The topic people don't want to get into is getting national coverage

[DizzG]

Was heavily mentioned on ESPN radio today. They were talking about how this is the first African American head coach in the history of Texas for any major men's sport. That it was long overdue and a good move etc etc.

That's not why he was hired but it's not something that's going unnoticed by the national media. I'm just glad strong is here

 

[johnabeard]

the more I read on strong, the more I like him as a fit for texas.

he wins, he takes no shit from the higher ups, he wins, he recruits well, he wins.

color of his skin doesn't matter to me. go coach strong

 

[Topstarr]

we need "all" National Exposure for the recruits,Texas being back.......and to get back at my TAM friends.

 

[SlickStreet]

I don't give a ____ what color the man is. So, IMO, the subject is really just largely geared to incite strong responses, at least from some. The way I look at it is the guy seems like a really good coach, and I'm pretty stoked. I think much of the consternation was because we had long been built up to believe we'd get a Saban or somesuch. When that didnt' happen, lots of folks wanted to jump off the ledge. Now that some have had a chance to chill and look at the whole picture, they're starting to see the hire for what it, at least, seems to be, which is a really good football coach that we're probably fortunate to have.

 

[NLeininger]

His resume is much better than Sumlin's was against better competition.

Both were lifetime assistants with multiple stops along the way.

Sumlin was 35-17 in 4 seasons at UH, 1-1 in bowl games, and never won a conference championship(0-2).

Strong was 37-15 in 4 seasons at UL, 3-1 in bowl games, he won 1 Big East championship and won a BCS bowl game, blowing out 11-1 Florida.

 

[johnabeard]

im ready to see a defense that pushes back and doesn't take anything from the offense, that is what strong will bring

 

[Growler]

If he wins more championships than Mack Brown, I hope we treat him better than Mack.

If he doesn't I hope we get him out quicker.

This is such a non-issue, except for a handful who always try to make it one.

 

[SlickStreet]

PS...having said what I did above, I consider it only a plus that he is black, all considering. I have seen race used against Texas--even when there's been very little legitimate reasons for it--many times, and that includes even with James Brown as our QB for four freakin' years. So, yeah, it's a bit of a hot subject for a lot of us. I remember a&m and others using it against us, as if College Station is the bastion of openness.

 

[hookem123]

That it was long overdue and a good move etc etc.
That's not why he was hired

How do you know this? You have no way of knowing this. You should know he wasn't hired for his conference championships. 2 less than Mack which was the main reason for showing Coach Brown the gate.

 

[NLeininger]

If he wins more championships than Mack Brown, I hope we treat him better than Mack.
If he doesn't I hope we get him out quicker.

This is such a non-issue, except for a handful who always try to make it one.

The only one to blame for the way the fans treating Mack was Mack, had he stepped down honorable the fans would still love him. It was beginning to look like a Bowden/Patreno problem.

 

[abcee]

Mike Sumlin was at Houston and is now at A&M.

How could ESPN miss something that obvious?

 

[CCausey11]

How do you know this? You have no way of knowing this. You should know he wasn't hired for his conference championships. 2 less than Mack which was the main reason for showing Coach Brown the gate.

Wrong, Charlie has one conference championship and one BCS victory in four years.

 

[PTA]

What? He's black?

(sarcasm)

 

[Hookem Reb]

This is what I posted over on OB. This is a good hire, one for a quality coach and two to combat negative (although wrong) perceptions:

Lets face it, this hire was made to combat the aggies hiring of Sumlin. Some have brought up race. Like it or not, Texas has always been identified as a "racist" university despite all of our attempts to resolve that label. When I first attended the University in the early 70's, one of the first guys I befriended was a black guy from Corpus named David. As we got to know each other, he said he was at Texas on a scholarship. David was a big guy, so I asked if he played football, as I did not see his name on the roster. He said no he was not a football player. When I asked him what his scholarship was for, David looked at me and said, "because I am an African American". He said all he had to do is pass his classes to keep the scholarship. That was Texas reaching out in the 70's. And a lot of you old timers will remember the study they made showing the population of black students at Texas compared to a&m. The aggies had something like 160 black students back then, and 150 were on athletic scholarships. However the perception was a&m was more friendly to black students. Texas had nearly 2,000 black students. Barry Switzer used his hillbilly charm to sway many young black athletes away from Texas. He was viewed a more fatherly figure in the black community. Every time we hired a black assistant coach many would applaud it as our opportunity to recruit inner city Houston and Dallas.

