Charlie Strong to Texas Longhorns

[JLEW1818]

@ChipBrownOB: Louisville coach Charlie Strong will replace Mack Brown as the head coach at Texas, according to a high-ranking UT source.

[TahoeSOONER]

Good hire, kinda hoped it wouldn't be him. Buckle up Charlie!

[todd_shelton87]

He is a great defensive coach, will be interesting to see what changes they make on the offensive side of the ball.

[Eielson]

Better hire than I wanted. It's going to be pricey, though. Probably dropping about 10M on him this year with that 5M buyout.

[soonergirlNeugene]

Alright, here we go!

[picasso]

He's no Art Briler.

[Okie35]

He's no Art Briler.

He's the better hire to me. Hes a defensive coach.

[SouthFortySooner]

I hate him. Now who is he?

[Soonerus]

What a mistake....

[Indy Sooner]

Keep Mack.

[soonergirlNeugene]

ESPN saying Strong told his L'ville AD that he has not accepted the job. Maybe just not formally? Or maybe yet another coach is playing for a contract extension.

[nighttrain12]

I hate him. Now who is he?

The soon to be Texas football coach. That's all you need to know ... to hate his stinking guts!

[EatLeadCommie]

Smellyburger and Petrino both won at Louisville. Good hire but not one that concerns me.

[picasso]

He's no Jim Mona Jr..

[BoulderSooner79]

I don't think Stoops should challenge this guy to arm wrestle.

[okiewaker]

Good hire. Bahahahahahah

[IGotNoTiming]

I think he is a great hire for UT. I like him I just wish he wasn't at Texas

[cleller]

I was also kinda hoping it wouldn't be Strong, but it could be much worse.

Think Strong will be a good recruiter. Good tactics, as he will be going up against Sumlin.

[Flagstaffsooner]

DKR is spinning in his grave. May he rot in hell.

[Eielson]

I find it kind of odd that Strong will be at Texas while Muschamp is at Florida. The opposite made sense a couple years ago.

[FaninAma]

I think he's a good coach but I don't know how he'll handle the political side of Texas football with all their egotistical deep-pocket donors. Mack was a born politician and excelled at this. Add to this the fact that the Longhorn Network has put even more demand on the head coach's time . We'll see how Strong does.

[OhU1]

I don't see how it matters much whether Strong is a great recruiter. It's not like Mack was lacking in #1 rated recruiting classes. In the end I say the laid back entitled Austin scene and big cigar Texan good old boys will make Texas what they have always been - soft underachievers.

[bluedogok]

I think he's a good coach but I don't know how he'll handle the political side of Texas football with all their egotistical deep-pocket donors. Mack was a born politician and excelled at this. Add to this the fact that the Longhorn Network has put even more demand on the head coach's time . We'll see how Strong does.
It all depends on AD Patterson, Dodds and Powers created the culture and Mack took full advantage and exploited those relationships. If Patterson is a strong AD and sets limits for the BMD's and doesn't make Strong become the face of the athletic department, then I think it can work. Sure there are going to be some disgruntled BMD's but there always has been there because all that mattered to Dodds was the Jamail/McCombs class of donor. The fact they they are on the outside of this coaching search says a lot about the direction they might be headed. Sure OU has some BMD's but they aren't as well known and on the front page talking about the team and what they should do like Knight or Pickens which is what Jamail/McCombs have been doing for years. I think they went for more of a Castiglione type of AD rather than a Dodds ex-coach type of AD.

[Curly Bill]

Underwhelming

[oupride]

Every time a program changes its head coach, it gets set back a couple of years. I don't expect a team from UT to be much better next year.

[Widescreen]

Every time a program changes its head coach, it gets set back a couple of years. I don't expect a team from UT to be much better next year.

I seem to remember a coaching change in the late 90s that yielded some good stuff in a hurry.

[SoonerinSouthlake]

Underwhelming
I remember being underwhelmed by Bob Stoops 14 years ago.

to be honest Im with you, and I bet whorn fans are underwhelmed too....Im just saying you never know

[SouthFortySooner]

I've hung around some big money Texans. They are the biggest bunch of name droppers there are. If one of these guys wanted some big'o soft ***** faced kid from his home town on the team, he was. What will Charlie Strong say to the first fat daddy he sits across the table from will tell the tale!

[bluedogok]

I've hung around some big money Texans. They are the biggest bunch of name droppers there are. If one of these guys wanted some big'o soft ***** faced kid from his home town on the team, he was. What will Charlie Strong say to the first fat daddy he sits across the table from will tell the tale!
That is why I think Patterson is key to this, what kind of athletic department is he going to run. He has to filter that crap out, we all know Dodds and Mack didn't.

