Charlie Strong was officially introduced as the new University of Texas head football coach Monday replacing the outgoing Mack Brown.
Strong, who helped turn Louisville into more than just a basketball school released the following statement:
I’m excited and my family is excited to have the chance to lead one of the premier football programs in the country. Texas is one of those places that is always on your radar and a program anyone would dream of being a part of because you have a chance to compete on a national level every year. It’s special because it has such great history, pride, tradition and passion for football.
A lot of people are happy by the hire. Strong (53) is presumably in his coaching prime coming off a 37-15 record during his four-year stint at Louisville, including a 23-3 record over the past two seasons. He may also be credited with the emergence of Teddy Bridgewater on the national level.
However the happiness doesn’t boil over to his now former players at Louisville who weren’t too happy to see them spurned for the bigger program in Texas.
For instance defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin accused Strong of lying to his face.
Its not that he left, it's the fact that prior to him leaving he told me not to worry because he wasn't going anywhere. #LiedToMeStraight
— Lorenzo Mauldin IV (@LozoIV) January 5, 2014
Safety Calvin Pryor took a different approach saying it was the players and not Strong who made Louisville football what it is.
https://twitter.com/CP3_850/statuses/419587620868341760
Cornerback Andrew Johnson also tweeted multiple times on how Strong wasn’t ‘real’ while taking a shot at Strong’s bald head.
He changed his tone though when tweeting directly to his former coach. Who’s fake now?
https://twitter.com/LockDown_15/statuses/419688686846885889
Other players tweeted on the frustration over the lack of communications between them and Strong when it came to the Texas job, which I guess is understandable.
Idc about him leaving, he could have at least told us before. Not mad at him though.
— DeVante Parker (@DeVanteParker11) January 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/Nilijah_Ballew/statuses/419695082720079872
Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich reportedly also spoke to the players in an attempt to fire them up and keep their spirits high.
Jurich told players "I don't care who was wearing the headset, it's your work that built this program, and will determine our future."
— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) January 5, 2014
Again the frustration is understandable but so is leaving a school like Louisville for a school like Texas while getting paid millions of dollars and having just about every resource available to succeed.
Welcome to the real world Louisville.