According to multiple reports, the University of Texas will fire head coach Charlie Strong. However, athletic director Mike Perrin said in a statement Sunday evening the school will “evaluate (Strong’s) body of work after the regular season.”
“There are a number of rumors out there about the status of Coach Strong. I’ve said it all along, we will evaluate the body of work after the regular season,” Perrin’s statement reads. “We have a game to get ready for against TCU on Friday, and I hope our fans will come out and support our team. We’ll discuss where things stand after that.”
Strong is scheduled to speak with reporters on Monday morning.
According to a report from the Austin American-Statesman, school officials came to the decision to move on from Strong after the Longhorns lost at Kansas, which had not won a Big 12 game since November 2014, on Saturday.
The news was also reported by Orangebloods.com, HornsDigest.com and ESPN.
From the American Statesman:
University of Texas officials have decided to fire football coach Charlie Strong, however the official announcement may not come until Monday, a high-ranking university source told the American-Statesman.
“It will happen for sure. The question is when,” the source said.
According to ESPN, Strong will coach the regular season finale against TCU on Friday “before stepping down.”
The shocking overtime loss to the Jayhawks drops the Longhorns to 5-6 on the year and gives Strong a 16-20 overall record with the program. Speculation about Strong’s job status has been rampant during his tenure, as the Longhorns are in the midst of their third straight losing season.
After Saturday’s loss to Kansas, Strong seemed to know his fate when asked about his future with the program.
The most painful part of the Strong post game presser."Do you know what this means for your future?" pic.twitter.com/MRNuTko8au— Casey Keirnan (@CaseyKeirnan) November 20, 2016
The American-Statesman’s report indicates the same:
Asked if Strong has been told, the high-ranking university source said, “He knows what is coming.”
Strong arrived in Austin in 2014 from Louisville after the removal of Mack Brown. In four seasons with the Cardinals, Strong had a 37-15 record (23-3 in his final two seasons) and won two conference titles. At Texas, he completely overhauled the roster and the team experienced growing pains right away. The Longhorns won three of their last four to make a bowl game in his first season, but were blown out by Arkansas and finished 6-7.
Strong was met with increased scrutiny in 2015 when UT started 1-4. The Longhorns registered upsets over Oklahoma and Baylor, but still finished 5-7, missing a bowl game for just the second time since 1997.
All the while, Strong recruited at a high level. But the success on the recruiting trail never translated to the field. A season-opening win over Notre Dame this season looked like a sign of things to come, but the Longhorns fell back down to earth with three straight losses to Cal, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, giving up at least 45 points in all three games.
Despite the up-and-down play, reports indicated that some high-ranking Texas officials, including president Greg Fenves, weren’t completely sold on moving on from Strong. That all changed on Saturday with the loss to Kansas.
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