UT and Strong update from UT fan "insider"

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I will update this thread throughout the day:

Monday 8:35 AM
I wake up disappointed with Mike Perrin.

The press release Perrin issued yesterday evening is a farce and a facade.

What's more, it's quite possibly a full-blown lie, something I would never expect or accept from someone leading any aspect of the university.

The facts are, Perrin and President Greg Fenves have already decided that the university will either fire Charlie Strong or accept his resignation.

To act or say otherwise is misleading and harmful.

And Strong knows that he is gone. He has told others privately as much.

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What I can't tell for sure is whether it's Perrin and Fenves acquiescing to a request from Strong to allow Strong to coach the last game without his job loss announced or if it's the university's desire to stay the course publicly with a end-of-the-year decision even though that decision has already been made privately.

Neither of those routes make much sense.

Perrin and Fenves could have allowed Strong to tender his resignation yesterday with the understanding that Strong would be allowed to coach the team versus TCU on Friday.

At any rate, the university is taking an unnecessary PR hit because the university is acting like no decision has been made when I have three sources who have spoken to either Fenves and/or Perrin who say the decision has been made.

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Going beyond all of the useless politicking, the reality is Texas is searching for a new coach.

That "search" actually started after the Oklahoma State game, but then it was merely as a back-up plan if Strong were to eventually fail this season.

In other words, it wasn't a full-blown search and I am told there was no agreement with any other coach. Texas was in wait-and-see mode until Saturday's loss to Kansas. At 7-5, Charlie Strong was likely coming back.

But given the Horns' abysmal loss to the Jayhawks, clarity has been given, timing is now expedited and pursuit will begin.

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A high-ranking Texas official spoke with a rep from Houston coach Tom Herman's camp on Saturday.

I am told that during the conversation it was communicated to Herman's rep that there was no "red flag" regarding Herman for the university as had been previously thought and had been reported.

Texas and Herman can make this work if both sides want it to.

The competition for Herman appears to be Baylor and Oregon.

Oregon has not fired its coach yet, but their head coach Mark Helfrich appears to be on his last leg in Eugene despite an upset win over Utah on Saturday. However, it's expected that Helfrich will be let go and that Nike founder. It's also expected that Oregon mega-donor Phil Knight is wanting to speak with Herman.

Baylor, of course, is also interested. The Bears' AD Mack Rhoades hired Herman at UH.

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Texas hosts TCU on Friday.

Houston plays Memphis in Memphis on Friday.

Texas could meet with Herman as soon as Saturday if the parties wanted to.

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In sum, Charlie Strong is gone. Whether that's today, tomorrow or Saturday, his reign in Austin is ending.

The question now surrounds the machinations of PR moves by the Longhorns, the subsequent hiring of a new coach and the idea that player unrest might be a very real issue and addressed immediately.

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I think Charlie Strong wants to be on the podium today and that's the problem.

I believe Perrin and Fenves are acquiescing to Charlie's desire to continue to lead the team for one more game. I think it's the wrong move.

Strong should resign and be allowed to coach the final game. That's how this should go but Fenves and Perrin are getting played IMO.

I think they're absolutely being upfront to Charlie. I think they've told him he's gone.

I think this is Strong not wanting to make it official until after the game. Fenves deserves a share of the blame as well.

If Strong somehow resigns today, then I get it. If not, then I don't. Logic does not always apply.

It really hasn't at any point in Strong's tenure.

Not with his hires, not with how they've been hired, not with game management, not with personnel management, not with attempting to tell people Swoopes was the QB, etc. Even when it comes to recruiting, he routinely defies logic. The list goes on and on.

Stop using logic to understand how Charlie Strong's brain works. He defies logic at every step.

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They would easily have let him do it if he were to resign. Instead he apparently wants to be fired.

Look, I don't claim to understand the inner workings of Strong's brain.

He's been told he will be gone at end of year. Why he's going out there and telling Herbstreit he hasn't been is beyond me. Why Perrin does the same is beyond me and what disappoints me the most.

Blame Strong for some of those leaks himself.

From Higdon to the whole telling multiple media members that Swoopes was winning the QB race.

Hell, Strong called one national reporter and tried to get them to run the Swoopes story and he hadn't even asked his offensive staff who the starting QB was going to be while he knew all along it would be Buechele.

Strong's not exactly pure as the driven snow in this stuff.

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He actually could get more via a negotiated exit than letting them fire him. All he'd have to do is ask for a lower deduction of future pay.

Right now, the university has a 50pct clawback right for two years. Reduce that to 25pct and Strong ends up with more money when he gets another job. Again, defies logic to make them fire you.

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