Jump to content

So...about Charlie Strong at USF...


horn_of_the_morning

Recommended Posts

Where this “nice guy” persona came from is still a mystery.  He was sweaty and awkward in press conferences, routinely threw players and coaches under the bus (“we just need to execute”).  Doesn’t appear all that loyal, considering the way he fired and demoted coaches out of desperation and self-preservation.  He also blamed everyone but himself for his embarrasing 7-game losing streak this year.

From what I’ve heard/read, he’s an alpha with a big ego. And from simply observing him and his football teams, he has a stunning lack of self-awareness and is incapable of recognizing his own faults and failures (cake is baked!”). Something tells me he doesn’t take criticism very well, either.  From anyone.

I don’t think he’s dumb btw. Dumb guys don’t coordinate national championship defenses.  I just think he’s so comically far from detail-oriented, it’s detrimental to his ability to run a program. Throw in that he was also maybe fucking a booster’s wife... I think this “nice guy” persona is a byproduct of simply feeling sorry for him because he was so, so bad.

And i don’t hate him. I just enjoy watching him fail.  the fact he’s making the same mistakes elsewhere is highly amusing. It’s entertainment for me, as is laughing about him with fellow longhorns on the internet.

Edited by CurlyDumps
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Who the fuck even knows if he’s a good guy?

This is a fair question. The fact that it even has to be asked also highlights the fact that ultimately it doesn't even matter. The worst record -- by a wide margin -- of any Texas coach in history means that even if he were a goddamned saint, he still needed to be ridden out of town on a rail.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, CurlyDumps said:

Where this “nice guy” persona came from is still a mystery.  

His players clearly loved him. That made an impression on me. I really wanted him to succeed.

But unfortunately he was the worst football coach in our entire history. So that didn't go too well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Valmy77 said:

His players clearly loved him. That made an impression on me. I really wanted him to succeed.

But unfortunately he was the worst football coach in our entire history. So that didn't go too well.

We all wanted him to succeed.  But hell, Mackovic was one of the least likable Texas coaches most of us can recall and we all wanted him to succeed, too.  Because he was the head coach at Texas.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

Too bad Red McCombs and the evil boosters who wanted Strong to fail made him hire Watson. And didn’t allow him to recruit high school or transfer QBs 

You keep trying to pick a fight that I'm not really participating in.

As for the Charlie was a nice guy thing, I dunno about that.  Charlie did seem to honestly care about his player's education, and that's something I don't think you'd see at most major football programs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Redneck Mutha said:

We all wanted him to succeed.  But hell, Mackovic was one of the least likable Texas coaches most of us can recall and we all wanted him to succeed, too.  Because he was the head coach at Texas.  

I liked him because his offense was fun. But then I was a teenager at the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

You keep trying to pick a fight that I'm not really participating in.

As for the Charlie was a nice guy thing, I dunno about that.  Charlie did seem to honestly care about his player's education, and that's something I don't think you'd see at most major football programs.

It's hard to understand how these arguments continue. He was a great guy who really cared about player's education and values. We all wish he would've won more games. Unfortunately he turned out to have the absolute worst W/L percentage of any Texas football coach in our 120 years of playing the game. As in 30th out of 30 head coaches.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Dr. Beeper said:

Walden very clearly articulates my point that I didn't bother expanding on, because I think it very obvious:

highlights the fact that ultimately it doesn't even matter. The worst record -- by a wide margin -- of any Texas coach in history means that even if he were a goddamned saint, he still needed to be ridden out of town on a rail.

 

True but I am not questioning that. The thing that got me into this thread was the claim that anybody who said that they liked Coach Strong despite wanting him gone was only doing it because they were racists and somehow trying to cover that up or felt white guilt or some other stupid lame ass shit. I actually did like the way the players loved him and some of the things he did. He just sucked as a coach so he deserved to be fired.

So no it was not relevant to him getting fired but it was entirely relevant to the conversation I was participating in. There are just multiple conversations in this thread.

