For a Texas Longhorns booster who wanted Jon Gruden to be hired the next head coach, Red McCombs sure stirred up a hornets' nest with his stinging criticism of new Longhorns coach Charlie Strong.
ESPN.com reported that McCombs, a longtime UT booster, went on ESPN Radio San Antonio on Tuesday and said that Strong's hiring was "a kick in the face."
McCombs is the former owner of the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Vikings, has donated more than $100 million to the school and was a close friend of former coach Mack Brown, ESPN.com reported.
He was on "The Blitz with Dat Nguyen and Jason Minnix" and said that he was "stunned" to find out that Texas hired Strong to replace Brown. According to ESPN, McCombs was lobbying for Gruden to get the job and made his feelings known about Strong.
"I think the whole thing is a bit sideways," McCombs said of the selection process. "I don't have any doubt that Charlie is a fine coach. I think he would make a great position coach, maybe a coordinator. But I don't believe (he belongs at) what should be one of the three most powerful university programs in the world right now at UT-Austin. I don't think it adds up.
"I think it is a kick in the face. Beyond the fact of what actually happened. We have boosters that have a lot of knowledge about the game."
Strong is the first African-American coach in Texas' history in any sport, so McCombs' comments were construed as having racial overtones, the Tulsa World reported but added that as coach of the Vikings, McCombs hired Stanford coach and African-American Denny Green, who coached in Minnesota from 1992-2001.
Houston Chronicle columnist Jerome Solomon, an African-American, wrote a piece titled, "With Strong's hire, UT peels away prejudice a layer at a time" with a photo of McCombs topping the article.
Strong had a 37-15 record as head coach at Louisville, including a 23-3 mark the past two seasons, which makes McCombs' comments more puzzling.
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