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Red McCombs has donated millions to Texas, and his name is on the north side of the football stadium. He publicly lobbied for Texas to hire Jon Gruden.
Hours after Strong was introduced Monday at a campus news conference, McCombs, the former owner of the Minnesota Vikings and the San Antonio Spurs, complained to KZDC-AM in San Antonio that he was ignored in the coaching search.
”I think it is a kick in the face,” McCombs said. ”Beyond the fact of what actually happened. We have boosters that have a lot of knowledge about the game.”
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McCombs said Texas got the selection ”wrong” and that Strong would be a good position coach or coordinator. He later said he would support Strong and wished him well when they spoke by phone Sunday night.
I’m not sure billionaire owners in Texas are the football authorities they all think they are.
Clearly Texas couldn’t get any of its top choices (Saban, Gruden, Fisher), as McCombs proclaims. So, it’s at least plausible to suggest that all these supposedly top jobs — USC, Texas, Penn State — aren’t getting their top choices because of the millionaire donors they’d have to deal with.
That’s why ADs are so important. They have to effectively maintain the buffer between the know-it-all boosters and the coaches. McCombs comes across as one of two things (maybe both): 1) an arrogant jerk who didn’t get his way or 2) a racist redneck who hates the idea of a black man coaching “his” football team.
This guy is a racist. To suggest Strong is not qualified is ludicrous.
I listened to the part of the interview that ESPN3 had up last night and I don’t believe that either of your statements is valid. It sounded to me that McCombs thought the Texas should have gotten one of the “premiere” names being thrown around and he was unhappy with anything less (and stupid enough to voice his opinions).
Edit to add that McCombs might be racist (I have no way of knowing either way). But the clip that ESPN had up contained nothing that hit me as racist.
Ok. I haven’t seen it but know some are suggesting it. I think Strong was a premier name. His name has been linked to several “big” jobs. Of course, we are all entitled to our opinion in that regard.
Concluding that Red McCombs’s statements were in any way racist is to take the leap that the media wishes one to take. If one claims that his statements are racist in nature, then it would follow that the claimant can read Mr. McCombs mind, because I listened to his comments and found nothing racially offensive whatsoever. The claim of racism in this case is a claim borne in media-induced stereotypes such as “Texas”, “good ole boys,” “wealthy old southern men” coupled with Strong being the first black male to be a head coach at Texas. I’ll admit that when I saw the headline, my first thought was along those lines.
No, this is more about Red not being part of the decision – a decision that he felt he had a major say-so in. The former owner of the Spurs, Nuggets, and Vikings has given UT over 100 million dollars. A business school is named for him there, and there is a statue of him in the stadium. Red likes to take credit for the hire of his friend Mack Brown, and now his feelings are hurt because he was not in on the decision to hire Brown’s replacement. Further, it is his opinion that UT could have found a much more higher profile coach with more experience as a head coach. I agree with him in that respect, so does that make me a racist? There is also the rap on Strong that he is not booster-friendly, nor does he stray far from his office or the football field to promote Louisville football and help bring in revenue for the program through personal appearances and so forth. Whether that is true I don’t know, but if it is, it probably won’t settle well in Austin. I say that in three years Strong will be told to hit the trail.
Again, to suggest that Strong is not capable of leading a program is downright laughable. He has mopped the floor compared to his boy Mack Brown the past few years. A coordinator? Seriously? That is why some are finding these comments that way. Strong is a head coach. He has been a head coach, and a darn successful one at that. Maybe it is not his guy, but he is a head coach.
If he feels he wasn’t included, then he should learn how to say that clearly.
I am not the only person that finds these comments very curious. Whatever the case, this guy comes off as an idiot and is why so many say boosters at Texas have far too much influence.
McCombs never said that Strong was not capable of leading a program. In fact, he said he is “a fine coach.” Could he have been clearer as to his reasoning ? Yes, by all means. What he could have said is that Strong is a fine coach who has only 4 years experience as a head coach, played only 3 ranked teams in those 4 years (all of which were ooc) amassed seasonal records of 7-6,7-6,11-2, and 12-1. The last two seasons were with Teddy Bridgewater at QB against a weak Big East/AAC conference schedule. Look, I think that Strong is a good coach, but he is not the high profile hire that McCombs was looking for. His 2 Big East championships are nice, but to McCombs and others, they are not Big 12 championships or SEC championships. They are replacing a coach that won the National Championship for them in 2005 and won the Southern Div 7 times – a man with 244 wins on his resume.
Indeed, McCombs and other boosters at UT have too much influence with the athletic department, but UT is not alone in that respect. Yes, McCombs could have spoke more eloquently about the matter, but to call him a racist based on his comments seems to me to be a knee-jerk or trigger-happy reaction. But it sells media, does it not?
Saying that he’s “qualified to be a coordinator” is either blissfully ignorant (ironic, coming from a guy claiming such football knowledge), or yeah…does raise my radar as having something more behind it (LIKELY race-based).
Charlie Strong has been an A list name for every job opening in the past two years. He could have had his pick of any open SEC job last season, and passed – likely to wait for a job like this. There is no fucking way for a rational person with ANY level of football knowledge to think Strong is “qualified to be a coordinator.”
Strong wasn’t going to leave Louisville to be a coordinator. Not in college and not in the NFL. He has a stellar resume and is by all accounts a quality person.
This moron is more concerned about his own feelings than the university who claims he adores. His issue is with the administration, not Strong. Perhaps he should have said just that, or better yet how about handling that in house instead of making your donors and fan base look like fools. And he does look like a complete fool. He is getting ripped and deservedly so. Strong did nothing but kick tail and he does not deserve this, whatever the motivations.
Wait a minute. Didn’t Ol’ Red hire Dennis Greene and John Lucas to guide a couple of his franchises?
From McCombs, this is nothing but sour grapes. Someone forgot to ask his opinion (or even worse, ignored it when it was shared without asked), and hired a d@mned good football coach, so now he has his panties in a wad.
You wait, 3 years from now, when (if) Texas is consistently back on the top 5 and playing in the playoff most years, he will let it be known that Strong was always his number 1 choice, and that we are remembering his “kick in the face” comment out of context.
He hired Lucas, but Dennis Green was already the Head Coach at Minnesota when Red bought the team in 1998.He did however, keep Green on for 3 more seasons. Red has been around too many professional athletes and management personnel to spout off racist comments, but then one never knows what lies in another man’s heart. I took his “qualified to be a coordinator” comment to mean as far as coaching at UT is concerned. Does his name belong in the same hat as Gruden, Saban, and Fisher? Not yet, I believe, but maybe in the future. Time will tell.
My buddy in Austin sent me a link to the local news footage when Coach Strong arrived in town a few days ago. Can’t tell which one is Red McCombs but I think it might be the one in the top hat.
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