The Texas players couldn’t win enough to secure their coach’s future. So they’re considering the only other option to save Charlie Strong.
Amid widespread reports that Texas will can its coach after a home game Friday against TCU — which athletic director Mike Perrin called “rumors” — a group of players is threatening a boycott of what seems to be Strong’s final game on the Texas sideline, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
“Older players are trying to settle things down,” a source told the newspaper, and Strong himself tried to calm the uprising in a news conference Monday.
Strong, in the third year of a five-year deal, said he wants to remain with Texas, but not because his players — many of whom he recruited — forced the school’s hand.
“[A boycott] won’t happen,” Strong said, via the Dallas Morning News. “They won’t boycott this game. This game is about the seniors. They know how important it is.”
Strong’s tenure in Texas hit its nadir Saturday, losing to Kansas for the first time since 1938. The proud Longhorns are now 5-6 and just 16-20 since Strong came aboard, and the writing on the wall seems to be in ink. But Strong contended Monday he hasn’t been told he will be fired after Perrin released a statement Sunday that, while not a defense of Strong, also was not a pink slip.
“There are a number of rumors out there about the status of Coach Strong,” Perrin said. “I’ve said it all along, we will evaluate the body of work after the regular season. We have a game to get ready for against TCU on Friday, and I hope our fans will come out and support our team. We’ll discuss where things stand after that.”
But as reports gain steam that Strong is on the chopping block, his players have rebelled. First on Twitter — where a great number have simply written #Strong — and perhaps more notably on Friday.