Tag: Charlie Strong

Five former Notre Dame assistant coaches that went on to huge things elsewhere

One of the best things a head football coach can do is hire great assistants.

Today is the last day for former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez as Wisconsin’s athletic director. Effective July 1 he will officially be retired after spending the last nearly 30 years at Wisconsin as head football coach and eventually athletic director after being the defensive coordinator for Lou Holtz and the Irish.

Alvarez’s resume after leaving Notre Dame is mighty impressive considering he took Wisconsin from a bottom-feeder of the Big Ten to a perennial Rose Bowl threat.

As great as Alvarez was at Wisconsin both as their head football coach and athletic director, it’s hard to call him the most successful after leaving Notre Dame.

In no particular order, here are five former Notre Dame assistant coaches that went on to grand things away from the golden dome, and who you perhaps weren’t even aware once coached the Irish.

Alabama hires Charlie Strong to defensive analyst role

Charlie Strong served on Alabama’s coaching staff in 2020 as a defensive analyst. He will return to Alabama in 2023 in the same role.

Charlie Strong will be back on the Crimson Tide sidelines in 2023. According to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Strong has been hired to be a defensive analyst at Alabama.

Strong served as a defensive analyst at Alabama in 2020. He has since served as inside linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Most recently, he was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Miami.

Interestingly enough, Strong served alongside Kevin Steele as co-defensive coordinator for the Hurricanes. Steele will be Alabama’s defensive coordinator this season and Strong will be working under him.

Strong has a background as a defensive coordinator and is good at organizing gameplans. With Austin Armstron’s departure, Strong could be in charge of helping create the gameplan each week for the Crimson Tide. A specific role for Strong has not been determined at this time.

Whatever the case may be, head coach Nick Saban made a wise decision to bring an experienced assistant coach back to Tuscaloosa.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama football program.

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Which Florida school has the best non-head coach football recruiter?

Two Gators assistants are among the best recruiters in the state, according to The Athletic.

The path to a resurrection of the glory days in the Swamp runs through Florida football’s recruiting efforts, which has become the focus of the program since [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] took over for [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag], the latter who took a lackadaisical approach when it came to bringing premiere prep talent to Gainesville.

But the endeavor involves more than just Napier — the first-year head coach also brought in an army of coaches and staffers with him to assist in making the University of Florida a premiere destination for aspiring football players once again. Among those now on the payroll are some of the best in the business when it comes to turning raw talent into top-level athletes.

The Athletic’s Manny Navarro took a look at how all the Sunshine State schools compare to each other in his most recent mailbag. Read below his response to one reader’s query regarding the best recruiter from each program who is not the head coach.

If you go by the 2023 recruiter rankings at 247Sports, Miami offensive line coach Alex Mirabal (No. 7), Florida co-defensive coordinator [autotag]Sean Spencer[/autotag] (No. 14) and Florida State receivers coach Ron Dugans (No. 27) ranked the highest last cycle.

Most insiders, though, would tell you Mario Cristobal anchors Miami’s recruiting efforts. I did a straw poll of beat writers, scouts and analysts, and all of them agreed Cristobal is the guy. When I pressed for names of Miami staffers, tight ends coach Stephen Field, running backs coach Kevin Smith, linebackers coach [autotag]Charlie Strong[/autotag], defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae, defensive analyst DeMarcus Van Dyke and Mirabal all received some love. But there was no clear-cut No. 1.

At Florida State, offensive coordinator Alex Atkins received the most love with veteran defensive line coach Odell Haggins and co-defensive coordinator [autotag]Randy Shannon[/autotag] getting a shout-out.

At Florida, it was defensive backs coach [autotag]Corey Raymond[/autotag] who was the overwhelming selection.

While the Hurricanes appear to have the upper hand in this survey of assistants including former Gators coach [autotag]Charlie Strong[/autotag], between Spencer and Raymond — especially considering that Cristobal is considered the alpha and omega of Miami’s recruiting efforts — it appears that the Gators likely have the upper hand in this one.

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Texas Football: Is Cedric Baxter the beginning of a burnt orange raid on Florida?

Cedric Baxter and Payton Kirkland may not be the only elite Florida players that Texas wins.

Steve Sarkisian is recruiting Florida as well as Charlie Strong did, if not better. He’s just doing so much more efficiently.

It is easy to see what coaches like about football in that state. Florida has a reputation for being in the same tier as California and Texas for producing the best high school prospects. Albeit, the top football state on the East Coast hasn’t always been a winning battleground for Texas, until now.

In the span of about a month, Sarkisian has landed two of Texas’ top four recruits from Florida since 2010. According to the first Florida commitment of the class, there could be more on the way.

Four-star offensive lineman Payton Kirkland has his sights set on elite edge rusher Damon Wilson. Wilson, a five-star player from the Sunshine State, seemed like a pipe dream not long ago. With the growing connections to Texas within Florida, Wilson might be a realistic possibility for the Longhorns.

Here is a list of Florida prospects Texas has a chance to sign in the 2023 recruiting class.