[winout]

He has no Sooner blood, therefore we need not worry.

[BoulderSooner79]

Looks like a good hire on paper; we'll see how it works out on the field. Hope he doesn't find another Teddy Bridgewater anytime soon.

[olevetonahill]

Has he accepted the Job yet?

[TheHumanAlphabet]

That is why I think Patterson is key to this, what kind of athletic department is he going to run. He has to filter that crap out, we all know Dodds and Mack didn't.
This is strictly his hire. The "committee" never met and never provided advice. Big money wanted Gruden. This is all on Patterson, it was his guy he wanted. We'll see how it turns out and if big money likes it.

[sendbaht]

after a few 8/4 seasons it will be time for another coach.....

[FaninAma]

LSU Freek's take on the hiring:

http://imageshack.com/a/img11/2139/xcsc.gif

[BoulderSooner79]

LSU Freek's take on the hiring:

http://imageshack.com/a/img11/2139/xcsc.gif

Too funny! I have to admit I was thinking of that exact scene when I read about the hire. All that's needed is the soundtrack with that guy in the background yelling "The Sheriff is a ...Ding-ding-ding" (a welcoming bell kept drowning him out).

[yermom]

it would be better if someone hadn't done the same thing for Sumlin a couple years ago

[yermom]

3QUPeCzhDSI

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

This is the puzzle for me.

That guy hammered Florida for recruiting. Will he be allowed to do that at Texas?
He was in that mid-tier Florida wheelhouse at Louisville (low 4 star high 3 star) that seem to be drafted at a very high clip. Can he stick with that or does he see stars and try to go after the top guys?
Texas under Mack has had very few early entrants. Florida kids are BY FAR the most likely to go to the draft early. Does he take the risk by adding Florida kids?
His #1 ranked defense had about a 2/3s of the pass attempts against it as any big 12 team. Can he adapt?

[yermom]

how much number crunching does any AD and president do before hiring someone? do they just assume he will do as well at Texas since he improved Louisville? do they hire a group to look at that stuff?

i'm going to keep with my initial gut feeling that for the next year or two Texas will miss Mack Brown

[swardboy]

Sounds risky to me...yahoo article:

Charlie Strong is a self-made success story, a guy college football shamefully made wait – and wait, and wait – for his shot as a head coach. When he finally got that chance, he crushed it.The result is an opportunity of a lifetime: head coach at Texas, earning reportedly $5 million a year (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--charlie-strong-will-be-next-head-coach-at-texas-043653768-ncaaf.html). The first African-American coach of a men’s team in Longhorns history has earned it. This is a feel-good story – except for what might come next.

I hope the 53-year-old Strong doesn’t become the most miserable self-made multi-millionaire in the sport.

For all his on-field credentials, he is a complete misfit for the spotlight that accompanies the Texas job. Strong hated dealing with both the small media following at Louisville and the modest core of boosters who were important to the program.

When presented with national media opportunities to enhance the Cardinals’ profile, he routinely rejected them. Getting him to make promotional appearances that could enhance donor relations was an exercise in frustration. He left a lot of administrators and support personnel at Louisville exasperated at his unwillingness to do anything to sell the program outside the cocoon of the Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex.

So now we’re going to take that recluse and drop him in front of the klieg lights that shine on Texas football year ‘round? To quote Elvis Costello: I know it don’t thrill you, I hope it don’t kill you.

The fit is so bad in that area that you have to wonder whether Texas did enough homework upon making this hire. Certainly it is not the most important element of the job – but did the search firm that recommended Strong ever take it into consideration? Vanderbilt’s James Franklin, another Texas finalist who doesn’t have quite the on-field high points of Strong but has three times the personality, would pass that part of the test with flying colors.

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When it comes to public relations, Strong is the antithesis of the man he is replacing, Mack Brown. Perhaps Brown’s best trait is his people skills: he made every out-of-town media visitor feel like an old friend; he was charming and indulgent with overly interested boosters; and he carried that winning personality with him into high schools and living rooms.

Mack sold Texas to all pertinent constituents. And there were many. And they were needy.

Strong can recruit. But he has shown no interest in or appetite for the other elements of a college head coach’s job. And like everything else, those elements are bigger in Texas.
Brown spent every Monday during football season in external relations. He did hours of media, talked to boosters, sent recruiting letters. If you gave that schedule to Charlie Strong and asked him to replicate it, he might have a stroke.

Does he have to do the job the same way Brown did? Of course not. And if he wins the way he has at Louisville, he can pretty much do what he wants and act how he wants and nobody will object.

