Written by Mike Abelson at Bloguin
Charlie Strong has been fighting an uphill battle since the moment he was hired as head coach at Texas. Boosters and the press questioned his ability to coach the Longhorns, despite going a combined 23-3 in his last two years at Louisville.
What did the Texas fans think would happen?
Strong has been left to suffocate under a mountain of obstacles that aren’t his creation, and it certainly doesn’t help that the athletic director who hired him is no longer there. Strong is stuck.
Everything came to a head Saturday in Fort Worth when TCU ran roughshod over the Horns for 60 minutes. Reports of players tweeting during halftime, including retweeting a tweet about transferring to Texas A&M, were the main talking points after the loss.
A decisive loss this weekend against Oklahoma might be enough to get Strong fired, despite having millions of dollars left on his contract. That’s not a guarantee or even a likelihood, but a 35-point bloodbath could create enough “noise in the system,” as the saying goes, to lead to a rash decision. All the doubters at Texas will be happy and they’ll work to find someone who “fits the Texas model.”
But who?
If Texas fires Strong after this season, or before this season ends, what’s the motivation for anyone to come and take the job? Texas seems delusional with its expectations. There is certainly ample talent available, but if no one is allowed to put his coaching stamp on the program, it won’t matter. Mike Krzyzewski didn’t win 20 games until his fourth year at Duke. Tom Landry didn’t have a winning season with the Dallas Cowboys until year seven. Coaches need time. Strong isn’t getting it.
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