jump on the Texas bandwagon now. Charlie Strong to Texas. Grand Slam hire

[RegentDenali]

From Andrew Johnson, Louisville CB

@CharlieStrongUL Thanks for everything. Wish u the best of luck at Texas. U built a powerhouse program. Just pray to god we never play Texas

You don't always see guys being gracious to a coach that is leaving.

If he was jumping to a another team in their conf, they'd prob be more pissed. But it's hard for anyone to diss Strong accepting an offer from UT.

 

[Wishbone]

Pat Forde doesn't think Charlie Strong will do well with the Longhorns.

What.

A.

Shock.


Y! SPORTS

Wow that was a great article. Strong is the anti-Mack. And while I agree with Forde that Franklin has 10 times the personality of Strong he doesn't quit yet have the coaching resume.

 

[charlie42s]

Texas doesn't need a personality, Texas needed a coach.

 

[Wishbone]

 

[HoHumHokie]

Will be interesting to see how Strong handles the media attention he'll receive in Texas. Not sure he's cut out for it.

 

[ElTexan]

Another arrogant media dunce who thinks he's part of the process instead of just reporting on it. Fuck him.
Stick to reporting on other people's hard work, shit face.

 

[Phantom]

Texas doesn't need a personality, Texas needed a coach.

Amen.

 

[romeo212000]

Will be interesting to see how Strong handles the media attention he'll receive in Texas. Not sure he's cut out for it.

Lol. That's funny shit right there.

 

[OnlyCrimson]

Texas hit a home run, Strong is a great coach!

 

[BadMotoWeazal]

Will be interesting to see how Strong handles the media attention he'll receive in Texas. Not sure he's cut out for it.

A great clip from a great movie..... Damn good job there, Sir....

 

[Hook'Em0608]

So HoHum you gonna give credit to LSUfreek for that GIF or what???

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

There are essentially two parts to a modern NCAA coach.

1. There is the CEO part. This is the guy who deals with fundraising, boosters, player discipline, media relations, school politics, fan involvements, and many other distractions.
2. There is the Xs and Os part. This is the traditional clipboard, chalkboard, and whistle stuff. This part is about practices and execution.

MACK BROWN was the best in NCAA history at part #1. He was a gifted CEO and managed all the distractions at Texas with exceedingly great skill. He tended to delegate #2 to trusted assistants. He was a good coach, but he relied on his assistants a little too much.

CHARLIE STRONG appears to be the exact opposite. He seems to be a hell of Xs and Os gritty coach. Reports are that he is not quite as experienced at the CEO stuff....

My only pause is how well will STRONG be able to handle the other stuff as a CEO???
We just took for granted Mack's ability to build and maintain a 100 million dollar empire.
All that other stuff can smother the best onfield coaches.

 

[HizzleRocker]

There are essentially two parts to a modern NCAA coach.

1. There is the CEO part. This is the guy who deals with fundraising, boosters, player discipline, media relations, school politics, fan involvements, and many other distractions.
2. There is the Xs and Os part. This is the traditional clipboard, chalkboard, and whistle stuff. This part is about practices and execution.

MACK BROWN was the best in NCAA history at part #1. He was a gifted CEO and managed all the distractions at Texas with exceedingly great skill. He tended to delegate #2 to trusted assistants. He was a good coach, but he relied on his assistants a little too much.

CHARLIE STRONG appears to be the exact opposite. He seems to be a hell of Xs and Os gritty coach. Reports are that he is not quite as experienced at the CEO stuff....

My only pause is how well will STRONG be able to handle the other stuff as a CEO???
We just took for granted Mack's ability to build and maintain a 100 million dollar empire.
All that other stuff can smother the best onfield coaches.

I think this is a great assessment. However, my thoughts:

Success at #1 does not equate to success at #2; But
Success at #2 can create success at #1.

The tools to have boosters, fundraising, fans, and media support are sitting there waiting at Texas. If Strong starts winning it will all take care of itself.

 

[Red_Alert]

So HoHum you gonna give credit to LSUfreek for that GIF or what???

He doesn't need to. It's in the bottom left corner.

 

[Phantom]

Success at #1 does not equate to success at #2; But
Success at #2 can create success at #1.

The tools to have boosters, fundraising, fans, and media support are sitting there waiting at Texas. If Strong starts winning it will all take care of itself.

Exactly. Mack forgot about winning on the field. We don't need the head coach to be a CEO, only a football coach. Money is not a problem at Texas and in the big picture it had very little to do with Mack Brown. Others could have done the job. Mack should have worried about that 100 yards of green grass, not the green dollar. Not his job.

 

[TexasMan]

Good job, good effort, Dallas.

It has since been deleted.

 

[trojanfight]

After big-name candidates like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh were mentioned in connection with the Texas Longhorns head-coaching position, Texas made something of 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 a fairly 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.”

Strong has at times been surly with local reporters in Louisville. Well, the press 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, as Brown did. Brown also participated in several shows, though ESPN programming officials have told me 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.”

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 quite a bit of 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, though 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 QB, a position that’s been a problem area since Vince Young and Colt McCoy departed. It will be interesting to see if Shawn Watson, who worked well with Teddy Bridgewater at Louisville, goes with Strong.

Beyond that, it will be interesting to see how the entire staff comes together, if Strong targets those with ties to Texas, who would take over for Watson if he goes elsewhere, etc.

As far as what Strong himself brings to the table, he was 37-15 in four seasons at Louisville. The high-water mark was a Sugar Bowl win against 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 resume, but not necessarily one that indicates he’ll be able to 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 as if 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 the state of Florida (due to ties dating back to Strong’s time as Florida’s defensive coordinator), however, making some wonder if 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. None of this is to say that Strong won’t be successful recruiting 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 the 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 first began to break, were of skepticism. Some even laughed.

“I can’t believe Texas did this,” one of them said.

 

[fordman84]

There are essentially two parts to a modern NCAA coach.

1. There is the CEO part. This is the guy who deals with fundraising, boosters, player discipline, media relations, school politics, fan involvements, and many other distractions.
2. There is the Xs and Os part. This is the traditional clipboard, chalkboard, and whistle stuff. This part is about practices and execution.

MACK BROWN was the best in NCAA history at part #1. He was a gifted CEO and managed all the distractions at Texas with exceedingly great skill. He tended to delegate #2 to trusted assistants. He was a good coach, but he relied on his assistants a little too much.

CHARLIE STRONG appears to be the exact opposite. He seems to be a hell of Xs and Os gritty coach. Reports are that he is not quite as experienced at the CEO stuff....

My only pause is how well will STRONG be able to handle the other stuff as a CEO???
We just took for granted Mack's ability to build and maintain a 100 million dollar empire.
All that other stuff can smother the best onfield coaches.

So get a coach who excels at #2 and then let the AD handle #1.

Wow, re-reading that and it sounds like toilet humor

 

[24seven]

Good hire.

 

[Texas Jefe]

It's gonna be good for the program, the entitlement with the players and coaches will end. I promise you, that a few big verbal commitments from elsewhere are going to think about switching. I think he'll be successful. Better to have someone who still has something to prove, than someone who is already on top. I'm not disappointed at all. Just win baby, and Texas may become a beast. I guess we'll wait and see.