If you thought the Texas story regarding Tulsa offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert was done, think again. Reports Friday surfaced saying Texas is still going all in on trying to lure Gilbert to Austin. The measures have gone so far as to fly the university president to Tulsa to make a sales pitch.
On Friday, University of Texas president Greg Fenves tweeted his show of support for Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong on his Twitter account.
I fully support Charlie Strong. I am committed to helping him move Longhorn Football forward.
— Greg Fenves (@gregfenves) December 11, 2015
Not too long after that, reports started spreading that Fenves was en route to Tulsa to try and convince Gilbert to leave the Tulsa program and join the Texas coaching staff. The thinking was having the university president make the sales pitch would show the job security Strong has as head coach of the struggling Longhorns program. Joining Fenves on the recruiting trip was Strong and Texas Athletics Director Mike Perrin. This is an all-out blitz to secure Tulsa’s offensive coordinator, who may or may not have already turned down an offer. You don’t fly in the head coach, athletics director and president and return empty-handed. This is clearly the top target for the Longhorns, and they are working every possible angle to make it happen.
But what if it doesn’t work?
and this better work, cuz what an awful look of it doesn’t. smh. https://t.co/fKri4BdwVF
— bomani (@bomani_jones) December 12, 2015
If Texas goes all out and still gets rejected by a Tulsa OC, that is going to be a nice recruiting pitch for Baylor, TCU, OU, Tulsa etc.
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) December 11, 2015
So it appears Sterlin Gilbert has become a proxy civil war of sorts between the Texas administration and boosters.
— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) December 11, 2015
This could be bad for Texas. Forget about the confusion in the reporting leading up to this latest sequence of events. If Texas goes all in for Gilbert and comes away without him, that is a bad look. That doesn’t mean Texas will fail in this process though. If Gilbert does not come to Texas, there is still a chance a good hire can be made. That all must be determined later on though. Until then, the Texas football program faces a tough battle and recruiting rivals are surely going to take notice and use this to their advantage as much as possible.