Texas Longhorns: 5 Major Issues For Charlie Strong

Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong reacts against the Baylor Bears during the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Baylor beat Texas 28-7. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

Strong Already On The Hot Seat

Well, to be fair, Strong isn’t exactly on the hot seat just yet.

However, he’s sitting right next to it in a particular seat that’s already quite warm, and not because Brown just got up and left.

Strong enters his second season under the microscope even more so than he did last year, if that’s even possible.

His opening blowout victory against the Mean Green of North Texas in ’14 vanished almost immediately the following two weeks amid a blowout loss to BYU at home and then a closer loss to No.12 UCLA at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The ‘Horns were 1-2 without even having left their home state.

Strong’s first year saw some quality wins, such as the 33-16 upset over West Virginia in Austin followed by a 28-7 victory over Oklahoma State the following week at Stillwater.

However, there’s probably two losses that turned up the heat on Strong more than any others last year.

The first was the 28-7 loss at home to No.7 Baylor, a team that would just miss the first ever college football playoff tournament a few months later.

The last was that regular season-ending 48-10 blowout loss, again in Austin, to No.4 TCU, another team that just missed the national championship playoff.

This where the bar was set for 2015, and Strong will be seriously challenged in reaching that elevation this season.

Yes, the honeymoon is officially over.

Next: Leaving Already?