Charlie Strong, football coach at Louisville, will be hired as Texas coach, per a 247 Sports report late Friday.
Charlie Strong
A high-ranking Texas official tells Horns247 that Charlie Strong will be next head coach of Longhorns. First reported by Horns247.
— Bobby Burton (@BobbyBurton247) January 4, 2014 BREAKING: Horns247 first to report that Texas will hire Louisville coach Charlie Strong.
— Bobby Burton (@BobbyBurton247) January 4, 2014 UPDATE: Per Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com:
The UT source said Louisville's Charlie Strong will be offered the job, and Strong has indicated he will accept.
— Chip Brown (@ChipBrownOB) January 4, 2014 Strong interviewed with Texas AD Steve Patterson this week. The Longhorns had considered UCLA coach Jim Mora and Baylor's Art Briles, both of whom said they had no interest in leaving their current position.
Strong is 37-15 during four seasons at Louisville and led the Cardinals to back-to-back bowl wins, including a 33-23 upset victory over Florida in the 2013 Sugar Bowl.
Strong is expected to accept the Texas offer, a person familiar with the search told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the process was being kept confidential and had not been completed.
Brown stepped down in December after 16 seasons with the Longhorns.
Strong, 53, is coming off his second consecutive double-digit victory season. He took over a program coming off three non-winning seasons.
He was a longtime defensive coordinator in the Southeastern Conference before getting a chance to be head coach. He took Louisville to the BCS last season and finished 12-1 this season with starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Patterson, hired in November to replace longtime AD DeLoss Dodds, interviewed Strong this week. Contract details were not immediately available. Brown's contract paid him more than $5 million per season.
Brown stepped down after four seasons that failed to live up to expectations, including this season's 8-5 record.
Strong had two stints as an assistant at Florida, first under Steve Spurrier and then as defensive coordinator for Urban Meyer's two national championship teams. In 2010, Louisville hired him to take over the program. He quickly righted the Cardinals, who are moving into the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.
Strong would be Texas' first black head football coach. He inherits a program aching to return to its place among the nation's elite programs.
Brown's Longhorns won the 2005 season national championship and returned to the national championship game after the 2009 season. But the Longhorns fell to 5-7 in 2010 and lost at least four games each of the past three seasons.
That dropoff, including an 18-17 record in the Big 12 over the past four seasons, frustrated Texas fans, who demand much more from the wealthiest athletic program in the country that sits in the middle of the most fertile high school recruiting grounds in the country.
Contributing: Associated Press
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