It mostly the "recruiter" nerds.
Strong has this mystic ability to "recruit" (like Wario)
It's not his ability to recruit. It's his ability to evaluate. Closest I've seen to Butch. Louisville has put 14 players in the pros the last two years. And they aren't big recruits.
DeVante Parker- 3*
Calvin Pryor- 3*
Preston Brown- 3*
Marcus Smith- 3*
Lorenzo Maudlin- 3*
John Miller- 3*
Jamon Brown- 3*
Charles Gaines - 3*
Bryant Dubose- 3*
The fit issues are real at Texas. The majority of the fanbase and boosters were against him from the start, he had no experience recruiting those areas, and he inherited a Cokerized team with no talent. And for all of its hype as a "football power," Texas has been the most overrated, underachieving program in the country for the decades.
Strong would do great here and he is on my short list right under Butch and Herman.
This!!
My wife went UT, and while I don't claim to be an insider by any means, we have a lot of close friends connected with the program. The Strong hire was a disaster, made by an awful AD who barely lasted two years there. Strong was one of the hottest names in coaching two years ago and Steve Peterson went for the splashy name versus hiring for fit.
Texas is a difficult job for an outsider. Briles has coached in the state EXCLUSIVELY since the late 70s. Patterson has been at TCU for over 15 years. Sumlin is more of the anomaly but his experience at OU and Houston prepared him for the A&M job. I would lump Herman in, but they returned an 8-5 team that won their bowl game. You can't compare an AAC job to the Big 12 or SEC anyways.
Charlie is an SEC guy. Louisville was an easy transition given that he could lock down Kentucky and cherry-pick out of Florida. You can't just "lock down" Texas at UT. He'd be able to walk in to this job and pick up right where he left off at Louisville.