Charlie Strong has been hired as Texas' head coach, multiple media outlets reported Friday night.
Strong, who led Louisville to a 12-1 season, would replace Mack Brown as the Longhorns' coach. SI.com reported that Strong agreed to a five-year deal worth $5 million per season; Brown reportedly made $5.1 million annually.
Strong, 53, is 37-15 in four seasons as Louisville's coach, including a 23-3 mark in the past two seasons. Before going to Louisville, he had been a college assistant for 24 seasons, working for coaches such as Lou Holtz, Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier as a defensive coordinator.
Strong is known as a good recruiter, an excellent motivator and a coach who fully develops talent. His defenses have been known for their toughness and aggressiveness, something Texas has lacked for the past few seasons.
On the field, then, Strong is a great fit at Texas.
But Strong is not known as a back-slapper or a glad-hander, something that is vital at Texas. And while always cordial with the media, Strong doesn't exactly go out of his way to spend time with reporters. Nor has he ever dealt with an overly harsh media. In those aspects, he seems ill-suited for the Texas job. Brown complained about the hours the Longhorn Network took away from actual coaching, and those complaints came from a guy considered an expert football politician. Brown also was savvy with boosters.
Off the field, then, Strong is an iffy fit at Texas. The likely on-field results, however, should trump that.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
