Written by Mike Finger at Houston Chronicle
As Charlie Strong stood in front of cameras Monday answering questions about his team’s latest defeat and his uncertain future, one media member gave the Texas football coach an opportunity.
If this were a job evaluation, the reporter asked, what would you say to show the program is headed in the right direction?
Strong didn’t bite.
“There’s no excuses,” Strong said. “The losses are mounting, and there’s games we should win.”
But even though Strong has come to terms with his predicament, that does not mean he is prepared to accept his fate. With two games remaining on UT’s schedule, Strong realizes the best case he can make for himself is not by making an argument at a news conference but by beating Kansas and TCU.
If the Longhorns win at Lawrence, Kan., on Saturday and then prevail against the Horned Frogs at home the day after Thanksgiving, they will finish the regular season with a 7-5 record, including a 4-1 mark over the final five games.
That, coupled with the fact that Strong played and started as many freshmen and sophomores as any major college program in the country this season, should be enough to convince school president Greg Fenves and athletic director Mike Perrin to give Strong a fourth season at UT.
And even though Strong said Monday “there are no moral victories,” he nonetheless has found many reasons to be optimistic about his team’s progress and performance.
“You still have a football team that’s still competing and still playing hard,” Strong said. “And that’s what you like to see happen.”
To his credit, the Longhorns (5-5, 3-4 Big 12) have shown unmistakable improvement in many areas. After suffering eight 20-point losses in his first two seasons, they have been competitive in every game this year and lost to the conference’s best two teams – Oklahoma and West Virginia – by a combined nine points.
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