Monday Mornings with Sean: Post-ISU
Charlie Strong. (Will Gallagher/IT)
Texas football is like my golf game – par, par, par, 10. You just can’t have the 10’s like Notre Dame, TCU, and Iowa State. It is usually never that you lose, it is about how you lose. This was another offensive night for the Longhorns where they looked inept. In Year 2 of any coaching staff especially at a place like Texas, you cannot have an offense that looks inept.
The bottom line is Charlie Strong bet on Shawn Watson and Shawn Watson bet on himself.
And lost.
Strong needs to have an offensive coordinator that can manage the offense and deliver points. Shawn Watson has an identity with the west coast offense. Jay Norvell has an identity too. The guy on the staff that actually has a history of running the offense that Strong wants is newly elevated coach Jeff Traylor.
Traylor could be a guy to get caught up in the wash. There are many that think he can be the next high school coach to make it big in the likes of Chad Morris, Hugh Freeze, and Gus Malzahn.
If he can’t get a chance to show his ability this season, there is no way the job can be handed to him even if Strong wants to after the season ends.
As Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star Telegram said on my radio show, “If my job is on the line, I’m not handing the offense over to an unproven college coach one year removed from high school.”
Should he be more involved now?
Strong’s best friend needs to be his interim athletic director Mike Perrin. The conversations about changes to the staff after this season need to be in cahoots. Does Mike Perrin know enough about the current state of football to help Strong make a decision?
Every AD has a list, usually in order, in their wallet of people they would approach if the football, baseball, or basketball job opened. They usually pay enough attention to the game to understand who the up-and-comers are and who is having a lot of success.
Perrin has spent most of his career building a massive law career and following his beloved alma mater as a fan and donor. He has been in the role of athletic director for just over a month and has been a tiny bit busy.
Can he go to Charlie and say, “What can I do to help you? I have compiled some names if you want help from me. How can I assist so we can get the best possible option for the University of Texas to win?”
Will Strong and Perrin be advocates for Texas and partners in winning or will Strong be left on his own to win or lose?
Strong needs to do everything he can to foster a great relationship and partnership with Perrin because he will be Strong’s advocate to the donors and people that care about Texas football. He can help shape the story.
Texas had two offensive plays cross the Iowa State 50-yard-line until there was less than a minute to play. It was very reminiscent of the TCU game where Texas did absolutely nothing until very late when Tyrone Swoopes hit Lorenzo Joe for a late score to make it 50-7.
The offense is a mess.
If Strong is going to make it at Texas, he needs to have real change and the offense will have to look massively different at this time next year. He will have to sell that to someone and sell them the vision that they will not be uprooting their family and leaving a pretty good job for a 1-year tryout.
There is a lot to be done, a lot of decisions to be made to get things back on track…and there is no more margin for error.
