Charlie Strong
When Charlie Strong wakes up in the morning he must realize that he is in an extremely enviable situation; he makes a helluva lot of money, has a wonderful family and is the defensive coordinator for the defending national champions. And yet you get the sense that he feels disrespected and overlooked as a result of being such a successful defensive coordinator at this stage of his career.
From a football perspective, it appears rather obvious that he is more than qualified to be a college head coach: he has worked under the tutelage of three of the most accomplished men of their generations in Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier and now with Urban Meyer; he’s a great recruiter and has developed close relationships with several high school football coaches and programs all across the south; he has been responsible for bringing in some of the more talented players to Gainesville; and he’s a noted tactician, having led two national championship-winning defenses.
Crowning Achievements
People tend to forget just how ballyhooed the Ohio State offense was when it entered the championship game to complete the 2006 season. It fielded a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback in Troy Smith, established several team and conference records and simply rolled over most of the teams that it faced that season. It was considered a juggernaut without weakness. Further, no less than six offensive players were selected in that season’s NFL draft. The Gators completely overwhelmed Ohio State, holding them to 82 total yards for the entire game on their way to easily winning the title.
Last season’s Oklahoma offense also featured a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback and an obscenely prolific offense. Florida’s defense created turnovers, confusion and held the Sooners to almost 200 yards and 36 points under the season averages; truly an impressive performance.
Three of his last four units have finished in the top ten nationally in total defense; in a conference that prides itself on great defense, his has been one of the best. Considering the talent that his unit returns for the 2009 season, the Gators figure to field yet another highly ranked and dominate defensive unit.
Discrimination?
Failing to mention that racism has potentially played a part in his failure to land a head-coaching gig would render this column incomplete. The fact remains that there are still too few African American’s calling the shots in the NCAA. But there is another layer to this story; he married to a white woman – the ultimate taboo for many in south.
The reality is that athletic boosters wield enormous amounts of power; their large donations, in many cases, fund other, less profitable sports. Further, stadiums and practice facilities owed their existence to the money they donate.
At Oklahoma State University, T. Boone Pickens has donated at least 235 million dollars – with a minimum of 185 million dollars specifically gifted for athletic programs. I wonder if, when decisions are made that impact the football program, a moments thought drifts to his expressed desires?
The Heavener Complex at the University of Florida was built entirely with private donations, 16 athletic boosters donated the 28 million dollars that was required to fund the project. Further, all 16 donors gave at least one million dollar. Isn’t it a reasonable assumption that those donors at least want to be heard when decisions are being made?
While it may be impossible to determine just how much power these types of donors exert on athletic programs across the country, it would be naïve to think that these voices weren’t considered and, in some cases, even consulted. Many of these boosters love to hobnob with the head coach of their beloved university, with pictures of the two shaking hands or playing golf proudly sitting of their desks.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has reported on racism impacting hiring decisions in the SEC, particularly when Auburn chose not to select Turner Gill this past off-season. Is it reasonable to conclude that his race has, at the very least, impacted his ability to even land interview based on the fear that it might upset a few with deep pockets?
Considering his resume, this issue must be considered.
Strong was once asked how his wife impacted his coaching chances, he simply answered, “She makes no calls and she plays no defense.”
Future
The upside for Florida, if he continues to miss out on opportunities, is obvious: UF will continue to have on staff a terrific defensive mind; they will continue to gain from having an effective recruiter on staff; and the coaching staff will retain a high level of continuity and effectiveness.
If Meyer does in fact leave to pursue other options after this season (which I don’t see happening), Florida will certainly find itself in a very interesting situation – select who is universally considered an outstanding candidate in Charlie Strong or go a different direction, which would certainly result in heated criticism.
The decision that Athletic Director Jeremy Foley would face would not be an easy one; he’s been down the road of hiring a long time Florida assistant (i.e., Ron Zook) – and that tenure ended miserably, and at great cost to the university. In my mind, Charlie Strong would be a slam-dunk.
Charlie Strong wants to be a head coach, unlike someone like Mickey Andrews who, other than two brief stints calling the shots in the early 1970’s, has had a magnificent career at Florida State and has been perfectly comfortable operating in the shadows.
Charlie Strong has earned a chance, isn’t time he had a shot?
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Very good article! Charlie Strong is one of the best in the business. One of his problems might be that he tends to work for “offensive geniuses”, and therefore his accomplishments are overshadowed. Reporters love to write one more article about Urban Meyer and Tebow’s spiritual connection, but rarely write more than a paragraph about Strong.
btw, I’m glad Auburn passed over Turner Gill. We don’t need another great coach in the SEC.
OK Real, once again – Good piece.
The points I made in my initial comments – there have been some excellent assistant coaches, Ellis Johnson, Ed Orgeron, Croom, who possibly because of their single focus and hard work at coaching one area of football, don’t necessarily transfer that to the CEO like job of head coach. You used Mickey Andrews as a good example, there are others – Brother Oliver, John Chavis, etc., who seem content to excel at their craft (and draw a pretty nice paycheck.) Obviously, I don’t keep in touch with Florida insiders or read the Florida papers on a regular basis, but this seems to be the first off season that Strong appeared a little wistful about getting no offers and expressed a little strongly that, indeed, he would like to coach a major college program.
There has to be a school out there who is willing to take a chance on Strong, regardless of the color of his or his wife’s skin. I think that within that fairly closed community of good ol rich boys, ADs and bullied and frightened university presidents, at least consciously and overtly, race is not a factor. BUT, when you get down to the fact that most of them want somebody they can identify with, play golf with and hang out with, it is at least subconsciously racist, because most of those guys have never done any of those things with a black man, unless they paid a mil to shoot a round with Tiger or something.
Turner Gill had an excellent year at Buffalo and was not hired by ANY other school for ANY open position, so I don’t think that Auburn should be singled out. Because nobody else took him and the Barn was among the last to hire a coach, they should have made up the slack? I don’t think so.
Unless a coach takes another job, there won’t be any HC jobs open in the SEC at the end of the season. The one that gets the most rumors as being vacant is Florida’s. Do they have a responsibility to hire Strong or to go after a big name coach, with HC experience, regardless of race? I think we all know the answer to this, but, if they don’t hire Charlie Strong, the heat that will be on them will seem like the fires of hell.