Edited by Valmy77
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What did it for me was the combined weight of:

- 41 - 7 Blowout loss to BYU

- Fucked up coin toss against UCLA

- 23- 0  Shutout by KSU

- 48 - 10 Loss to TCU

- Shawn Watson 59yd special against arky

- Keeping Shawn Watson into next season to lose 38-3 at ND

- 50 - 7 Loss to TCU... trailing 30 - 0 at end of Q1

- 24 - 0 Shutout by fucking ISU

- 2015 defense being historically inept

- 3 blocked XPs against OSU

- 2016 secondary being horrific

- Kansas

- Being consistently outcoached and outplayed every damn week for 3 straight seasons (2015 win over OU was all Norvell)

At what point is a new head coach responsible for the results on the field?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, USNALonghorn said:

What did it for me was the combined weight of:

- 41 - 7 Blowout loss to BYU

- Fucked up coin toss against UCLA

- 23- 0  Shutout by KSU

- 48 - 10 Loss to TCU

- Shawn Watson 59yd special against arky

- Keeping Shawn Watson into next season to lose 38-3 at ND

- 50 - 7 Loss to TCU... trailing 30 - 0 at end of Q1

- 24 - 0 Shutout by fucking ISU

- 2015 defense being historically inept

- 3 blocked XPs against OSU

- 2016 secondary being horrific

- Kansas

- Being consistently outcoached and outplayed every damn week for 3 straight seasons (2015 win over OU was all Norvell)

At what point is a new head coach responsible for the results on the field?

God God, that list gives me heart palpitations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, TrashMaster G said:

God God, that list gives me heart palpitations.

What is missing is the parts in between where sometimes it looked like his team was improving and we would dare a little optimism...only for the next disaster to occur. That made it even more unpleasant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Redneck Mutha said:

We all wanted him to succeed.  But hell, Mackovic was one of the least likable Texas coaches most of us can recall and we all wanted him to succeed, too.  Because he was the head coach at Texas.  

I’d love to see one more time the staged photo of Mackovic “hunting” turkey. He was wearing brand new camo with the tags still on. It was a pitiful attempt by Bellmont to make Mackovic look less like a carpet-bagging interloper. It failed miserably.

At least Charlie didn’t try to connect with the fan base by wearing camo. Other than that, he was turrible.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

I’d love to see one more time the staged photo of Mackovic “hunting” turkey. He was wearing brand new camo with the tags still on. It was a pitiful attempt by Bellmont to make Mackovic look less like a carpet-bagging interloper. It failed miserably.

At least Charlie didn’t try to connect with the fan base by wearing camo. Other than that, he was turrible.

Sandals, tube socks and baby tigers on the floor is the way to sonit. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

I’d love to see one more time the staged photo of Mackovic “hunting” turkey. He was wearing brand new camo with the tags still on. It was a pitiful attempt by Bellmont to make Mackovic look less like a carpet-bagging interloper. It failed miserably.

At least Charlie didn’t try to connect with the fan base by wearing camo. Other than that, he was turrible.

Dear Lord, I had forgotten about that. How about the time they made him show up to flip pancakes for fans/donors at some gathering. By then it was too late, everybody had formed their opinion of him and it usually wasn't good. His pride in his wine cellar would have been fine if he had ANY people skills. Instead, it just made him look like that much more of a snob.

Two quick stories, at his introductory, " meet the coach" gathering at one of the hotels around 35 and 290 he seemed irritated to have to answer questions from the (mostly donor) crowd. Like Charlie, I hoped he would do well but as we left the building I just had a really bad feeling.

Years later, a top 2% donor who is a really great guy but just couldn't stand Mackovic is at an away game. We are losing. and Mackovic pulls off his headset and goes back to a bench to look (stare) at his playbook. Big donor has a big voice and yells out in a sarcastic tone "OH JOHN,  OH JOHN... WHAT KIND OF WINE GOES WITH AN ASS WHIPPING?!" Mackovick actually tried to get the guy thrown out. I had a feeling we would have a new coach soon.

 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

What is missing is the parts in between where sometimes it looked like his team was improving and we would dare a little optimism...only for the next disaster to occur. That made it even more unpleasant.

Yeah, it was just enough success and at just the right period to keep you from getting desensitized to the failure. He let our heart heal a little befor he dropped it on the door again with that stupid dopey smile.

Charlie wasn’t dumb, that is the work of a true artiste/savant. 

09e.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

I’d love to see one more time the staged photo of Mackovic “hunting” turkey. He was wearing brand new camo with the tags still on. It was a pitiful attempt by Bellmont to make Mackovic look less like a carpet-bagging interloper an elitist wine snob.  It failed miserably.

