Texas Football: How The Mighty Have Fallen
By Donny Hunt
The fiasco of an offensive coordinator search is just further proof of how far the Texas football program has fallen.
In the end, maybe this all works out for the better. If Sterlin Gilbert proves to be the right man to fix the Texas offense and the Longhorns turn the corner in Charlie Strong’s third year, then the events of Friday night will become a part of Texas legend. In the short term, however, the events of last week are simply embarrasing for a once-proud Texas program.
The entire circus just seemed like an extension of the nightmarish 2015 season. First there was the hope that Texas already had their guy signed, sealed and delivered. We all contemplated a Sonny Cumbie, Air Raid offense and a Trevone Boykin-like turnaround for Jerrod Heard.
Then…nothing. Longhorn Nation waited for the announcment that had seemed like nothing but an afterthought. Only Cumbie turned it down. Allegedly, President Greg Fenves and AD Mike Perrin wouldn’t give Cumbie an assurance the Strong would be the coach beyond 2016 and he balked. Bad move guys.
Next, Texas moves on to Sterin Gilbert of Tulsa. Gilbert is from the Art Briles coaching tree, though he only spent one season working with Briles himself. It seems like a step down already, but that probably owes more to the step down from TCU to Tulsa than it does the coaches themselves, who have very similar resumes.
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Certainly, Texas can convince an assistant to leave Tulsa for Austin. This is a done deal. Right? No way Texas screws this up.
Spoke to soon. Strong apparently bait and switches Gilbert, offering only a two year deal other than the three year deal Gilbert believed was on the table and for significantly less money. Gilbert, understandbly, turns the offer down and goes home. Now Strong looks like a tightwad and a fool. Why would Texas pinch pennies knowing the importance of the hire. Are Strong, Perrin and Fenves even on the same page?
At this point, it looks like the whole Strong era is just a smoldering pile of ruins. Even some hardcore Strong supporters are suggesting that if this is the way it is going to be, maybe it is time to pull the plug.
So here we are, on a Friday night two weeks before Christmas, and the President, Athletic Director and Heach Coach of the THE University Of By-God Texas hop on a private plane for an emergency flight to TULSA to BEG their offensive coach to take the job, which obviously means that Texas doesn’t really have a Plan C at all.
Texas Longhorns
Embarrasing is the only way to describe this wild turn of events. Could you imagine Alabama having to beg a coach to leave Middle Tennesse for Tuscaloosa or Notre Dame to beg a coach to leave Northern llinois? Can you imagine a major university with the pedigree of Texas being so publicly dysfunctional?
All of this does little to allay fears that Texas is a sinking ship. Now, all pressure falls on Gilbert, who has to deliver results in a short amount of time. And make no mistake, Strong is still coaching for his job in 2016, regardless of whatever promises Texas brass finally had to make. Their reluctance to give those assurances to Cumbie speaks volumes. Perrin and Fenves obviously figured out that they would never get a quality OC without that promise.
If Texas goes 4-8 next year, nothing Gilbert was promised in that emergency meeting Friday will matter. In sports, there are no promises that can’t be broken. So, Sterlin Gilbert, welcome to the jungle. I hope you know what you’re getting into.