primal defense
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Sherrington: Charlie Strong might be the right coach for Texas if he gets enough time
For all his faults in the eyes of Texas alumni, which covers more ground than the Old Testament, give Steve Patterson this much: He hired the right man to succeed Mack Brown.
Whether he hired the right coach remains to be seen.
For the moment, anyhow, Greg Fenves believes in the man and coach.
"As [Texas] President Fenves indicated last month," a statement from his office read Monday, "he fully supports Coach Strong.
"This has not changed at all."
Of course, it might also be a fluid situation in a season quickly becoming a lost cause.
Coming off an embarrassing loss to one Top-10 team, he's got another one looming this week out at the State Fair. And then there's Baylor, which has gone an entire generation without knowing what it's like to lose to Texas.
Giving the schedule a cursory once-over, it looks like three wins, though, on the bright side, Texas could well be crowned state champion of Kansas.
Even if it ends that ugly, Strong deserves another year, as does just about any coach taking over a job his predecessor vacated for all the wrong reasons. The new coach needs time. If it were up to me, Strong would get four years. But it's not up to me. It's up to the athletic director who succeeds Patterson. And the new AD will answer to a new president who doesn't like hearing from boosters, particularly the well-heeled variety feeling humiliated before they've even had their first corny dog of the fall.
Once upon a time, it took a beat-down from Oklahoma to get a Texas coach in trouble. These days he gets it from all sides, lately his own locker room.
Not only did a 50-7 shellacking by TCU make the Longhorns 1-4 for the first time since 1956 -- which, by the way, ended 1-9 and led Texas officials directly to Darrell Royal's door -- it created an absolute Twitter-storm.
First, Kris Boyd, a freshman cornerback, re-tweeted at halftime of the loss to TCU a post indicating he and fellow freshman Malik Jefferson should transfer to Texas A&M.
Let me repeat the key words: at halftime of the loss to TCU. This officially confirms there's no place too sacred for a teenager to pull a smartphone. They'd be taking selfies in huddles now if there were still such things as huddles.
Anyway, Strong called a couple of team meetings over the weekend and no doubt figured he had everything hammered down tight. Then at Monday's news conference in Austin, a junior safety, Dylan Haines, told the media the freshmen were all play and no work.
That zinger prompted yet another Twitter-storm when the freshmen returned fire, digitally speaking.
As a crotchety old geezer myself, I tend to identify with Haines, who clearly feels a disconnect with the younger generation, too. I don't doubt his sincerity. He practices and plays with these guys and offers first-hand observations.
Here's the problem with saying it out loud, though: By my count, Texas has 13 freshmen and redshirt freshmen on its two-deep. No matter how good they are, this is way too many and probably gives you a good start on why Texas is 1-4. If you're going to rely on so many youngsters, it behooves everyone to try to get along, at least publicly.
To that end, it might seem like a good time for Strong to put a ban on social media, as Clemson and Florida State did with their football teams. Myles Garrett gave it up at A&M without going into withdrawal, and Texas players could do worse than emulate everything he does, down to the poetry. On the other hand, the enlightened tell us banning social media would be a mistake. College is about education, in theory, anyway, and even these public relations disasters represent teachable moments.
Easy to say, I suppose, until it's your team that's declared thumb war.
Caught in the middle of all of this and more is a man much to be admired. Charlie Strong's intolerance of sexual violence against women is so renowned, if not refreshing, Roger Goodell visited to get his take. Strong stands for what's right. He's kicked players off his team who could have helped him greatly these last two disappointing seasons.
And for all the criticism from his days at Louisville, where he reportedly gave the media the cold shoulder, check out Monday's news conference on LHN.
Every tough question was met head-on. No ducking. No rebukes. No frosty glares. This isn't a recent development, either. This has been his style.
Asked if Mack Brown deserves any of the blame for Texas' performance the last two seasons, Strong said several times, "It's on me." What makes that potentially empty statement ring true is the fact that he makes players accountable, too. Asked what he was doing to coach up special teams, which may be the difference between 3-2 and 1-4, he notes, correctly, that it's been all about execution. How do you coach an accomplished senior kicker on not missing an extra point? What's the practice routine to keep a punter from letting a snap zip through his hands, or a deep snapper from launching a ball over his head?
For the most part, the job of coaches is to put players in proper position to make plays. That and keeping chaos to a minimum. And it's here where Strong has been at a loss so far.
Practically from the outset, there's been one PR hit after another. If it's not players disappearing from the roster, it's questions about play-calling and the quarterback. And when he finally finds a quarterback, questions about why he didn't find one sooner.
For the record, Strong says he's received a lot of support, too. Sometimes they even lay it on a little too thick.
"I guess people think I'm dying," he said Monday, to laughter around the room.
