We appear to have a fractured fan base right now

[RoyalCrowns]

Not trying to stir, just observing. We have a lot of people angry with the pending Charlie Strong selection. Some believe it's an affirmative action hire. I don't honestly think that's the case. But I respect the one's that have that opinion. Then in the other corner are those that are ecstatic Strong gets the appointment. They had Strong among their top choices. I myself have gone though the depths of disappointment when it first hit the airwaves. Now I move forward with support for Charlie Strong. Did he play the race card? It could be inferred he may have, according to his Wikipedia page. He felt race held him back in the past. But I have no real way of knowing this. I'll tell you this, Sumlin's success in collie station helps Strong as much as anything. Will Strong be able to put the BBs back in the box? Real easy. Win. That's all he has to do. Win. I'm sure it may take some time to come back together, but I feel confident if Strong is successful on Saturdays, it won't matter if he's a green M&M. FWIW

 

[Growler]

Damn, race doesn't have jack squat to do with anyone's feelings on this I hope. We just hired a long shot with a decent track record. Most of my angst is that

1. I don't know much about him, and there is not much to go on other than a solid HC record at a mid tier U in a crappy conference.

2. I was one of the fools that thought our vacancy would attract a more proven candidate.

3. I don't see this hire changing our recruiting predicament for this year at all.

I have some hope based upon

1. I am not convinced you or I could have done worse with our talent than Mack Brown if we coached while naked and stoned. So this is a step up from stagnation.

2. He seems to be aggressive and came after the job. He wants it, dysfunctional old meddling BMDs, overexposed network and all, and I have often hired the more eager person than the more proven to my own benefit historically.

3. He seems to be a defensive wizard, and borrowing from my HS defensive coordinator "If they don't get any, we don't need many"

No excuses. Lets win the conference next year.

 

[monarch]

Not trying to stir, just observing. We have a lot of people angry with the pending Charlie Strong selection. Some believe it's an affirmative action hire. I don't honestly think that's the case. But I respect the one's that have that opinion. Then in the other corner are those that are ecstatic Strong gets the appointment. They had Strong among their top choices. I myself have gone though the depths of disappointment when it first hit the airwaves. Now I move forward with support for Charlie Strong. Did he play the race card? It could be inferred he may have, according to his Wikipedia page. He felt race held him back in the past. But I have no real way of knowing this. I'll tell you this, Sumlin's success in collie station helps Strong as much as anything. Will Strong be able to put the BBs back in the box? Real easy. Win. That's all he has to do. Win. I'm sure it may take some time to come back together, but I feel confident if Strong is successful on Saturdays, it won't matter if he's a green M&M. FWIW

...as a proud "black" member of "longhorn nation" even i am completely stunned...

i simply do not consider "race" a factor at all. personally, i feel a bit let down, due to the overwhelming expectations that we throughout "longhorn nation" are hereby led to believe, that is paramount to becoming the head coach as per the university of texas.

we are very often "indoctrinated" with exceptional rhetoric, involving the overall expertise of anyone associated with being at the "helm" of ut football. this particular "hire" should he be proven to be concrete.... "negates" any early indoctrination. and now, we just need to prepare ourselves accordingly.

 

[Bfennell]

I mean no disrespect, but I think there's an awful lot of assumptions being made about a race card being played, and Wikipedia isn't a very credible source.

That's said, you're right about winning, and a transitional period too. A coach wins, and everybody is happy.

 

[Lord Vader]

Yes race unfortunately does have something to do with it. If they dont like it, they can go become Sand Aggies.

 

[eyes of texas]

Patterson seems to have stuck his neck way out with this hire!

Please don't let Texas football become a renegade program.

 

[whatthewhat]

If wiki references the 'race card,' that's new. It wasn't there last week.

And this is Texas, not exactly the poster child for 'affirmative action.' Have y'all spent any time in the Capitol? Nobody would have thought twice if they'd brought in another old white dude to coach football at UT. To say his being black had anything to do with his being hired is to discredit the work he's put into his profession and, personally, I'm not having it. I was annoyed when it came up regarding the interview process and I'm annoyed now.

People of color suffer enough injustice, yes still, even in 2014. It's one thing to be disappointed your guy wasn't hired... but Texas doesn't just hand out $5 million a year in football contracts to somebody 'because he's black.'

So let's not see this hire as anything less than what it is- a reward for busting his ass and killing it in the interview. Mmmkay?

 

[RoyalCrowns]

If wiki references the 'race card,' that's new. It wasn't there last week.
And this is Texas, not exactly the poster child for 'affirmative action.' Have y'all spent any time in the Capitol? Nobody would have thought twice if they'd brought in another old white dude to coach football at UT. To say his being black had anything to do with his being hired is to discredit the work he's put into his profession and, personally, I'm not having it. I was annoyed when it came up regarding the interview process and I'm annoyed now.

People of color suffer enough injustice, yes still, even in 2014. It's one thing to be disappointed your guy wasn't hired... but Texas doesn't just hand out $5 million a year in football contracts to somebody 'because he's black.'

So let's not see this hire as anything less than what it is- a reward for busting his ass and killing it in the interview. Mmmkay?

In a January 2009 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Strong expressed his belief that race played a large part in the reason that he hadn't been offered a head coaching job at that point.Strong, whose wife is white, especially cited prospective employers' discomfort with his interracial relationship.[1] Florida ended up hiring Utah's Urban Meyer, who would lead Florida to two national titles and was the coach at the top of every program's wish list.

