Red McCombs Wanted Jon Gruden at Texas, Calls Charlie Strong Hire "A Kick in the Face"

Red McCombs, the former owner of the Minnesota Vikings, billionaire, and Texas booster, was not happy about the hiring of Charlie Strong at the University of Texas.

McCombs called the hire a “kick in the face” in a radio interview, and went on to say “I don’t have any doubt that Charlie is a fine coach. I think he would make a great position coach, maybe a coordinator.”

Okay.

What is driving all this? McCombs has money, but he was not involved in the actual selection. According to the Dallas Morning News, McCombs was pushing hard behind the scenes for Monday Night Football’s Jon Gruden. He even reached out to Gruden and “gathered” that he was “very interested.” McCombs even says that it is his understanding that Gruden had a thirty second phone call with athletic director Steve Patterson.

McCombs thinks that Gruden would have led them to many titles. “I was disappointed on a relative basis,” he said. “I thought we had the chance to have the absolute beauty of the ball and instead we got a princess of the ball. We’ll do well with Charlie. I don’t have any doubt.”

Well, apparently some doubt . . . what with that boot in the face and all.

[image via texas.edu]