1. Louisville has done all they could do
At the end of the day Louisville and Tom Jurich have extended an unbelievable amount of loyalty to Charlie Strong. Nothing can be looked at and said ‘Louisville could have held on to Charlie Strong if they had done this’.
When Charlie Strong arrived at Louisville, the city of Louisville put billboards up around the Metro embracing the Head Coach. They welcomed him with ‘Open Arms’ while the rest of the College Football world wouldn’t even give him an interview. When he asked for more money for his assistants, Tom Jurich made them the 19th highest paid staff in the Country. When he turned down jobs at other schools, he – at one point – was one of the Top 5 Highest paid coaches in the Country. Lastly, when Charlie Strong needed someone to go to bat for his Best Friend – Clint Hurtt- Tom Jurich did and retained home at Louisville. Meanwhile, the rest of the Country mocked Louisville and the University took a PR Hit.
Flat out, Louisville has done more than needed to keep Charlie Strong. At some point, it becomes about him actually wanting to be at the University rather than anything else.
2. The Fans Have Little To Do With This
The excuse continues to float around. It has been widely speculated that Charlie Strong has made it known that the fan support was thoroughly disappointing this season, conversely they are also saying it has greatly affected his decision to at least consider taking the Texas vacancy.
However, that is a weak excuse. Two things here:
Firstly, Louisville fans displayed enormous fan support for a season that featured perhaps the worst schedule in School History. Many noon kickoffs and virtually only two home games that the fans could get excited about. Despite all of this, they made the 2013 Football Season the most attended in school history. Charlie Strong may have a legitimate gripe about fans not saying until the end of games, but here’s the newsflash: That’s a problem at Alabama. That’s a problem at Miami. That’s a problem everywhere. You want fan support until the end of the games? Schedule opponents that will produce compelling games.
Secondly, if Strong chooses to leave Louisville it’s for many reasons but not because of the fan support. It’s because Texas has unlimited resources. It’s because Texas sits in the recruiting hot bed of America. It’s because Texas is Texas. Strong doesn’t and shouldn’t need any other reasons other than that.
3. Texas Doesn’t Have To Wait
Personally I still say it’s a longshot that Charlie Strong doesn’t go to Texas. Too much has happened for me to not believe he will take the job. Charlie Strong wants to be patient and take his time making his decision. Charlie Strong wants to meet face-to-face with Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich. Charlie Strong may not be able to do this because the University of Texas doesn’t have to wait.
Let’s be real about this situation. Charlie Strong has likely been a Number 4 or Number 5 candidate for The University of Texas. They struck out on Alabama Coach Nick Saban, Florida State Coach Jimbo Fisher, Baylor Coach Art Briles and UCLA Coach Jim Mora. Now they have landed on Charlie Strong and James Franklin. They are already taking a risk in hiring a guy whose biggest asset has been his ability to court top talent from South Florida.
Could the respected officials at Texas who view their program as the Top Job in College Football, see it as a slap in the face that Charlie Strong would even consider staying at the lowly University of Louisville? Could Texas grow anxious about Strong taking his time with this decision? Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman believes this is a possibility. He tweeted the following a few hours ago: “If Jurich can get back, L’ville players could move up to 5pm. Texas getting anxious.”
It may not be that Strong doesn’t want the job at Texas. But, it may turn into Texas growing tired of his antics, leading them to go to another direction on a whim. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened. I must repeat though, I still view this as a longshot but it would certainly make for an awkward situation.
Chris Hatfield
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