Keep that sense of humor handy, Charlie. You're going to need it.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20151005-sherrington-charlie-strong-might-be-the-right-coach-for-texas-if-he-gets-enough-time.ece
For all his faults in the eyes of Texas alumni, which covers more ground than the Old Testament, give Steve Patterson this much: He hired the right man to succeed Mack Brown.
Whether he hired the right coach remains to be seen.
For the moment, anyhow, Greg Fenves believes in the man and coach.
"As [Texas] President Fenves indicated last month," a statement from his office read Monday, "he fully supports Coach Strong.
"This has not changed at all."
Of course, it might also be a fluid situation in a season quickly becoming a lost cause.
Coming off an embarrassing loss to one Top-10 team, he's got another one looming this week out at the State Fair. And then there's Baylor, which has gone an entire generation without knowing what it's like to lose to Texas.
Giving the schedule a cursory once-over, it looks like three wins, though, on the bright side, Texas could well be crowned state champion of Kansas.
Even if it ends that ugly, Strong deserves another year, as does just about any coach taking over a job his predecessor vacated for all the wrong reasons. The new coach needs time. If it were up to me, Strong would get four years. But it's not up to me. It's up to the athletic director who succeeds Patterson. And the new AD will answer to a new president who doesn't like hearing from boosters, particularly the well-heeled variety feeling humiliated before they've even had their first corny dog of the fall.
Once upon a time, it took a beat-down from Oklahoma to get a Texas coach in trouble. These days he gets it from all sides, lately his own locker room.
Not only did a 50-7 shellacking by TCU make the Longhorns 1-4 for the first time since 1956 -- which, by the way, ended 1-9 and led Texas officials directly to Darrell Royal's door -- it created an absolute Twitter-storm.
First, Kris Boyd, a freshman cornerback, re-tweeted at halftime of the loss to TCU a post indicating he and fellow freshman Malik Jefferson should transfer to Texas A&M.
Let me repeat the key words: at halftime of the loss to TCU. This officially confirms there's no place too sacred for a teenager to pull a smartphone. They'd be taking selfies in huddles now if there were still such things as huddles.
Anyway, Strong called a couple of team meetings over the weekend and no doubt figured he had everything hammered down tight. Then at Monday's news conference in Austin, a junior safety, Dylan Haines, told the media the freshmen were all play and no work.
That zinger prompted yet another Twitter-storm when the freshmen returned fire, digitally speaking.
As a crotchety old geezer myself, I tend to identify with Haines, who clearly feels a disconnect with the younger generation, too. I don't doubt his sincerity. He practices and plays with these guys and offers first-hand observations.
Here's the problem with saying it out loud, though: By my count, Texas has 13 freshmen and redshirt freshmen on its two-deep. No matter how good they are, this is way too many and probably gives you a good start on why Texas is 1-4. If you're going to rely on so many youngsters, it behooves everyone to try to get along, at least publicly.
To that end, it might seem like a good time for Strong to put a ban on social media, as Clemson and Florida State did with their football teams. Myles Garrett gave it up at A&M without going into withdrawal, and Texas players could do worse than emulate everything he does, down to the poetry. On the other hand, the enlightened tell us banning social media would be a mistake. College is about education, in theory, anyway, and even these public relations disasters represent teachable moments.
Easy to say, I suppose, until it's your team that's declared thumb war.
Caught in the middle of all of this and more is a man much to be admired. Charlie Strong's intolerance of sexual violence against women is so renowned, if not refreshing, Roger Goodell visited to get his take. Strong stands for what's right. He's kicked players off his team who could have helped him greatly these last two disappointing seasons.
And for all the criticism from his days at Louisville, where he reportedly gave the media the cold shoulder, check out Monday's news conference on LHN.
Every tough question was met head-on. No ducking. No rebukes. No frosty glares. This isn't a recent development, either. This has been his style.
Asked if Mack Brown deserves any of the blame for Texas' performance the last two seasons, Strong said several times, "It's on me." What makes that potentially empty statement ring true is the fact that he makes players accountable, too. Asked what he was doing to coach up special teams, which may be the difference between 3-2 and 1-4, he notes, correctly, that it's been all about execution. How do you coach an accomplished senior kicker on not missing an extra point? What's the practice routine to keep a punter from letting a snap zip through his hands, or a deep snapper from launching a ball over his head?
For the most part, the job of coaches is to put players in proper position to make plays. That and keeping chaos to a minimum. And it's here where Strong has been at a loss so far.
Practically from the outset, there's been one PR hit after another. If it's not players disappearing from the roster, it's questions about play-calling and the quarterback. And when he finally finds a quarterback, questions about why he didn't find one sooner.
For the record, Strong says he's received a lot of support, too. Sometimes they even lay it on a little too thick.
"I guess people think I'm dying," he said Monday, to laughter around the room.
Keep that sense of humor handy, Charlie. You're going to need it.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20151005-sherrington-charlie-strong-might-be-the-right-coach-for-texas-if-he-gets-enough-time.ece