Also, look at the movie that came out 2 years ago about Ernie Davis at Syracuse. Once again, right or wrong, Texas and DKR were made to look like the KKK. Suffice it to say, Charlie Strong's hiring will do wonders for the image of the University of Texas. We all know that the head football coach at Texas is a icon figure. It ranks with being the Governor for the state in most people's eyes. And now we have hire our first black coach for this position. He will be the face of the university. I wish him nothing but the best and hope all will get behind the man as he attempts to change the culture at Texas we all know has become stagnant.

 

[utparothed]

Don't care what color he was before...he's burnt orange now!!!

 

[whatthewhat]

In my experience, some people tend to become overly defensive about their being 'colorblind' because it serves as a shield of sorts against any potential accusations of racism. I've seen it illustrated over and over again on this board and others over the last three days. There was a time growing up in the military when I bought into the concept of our nation being a melting pot and that 'race doesn't matter,' but in my personal and professional experience as an adult, I've come to believe that being 'colorblind' is more dangerous than helpful.

I once met a woman of color who articulated it perfectly, I wish I had had the sense to write it down all those years ago- but in summary, she explained that it's awesome when people want to give her the same degree of respect as they would any white woman, and she understands why people would want to 'see her as a person, not just as a black person,' but to see her without acknowledging the fact that she's black is to ignore a huge part of who she is, or the hundreds of years of cultural history that have contributed to how she identifies herself. Kinda like if we were to see a man wearing a preacher's collar and pretend we don't know he's religious. Maybe one day things will be different, but we're not talking about a thousand generations between then and now, we're talking about a culture only a few generations out from legalized racism (Jim Crow). We still have a lot of work to do.

I hate to get political, because it's never going to end well, but if we don't talk about race or racism or perceptions of reality and how race 'matters,' then we're doomed to allow culturally ingrained biases to perpetuate and evolve into even uglier problems than they already are. I do not think Steve Patterson hired Charlie Strong because he's black, but I do think it's important to celebrate that an enormous barrier has been breached by Texas bringing in a black head coach. And I think it's exciting! Why NOT celebrate it? Whether people want to acknowledge it or not, any fifty-plus year old black man in the United States of America who aspires to an HC position at a major university is going to face a considerable number of challenges that the average white man wouldn't even dream of.

In short, he's a talented coach, it's going to be exciting to see what he does in the next few years, and he's also the first black head coach at the university of Texas. It's okay to talk about it! That's how we learn to empathize with one another's experiences, grow as individuals, and evolve as a society.

Warning: I get like this, all verbose and passionate, about any number of issues. Sorry in advance.

 

[aowells]

Like most, I don't care whether he's black or white. He seems to be a good coach and I'm excited.

I do worry though that if people and the media start to associate this hiring with race relations and hold it up as a sign of how wonderful and progressive we are, that it becomes tougher to get rid of him if it doesn't work out.

Hopefully we don't have to worry about that.

 

[johnabeard]

This is what I posted over on OB. This is a good hire, one for a quality coach and two to combat negative (although wrong) perceptions:
Lets face it, this hire was made to combat the aggies hiring of Sumlin. Some have brought up race. Like it or not, Texas has always been identified as a "racist" university despite all of our attempts to resolve that label. When I first attended the University in the early 70's, one of the first guys I befriended was a black guy from Corpus named David. As we got to know each other, he said he was at Texas on a scholarship. David was a big guy, so I asked if he played football, as I did not see his name on the roster. He said no he was not a football player. When I asked him what his scholarship was for, David looked at me and said, "because I am an African American". He said all he had to do is pass his classes to keep the scholarship. That was Texas reaching out in the 70's. And a lot of you old timers will remember the study they made showing the population of black students at Texas compared to a&m. The aggies had something like 160 black students back then, and 150 were on athletic scholarships. However the perception was a&m was more friendly to black students. Texas had nearly 2,000 black students. Barry Switzer used his hillbilly charm to sway many young black athletes away from Texas. He was viewed a more fatherly figure in the black community. Every time we hired a black assistant coach many would applaud it as our opportunity to recruit inner city Houston and Dallas.

Also, look at the movie that came out 2 years ago about Ernie Davis at Syracuse. Once again, right or wrong, Texas and DKR were made to look like the KKK. Suffice it to say, Charlie Strong's hiring will do wonders for the image of the University of Texas. We all know that the head football coach at Texas is a icon figure. It ranks with being the Governor for the state in most people's eyes. And now we have hire our first black coach for this position. He will be the face of the university. I wish him nothing but the best and hope all will get behind the man as he attempts to change the culture at Texas we all know has become stagnant.

great post, smart imformative and help to understand some big changes coming for texas.

Thank you

 

[texasfight4468]

Let us not judge a man by the color of his skin, but by the product he puts on the field! I'm ready for next season !