Probably the least self-aware PR attempt since Michael Dukakis in the turret of an M1 tank.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, 927 E. 41st said:

Dear Lord, I had forgotten about that. How about the time they made him show up to flip pancakes for fans/donors at some gathering. By then it was too late, everybody had formed their opinion of him and it usually wasn't good. His pride in his wine cellar would have been fine if he had ANY people skills. Instead, it just made him look like that much more of a snob.

Two quick stories, at his introductory, " meet the coach" gathering at one of the hotels around 35 and 290 he seemed irritated to have to answer questions from the (mostly donor) crowd. Like Charlie, I hoped he would do well but as we left the building I just had a really bad feeling.

Years later, a top 2% donor who is a really great guy but just couldn't stand Mackovic is at an away game. We are losing. and Mackovic pulls off his headset and goes back to a bench to look (stare) at his playbook. Big donor has a big voice and yells out in a sarcastic tone "OH JOHN,  OH JOHN... WHAT KIND OF WINE GOES WITH AN ASS WHIPPING?!" Mackovick actually tried to get the guy thrown out. I had a feeling we would have a new coach soon.

 

See I liked the arrogance and superiority complex stuff.  It fits my thoughts on our place in the world.   He also could recruit like a motherfucker.  Problem to me was that he defined “doing less with more.”  

If you win, it doesn’t fucking matter how big an asshole you are.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

What is missing is the parts in between where sometimes it looked like his team was improving and we would dare a little optimism...only for the next disaster to occur. That made it even more unpleasant.

Yep. He did it against OU in 2015 and then against Notre Dame in 2016.  We drank that shit up like trash can punch.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said:

See I liked the arrogance and superiority complex stuff.  It fits my thoughts on our place in the world.   He also could recruit like a motherfucker.  Problem to me was that he defined “doing less with more.”  

If you win, it doesn’t fucking matter how big an asshole you are.  

It's only arrogance and superiority if you're good, otherwise, it's delusion!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

God God, that list gives me heart palpitations.

and doesn't even include the fact that he declined a penalty against Okie Aggy when they had made a first down.  Nor include being down by 14ish points in the same game, on the Okie Aggy 46 with 4:32 left and he f*cking punted.  I would have fired him in the parking lot after that game.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 927 E. 41st said:

Dear Lord, I had forgotten about that. How about the time they made him show up to flip pancakes for fans/donors at some gathering. By then it was too late, everybody had formed their opinion of him and it usually wasn't good. His pride in his wine cellar would have been fine if he had ANY people skills. Instead, it just made him look like that much more of a snob.

Two quick stories, at his introductory, " meet the coach" gathering at one of the hotels around 35 and 290 he seemed irritated to have to answer questions from the (mostly donor) crowd. Like Charlie, I hoped he would do well but as we left the building I just had a really bad feeling.

Years later, a top 2% donor who is a really great guy but just couldn't stand Mackovic is at an away game. We are losing. and Mackovic pulls off his headset and goes back to a bench to look (stare) at his playbook. Big donor has a big voice and yells out in a sarcastic tone "OH JOHN,  OH JOHN... WHAT KIND OF WINE GOES WITH AN ASS WHIPPING?!" Mackovick actually tried to get the guy thrown out. I had a feeling we would have a new coach soon.

 

his first players meeting he showed and literally outlined their season based on the games they would win and lose.  I have never, ever in the history of playing and coaching sports ever heard a coach put the idea in the heads of players that they are going to lose.  Never.  He pretty much told them their ceiling was going to be 7-4.  Everyone left thinking they didn't really need to bother going out and putting in the work if that was their upside.  They could do that partying and chasing skirt.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we accept that Charlie's efforts had baked the cake and the talent was at acceptable to good levels, and if we accept that Charlie's players luuuuuuuuuved him and wanted to Play! So! Hard! for him, then the Kansas loss becomes even more of an indictment of Charlie's ability to coach in-game, and/or hire and empower assistants.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, 927 E. 41st said:

Dear Lord, I had forgotten about that. How about the time they made him show up to flip pancakes for fans/donors at some gathering. By then it was too late, everybody had formed their opinion of him and it usually wasn't good. His pride in his wine cellar would have been fine if he had ANY people skills. Instead, it just made him look like that much more of a snob.

Two quick stories, at his introductory, " meet the coach" gathering at one of the hotels around 35 and 290 he seemed irritated to have to answer questions from the (mostly donor) crowd. Like Charlie, I hoped he would do well but as we left the building I just had a really bad feeling.

