If new Texas coach Charlie Strong hasn't yet had his "I'm not at Louisville anymore" moment, he's about to.
Strong told a gathering of Texas fans at a speaking engagement Monday night that the Longhorns won't reach the national championship game next year. Coming off an 8-5 year and entering a season loaded with question marks throughout the lineup, the statement was most certainly realistic.
But just as certainly not altogether wise.
"We have everything available, and I don't know why we can't be successful," Strong said, according to the Austin American-Statesman. "There's no reason for us not to be. Now, I can't tell you how soon it's going to be. Don't hold me to that. Don't say, 'Ooh, coach said next year we'll be in the national ...' We will not be in the national championship game."
File this under things never to be said by a Texas coach around Texas fans. You wouldn't ever hear an NFL coach, no matter how downtrodden, say that his team had no chance at the Super Bowl. And while that may be a more acceptable sentiment from a coach in the 123-team FBS than for a coach in a 32-team league set up for parity through things like salary caps and draft order, it's never going to be what Texas fans want to hear.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn inherited a 3-9 team and, in his first season, took the Tigers to the doorstep of a national title the following year. Strong essentially said the Longhorns can't engineer success at the same speed, even with a team much more accustomed to winning than Malzahn's was.
Go to sleep, Texas fans. We'll wake you up in 2015.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
