DFW Hornsfan
Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2013
- Messages
- 188
He is a blogger on ESPN. He wrote this:
After big-name candidates such as Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh were mentioned in connection with the Texas Longhorns' head-coaching position, Texas made a surprising move when it hired Louisville’s Charlie Strong to be its next head coach.
It was perplexing, coaches told me (and I agree), because Strong is an odd fit for a program that has a lot of moving parts beyond X’s and O’s. They see the 53-year-old as a football coach and not much beyond that, as far as internal politics and media go.
“To me, the head coach at Texas is so much more than just coaching football, especially in that state,†one coach said. “That’s not him.â€
Strong has at times been surly with local reporters in Louisville. Well, the media corps in Austin is larger and far more intense in its coverage. Unless he changes course, that figures to be a serious tug-of-war. Unlike a lot of coaches, including the guy he’s replacing (Mack Brown), Strong also shies away from national-media interview requests. And that’s not even considering whatever TV responsibilities he might have with the Longhorn Network in town. It seems unlikely that he would allow the network open access to practices the way Brown did. Brown also participated in several shows, although ESPN programming officials said that Brown volunteered for much of that and that the actual obligations are quite minimal.
It’s a clear change in direction for UT.
"He's as much of an opposite to Mack as you can get,†one coach told me Friday night. “I guess that’s the way they wanted to go.â€
Of course, any lack of bedside manner on Strong’s part might be forgivable if he can get the Horns playing at an elite level again. What chance does he have to do that?
Brown had pointed to the 2012 and '13 teams as ones that would get Texas “back,†but that obviously didn’t happen, and it leaves much roster turnover. Its recruiting class, heavy on receivers (six) and short on big-name, five-star talent, is currently rated 13th by ESPN’s RecruitingNation.
In totality, the 2014 roster looks on the surface like a decent-but-not-great team. An Auburn-like turnaround seems unlikely, although there isn’t as far to go. Former Elite 11 participant Tyrone Swoopes, who saw limited action as a true freshman this season, figures to take over at quarterback, a problem area since Vince Young and Colt McCoy departed. It will be interesting to see whether offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson, who worked well with QB Teddy Bridgewater at Louisville, goes with Strong.
Beyond that, it will be interesting to see how the entire staff comes together, whether Strong targets those with ties to Texas, who would take over for Watson if he goes elsewhere, etc.
As far as what Strong brings to the table, he was 37-15 in four seasons at Louisville. The high-water mark was a Sugar Bowl win over Florida a year ago. The Cardinals were expected to dominate the American this year, but they were upset at home by eventual conference (and Fiesta Bowl) champ UCF. They won their final three regular-season games, against Houston, Memphis and Cincinnati, by a touchdown each. That’s an impressive résumé but not necessarily one that indicates Strong will elevate the Horns back to the highest levels of the sport.
“[The Strong hire] isn’t scaring anyone in Texas,†one coach told me, referring to the state’s other programs. The same coach added that the prospect of the Longhorns hiring Baylor head coach Art Briles “terrified†those in the area. They felt Briles was the perfect football fit, even if he isn’t the most media-oriented coach in America. (Or if the thought of hiring Baylor’s coach was difficult to stomach for some UT die-hards.)
Strong is from Arkansas, but he feels like far more of an outsider than some others -- Briles or Gus Malzahn (another Arkansas native), most notably -- would have. He has proved to be a very good recruiter, but in a different part of the country. In 2013, Louisville had zero players on its roster from Texas. It did have 37 from Florida (due to ties dating back to Strong’s time as Florida’s defensive coordinator), however, making some wonder whether he would be a better fit for the Florida or Miami jobs, if those were to open.
In the Longhorns’ 2012, ’13 and ’14 classes (counting verbal commits for ’14), 57 of Texas’ 66 commits were in-state players, and just one of those out-of-state prospects came from Florida. That doesn't say that Strong won’t successfully recruit to UT (supplementing the in-state talent with a few elite Florida players certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing, given the talent in both states); it’s just pointing out a change in geography.
Maybe Strong does win at Texas, instilling toughness and discipline that coaches told me had dissipated under Brown. But the first-blush reactions from many I spoke with Friday night, as the news of the Strong hire began to break, were of skepticism. Some even laughed.
