Photo via HookEm.com
It Is easy to understand why Texas football players are a little uneasy right now.
This season started off with so much hope after a win against Notre Dame, and everyone thought this program was heading back to the top. Charlie Strong’s job appeared safe after a 2-0 start. Texas eventually dropped three straight games. The Longhorns rebounded to beat Baylor and Texas Tech, but then there was a disappointing loss against West Virginia, followed by a historic loss against Kansas, the game that sealed Strong’s fate. Strong was immediately fired after the season and replaced by Tom Herman. The entire football staff was fired a few days later. Most of Strong’s support staff has been fired, too.
Players have the right to be upset. They are entitled to wonder about their future. The Tom Herman regime promises to be nothing like their time under Strong. Those guys loved Charlie.
However, if Longhorn football players really love Strong, the best way to honor him is by buying into Herman.
These players are entitled to have their moment of sadness right now. They are young men processing a lot of emotions and preparing for the unknown. Let them go through those five stages of grief, which are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment, and try not to act like you are a perfect person who handles every adversity in life like a champion. Do not bash them for a negative reaction during an initial meeting with Herman a day after their coach was fired. Give them time.
Nevertheless, in order to get past this recent change, players need to remember Strong’s previous words to them.
When Strong recruited you, he saw your potential. He knew you could have an impact at Texas and help this team win football games. You expressed to him a desire to play in the NFL one day, and Strong said playing at Texas will help you get to the next level. He also believed you could handle the pressure and scrutiny of playing at Texas. He thought you could handle playing in front of 100,000 people, a national spotlight, constant media attention, and the expectation of competing for a national title every year.
More importantly, Strong sold you, and your parents, on becoming a man by signing with Texas. He told you there would be adversity in life, but he would equip you with tools to get through those challenges. Strong also sold you on how graduating from the University of Texas will help you succeed in life once your football career is over. He said you would connect with future employers and coworkers at UT.
What has changed?
Honor Strong by playing your ass off for the new staff, handling this change like men, and get your degree.
Most Texas fans fell in love with quarterback Shane Buechele prior to the season because of his work ethic. Longhorn observers witnessed Buechele initiate workouts with teammates on his own. We remember the story about Buechele calling Strong on a Friday night trying to get into the indoor facility because the stadium lights turned off while he was throwing with teammates. When Strong could not show up, Buechele and the guys began playing in the street.
Jerrod Heard began working out with receivers on his own because he wanted to have an impact this season. Sophomore linebacker Breckyn Hager worked hard during the offseason to earn playing time. Freshman linebacker Malcolm Roach had an immediate impact due to his work ethic prior to stepping on campus.
What has changed?
Honor Strong by forgetting that last game, start those offseason workouts again and get prepared to impress the staff when strength and conditioning workouts begin next year.
Yeah, I know.
Herman came at you like Joe Clark from the movie “Lean on Me” during that initial meeting. He was in your face. He cursed at you. He was unapologetic. He came across as a prick. He rubbed you the wrong way. I get it.
Nevertheless, Strong was the same way with his initial meeting with Longhorn players at Texas. Strong shocked all the players with his list of rules and regulations. He told them to get rid of the earrings when they entered the building. Strong wanted them to sit in the front of each class. The former coach introduced to them his five core values. In 2014, Austin American Statesman reporter Brian Davis said drug testing rates for players doubled under Strong.
And we praised him for it.
We praised him for trying to change the culture. We praised him for taking a stand. We praised him for trying to turn around this program. We praised him for not being like the last coach. We praised him for trying to lay a foundation for success.
Whenever a coach inherits a program, he is like the stepfather. The new dad comes in with different rules. The stepfather may rub his wife’s kids the wrong way because he governs the house differently than their “real” dad. Sometimes he is loved right away. Many times there is a period of adjustment, especially if there was a sudden divorce and this new guy instantly appeared.
Eventually, in many instances, the kids get used to the stepfather. Some learn to deal with him. Others love him.
