Longhorns Get Their Man: Charlie Strong

Texas finally got down to brass tacks and hired a football coach.

And no, it's not Nick Saban, who was mentioned in so many Texan-based media reports, it was beginning to rival the constant media bombardment -- back in the day -- of  Spanish dictator Francisco Franco's failing health, and the snarky media's ultimate reaction to it.

Thank you for signing, Charlie Strong.

Bovada definitely knew something that most didn't. It goes to support The Daily Player's contention that bookmakers should be represented on the playoff selection committee. Those dudes are dialed in!

Yes, Strong finally decided to take the Longhorns head coaching job, and he seems to be excited about it, based on the script the Texas sports information department gave him to read:

"I'm excited and my family is excited to have the chance to lead one of the premier football programs in the country. Texas is one of those places that is always on your radar and a program anyone would dream of being a part of because you have a chance to compete on a national level every year. It's special because it has such great history, pride, tradition and passion for football.

"To follow a future Hall of Fame coach like Mack Brown, who built a program that had great success and a reputation of doing it with class and integrity, is extra special. The National Championship, BCS Bowl wins and all he accomplished in 16 years built on the Longhorn legacy and makes it such an exciting place to be."

Strong, who was an assistant at Florida before becoming the head coach at Louisville, held a 37-15 overall record while leading Louisville to a 12-1 record in 2013.

But apparently, Strong's race is still more important than him being a good coach. After the announcement the Dallas Morning News tweeted this headline:

Well, isn't that good to know!

The newspaper later tried to blame that headline on Lou Holtz of ESPN, who allegedly said it earlier. Yeah, right. It's their headline in their paper.

You know, I thought by this stage of the game that we were done with race when it comes to athletics.

We all know that blacks can play quarterback on any level. We also know that black coaches are pretty damn good, too.

And by the way, what black coach or coaches are they talking about? "Hip-hop coaches"? What the hell does that mean?

Texas was the last team to win an NCAA football championship with an all-white team. That was in 1969, and the times were a-changin'. Slowly. After all, they finally re-titled a dorm building on campus that had been named for one of their law professors who also happened to be a Ku Klux Klan organizer. That was 'way back in 2010.

I doubt the Longhorn brass were thinking about race when they hired Strong; they were thinking about wins. And Strong has shown he can deliver wins.

But it's sad to see that some people are still more concerned about race than wins, which shows the more things change, the more they stay the same.

So here's a note to the Texas media types who just love to stoke the embers. Nick Saban is still the coach at Alabama, and Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.