Years later, a top 2% donor who is a really great guy but just couldn't stand Mackovic is at an away game. We are losing. and Mackovic pulls off his headset and goes back to a bench to look (stare) at his playbook. Big donor has a big voice and yells out in a sarcastic tone "OH JOHN,  OH JOHN... WHAT KIND OF WINE GOES WITH AN ASS WHIPPING?!" Mackovick actually tried to get the guy thrown out. I had a feeling we would have a new coach soon.

 

I was at the Dallas stop on the post-signing day tour Mackovic's first year.  It was at some club/restaurant at the top of one of the office buildings off North Central Expressway.  He showed every sign of someone who was completely put off at having to meet with fans - much less mingle - even if they were donors.  His staff took their cue from Mackovic.  McWilliams would have it at a country club (Brook Hollow, IIRC), and he and his staff were very approachable.  They would stick around for an hour or two after their NSD presentation, just to mingle.  It was a lot of fun.  McWilliams was the polar opposite of Mackovic.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If we accept that Charlie's efforts had baked the cake and the talent was at acceptable to good levels, and if we accept that Charlie's players luuuuuuuuuved him and wanted to Play! So! Hard! for him, then the Kansas loss becomes even more of an indictment of Charlie's ability to coach in-game, and/or hire and empower assistants.

Username checks out
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

How does "carpet-bagging, interloping elitist wine snob" sound?

He did win three straight conference titles...sort of.

More Conference titles than Fred Akers. More than Mack Brown. As many as Dana X Bible. Only Darrell Royal won more. I love that stat, so bizarre.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

He did win three straight conference titles...sort of.

More Conference titles than Fred Akers. More than Mack Brown. As many as Dana X Bible. Only Darrell Royal won more. I love that stat, so bizarre.

Sometimes we forget that Mackovic had us on a decent three-year run that gave us optimism for the future.  And with his success (in that limited sense of the term), if he had been even halfway likeable he might have survived the 1997 season.  But in addition to being a "carpet-bagging, interloping elitist wine snob" (to borrow ImissWallyPryor's term), the way he causally dismissed the UCLA embarrassment (something like "The fans lived with the win over Nebraska, they'll learn to live with this") only made his firing after a 5-7 disaster of a season that much easier. 

And I mean "likeable" in the public persona sense of the word.  I actually met him once in Bellmont Hall during my senior year (1995-1996).  I was looking at the team photo waiting to head to class, and Mackovic comes up next to me and pats my shoulder and just starts chatting, making jokes about some of the players (I distinctly recall him making a crack about Curtis Jackson's eyes being closed).  He actually seemed like a really nice guy on a one-to-one basis.  But his stiff Midwestern personality just wasn't going to fit long term, not without a high level of sustained success.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mackovic took a moribund program and modernized it. He updated all the facilities and reformed the recruiting strategy and left the program in much better shape than Akers or McWilliams or Mack Brown left it.

It was not so much his lack of popularity with the fans that killed him, it was the fact that his team did not like him much. They quit on him in 1997 so he had to go. 

He had that problem at all of his stops as a coach. His Kansas City Chiefs team revolted which got him fired after a 10-6 record. I am not sure how many NFL head coaches have ever been fired after a season where their team went from 6-10 to 10-6 but I am sure the list is very exclusive. And what happened at Texas and Kansas City was a prelude to a far worse disaster at Arizona. The Wildcats have never really recovered.

The only job his team did not quit on him was Illinois, at least as far as I am aware.

Edited by Valmy77
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

Mackovic took a moribund program and modernized it. He updated all the facilities and reformed the recruiting strategy and left the program in much better shape than Akers or McWilliams or Mack Brown left it.

It was not so much his lack of popularity with the fans that killed him, it was the fact that his team did not like him much. They quit on him in 1997 so he had to go. 

He had that problem at all of his stops as a coach. His Kansas City Chiefs team revolted which got him fired after a 10-6 record. I am not sure how many NFL head coaches have ever been fired after a season where their team went from 6-10 to 10-6 but I am sure the list is very exclusive. And what happened at Texas and Kansas City was a prelude to a far worse disaster at Arizona. The Wildcats have never really recovered.

The only job his team did not quit on him was Illinois, at least as far as I am aware.

