UT fires Charlie Strong.
Coach’s firing quickly followed by naming of booster favorite Herman as successor
AUSTIN — Throughout three of the bleakest seasons in Texas football history, the Longhorns preached patience. Then, with one quick, decisive flurry of activity, they showed they were tired of waiting.
In the span of less than seven hours Saturday, UT fired Charlie Strong as head coach and replaced him with Houston’s Tom Herman, completely revamping its struggling program the day after it limped to its third consecutive losing finish.
A coaching change had been anticipated since last week, when sources confirmed university president Greg Fenves and men’s athletic director Mike Perrin decided to dismiss Strong. Although they put off the Strong announcement until Saturday morning, they met with Herman late Friday night and were able to make his hiring official by Saturday afternoon.
Herman, 41, is a former UT graduate assistant who built a reputation as one of the rising stars in college coaching while leading Houston to a 22-4 record, including six consecutive victories over ranked teams. He previously served as offensive coordinator at Ohio State, where he helped lead the Buckeyes to a national championship in 2014.
Herman will be introduced as the Longhorns’ new head coach at a news conference on campus Sunday “When president Fenves, Mike and I met late last night and into the morning, I came away very impressed with their unified vision and commitment to football,” Herman was quoted in UT’s news release. “I’m excited to be the head coach at the flagship university of the greatest state in the union.”
Although he grew up in California, Herman has strong ties in Texas, including a stint as a UT graduate assistant under Mack Brown from 1999-2000. He has also served as an assistant at Texas Lutheran, Sam Houston State, Texas State and Rice.
According to a UT source, Herman will sign a five-year contract, with annual salaries beginning at about $5.5 million and escalating to $6 million in the fifth year.
UT will have to pay a $2.25 million buyout to get Herman out of his contract with Houston, and the Longhorns also owe Strong $10.7 million for the final two guaranteed years of his deal. That amount will be reduced if he accepts a new job.
But Fenves (who called Herman “the hottest young head coach in the country the past two seasons”) and Perrin were able to able act quickly in part because Herman had ample support from the program’s boosters. A separate UT source said he never had seen the school’s major donors as aligned behind a potential hire as they were behind Herman.
On the same day, the threeyear Strong era finally came to its formal end at UT.
Strong, 56, the first black head coach in the history of the program, was given credit for instilling discipline and cutting down on a sense of entitlement in the locker room after he took over for Brown in 2014. But he finishes his tenure with a record of 16-21 — which gives him a worse winning percentage than all 28 of UT’s previous head coaches.
Before Strong, the Longhorns had not suffered three consecutive losing seasons since 1936-38.
Strong was informed of his dismissal in a meeting with Perrin on Saturday morning, one day after the Longhorns’ seasonending 31-9 loss to TCU. In a release issued by the university, Perrin praised Strong for representing the school “with class and dignity” and expressed admiration for the coach’s system of core values.
“However, after thorough evaluation, the body of work over three seasons has not shown the improvement we were hoping for,” Perrin was quoted as saying. “This was an important year for our program to take the next step, and the results simply aren’t there.”
UT’s release also included a statement from Strong, who called it a “difficult day” but said he did not regret coming to UT.
“I do understand that it comes down to wins and losses, and we have not done our job in that area yet,” Strong was quoted as saying. “I accept full responsibility for that but know in my heart that we accomplished our primary goal, which is the development of young men.”
To his credit, Strong leaves behind a program that is in better position to win than it was when he took over three years ago. Both of his last two recruiting classes were loaded with talent, and many of those young players received valuable experience during a 5-7 season.
In Friday’s loss, the Longhorns started only two seniors on offense and two on defense. Although star junior tailback D’Onta Foreman could decide to turn pro after becoming only the second player in UT history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, his loss could be mitigated by the return of Chris Warren from injury.
Either way, Herman will inherit a roster that should be primed for a big step forward when it opens its season against Maryland next September. And after Strong’s final game, he made it clear that expectations for next year should be high.
Just as he’d done earlier in the week, Strong predicted the players in his locker room will win a national championship before they leave UT.
“The cake has been baked,” Strong said. “Now it’s just ready to be sliced.”