Memo to Longhorn Nation: do not book flights to Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex or reserve hotel rooms in that area for the time around Jan. 12, 2015; you’re head coach says your team won’t be there.
While not exactly a statement that goes against conventional wisdom when it comes to the 2014 college football season, Charlie Strong surprised some observers Monday when he talked about expectations for his first season at Texas. Or, more to the point, he significantly lowered the first-year expectations of the media and fans alike.
“We have everything available, and I don’t know why we can’t be successful,” Strong said while speaking to fans on his tour of Fort Worth. “There’s no reason for us not to be. Now, I can’t tell you how soon it’s going to be. Don’t hold me to that. Don’t say, ‘Ooh, coach said next year we’ll be in the national…’ We will not be in the national championship game.”
While some will criticize Strong for a defeatist attitude, others -- myself included -- will applaud the first-year UT coach for injecting some reality into a fan base that ofttimes suffers delusions of grandeur.
The Longhorns haven’t been a factor nationally since the 2009 season. The past four years, they’ve sported a 30-21 record and earned three postseason berths -- two to the Alamo Bowl, one to the Holiday Bowl. While they played for a Big 12 title the final day of the regular season, that had more to do with other conference teams stumbling.
In other words, UT has a tough row to hoe to get back to where they belong nationally -- especially with an unsettled quarterback position heading into his inaugural season in Austin. Good on Strong -- not an overwhelmingly popular hire to begin with -- for shooting straight with his new fan base and not blowing the kind of rectal sunshine for which most coaches are infamous.