But there is one other needy beast at Texas that must be fed, no matter what Strong thinks about it: the Longhorn Network. The ESPN creation is a revenue firehose for the school, so if it wants to mic up the head coach for staff meetings and practices, guess what? He’d probably better go along with it.

That will require an adjustment from Strong.

If he can learn to tolerate the public nature of the Texas job, the rest of it may come easily. The résumé he compiled in his first head-coach job is impressive.
Strong’s on-field body of work is commensurate with this Cadillac position. He took over a Louisville program that had gone flat and injected immediate life into it, going 37-15 in four years – 23-3 the last two. He was a recruiting force who built his program around star Miami quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and buttressed it with his own specialty – a relentless and athletic defense that leads the nation in fewest yards allowed per game.

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Presumably, a guy who has made his recruiting hay in the Southeast will be able to transition to Texas. When he has the power of the Longhorn brand behind him, Strong should be able to sell the program to the state’s annual battalion of top recruits.So there are some tangible reasons why he got this job. But this is no sure thing. He would not be the first Louisville coach to use the job as a steppingstone that turned into a disaster (see: Schnellenberger to Oklahoma; John L. Smith to Michigan State; Bobby Petrino to the Atlanta Falcons (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/atl)). And even if it works out, he must change his mindset.

How will Strong handle the initial disappointment from some entitled fans who had their hearts set on Nick Saban, or Jim Harbaugh, or Jon Gruden? How will he handle it the first time the entire state questions his choice of starting quarterback? How will he handle the first time the Longhorn Network lays out a schedule requesting several hours of his time in a week?

The Charlie Strong at Louisville wouldn’t handle any of those things particularly well. Maybe the Charlie Strong we see at Texas will be different.

But it’s hard to change a man at age 53. And hard to make him act like something he is not.

[dwarthog]

The boys over on shaggybevo appear to be hoping with all their pea pickin' hearts that he brings the S&C coach with him and the "PIT".

They seem fairly enamored with the idea that it will put an end to "injuries" to get out of practice which they feel was all to common at UT in recent years.

If he does, gotta wonder how long that will last after one of those deep pocket donors sons get a session in the pit.

[SoonerMarkVA]

Enjoy that LHN, Coach.

[BoulderSooner79]

It would be a good idea for OUr boys to establish the correct pecking order come October in Dallas.

[JLEW1818]

We owe them 50 points in October and nothing less.

[picasso]

Careful what you wish for Texas.

[pb4ou]

IMO, I think Texas is settling for what they get, not for who they can get.

[olevetonahill]

I think he will regret taking the Job, As it was he was making between a Million 6 and 2 Mill a year. Thats More money than anyone really needs to be happy IMHO. He had the Full support of every one at L-Ville and No where near the Pressure he will get from the Boosters and such at saxet.
3 More Mil a year sounds Nice but not if ya have to go crazy jumpin thru hoops for it.

[rock on sooner]

Has he accepted the Job yet?

Espin says the Horns have hired Strong...

[olevetonahill]

Espin says the Horns have hired Strong...

Every one was saying But he hadnt accepted the Job Officially till this morning Right?

[Jacie]

For all the talk about ways he will fail at sa*et, I think Charlie Strong is exactly what that program has lacked for 30 years, someone who is going to make them into a football team as opposed to a family.

The Sooners could not beat the whorns who were on the ropes in 2013.

Only a fool would believe he is not going to have them more prepared to play OU than ever.

[rock on sooner]

Every one was saying But he hadnt accepted the Job Officially till this morning Right?

Far as I know...Espin used UT as their source....

[cherokeebrewer]

If Charlie can handle the politics of UT, he'll be a strong coach...

[instigator]

If Charlie can handle the politics of UT, he'll be a strong coach...

I see what you did there.

I completely agree with Jacie. He may not like the media and other requirements but if he can make that work, they should be much better. He seems to bring an attitude and toughness that they haven't had in years.

[sendbaht]

What kind of offense does Strong like/run/use? the LHs went from power to hurry-up now what? changing ones O takes a few years to mature.
Plus all new coaches again...it will take a few years to get it all going...

[SoCalBigRed]

The 'horns don't have the patience, to wait. He doesn't have the patience to put up with their fans/media.

This is a recipe for disaster. I don't care how good he's supposed to be. Louisville and texas... WORLD'S apart.

Plus, when they get the beat-down that's coming next year, all those feel-good butterflies will be gone.

[BoulderSooner79]

Strong comes from the defensive side of the game. If he can shore that up quickly, the horns will be better. I have no clue how the politics will play out.

