Texas has offered its head coaching job to Louisville coach Charlie Strong and he is expected to accept according to multiple media reports.
Strong though told Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich on Friday night he has not accepted the job Jurich told ESPN's Brett McMurphy. Strong wants to talk to Jurich and Louisville president James Ramsey on Saturday another source told McMurphy. Jurich was in Colorado on Friday night and is expected to return to Louisville on Saturday.
EnlargeA source earlier told McMurphy that Strong had not been formally offered the Longhorns job but would accept it if he was.
Strong is in his fourth year at Louisville and coming off his second straight double digit victory season. He took over a program coming off three straight non winning seasons and has gone 37 15.
Louisville went to the BCS last season and finished 12 1 this season behind star quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Earlier Friday two other coaches Texas reportedly had interest in Baylor's Art Briles and UCLA's Jim Mora said publicly they were staying in their current jobs.
Texas is looking to replace Mack Brown who stepped down after four straight seasons that failed to live up to expectations including this season's 8 5 record.
Strong DefensivelyLouisville has had one of the better defenses in the nation under Charlie Strong. Here's a look at the Cardinals' defensive ranks in FBS under the defensive minded coach from 2010 13
Strong had two stints as an assistant at Florida first under Steve Spurrier and then as defensive coordinator for Urban Meyer's two national championship teams. In 2010 Louisville hired him to take over the program and he quickly righted the Cardinals who are moving into the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.
Strong would be Texas' first black head football coach and he inherits a program aching to return to its place among the nation's elite programs.
Brown's Longhorns won the 2005 season national championship and returned to the national championship game after the 2009 season. But the Longhorns fell to 5 7 in 2010 and have lost at least four games each of the last three seasons.
That drop off including an 18 17 mark in the Big 12 in the last four seasons frustrated Texas fans who demand much more from the wealthiest athletic program in the country that sits in the middle of the most fertile high school recruiting grounds in the country.
Information from ESPN's Brett McMurphy and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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