Texas Football: Sark gets surprising advice from Charlie Strong on HC job
Former Texas football head coach and current Alabama defensive analyst Charlie Strong had unexpected words for Sark at his new job this week.
The coaching staff is starting to get reshaped for the Texas football program after the shockingly timed news that dropped a little more than one week ago that fourth-year head coach Tom Herman would be dismissed from his position. Texas announced on the morning of Jan. 2 that the now former head coach Herman would be replaced by the current Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and reigning Broyles Award winner Steve Sarkisian.
Sark has one more game to take part in before he officially takes over as the fourth Longhorns head coach in the span of less than a decade. The hope is that he will take some of the progress that Herman made in terms of success in the win column and elevated this program to the next level.
Finally getting to the heights of a Big 12 Champion and regular contender for the College Football Playoff is obviously the goal for Sark. But on more of a broad level, the realistic goal out of the gates for Sark as the next Texas head coach should be that he finds more consistency on the field and on the recruiting trail than Herman did in the last year or so.
I also asked Sark if he’s talked with Charlie Strong, now on Alabama’s staff, about the job. “Oh, Charlie said he loved Texas. Said you’ll do great there.”
— Brian Davis (@BDavisUT) January 11, 2021
However, there was a pretty surprising statement concerning Sark’s hiring as the next Texas head coach that came from someone that formerly held that position, and someone that was on Alabama’s staff with him this year. Former Texas head coach Charlie Strong reportedly stated this week that “he loved Texas” and that Sark will “do great there”.
Considering the tough way that the Strong-era ended on the Forty Acres following the disappointing 2016 season, those words wouldn’t be expected from the media and fans. Strong only had a record of .500 or better in one try in three years as this program’s head coach.
Strong is currently a defensive analyst on Alabama’s coaching staff for the 2020 season. He was the South Florida Bulls head coach for four seasons between the Texas and Alabama jobs.
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Herman led the Longhorns to post a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12) to round out the 2020 season, including winning five of their last six games. Their final game resulted in a 55-23 drubbing against the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl back on Dec. 29.