Texas HC Charlie Strong expects to meet with president and AD on Saturday to discuss future

In the aftermath of another blowout loss at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs, Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong once again made his case to return for a fourth season in Austin.

On Saturday, he’ll likely have the chance to make a similar pitch to president Greg Fenves and athletic director Mike Perrin, the two key decision makers for the Longhorns who will face the decision of paying Strong the $10 million remaining on his contract or bringing back a head coach with the worst winning percentage in school history.

Strong wasn’t sure if the TCU loss impacted Perrin’s evaluation of his season.

"If the decision was made then I can't help that,” Strong said. “I just hope we sit down and talk tomorrow."

For the first time, Perrin was not present for a post-game press conference, minutes after Strong said he told players that he was looking forward to returning in 2017.

“When I took this job three years ago, I came here for a number of reasons — I came here to win a national championship and I came here to change lives,” Strong said in his opening comments.

Unfortunately, Strong only accomplished one of those goals, though he was once again adamant that the program is headed in the right direction, once again saying he thinks this group can win a national championship and once again saying that the team is better than its record.

Strong went on to blame the media for the things his young players read all season about his job security, which he said caused his players to try to win games for him.

“What we’ve been going through is just too much pressure placed on them,” Strong said of his players. “I told them, ‘I never wanted you to make it about me. I wanted you to go enjoy the game. I wanted you to go have fun and don’t play tight, to loosen up and go make plays.’’

In looking towards the future, the cake has been baked, according to Strong, leaving the icing and slicing for the next head coach or for his return.

The Texas head coach even compared his situation to that of former Florida head coach Ron Zook, under whom he coached in 2003 and 2004, noting that Urban Meyer was able to come in and win two national championships

Though Strong certainly didn’t intend it in this way, he was effectively campaigning for Texas to find its Meyer.

Perhaps as soon as Saturday, the burnt orange faithful will find out whether Fenves and Perrin want to undertake that search.