There won't be an official funeral for the rumors of interest in the Miami Hurricanes job by Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong, but the weeks-old speculation should finally be ready to come to an end after a report from Orangebloods last weekend that Strong has no interest in the Miami job and more strong statements from Strong himself on Monday.
To further restate things, Strong has come too far in his career to simply quit and that's what sources are now going on the record saying:
Even though Texas is not having the success he envisioned, Strong does not want to walk away after two seasons and be viewed as a quitter, according to those who are close to the coach.
In fact, Monday's availability produced a similar sentiment from the second-year head coach.
"I don't run from anything," Strong said. "When you work so hard to place yourself in this position, nothing's ever tough. You grind it out. I always talk to our players about hanging in there, that it may not be the way you want it to be, but so what? You hang in there. We didn't do a good job of coaching; if we did a better job of coaching, we wouldn't be in this position."
Last week, Strong talked about the responsibility that he feels he has not to fail. Other than not letting down the players and the fans and the administration, he doesn't want to let down other African-American coaches. Having struggled for years to land a head coaching job, he knows that the consequences of him failing could impact other coaches in the same position he was in not so long ago:
In addition, those close to Strong said the coach believes walking away from Texas could hinder the opportunities of other black coaches in the future. Strong does not want there to be a perception that black coaches cannot handle the pressure of leading a major college football program. Instead, he would rather continue building what he started and strive for a better record in 2016.
So, there it is, laid out in plain language. But just one more time, in case there are any more questions.
"I told our players: I am not going anywhere," he said. "We're going to see this through. I'm here and I'm here for the duration."