Yeah, being a successful HC takes a rare brew of multiple skills, and every version is a bit different. Some versions work if you are missing the donor likability trait (Leach), some the player likability (Saban), some the Xs and Os (2004-2009 Mack). Some guys seem like they have it (Charlie Louisville), but trying to continue/duplicate the success turns out to be going after lightning in a bottle. Mackovic came close, it seems, to having the recipe to be a great coach for Texas. He won conference titles (granted, not against prime conference-mate status OU) and brought in talent. He didn't have the personality to parlay the tools he did have. Trying to find the next DKR or Saban will never work, because the next guy that successful will be so for different reasons.

Edited by Magus Ossis
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

He had that problem at all of his stops as a coach. His Kansas City Chiefs team revolted which got him fired after a 10-6 record. I am not sure how many NFL head coaches have ever been fired after a season where their team went from 6-10 to 10-6 but I am sure the list is very exclusive. And what happened at Texas and Kansas City was a prelude to a far worse disaster at Arizona. The Wildcats have never really recovered.

That never would have happened if Mackovic had been White.  Obvious NFL racism...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Sometimes we forget that Mackovic had us on a decent three-year run that gave us optimism for the future.  And with his success (in that limited sense of the term), if he had been even halfway likeable he might have survived the 1997 season.  But in addition to being a "carpet-bagging, interloping elitist wine snob" (to borrow ImissWallyPryor's term), the way he causally dismissed the UCLA embarrassment (something like "The fans lived with the win over Nebraska, they'll learn to live with this") only made his firing after a 5-7 disaster of a season that much easier. 

And I mean "likeable" in the public persona sense of the word.  I actually met him once in Bellmont Hall during my senior year (1995-1996).  I was looking at the team photo waiting to head to class, and Mackovic comes up next to me and pats my shoulder and just starts chatting, making jokes about some of the players (I distinctly recall him making a crack about Curtis Jackson's eyes being closed).  He actually seemed like a really nice guy on a one-to-one basis.  But his stiff Midwestern personality just wasn't going to fit long term, not without a high level of sustained success.

I actually have a Mackovic story.  I was at Scholz Biergarten in Austin late one afternoon with some buddies who went to UT and Mackovic came in with his family.  A wife and a couple of daughters I believe.  We were sitting inside and us and the Mackovics were the only people there.  The TV was on something that we weren't even watching and Mackovic came over and asked us if we minded if they asked to staff to change the channel to some show they wanted to watch.  I thought that was very courteous of him to ask that of a bunch of college kids since I'm sure the bartender would've done it for the head football coach without asking us.  Anyway, I felt bad for the guy when UT fired him and rooted for him when he went to Zona. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, angelos's frog said:

  Anyway, I felt bad for the guy when UT fired him and rooted for him when he went to Zona. 

 

I NEVER felt bad for him. I rooted for him while he was here but after that, I couldn't care less. Actually got a laugh out of the Arizona situation. He was well paid for his time here, he did modernize the offense but 500 yards on our D seemed to become a somewhat normal thing. 

In the crowd setting, he came across as a tool. In a crowd, Charlie came across as nicer, but not too bright. These perceptions were part of that overall picture of the program. Maybe not wholly irrelevant, but so far below W/L performance as to be a footnote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Sometimes we forget that Mackovic had us on a decent three-year run that gave us optimism for the future.  And with his success (in that limited sense of the term), if he had been even halfway likeable he might have survived the 1997 season. 

It was obvious to me that Mackovic would never get us over the hump because we were so inconsistent. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. There's no way his players could have ever really believed in him.

He should never been hired in the first place. He was 6-5 at Illinois when we hired him. Some people would say "but 6-5 at Illinois is quite an achievement!" I would say "the dude has never proven himself to be a winner as a college coach." Then some of the same people wanted us to hire Gary Barnett, who was similar at Northwestern to Mackovic at Illinois.

Then there was the weird shit: getting clocked on the sideline during a game and "being in a fog" for several weeks of the season. The horrible loss to Rice. The drama with Lovell Pinkney and Mike Adams. The incredible mismanagement of the 1997 team (insisting on passing when Baylor could not stop Ricky Williams, resulting in them tearing down the goalposts).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread has been cathartic.

It's no secret that many surlyians (surlyites?) have been ripping Mack on here on a more than frequent basis.  And yet, Charlie NumbNuts seemed to slide without even the slightest bit of angst.

That obviously is not the case, or simply needed a forum to vent the pent up piss and vinegar at Charlie Numbnuts.

For what he did here at Texas... Fuck him and Feed him Fishheads.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...