Firing of Charlie Strong Racist?
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Read a story where some FoxSports talking head called the firing of Charlie Strong “racist”.
Well, you know that will foster discussion…That sportscasters used the angle that several 6-7fig UT donors, naming Red McCombs, & how that whole bunch was against Strong from the start, citing McCombs own statement when Strong was hired about “feeling insulted/slap in the face”(but no elaboration why exactly). McCombs quickly retracted that statement back then, but the FoxSports guy thinks that set the tone against Strong from Day 1. That all may indeed be racist, & I agree that overtoned statement sounded awful. But there is also the no small fact that Strong went 16-21 over 3 seasons. At Texas.So Strong’s buyout is $20million. He receives an additional $10mil to not coach the next 2 years.
My personal beliefs: 1. The firing of Charlie Strong is not, in of itself racist, simply because any college ftball fan/analyst that knows UT, would realize 16-21 isnt good enough.
2. Is there racisim at UT. You bet there is. Money talks…and Red McCombs opened his mouth in a manner that may or may not have cast a wide ripple. While a liberal institution like UT could never condone anything overt, perhaps McCombs very shrewdly made/retracted a statement on purpose. Looking for a reason to fire him, Strong provided it himself with his record.
3. Any corrollary to Gill’s situation at KU? Hard to justify that argument, since Gills record at KU was dismal. Is there racism at KU or its alumni base? I’d have to say yes, we all know it exists in every generation, more so in older generations…but I dont think to the degree that at UT, perhaps, just imho. But I admit this is just my gut feel, basing on the attitudes of fellow KU people I know, fellow WmsFund alums, and the lack of public foot-in-mouth like McCombs wittingly/unwittingly made down in TX.
I suppose a corrollary could be what would Red McCombs think of a coach like Lovie Smith (exBears) or Mike Tomlin (Steelers).
At the end of his tenure, Strong’s inescapable cloud was that 16-21 record. Would a white coach have been given another year or 2 at UTexas? If Bill Snyder went 16-21 after 3 yrs at TX, or after 3 yrs at any SEC school, I’ve always believed that record wouldnt fly, is entirely possible (since he cant recruit), & he’d be fired.
Food for thought, right here in the BigXII. All thoughts welcome…
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@ralster I’m getting so tired of the racist BS, Strong was fired because he couldn’t beat teams like KSU and KU that have 2 or 3 star guys compared to Texas’s 5 star and top 10 recruiting classes. I remember Charles Barkley claiming KU was racist for firing Gill lol. Every white person is racist that’s the new in this world.
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No.
Texas is crazy and would fire any coach in the same situation.
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@kjayhawks Agree. I dont like knee-jerk PC. Each separate case should have its own set of facts, and thus have actual merit, if any can be found “upon further review”, as the refs say…
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@BShark Yep. At least thats also my feeling, from what info Ive seen…
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Was firing Charlie Strong racist? No.
Was Charlie Strong given the resources necessary to succeed? That’s questionable.
Was that limitation of resources related to certain donors not approving of his original hiring? Most likely.
What were the reasons for those donors not approving of his hiring? We will probably never know.
The answer to the first question is pretty clearly a no, but as you peel back the layers, the questions get a little tougher, the motives a bit murkier, the morals less steadfast.
Was the decision to fire a 16-21 coach motivated by race? No. It was motivated by being a sub .500 coach. But the real question, as it was in the Turner Gill situation, is whether Strong received as much institutional support as a similarly positioned non minority coach would have received. Given the fact that the AD that hired him was canned less than two years later, its very difficult to believe he received a clear backing from the administration and, more importantly, the donors. This is particularly true when some of those prominent donors make it a point to say that they did not support the hiring initially.
It is similar to the Gill situation where certain donors were privately discussing buying his contract out leading up to his first game!
The real question is not whether Strong should have been fired. He very clearly failed. The question is whether Texas ever genuinely gave him a chance to succeed.
Moving back to Gill, the answer to that second question has always been no. There were donors that had no intent of Gill even finishing his first season. How can you build a program when there are internal questions about your job security from the first game you coach on?
I don’t know the Texas situation as well, but given the comments out there, the question is valid.
Only God can judge the hearts or men. We may never truly know.
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@justanotherfan I agree with most of what you said friend. The Turner Gill thing is hard to say, to be blunt he had no right to get his crazy contract after one good season at buffalo. He was beaten by an FCS first game out and flatout had the talent to win 5 games IMO, hell he won 3(has one winning season between 6 years at KU and Buffalo). I wanted him to succeed, he was a great guy, I loved his character. Just didn’t agree with his coaching or how he let his players struggle in the classroom and as citizens. He seemed lost at press conferences , our players were way outta shape.All this being said I think he should’ve been given his 3rd year. Weis ruined his program Gill could recruit just couldn’t do much else.
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@kjayhawks Which sucks worse? Which has longer lasting effects? Which can exist and be perpetrated without ever being uncovered? The answer to those questions might depend on which side of a 400 year history of racism your shade of skin puts you.
I think Charles Schulz would abhor the misuse of his cartoon character that broke major conventions, and pissed off school segregationists nationwide.
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@mayjay Neither one is correct and as most of our parents said growing up two wrongs don’t make a right. The longer last effect depends on curtain situations. I’m on no side of as I only believe in one race the human race and anyone that would blame the history on racism on current people just for being white is dumber than the floor I stand on. Here’s a newsflash for you both ancestors made mistakes, one sold their own people to be enslaved and the others let it happen. I guess I don’t quite get your point, what is it? because racism exist it makes it okay to accuse everyone on the other side racist? Because that in itself is racist. I guess I don’t understand why its not okay for me to get pissed for being constantly accused of being racist because of my color. Please never reply to me again I have no need to ever discuss anything with someone so simple minded thank you.
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@kjayhawks Thank you for making your feelings so clear. It clears up a lot of things.
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simmah down nah!