It happened with Strong.
The same reversal will occur with Herman.
By the way, that hard ass Coach Strong eventually became the softy who gave Daje Johnson several chances to clean up his act. Strong is also a man who was criticized for not playing certain players, but few people knew the real reason they were buried on his depth chart was for continually failing drug tests. He just did not want to embarrass them publicly, but Strong was secretly giving players third and fourth chances. When Kent Perkins was arrested and charged with DWI, Strong accepted the apology of his senior offensive lineman and kept him on the team.
Strong believed in this group of players. Things did not work out for him at Texas, but we know Strong was more upset about the emotions his team was dealing with at the end of this season than his job status. Strong loved all of his players. When over 30 players showed up for his Monday press conference after a loss against Kansas, they obviously loved him, too.
That is why the best way players can honor Strong, and show their love for him, is by buying into Herman.
Funniest Thing You Will See This Week
Sports On A Dime
1. Texas running back D’Onta Foreman made the right decision by turning pro and entering the NFL draft. It is crazy to think Foreman was once forced to play behind Johnathan Gray and split time with Chris Warren before an injury forced him to become the featured running back. I think Foreman would be a great fit in Seattle to fill the void left by Marshawn Lynch.
2. Speaking of crazy, if Texas simply defeats Kansas State and Kansas, Strong probably has his job in Austin right now.
3. Texas receiver Kai Locksley should reconsider transferring from Texas until he sits down with Herman and discusses his future. Locksley might have a shot to receive more playing time with Herman. Transferring to another school could end up being the best outcome, but Locksley should not leave Texas without examining every option.
4. I do hope Herman breaks the trend of signing only one quarterback each year. There needs to be more competition in the quarterback room. If a quarterback shies away from competing against another incoming freshman, he probably is not mentally ready for the position. Sam Ehlinger believes he can compete against anybody, and that is the kind of attitude this team needs.
5. After watching Alabama throttle Florida in the SEC Championship game, Herman will need a few more elite recruiting classes to compete for a national title, like Strong predicted. Alabama is the varsity team and makes everyone look like a JV squad.
6. Washington, Penn State and Ohio State are competing for the final two playoff spots. I would go with Alabama, Clemson, Washington and Penn State, unless somebody could give me a convincing argument for Ohio State.
7. Rob Gronkowski being placed on injured reserve after his third back surgery not only hurts New England, but every person who owns him in fantasy football with the playoffs about the begin. Of course, I have Jordan Reed as one of my fantasy football leagues, and my hope is his fragile body can be propped up when it counts.
8. What the hell will it take for Jeff Fisher to be held accountable for being a crappy coach?
9. When Texas trailed Alabama by 12 points at halftime on Saturday, I thought this team was done. Props to the Longhorns for rebounding after a disappointing loss against UT Arlington.
10. Hopefully this response by Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, when asked about Conor McGregor obtaining a boxing license will end all of that talk about a ridiculous fight that will never happen:
"It's all a game. It's all a calculated effort to gain more fans," Ellerbe told ESPN.com. "He got a boxing license. Congratulations to him. Conor McGregor can say anything he wants to but he has a boss and his name is [UFC president] Dana White. He is under contract to the UFC and if he wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match he can't because his bosses wouldn't allow that to happen. The brass [from WME-IMG] who recently purchased the UFC [for $4 billion earlier this year] are very smart people and they would never -- and put this in bold caps -- let him step into a boxing ring with Floyd Mayweather because everyone knows what the outcome would be. He would get his ass beat from pillar to post … "At the end of the day, he's under contract with the UFC. He's told what to do. He's an employee. He's done a masterful con job to try to trick people that he could actually pull this off. It's another creative way to create more interest. Nobody is mad but it's a con job trying to make people think this is real and even mentioning him and TBE [The Best Ever, Mayweather's nickname] in the same breath is disrespectful, completely disrespectful. Isn't this the same guy who tapped out three fights ago?"
