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Following Saturday’s overtime loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, the consensus expectation was for the Texas Longhorns to fire head coach Charlie Strong and according to the Austin American Statesman, that decision has been made.
University of Texas officials have decided to fire football coach Charlie Strong, however the official announcement may not come until Monday, a high-ranking university source told the American-Statesman.
According to the report, the announcement should come as early as Monday.
Per The Football Braniacs, Strong’s message to his team earlier was one that seemed to indicate that he was already well aware of his time as Texas having come to an end.
I'm told message from Strong to his team at meeting earlier today was, "Be good men. Wins and losses come and go." #Texas
— Super K (@SuperK_TFB) November 20, 2016
#Longhorns will have full team dinner tonight. Asked my source if that was the norm ... "No." Could be interesting. #hookem
— Jason Suchomel (@OB_JasonS) November 20, 2016
Earlier reports from Horns Digest noted that the hope from the university was for Strong to still coach the team during Friday’s season finale against TCU in Austin. It’s unclear about what Strong’s duties will be if Texas wins on Friday and reaches bowl eligibility.
During his three seasons in Austin, Strong led the ‘Horns to a 16-20 record, which serves as the lowest winning percentage of any Texas coach in school history. Only weeks ago, there was still the belief that Strong could finish the season could finish the season on a high note with as few as four losses, but the ‘Horns have since suffered back-to-back losses and arguably the worst defeat in school history against 1-9 Kansas proved to be the Strong’s undoing.
The Longhorns now sit at 5-6 on the season following the 2-0 start.
Going forward, the expectation is for Texas to pursue Houston head coach Tom Herman, who has a 22-3 record in two seasons with the Cougars.