When you play or coach at the University of Texas you are expected to win.
Not just 7-8 games year-in and year-out, you are expected to win 10+ games and compete for national championships every single season. This is no secret to anyone who takes on the task of being the head man in Austin. Charlie Strong took this job knowing the expectations that awaited him when he arrived at Texas, and he vowed to put the ‘T’ back in Texas. While he cleaned up the program and has put more talent back in the pipeline that had dried up for years, Strong has fallen well below expectations.
Strong’s first year in Austin ended in embarrassing fashion with a less-than-stellar performance against Arkansas in the Texas bowl, then followed that up with another subpar season, going 5-7 and not becoming bowl eligible. Despite not seeing results on the field in 2015, Strong and his staff closed on an impressive recruiting class that finished in the Top 10. Within that class they found an answer at quarterback in Shane Buechele, who has impressed through the first few weeks of the season and has the offense putting their struggles in the rearview with new offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert calling the plays.
Despite these positive developments, the developments on the defensive side of the ball have been very troubling. While Texas opened the season with a win over Notre Dame, Texas surrendered 47 points in the process, then turned around and surrendered 50 to Cal and another 49 points to Oklahoma State. Not only is the defense conceding large amounts of points, they are making an alarming amount of mistakes on every level. And the missed tackles continue to pile up. Strong has skins on the wall as a defensive mastermind and put several talented units on the field prior to arriving at Texas, but despite all of that, the Texas defense has been historically bad the past two years despite an influx of talent.
After the 2015 season everyone thought there was no way the defense could possibly be worse, but they seem to have picked up right where they left off. Lack of fundamentals, lack of communication, and confusion on alignments and assignments. This is supposed to be Strong’s strength but it has turned out to be the Achilles heel. The offense has finally shown signs of life, which is good and and absolutely necessary, especially now. The Strong/Bedford combo has proven to be unable or incapable of fixing the issues that are plaguing their side of the football. Last year Strong showed he was willing to make a swift change by demoting former offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, but the dynamics are different on defense since Strong has plenty of influence on that side of the ball.
The most troubling part of the entire defensive debacle is the fact that Texas entered the matchup with Oklahoma State with two weeks to prepare with the bye week. After getting into a track meet with the Bears in Berkeley, it was obvious that things needed to be simplified and that the team needed to get back to basics so the players weren’t overthinking things. Two drives into the Oklahoma State game it was clear that it was going be “more of the same” of what we saw in Berkeley. When your head coach’s specialty is on the defensive side of the ball, but your offense is rolling up north of 500 yards on a weekly basis and coming up short on the scoreboard, then it is time to start asking some tough questions.
I’ve been a staunch Charlie Strong supporter from the beginning because I loved what he stood for as a man and I thought (and still do think) he was a heck of a football coach after reviving Louisville’s program. Despite all of that, I’m afraid what we saw in Stillwater on Saturday is the beginning of the end of Strong’s tenure in Austin. If we are being honest, there were several people (fans and boosters) who didn’t want Strong to be hired in the first place, so he entered the picture on a shaky foundation. He was going to have to win and win big in a short time span, or the natives were going to get restless. With the Big 12 being so wide open and winnable this year, another mediocre season was and is out of the question no matter if anyone thinks it is fair or not. On top of that, I have a feeling the urgency to make a move sooner rather than later is going to be at an all-time high with LSU already in the market for a new head coach and Houston head coach Tom Herman’s stock shooting through the roof.
Herman has been a hot name in the coaching profession and around the state of Texas, as he continues to get the Cougars to play at an elite level for the second year in a row. It’s pretty common knowledge that Herman will be near the top of the wish list if Texas does find themselves in the market for a new coach, and right now I am not sure who would be a close second on the list if we go down that rabbit hole (I better not hear anyone mention Nick Saban’s name).
It’s challenging to write in this manner when talking about Charlie Strong because I was a firm believer in what he was preaching and how he went about restocking the talent in Austin. But no matter how much I like him as a man, the results on the field are tough (dang near impossible) to defend. Coaching is a result-based business, and if you are not producing wins at a place like Texas then you do not get to keep your job. With the Red River Shootout next on the docket I’m afraid things could get worse before they get better. Anything can happen in rivalry games, but if things get ugly in Dallas, Strong might get the Lane Kiffin treatment with the way people are feeling after the Oklahoma State loss.
