Charlie Strong Is Leaving Louisville For Texas

Charlie Strong informed Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich Saturday night that he plans to accept an offer to become the next head football coach at the University of Texas, sources confirmed to Card Chronicle. The news was originally reported by Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com.

Jurich gave Strong his first opportunity as a head coach, and the longtime assistant responded by revitalizing a Cardinal football program still reeling from an abysmal three-year run under Steve Kragthorpe. In four seasons, Strong led the Cardinals to 35 victories, four consecutive bowl appearances, three bowl wins, the first back-to-back double-digit win seasons in program history, and likely the biggest win in program history - a 33-23 Sugar Bowl victory over No. 3 Florida.

You can hate the way he left or the fact that he's leaving at all after everything he said 13 months ago, but the fact of the matter is that Charlie Strong is leaving the Louisville football program in far, far better shape than it was when he arrived. That's about as much as you can ask for from any hire in any sport.

There's much, much more to be said here, but I'll start by saying thank you to Coach Strong for four wonderful years. You made Louisville football fun again at a time when we'd all forgotten what fun felt like, and for that, U of L fans will be forever grateful.