Everything that is known about Charlie Strong is that he knows how to raise the bar when it comes to toughness. This is one of the biggest reasons Strong will likely be heading to a successful stay in Austin as the new head coach of the Texas Longhorns. Looking for a way to motivate his new program, Strong is making players walk to practices and preventing them from throwing up the traditional “hook ‘em horns” hand gesture.
“They’ll get it back one of these days,” Strong said in a story by ESPN.com.
As the Longhorns practice this spring, they no longer receive a free bus ride for the half-mile journey the practice fields. Players must walk the half mile on foot. No bikes and no scooters, it seems, are allowed. Walking a mile could end up improving the endurance of the players, so that’s a pretty interesting idea by Strong, although perhaps they will one day be rewarded with their bus trips if they show signs of improvement and hard work in practcies.
It is all a part of a master plan Strong has for the Longhorns. One of the reasons Strong is a good fit for Texas is because the football program was in need of a bit of a wake-up call. Texas lost their toughness over the final years of the Mack Brown era, and Strong is just the right guy to hit the reset button.
At this time it is unconfirmed if there is a punishment for a player throwing up the hook ‘em horns symbol, but given Strong’s determination to improve the program it would be wise for no player to dare to find out.