First, nothing between UT and Charlie Strong should cause any coach to not want to take this job. Gene Chizik, Will Muschamp and Les Miles were all fired despite having far more success than Charlie. If a coach doesn't want to take the job because they are worried about facing donor pressure and being fired after going 16-20 in their 1st three years then we don't want them here to begin with. It's naive to think that Texas is the only school with donor pressure and it's worth noting that Charlie was hired despite not having the kind of donor support that Mack did. Yes, the donors want Charlie gone but so do the students and the fans. There are benefits and drawbacks on both sides. Avoiding any incidents with the players is certainly a good point but so is the position that UT would be in if they beat TCU. However, beating TCU will not win the hearts of the fans or anyone else outside the athletic department. Students might get upset but they all know that they have not been able to get what they needed to get done and a good number of them might not mind a new coach especially if it is Tom Herman. The press conference today was actually very spirited and positive which is probably better than if the UT president was conducting it and talking about pissed off and upset players while they still have a game to play. I question how much of a dialog is going on between schools and coaches before the last game of the season. These things are typically worked out after the regular season and before the bowl game. I can't imagine UT loses their chance at Herman because they don't come to an agreement during the season. It also seems unlikely they would agree to anything before Herman meets with UT officials. Coaches lose to bad teams sometimes. It just happens. He still has wins against Louisville, OU and Florida St which count for a lot and give him a more impressive resume than a lot of the guys that are available. What you are holding out hope for is really rare. Florida hired Myer after he spent 2 years at Utah while they were in the Mountain West and it's possible Herman finishes with just 3 fewer wins than Myers had. Myers went undefeated in his last year which is obviously a huge deal but Herman has beaten more ranked opponents. I mean nothing is a guaranteed but this might be the highest percentage bet you can make. Thank you. UT does not have a history of hires like that considering Strong came from a non P5 school and Mack came from a school that didn't care too much about their football program. Saban and Harbaugh both came from the NFL in crappy situations. Urban Myer and Pete Carroll were unemployed. Highly successful coaches in big programs don't leave. Perrin was hired as a temporary fill in and he has done a really good job cleaning up the mess that Patterson created. He's very likable and has mended a lot of relationships. You don't just go out and hire a new AD quickly especially considering the disaster Patterson's tenure was. This is a 20 year decision that shapes the future of your university considerably and if you run into some short term issues like the Strong one then so be it. Perrin and Fenves know they aren't experts which is why they really wanted to keep Charlie on for another year so they can have a new AD take over the entire process when they hire him in the spring. I'm guessing they know they want Oliver Luck and he probably told them he could not leave his position until this spring. Major's affair is the chief point in a current lawsuit against UT so hiring him back puts a whole new spin on it. That might not be something the lawyers and McRaven allow. I mean, it's not great that the affair was with a student trainer who worked within the athletics program. You have a sense of a boss/employee feel even if that wasn't the technical situation. UT also has an issue with current track coach Mario Sategna but it's not known what exactly the issue is there. He's currently suspended. EDIT: Per 247 Sports: http://texas.247sports.com/Article/...xas-handling-of-Charlie-Strong-wont--49167556 In addition to Luck, 247Sports has been told that Arizona’s Greg Byrne, Virginia Tech’s Whit Babcock, Oklahoma’s Joe Castiglione and Kansas State’s John Currie are on Texas’ AD short list.
Any truth to the report by Bobby Burton at Horns247 that we were given a 48 hour window to demonstrate interest in Herman?
Doubtful. He also reported that Herman would begin serious negotiations with Baylor and Oregon if he didn't hear from us. That was at 10 a.m. Morris to Baylor was announced just a few hours later. Burton has been notoriously wrong since Mack left.
Good post. Only thing is that Fenves and Perrin have already made HUGE long term deals on behalf of the University and knew they would have to going into it. Negotiating a new apparel deal, expansion talks, facilities expansion are all decisions that will greatly shape UT and were all on the table when they came on board. And if they know they aren't the experts to make a decision on a new coach, then I'd really question why they'd be so confident in doing these other things. I understand them really wanting to keep Charlie for a multitude of reasons, but in no way should they not have been prepared for a worst case scenario. Not saying they aren't and I agree that you don't want to just jump at an AD. But we are sure hedging a lot on a first time President and AD.
There have been rumors that he would much rather stay in the NFL than go back to college. But maybe he'll change his mind once he's fired again in another season or two.
In a roundabout way, yes. But mainly being prepared to fire Strong if needed. Also forgot to mention that they also had to hire a new OC and Head Baseball Coach. 2 searches that were horribly performed.
multiple sauces! What a colossal screw up on the part of the horns. Getting upstaged by LSU! Maybe you can get their old scraps, Les Miles!
This seems so easy and simple yet they manage to f it up so easily. Strong should have been gone multiple weeks ago and at worst last Sunday. Talks with Herman should have begun immediately.
