Which rings louder, the irony or the hypocrisy?
Charlie Strong opened his press conference confirming his new, $25 million post as coach of the Texas Longhorns football team earlier this week by talking about “the right commitment” at the exact same time the Louisville players he recruited to campus with the pledge they would always be there for one another were coming to realize they are now on their own in terms of maintaining the level of program they all once vowed to be forever loyal to.
Alas the grass is always greener in the world of college coaching, or any color you want it to be, for that matter, given all the millions upon millions that always readily seem to be in play for the men who troll its sidelines. Indeed, that seems the mantra of far too many coaches, who like Strong, appear to have adopted a do as I say not as a do brand of gospel when it comes to building relationships with the players they are entrusted with instilling character in.
Standing before the folks of Texas, Strong pompously said all the right things after making all the wrong moves in the way he chose to deal with those he left in his wake. Reports are Strong’s now former players had to find out about his change of heart and residence via social media. How’s that for championing commitment?
“Looking at Coach Strong interview and all I can do is shake my head,” tweeted Cardinals cornerback Andrew Johnson. “He ain’t real but fu** it. We still ball. I’m done talking bout this situation… Charlie ain’t worried bout us so it’s time to move on and keep our program top of the line.”
Jackson’s angry but heartfelt words were directed at Strong, but they might as well have been aimed at the fraternity of college coaches at large. More and more, coaches like Strong and Bobby Pettrino, the former Western Kentucky coach who just as eagerly bailed on his players to follow in Strong’s Louisville footsteps, are failing their charges in the most basic of ways.
“It’s not that he left, it’s the fact that prior to him leaving he told me not to worry because he wasn’t going anywhere,” defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin added on Twitter. “#LiedToMeStraight”
“It’s time to put the program back on the national stage,” Strong told the Texas crowd, conveniently with no mention of the men he could have well left in an everlasting rut.
And so, Mr. Strong comes to Texas, his 23-3 record and the distinction of being the first African-American head coach of a men’s sport in school history proudly in hand.
But that’s where the good vibes end. For in the cutthroat world of college athletics, the means don’t always justify the ends. Just ask the Louisville or Western Kentucky football players.