 

[whatthewhat]

In a January 2009 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Strong expressed his belief that race played a large part in the reason that he hadn't been offered a head coaching job at that point.Strong, whose wife is white, especially cited prospective employers' discomfort with his interracial relationship.[1] Florida ended up hiring Utah's Urban Meyer, who would lead Florida to two national titles and was the coach at the top of every program's wish list.

Wait, so THAT's what people are calling his, 'Playing the race card?'

Wow. I live amongst some ignorant fools. I just hope Texas is welcoming and that this idiotic conversation will open the doors for people to get educated about things like systemic and institutional racism, and that we'll be able to celebrate Texas hiring its first black coach without too many jerks trying to tell him he only got the job because he wasn't white.

 

[The Third Man]

In a January 2009 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Strong expressed his belief that race played a large part in the reason that he hadn't been offered a head coaching job at that point.Strong, whose wife is white, especially cited prospective employers' discomfort with his interracial relationship.[1] Florida ended up hiring Utah's Urban Meyer, who would lead Florida to two national titles and was the coach at the top of every program's wish list.

It seems like mentioning racism- the so-called race card- is more objectionable than actual racial discrimination to a lot of folks. Strong certainly did not get the UT job because of some sort of perverse $25 million affirmative action motivation by the university. Another pointid you ever stop and think that maybe the UT coaching job, or any coaching job, is not an opportunity that will make coaches leave great jobs, uproot their families and behave like mercenary jerks just because a few rich folks snap their fingers?

 

[utisdabomb12]

There's fractured fanbases after every hire. Par for the course.

 

[echeese]

In a January 2009 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Strong expressed his belief that race played a large part in the reason that he hadn't been offered a head coaching job at that point.Strong, whose wife is white, especially cited prospective employers' discomfort with his interracial relationship.[1] Florida ended up hiring Utah's Urban Meyer, who would lead Florida to two national titles and was the coach at the top of every program's wish list.

I don't care she is white. . .I care she is hot. . .but then so was Fisher's wife . ..so are most of them. . .sorry . .an attempt at humor. ..

Don't care what color he is. . .like his results. . .of the Tier 2 coaches he and Mora were my top 2 so I'm happy. .

What this means to me . . .Saban nor Fisher nor Harbaugh (pick one) were coming. ..for whatever reasons. . . .

TEXAS landed a great coach with a strong recruiting reputation. .

 

[o5prey]

Echeese

I'm disappointed bc I don't feel we pushed hard for a top hire

That would be true with me for mora jr or briles as well

I will support strong

Pattersons grade is currently at d for me and no amount of dr pepper or good nacho cheese is moving it upto a c

You're right we just need to win

 

[echeese]

Echeese
I'm disappointed bc I don't feel we pushed hard for a top hire

That would be true with me for mora jr or briles as well

I will support strong

Pattersons grade is currently at d for me and no amount of dr pepper or good nacho cheese is moving it upto a c

You're right we just need to win

If we paid Strong $5. ..and it was rumored we offered Saban $8. ..you know that Fisher would have done much better ($6-7?) than the $4.1 he settled for.

I'm not sure we'll ever know how hard we "pushed" but I think our top targets (Saban, Fisher, Harbaugh) were never coming . .don't know. . .clearly each turned down more money than they are making at the jobs they settled for.

I do know that Strong is a very good coach, fundamentally sound, plays great D. . .has his guys ready for big games (if someone takes that as a minor shot at Briles . .they read between the lines correctly) . ..UL was 3 straight losing years before he arrived ..now they have 2 conference titles, played in a bowl game every year, BcS win and a recent beat down of a good Miami team. . .

I think he's the best of the Tier 2 guys. . .but now we'll see. . .

 

[greenj3]

Nice post Growler! This isn't a race issue...at all.

 

[o5prey]

I don't think you count gruden as someone who should have been brought in for an interview, I'd have liked to see him get to sell his pitch

For strong I don't think you are allowed to use conf titles echeese, anyone else can ;-)

 

[o5prey]

The 4 game stretch starting with UFC this year and the uconn and Syracuse games last year all give me pause

I'm going to see what video I can find on those

All that being said we have to support him to give him the best chance

 

[Topstarr]

Not trying to stir, just observing. We have a lot of people angry with the pending Charlie Strong selection. Some believe it's an affirmative action hire. I don't honestly think that's the case. But I respect the one's that have that opinion. Then in the other corner are those that are ecstatic Strong gets the appointment. They had Strong among their top choices. I myself have gone though the depths of disappointment when it first hit the airwaves. Now I move forward with support for Charlie Strong. Did he play the race card? It could be inferred he may have, according to his Wikipedia page. He felt race held him back in the past. But I have no real way of knowing this. I'll tell you this, Sumlin's success in collie station helps Strong as much as anything. Will Strong be able to put the BBs back in the box? Real easy. Win. That's all he has to do. Win. I'm sure it may take some time to come back together, but I feel confident if Strong is successful on Saturdays, it won't matter if he's a green M&M. FWIW

Some of the people are scared and some of the People are happy and some of the people are just do not care.

 

[echeese]

I don't think you count gruden as someone who should have been brought in for an interview, I'd have liked to see him get to sell his pitch
For strong I don't think you are allowed to use conf titles echeese, anyone else can ;-)

Natty's and now playoffs. .. .while I think Strong will do far better than Johnny Mon. . . face it. . .Johnny Mon had 3 conference titles in 6 years. . .

Playoffs and Natty's are the new benchmarks. . ..

From there we can discuss other metrics . . .

I don't have a winkie guy emoticon to insert . .