Texas Football: Charlie Strong among worst hires of the past decade

Ouch.

In a move that set the program back for multiple years after, Texas’ decision to hire former Louisville head coach Charlie Strong is still widely regarded as one of the worst hires of all time.

After finding success at Louisville, Strong took the head coaching job in Austin to replace the legendary Mack Brown. To say it did not go well would be a huge understatement.

Strong was unable to lead Texas to a winning record once, and was fired after just three seasons which of course included what was at one point the most embarrassing loss of them all, losing to Kansas.

His struggles at Texas led to him being included on 247Sports‘ 13 worst hires of the past decade.

Strong came in at the No. 4 spot trailing only Willie Taggart (FSU), Les Miles (Kansas), and Chad Morris (Arkansas). Here is what they said about Strong’s tenure.

Strong takes most of the blame for Texas’ modern woes. He entered a tough situation when he took the job in Austin by replacing Mack Brown. In 15 years with the Longhorns, Brown won a national title and two Big 12 championships, amassing a total record of 158-48. Strong, meanwhile, enjoyed an incredibly successful four years at Louisville, winning 23 games from 2012-13. So it is a bit of a head-scratcher that, in three years with Texas, Strong failed to have a single winning season. Since Strong was hired, Texas has been mired in mediocrity.

It doesn’t help that Texas followed up Strong’s hiring with the very average hiring of Tom Herman, who found more success, but was unable to lift the program to where it is expected to be.

Now, it is up to Steve Sarkisian to break this coaching curse that was started with the hiring of Strong.

Texas transfer LB target Caleb Johnson announces commitment to Miami

Texas misses out on transfer linebacker Caleb Johnson.

The Texas Longhorns will need to look elsewhere for help at the linebacker position after missing on another transfer portal target.  Continue reading “Texas transfer LB target Caleb Johnson announces commitment to Miami”

Year-by-year salaries of Texas head football coaches since 2012

Longhorns Wire revisits the annual salaries of Texas’ head football coaches over the past decade.

College football coaching salaries have skyrocketed in recent years as the arms race among top programs has become more and more competitive.

Interestingly, however, the Texas Longhorns haven’t followed that trend. From Mack Brown to Charlie Strong to Tom Herman to Steve Sarkisian, Texas has maintained a relatively steady level of compensation for its head football coaches over the past 10 years.

With that in mind, Longhorns Wire lists the annual compensation paid out to University of Texas head football coaches over the past decade below.

[Source: USA TODAY college football coaching salary database; figures do not include income from non-university sources, incentive bonuses or the value of perks and benefits.]

Former Gators coach Charlie Strong finds new in-state with Miami

Charlie Strong’s coming back to school in the state of Florida.

After spending a year in the National Football League with the Jacksonville Jaguars under disgraced head coach Urban Meyer, former Florida football coach Charlie Strong is returning to college football in the Sunshine State. The ex-skipper accepted a job with the Miami Hurricanes as their linebackers coach, ESPN’s Chris Lowe first reported on Friday.

Strong joins former Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal in Coral Gables as the ‘Canes look to restore their football program to its previous glory. Undoubtedly, part of his allure is his strong in-state connections that will be crucial on the recruiting trail.

The 61-year-old veteran of the gridiron sidelines’ roots run deep, as he spent time in Gainesville as a graduate assistant in 1983 and returned as outside linebackers coach in 1988-89, as well as a stint as a defensive assistant from 1991-94. He also served primarily as a defensive coordinator on the Gators’ staff from 2003-09 and, coincidentally, served as the interim coach for Florida in its loss to the Hurricanes in the 2004 Peach Bowl.

Strong has ten seasons of head coaching experience under his belt spanning across the Texas Longhorns, Louisville Cardinals and South Florida Bulls, compiling a 74–52 record over that span. There is little doubt that he brings a great deal of sage wisdom to the table for Cristobal’s new staff and hopefully finds success at his latest gig.

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Former Texas coach Charlie Strong hired by Miami to coach linebackers

Charlie Strong is back in the college game.

Charlie Strong is back in the college game after spending this past season in Jacksonville on Urban Meyer’s staff.

Now that the Meyer in NFL experiment has officially failed, Strong joins new Miami head coach Mario Cristobal’s staff as the Canes linebackers coach.

Strong brings both head coaching experience and Florida recruiting ties to the Miami coaching staff. He has been the head man at Louisville, Texas and USF. Strong also helped Florida win two national championships as the Gator’s defensive coordinator during his tenure in Gainesville.

Getting a coach with the resume Strong has to coach linebackers is a major win for Cristobal. Miami also hired Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis to lead the offense. Gattis won the 2021 Broyles Award as the best assistant in college football.

Strong put the icing on the cake for Cristobal’s star-studded coaching staff in Miami.

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How former Texas football head coaches performed in their second year

If Sarkisian has less than four losses next season, he’ll surpass the last five head coaches in their second year.

After a disappointing 5-7 record last season, Texas is hoping Steve Sarkisian can right the ship in his second year with the program. Continue reading “How former Texas football head coaches performed in their second year”