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Following the Texas Longhorns’ devastating loss to the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday afternoon, the only question anyone wanted to know was when, not if, head coach Charlie Strong will be fired.
According to Kirk Bohls at the Austin American-Statesman, that decision will come soon, as the Texas administration will make its decision before the Longhorns take on TCU the day after Thanksgiving.
Charlie Strong has not been informed of his future yet, sources say. But Greg Fenves wants to treat this with dignity, won't wait till TCU.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) November 20, 2016
In terminating the Texas head coach before the season finale, Texas hopes to preserve a degree of dignity for Strong, a coach Texas administrators have previously showed a lot of respect and support for.
Months of speculation regarding Strong’s job security came crashing down after Texas’ loss to Kansas, a team that hasn’t beaten the Longhorns since 1938 and was 0-13 against Texas since the formation of the Big 12. The third year-head coach refrained from making any definitive comments about his future in his press conference last night.
“No I don’t [know what this means for my future],” Strong said. “No idea.”
With Strong’s future all but certain, it makes sense for a decision to be made at the earliest possible point. Not only to avoid the noise of national speculation that grow louder with each day, but also to ensure Texas can get started on its coaching search as soon as possible.