Charlie Strong might’ve had a last chance to stay at Texas, but now we’ll never know

This had a small chance to be Charlie Strong’s Les Miles moment.

Instead, a disappointing 31-9 loss is likely the final, final nail in Strong’s Texas-sized coffin.

On Sunday, he was fired, according to seemingly everyone’s sources. It was a wild evening, as it seemed like we were seeing the end unfold in real time at Texas. Monday gave us a press conference that ended with his team giving applause from the back of the room, and during the day one of his players broke down during a press conference while talking about Strong.

But by Thanksgiving night, it seemed like Charlie Strong might not be so fired after all.

If there is a legitimate chance for Strong to save his job, and it’s not just blowing smoke, the time was Friday for him to do so on the field in Austin with a big win. I posited earlier in the week that with a win in against TCU, Strong could arm those in his corner with enough clout to convince detractors that it was worth keeping him around.

But we are probably saved the ugly push-pull between Texas’ money folks and its administration because Strong couldn’t put the pressure on them with a win against the Horned Frogs.

In his final loss at the helm, the Longhorns looked as punchless on offense as they have all season, and reality set in about what this team is and has been on the field.

Strong is a good man. Despite the record at Texas, Strong is also a good football coach. For myriad reasons, Strong was the wrong fit at the wrong time. He carried himself with dignity and respect. He went about things the right way and his players love him. But the consistency was never there. The progress was never shown. He also lost to Kansas. My opinions about the man can be what they are, but even I can reckon with the fact that it simply isn’t working.

The next coach at Texas will win with these players, and Charlie knows it. He said this week that he firmly believes this group of players will win a national championship. That may be his own confidence speaking volumes, but I can agree with the substance of the statement.

If it is Charlie’s job to set the table, reform the program, and give it to someone else, we must remember him as that. In the nuance that will be required in judging Strong’s tenure in Austin, one mustn’t stop short at the win-loss record, while still acknowledging that it was bad enough to necessitate change.

I wanted Strong to be carried off on his players’ shoulders into the Texas night. To have hugs while they sung “The Eyes of Texas” and held up the Horns.

I wanted Poona Ford and the other players that wear burnt orange to not be sad. I wanted this team to shove up the asses of everyone in power at Austin that flubbed the end of Strong’s tenure and doubted him the whole way. I wanted them to have the sports movie, where their black head coach could rise above, like Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans. But this is real life; Hollywood didn’t have a stake in things tonight.

The hardest part is knowing how much Texas’ players wanted to give their coach that moment and that triumph.

Strong is not Miles, and Texas is not LSU, despite how much they will be linked together during this coaching cycle. The Horns could not pull off what the Tigers did last year, and we’ll be left to think about what could have been.

But that’s always been the theme of Strong’s stint as Texas head coach.