[Cider Jim]

I'm shocked that Sly didn't provide this breaking news first, but he's probably out dancing in the streets. Charlie Strong has now OFFICIALLY been named the head football coach at the University of Texas:

Charlie Strong Named Texas Head Football Coach
Jan. 5, 2014
Former Louisville head coach and two-time conference coach of the year becomes the 29th head coach in UT history
AUSTIN, Texas — A two-time conference coach of the year and the architect of a revitalized University of Louisville program that has posted at least 11 wins in each of the last two seasons, Charlie Strong has been named the 29th head football coach at The University of Texas, Men's Athletics Director Steve Patterson announced Sunday. Strong will be introduced at a Monday news conference."I'm excited and my family is excited to have the chance to lead one of the premier football programs in the country," Strong said. "Texas is one of those places that is always on your radar and a program anyone would dream of being a part of because you have a chance to compete on a national level every year. It's special because it has such great history, pride, tradition and passion for football."

http://www.utexas.edu/news/2014/01/05/c ... all-coach/

[flameshaw]

[ATrain]

Congrats to Charlie Strong and best of luck to Texas.

[flamesfilmguy]

Art Briles was offered the job. and turned it down. Which i did NOT see coming. So I stand in my incorrectness. Charlie Strong is a good hire though.

[ALUmnus]

Seems like a lot of people still think it's all about Briles.

My prediction: Charlie Strong

Sorry, didn't want this to get lost in all the fog....

[Sly Fox]

Art Briles was offered the job. and turned it down. Which i did NOT see coming. So I stand in my incorrectness. Charlie Strong is a good hire though.

Art has made curious decisions for years. He took the Baylor job when everybody and their brother knew that if he waited just a bit longer he could have had his alma mater Tech or the A&M gig. He tends to go with his gut. I doubt any college job ever pulls him out of Waco after he passed on the chance with the Horns.

As for Strong, the jury is obviously still out for a few years. I suspect there will be immediate dividends next month. He will certainly be a very different personality than Mack. That should be fun for awhile.

[olldflame]

grew up in north my entire life. i agree. the north has always been more "tolerant" of other races hypocrytically as long as it not happening near where they live.

It's a generalization, but it carrys some truth. The difference between southern and northern racists is that in the north they don't care how high you rise as long as you don't get too close and in the south they don't care how close you get as long as you don't rise too high.

[flameshaw]

Pretty weak hire for the best gig in football. Just my .02 I would not be a happy alum for sure.

Take your racism talk somewhere else.

[Sly Fox]

The media obligations in Austin plentiful but tame. His country boy person will actually play well for awhile down here.

[Purple Haize]

The media obligations in Austin plentiful but tame. His country boy person will actually play well for awhile down here.

You sound skeptical of his long term success

[Sly Fox]

I have no clue how he will fare. If he can't succeed in Austin, even an Arkie has no one to blame but himself. In a city like Austin, the Media has to play nice with UT if they want continued access. Sure there will be plenty of discussions on talk radio and social media, but the traditional day in and day out media are actually pretty easy to manage. The only difficulty at Texas is the additional intrusions of ESPN/LHN.

[lynchburgwildcats]

As long as Charlie Strong doesn't fall off the rocker from all the off-the-field commitments and pressure that comes with such a high profile job (think like what happened with Billy Gillispie at Kentucky), I think he'll do a fine job given his recruiting prowess.

[Sly Fox]

Billy Clyde's drinking prowess was well known long before he arrived in Lexington. I haven't heard any similar rumblings about Charlie.

[alabama24]

The only difficulty at Texas is the additional intrusions of ESPN/LHN.

Yeah. Sly. Nothing big:

"Brown’s other contractual duties with the Longhorn Network before resigning last season included filming three weekly television shows that took up six hours a week."

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ ... lie-Strong

[lynchburgwildcats]

Billy Clyde's drinking prowess was well known long before he arrived in Lexington. I haven't heard any similar rumblings about Charlie.

Oh that I know, but Billy had a whole slew of other problems along with the drinking, as we found out at his last coaching stop. Plus he wanted nothing to do with all the job related off the court that is expected of the UK hoops coach and that ticked off a lot of important people that UK wants to keep as happy as possible. My understanding is that Charlie Strong is in a similar vein in regards to the off the field stuff. Will he be able to handle it or at least fake it well enough to keep people happy?

[Sly Fox]

He's being compensated well enough to give it the old college try.

[flameshaw]

Looks like some of the big donors are not happy with the new coach down in Longhorn Land. Should be interesting to watch.

[Purple Haize]

I give it 4 years Max. Heck, SLY isn't exactly thrilled about it and he is a bigger homer for Texas than BJ is for LU!

[Sly Fox]

Have you guys heard Red McCombs on the hire? If that isn't any evidence that the major donors didn't have significant influece than I don't know what is.

[thepostman]

Didn't he say something about if they hired Gruden they would've won 5 titles in 15 years??? If that was him, then he really should stop talking. I like Gruden but A. There is no proof his was interested and B. Even if he was interested there is no guarantee he would translate NFL success to college success.

Just a ridiculous statement by whoever said it.

[Cider Jim]

Have you guys heard Red McCombs on the hire? If that isn't any evidence that the major donors didn't have significant influece than I don't know what is.

Here's the link about Red McCombs. And the comments section is UGLY.

http://tracking.si.com/2014/01/07/texas ... ie-strong/