Horns Up! Pump the Brakes on Charlie Strong

The Texas Longhorns are 4-7 in Charlie Strong’s second year. Many in the Texas community want Charlie Strong fired after just two years. Well, I am going to play devil’s advocate for a minute and tell you why now is not the time to say goodbye to Charlie Strong as head coach.

The Brand is already diminished.

Many who clamor for Charlie Strong’s head maintain the only way to rebuild the brand is to bring in a new coach. Some have already suggested bringing in Chip Kelly.

The fanbase is still stuck in a Nick Saban hangover. There are many who still believe that Texas should have gone harder at Nick Saban or offered more and he would be the Texas coach right now. That’s not true.

Nick Saban is 64 years old, two months younger than Mack Brown. Since his first season at Alabama in 2007 Saban has lost 3 times in a season only once. He hasn’t lost more than 5 games in college since 2002. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and has a statue outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The field is likely going to be named after him when he retires. Saban to Texas was a stretch.

Not to mention, many other coaches like Art Briles said no to the Longhorns. Firing hastily is much like Nebraska has done twice. To be fair, the ‘Husker coaches that were fired won 9 games the season they were fired. However, Nebraska thought they could do better and ended up with Bill Callahan and Mike Reilly, both finishing with 5 wins in their first season.

To say Charlie Strong diminished the brand is losing sight that the brand was already losing value before Mack Brown was fired.

The money is not the big factor anymore.

TV exposure used to be a selling point of the Longhorns because they had a monopoly on it. Now, Texas has its own network. Unfortunately the Longhorn Network still draws the ire of college football even five seasons after its release. That’s negativity surrounding the brand.

Money is not a separating factor anymore. Yes, Texas has the most money but many other programs have money that they invested into new athletic facilities, which are nice as well. So Schools in Power 5 conferences can compete with Texas in that regard.

The pool of coaches is not greater than the demand.

Sure a select group of boosters might be willing to pay out Charlie Strong’s contract. But the supply of proven, quality coaches on the market isn’t as great as it seems. Not to mention with many teams in Power 5 conferences already needing coaches, the price to get one of these coaches will be high. A lot of college programs are looking for head coaches. Competing with more stable programs with a lot more talent in the cupboard isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Also, you may be paying a high salary for a coach that is average at best. Chip Kelly has already said he has no interest in the Texas job. After Nick Saban’s remarks with the Miami Dolphins in 2006 about the Alabama job, coaches don’t come out and say they will not be the coach at whatever school unless they are certain they will not take that job.

Chip Kelly is not coming to Austin. Memphis coach Justin Fuentes is already at Virginia Tech, Toledo’s Matt Campbell is the head football coach at Iowa State. If you are upset with the level of offensive production, why would you want a coach like Les Miles who abhors offense? You really want underachieving Mark Richt who couldn’t win with all the recruits in Georgia? Who is going to be better?

The players love Charlie Strong, and will leave with him.

Charlie Strong is a well-liked man. His players adore him, and if he gets fired or leaves because he is not receiving the support he feels he needs, his players will likely follow him. Especially talented true freshmen like John Burt and Davante Davis. So now the new coach coming in has little talent plus some of the best players leaving the program.

The issue of Race.

Sorry, but this needs to recognized before a big change is made.

Texas was the last football program to win a national championship with an all-white team in 1969. It was also one of the last programs to desegregate when Julius Whittier lettered in 1970. The University paid homage to Jefferson Davis, the president of a rebellious group of southerners fighting for the right to own human beings, until this past August. There is a negative connotation of race and the University of Texas.

People cheered the hire of Charlie Strong. First African-American head coach in Texas history. Great day! However, many African American columnists, like Bomani Jones, have stated that Charlie Strong isn’t a good fit for Texas. Many implicitly saying because he is a black man running THE program in the state of Texas, there are now unrealistic expectations placed on him. This is followed up with the notion that he will be asked to leave before he gets a chance to prove himself.

Well, 14 months after the mass exodus of players Charlie Strong dismissed (which was praised), everyone is shocked that he hasn’t won 10 games in a season yet and many want him gone.

So the question will be posed, would a white coach face the same scrutiny? We don’t know. However, if the next coach struggles like Charlie but the administration and fans are more patient with him and he is a white man, many will question whether Charlie Strong’s ousting had more to do with his race rather than the product on the field? Texas has to tread lightly on this given more African Americans are entering coaching and you can’t shut down opportunities in the future because of an emotional present.

Conclusion

4-7 is not a good season. No one questions that. However, for the reasons above, this is not the time for The University of Texas to fire Charlie Strong.