“I can’t believe Texas did this,†one of them said.
After big-name candidates such as Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh were mentioned in connection with the Texas Longhorns' head-coaching position, Texas made a surprising move when it hired Louisville’s Charlie Strong to be its next head coach.
It was perplexing, coaches told me (and I agree), because Strong is an odd fit for a program that has a lot of moving parts beyond X’s and O’s. They see the 53-year-old as a football coach and not much beyond that, as far as internal politics and media go.
“To me, the head coach at Texas is so much more than just coaching football, especially in that state,†one coach said. “That’s not him.â€
Strong has at times been surly with local reporters in Louisville. Well, the media corps in Austin is larger and far more intense in its coverage. Unless he changes course, that figures to be a serious tug-of-war. Unlike a lot of coaches, including the guy he’s replacing (Mack Brown), Strong also shies away from national-media interview requests. And that’s not even considering whatever TV responsibilities he might have with the Longhorn Network in town. It seems unlikely that he would allow the network open access to practices the way Brown did. Brown also participated in several shows, although ESPN programming officials said that Brown volunteered for much of that and that the actual obligations are quite minimal.
It’s a clear change in direction for UT.
"He's as much of an opposite to Mack as you can get,†one coach told me Friday night. “I guess that’s the way they wanted to go.â€
Of course, any lack of bedside manner on Strong’s part might be forgivable if he can get the Horns playing at an elite level again. What chance does he have to do that?
Brown had pointed to the 2012 and '13 teams as ones that would get Texas “back,†but that obviously didn’t happen, and it leaves much roster turnover. Its recruiting class, heavy on receivers (six) and short on big-name, five-star talent, is currently rated 13th by ESPN’s RecruitingNation.
In totality, the 2014 roster looks on the surface like a decent-but-not-great team. An Auburn-like turnaround seems unlikely, although there isn’t as far to go. Former Elite 11 participant Tyrone Swoopes, who saw limited action as a true freshman this season, figures to take over at quarterback, a problem area since Vince Young and Colt McCoy departed. It will be interesting to see whether offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson, who worked well with QB Teddy Bridgewater at Louisville, goes with Strong.
Beyond that, it will be interesting to see how the entire staff comes together, whether Strong targets those with ties to Texas, who would take over for Watson if he goes elsewhere, etc.
As far as what Strong brings to the table, he was 37-15 in four seasons at Louisville. The high-water mark was a Sugar Bowl win over Florida a year ago. The Cardinals were expected to dominate the American this year, but they were upset at home by eventual conference (and Fiesta Bowl) champ UCF. They won their final three regular-season games, against Houston, Memphis and Cincinnati, by a touchdown each. That’s an impressive résumé but not necessarily one that indicates Strong will elevate the Horns back to the highest levels of the sport.
“[The Strong hire] isn’t scaring anyone in Texas,†one coach told me, referring to the state’s other programs. The same coach added that the prospect of the Longhorns hiring Baylor head coach Art Briles “terrified†those in the area. They felt Briles was the perfect football fit, even if he isn’t the most media-oriented coach in America. (Or if the thought of hiring Baylor’s coach was difficult to stomach for some UT die-hards.)
Strong is from Arkansas, but he feels like far more of an outsider than some others -- Briles or Gus Malzahn (another Arkansas native), most notably -- would have. He has proved to be a very good recruiter, but in a different part of the country. In 2013, Louisville had zero players on its roster from Texas. It did have 37 from Florida (due to ties dating back to Strong’s time as Florida’s defensive coordinator), however, making some wonder whether he would be a better fit for the Florida or Miami jobs, if those were to open.
In the Longhorns’ 2012, ’13 and ’14 classes (counting verbal commits for ’14), 57 of Texas’ 66 commits were in-state players, and just one of those out-of-state prospects came from Florida. That doesn't say that Strong won’t successfully recruit to UT (supplementing the in-state talent with a few elite Florida players certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing, given the talent in both states); it’s just pointing out a change in geography.
Maybe Strong does win at Texas, instilling toughness and discipline that coaches told me had dissipated under Brown. But the first-blush reactions from many I spoke with Friday night, as the news of the Strong hire began to break, were of skepticism. Some even laughed.
“I can’t believe Texas did this,†one of them said.
j/k
