas, Florida or Alaska — the only players he's bringing in are guys he wants.
And one last thing. Look at how the freshmen have responded to this news and keep that in mind when Paul Finebaum or Clay Travis or Travis Haney get wind of this development — probably coupled with the video of Roberson and Nickelson fighting — and allege again that Charlie Strong doesn't have control of this football team. The young guys are coming together exactly how you'd want them to in response to news like this. They're going to be fine off the field and on it, with or without Cherry.
