How We Got Here
I probably wouldn’t be writing this column if Nick Rose makes an extra point and Michael Dickson doesn’t botch a long snap from center. So it goes in life, love, and poker. Charlie Strong’s Longhorns are 1-4, and it’s a bad 1-4, with two embarrassing blowout losses. Barely halfway through his second season in Austin, Strong—a consensus sure thing at Texas—is already in trouble. What happened? In discussing this, I’m going to cover three topics. Charlie Strong’s record at Louisville, key decisions he’s made since becoming the coach at Texas, and for perspective, a comparison between the roster he inherited and the roster Jim Harbaugh inherited at Michigan.
Louisville
Strong’s first head coaching job was with Louisville, 2010-2013. Louisville was in the Big East Conference in 2010-2012. The Big East became the American Athletic Conference in 2013. These are Louisville’s conference opponents during Strong’s tenure:
1.Temple
2. Rutgers
3. University of South Florida
4. Connecticut
5. Syracuse
6. Cincinnati
7. Pittsburgh
8. West Virginia
9. Memphis
10. Central Florida
11. Houston
Not exactly the murderers row of college football. That being said, you can only play the teams on your schedule and Louisville shared the Big East Championship in 2011 and 2012 with 5-2 conference records. In Strong’s final two years, Louisville was 11-2 in 2012 and 12-1 in 2013. In 2012, #11 Louisville lost to a 5-5 Syracuse team and the next week lost to 5-6 Connecticut. Their biggest victories in 2012 came at the finish, with victories over 9-2 Rutgers and #3 Florida in the Sugar Bowl to finish at 11-2 on the season. The win over Florida is the biggest win of Charlie Strong’s coaching career.
In finishing 2013 at 12-1, Louisville played just one ranked team, the University of Central Florida, and they lost. In fact, in doing my research, I was hard-pressed to find any ranked teams that Louisville defeated in Strong’s four-year tenure, other than Florida.
In a fantasy world, how do you think Strong’s 2015 Longhorns would fare playing the 2013 Louisville schedule, 9-4, 10-3? Just saying…
Despite the unimpressive competition, Strong received high marks—and deservedly so—for his performance at Louisville from everybody, including Louisville’s players, administration, the Louisville community, his fellow coaches, and the national media. Strong’s performance also earned him a promotion from Louisville to Texas and a salary of $5 million a year. I think it’s fair to compare Strong’s move from Louisville to Texas to a highly touted triple A minor league baseball player being promoted to the major leagues. By all available data, the minor leaguer and Strong appeared ready for the big leagues, but they weren’t proven commodities at the highest levels of competition. Some Triple A stars burst onto the scene in the Big Leagues, while others grow into the job….. and, of course, some others just fail.
Coming Monday, I’ll open for discussion some of the key decisions Charlie Strong has made in his first 21 months at Texas.
Until then, BEAT HELL OUTTA OU!
HooK ‘eM,
W.E.
Lock of the Week
Lock of the week goes into its second week of existence with 100% winning percentage. This week I’ll take Notre Dame at home versus Navy and lay the 14 ½. The Domers are coming off a tough loss on the road to Clemson—a game they should have won, you would think Brian Kelly would know when and when not to go for two—and I think they’ll lay a red ass whooping on the Middies who have yet to face stiff competition in 2015.
Need more for your Pre-OU Game pleasure? Here’s an oldie but goodie.
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