Powerful Texas booster Red McCombs is not happy.
After all, McCombs made a push for Texas to hire Jon Gruden last week. So when the Longhorns hired Charlie Strong from Louisville, he was not impressed.
That’s not to say McCombs doesn’t believe Strong could fit in at Texas — just not as head coach.
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“I don’t have any doubt that Charlie is a fine coach,” McCombs said on The Blitz with Dat Nguyen and Jason Minnix on ESPN 1250-AM in San Antonio. “I think he would make a great position coach, maybe a coordinator.
“But I don’t believe (he belongs at) what should be one of the three most powerful university programs in the world right now at UT-Austin. I don’t think it adds up.”
On Wednesday, Strong responded to McCombs’ remarks on the Dan Patrick Show.
“There are going to be statements made. You can’t worry about that. You just move on. You have a job to do. You can’t worry about what people say or think. I’m going to be judged by my work here,” Strong said.
Strong was hired to replace Mack Brown, who stepped down after the Longhorns were beaten in the Alamo Bowl by Oregon, 30-7. Brown was 158-48 from 1998 to 2013 at Texas, but just 30-21 and 18-17 in the Big Ten since the Longhorns lost the 2009 BCS title game to Alabama.
Strong was 37-15 in four seasons at Louisville, including 12-1 this season and 11-2 in 2012.
“Once you win some football games, you’re going to change a lot of people’s attitudes,” Strong told Dan Patrick. “You have to win. Everybody wants to win nowadays. There are expectations anywhere you go.”