Charlie Strong's Future at Texas, Part III: The Realist's View

Excerpted from the 2014 Longhorn Football Prospectus: Thinking Texas Football.

The Realist's View

A realistic perspective on Charlie Strong’s future at Texas requires acknowledging that both the Optimist and the Pessimist make excellent points. Strong’s arrival infuses the program with qualities that have been lacking for far too long, but it also comes at a precarious time. The Longhorn brand is in a fragile state, and capable foes cast covetous eyes on the state’s fertile recruiting grounds. Opposing coaches, hack columnists and (sadly) more than a few folks nominally affiliated with the program sit on ready-made narratives, eager to unleash them if the program stumbles out of the gate. While we’d love to lay out the next decade of Longhorn football with crystal clarity, reasonable minds must acknowledge more than a little uncertainty about how this whole thing will turn out.

So here’s a question - in the face of uncertainty, what do you do?

As Texas fans we’re unique in a lot of ways, but we share one characteristic with fan bases of historically elite programs nationwide - we believe that championships are our birthright. Some Texas fans are nursing doubts as to whether Strong was the right hire, and simply aren’t sure that we’ll reclaim our championship birthright under his watch. But there are Texas values that have existed for a lot longer than Texas Football has been around, and you can scour a list of those values from top to bottom and never find one that says, "We only go to battle when we know victory is certain."

Texas fans can sit on their hands, dole out their support in teaspoons, or even go up in arms at the first sign of trouble...and in the process create a negative, self-fulfilling prophecy that undercuts, undermines and diminishes a hard-working coach who’s doing his best to fix something that’s broken. Or they can throw on their Burnt Orange, pack DKR and howl like maniacs in support of a coach and a team who are looking to take Texas back to where we all want to be.

One of those prospects sounds a bit more emotionally fulfilling than the other, doesn’t it?

To be clear, we’re not advocating mindless, sunny hope any more than we’d support reflexive negativity and cynicism. Our emotions are with Charlie, but our mission is to take an objective view of what’s in store for the Longhorns in 2014 and beyond. To survey the lay of the land, weigh the evidence, and put forth a logical, insightful and ultimately Realistic perspective on Texas Football...that you’ll hopefully appreciate while you’re screaming your heads off for the Longhorns.

Let’s get started…

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Are YOU ready to get started? Well you can start by purchasing your very own copy of Thinking Texas Football 2014 and find more than 200 pages of quality writing, insightful analysis, pretty pictures and everything else you'll need to kick Charlie Strong's inaugural season off in high style. Pick one up from your e-tailer of choice:

The 2014 Longhorn Football Prospectus: Thinking Texas Football
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