[picasso]

For all the talk about ways he will fail at sa*et, I think Charlie Strong is exactly what that program has lacked for 30 years, someone who is going to make them into a football team as opposed to a family.

The Sooners could not beat the whorns who were on the ropes in 2013.

Only a fool would believe he is not going to have them more prepared to play OU than ever.
No one knows until it happens.

[rock on sooner]

What kind of offense does Strong like/run/use? the LHs went from power to hurry-up now what? changing ones O takes a few years to mature.
Plus all new coaches again...it will take a few years to get it all going...

IDM, he's smart enough to look at what he has and run a team to
that. He will, however, recruit to what he WANTS to do and in a
remarkably short time, do it. Just my opinion. He is, after all,
a "whorn"............

[ashley]

I've hung around some big money Texans. They are the biggest bunch of name droppers there are. If one of these guys wanted some big'o soft ***** faced kid from his home town on the team, he was. What will Charlie Strong say to the first fat daddy he sits across the table from will tell the tale!

This makes you a name dropper.

[bluedogok]

What kind of offense does Strong like/run/use? the LHs went from power to hurry-up now what? changing ones O takes a few years to mature.
Plus all new coaches again...it will take a few years to get it all going...
It isn't like Mack and Major had a clue as to what style of offense they wanted to run, kind of reminded me of the Blake offense of the week.

Here was a pic tweet earlier. Looks like he is on the way to Austin.
https://twitter.com/UT_Bianco/status/419933313755643905

[BigTip]

This makes you a name dropper.

Willie Nelson and I were just talking the other day about how we hate name droppers.

[EatLeadCommie]

Part of Mack's problem, IMHO, is that he was too Texas-centric with his recruiting. I don't think people realize this when they say that Texas recruits itself. It does to an extent, but they still have to compete to land most of those guys, and just because a kid played football in Texas doesn't mean he's gonna amount to a hill of beans. Strong brings SEC ties and a recruiting history that covers Florida, Georgia, and the southeast. I think the Whorns will benefit from that if he opts to retain that SE pipeline. They could benefit big time. Of course, if he struggles early with this strategy, the boosters will bitch that he is alienating the Texas HS football coaches and not getting enough Texas boys.

[KantoSooner]

The main thing Strong brings to UT is the ability to put together a relentless, hard *** defense. And that is one reason why my Florida relatives say that Strong was more responsible for UF's success than Meyer. And they aren't laughing when they say it. Strong is the candidate I most feared UT landing. He might burn out on the pub side of things, but his football skills are exactly what could turn Texas into a monster.
Mikey and Bob better get the OU house in order, right now.
On the plus side, the sort of rivalry that could develop between the two ex-Florida D-coordinators could keep Bob coaching for another decade or more.

[cherokeebrewer]

Mikey and Bob better get the OU house in order, right now.

Seems like they already have...

[SoCalBigRed]

I was unaware the house was in disarray???

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I think he will regret taking the Job, As it was he was making between a Million 6 and 2 Mill a year. Thats More money than anyone really needs to be happy IMHO. He had the Full support of every one at L-Ville and No where near the Pressure he will get from the Boosters and such at saxet.
3 More Mil a year sounds Nice but not if ya have to go crazy jumpin thru hoops for it.If you make that kinda money for 2 or 3 yrs., and don't blow it, you're set for life. ie no brainer for him to take the job.

[cvsooner]

Ultimately this is going to be an epic struggle for the heart and soul of Texas' athletic department and how much control can be wrested from the good ol' boy big donor types. If they follow the TBP model at OSewe they might have some success, but if they keep doing what they've been doing--where they all know how to run the program better than anybody if the dang coach would just listen to them--they'll be on the same road. How long will Strong, and heck, Patterson, for that matter, tolerate it? And how successful will they be in convincing the BMDs that they don't know diddly?

[dwarthog]

I can't wait to see what happens when some deep pocket donors son winds up in the "Pit" for some R&R.

I'm betting it will make the Adam James/Craig James mess at TT look like a stroll through the park.

[picasso]

The main thing Strong brings to UT is the ability to put together a relentless, hard *** defense. And that is one reason why my Florida relatives say that Strong was more responsible for UF's success than Meyer. And they aren't laughing when they say it. Strong is the candidate I most feared UT landing. He might burn out on the pub side of things, but his football skills are exactly what could turn Texas into a monster.
Mikey and Bob better get the OU house in order, right now.
On the plus side, the sort of rivalry that could develop between the two ex-Florida D-coordinators could keep Bob coaching for another decade or more.

Ah but there's the key. He's a head coach now. He has to find the right pieces to fit underneath.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

best of luck in your new gig, Charlie...NOT