Barring Disaster, Charlie Strong Should Finish Season with Texas Football

Depending on who you ask, Charlie Strong is a lame duck coach with Texas football. The question isn’t if he will get fired, but when. With the Longhorns sitting at 3-4, there has been speculation that Strong won’t finish the season with Texas. However, barring some disastrous showings, that would be a mistake.

There is no denying that something just isn’t clicking for Strong and this Texas program. Now over halfway through his third season, the Horns are just 14-18 under Strong and must win three of their last five to avoid a third-straight losing season. That will be tough with two undefeated teams, starting this Saturday with Baylor, and a trip to Lubbock left on the schedule. Strong is now, from a record standpoint, one of the worst coaches in the history of Texas.

From that perspective, it’s easy to see why some people want to move on sooner rather than later. However, that might only cause the program bigger problems than trying to win the Tom Herman sweepstakes. Despite his struggles on the field, Strong has the respect of his players. Every member of the team has expressed their love for the head coach and each of them want to play for him. An unceremonious end to his tenure at Texas could lead to mutiny in the locker room.

While the wins have not been there consistently, there is talent on this team. Both sides of the ball have big-time recruits who are growing into potential stars at the college level. Unfortunately for Strong, they haven’t developed quite as fast as some would have liked, but the talent is still there. Or at least it’s still there as long as they continue to buy into what the Texas program is about.

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Right now, that talent believes in Charlie Strong. If they see the school treat him unfairly, in their eyes, you could see a string of transfers from the program. Suddenly, a roster that was filled with unrealized potential gets gutted and the next Texas coach gets handed another rebuilding job.

Even if the school does not plan on keeping Strong past 2016, they have to try and keep this roster together. The cupboard is far from bare on the Forty Acres. If Strong has done anything well, it has been recruiting top talent to Austin. Texas needs to keep that talent on the roster even if there’s a coaching change.

There are going to be difficult conversations, to be sure, when this season is over. It’s very likely that Texas will decide to move on from Strong. However, they have to do it “the right way” because Strong has not lost these players. Barring a disastrous and embarrassing effort the rest of the way (or a loss to Kansas) Strong should get to see the end of the 2016 season with Texas.

Next: Charlie Strong Simply Not the Answer for Texas Football