Charlie Strong
| Charlie Strong | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Football |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Louisville |
| Record | 14–12 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | August 2, 1960 Batesville, Arkansas |
| Playing career | |
| 1980–1983 | Central Arkansas |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1983–1984 1985 1986–1987 1988–1989 1990 1991–1994 1995–1998 1999–2001 2002–2009 2010–Present |
Florida (Graduate asst) Texas A&M (Graduate asst) Southern Illinois (WR) Florida (OLB) Ole Miss (WR) Florida (Asst HC/DT) Notre Dame (DE / DT) South Carolina (DC) Florida (DC/DE) Florida (interim HC) Florida (Asst HC/co-DC/LB) Louisville |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 14–13 |
| Bowls | 1–2 |
| Statistics College Football Data Warehouse |
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Charlie R. Strong (born August 2, 1960) is an American college football coach and former player. Strong is a native of Arkansas and graduated from the University of Central Arkansas, where he played college football. He currently serves as the head coach for the University of Louisville Cardinals football team, and has previously held assistant coach and defensive coordinator positions with six different college football teams, most notably the University of Florida Gators football team.
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[edit] Coaching career
Charlie Strong was born in Batesville, Arkansas. After lettering for four years (1980–1983) at the University of Central Arkansas, Strong joined the Gators coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 1984. He later served as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M in 1985. His first full-time coaching job was at Southern Illinois in 1986, where he coached wide receivers. He later assumed defensive coaching duties at Florida, Ole Miss, and Notre Dame. He also received a master's degree and education specialist degree from the University of Florida. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
In 1999, Strong joined the South Carolina Gamecocks as defensive coordinator, becoming the first African American coordinator in Southeastern Conference (SEC) history. His stifling defenses and charismatic personality created buzz that he would be possibly the first black head coach in the SEC, but job offers were slim. Sylvester Croom eventually broke the color barrier in the SEC coaching ranks.
Strong was hired as defensive coordinator for the Florida Gators before the 2003 season. Florida head coach Ron Zook was fired midway through the Gators' 2004 season, but continued to coach until the bowl game; Strong served as interim coach of the Gators for one game, the December 2004 Peach Bowl. Florida lost the game, 27–10, to the Miami Hurricanes. Florida credits the regular season to Zook and the Peach Bowl to Strong. When Urban Meyer was hired as Florida's head coach, Strong was the only assistant coach retained from Zook's staff.
In a January 2009 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Strong expressed his belief that race played a large part in the reason that he hadn't been offered a head coaching job at that point. Strong, whose wife is white, especially cited prospective employers' discomfort with his interracial relationship.[1]
He became the 21st head football coach at the University of Louisville on December 9, 2009. In a telephone interview that day with ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde, former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, himself African American, said of Strong, "When they see what he can do, you're probably going to have a lot of people disappointed they didn't hire him sooner."
[edit] Personal life
Strong was born August 2, 1960 in Batesville, Arkansas. He and his wife, Victoria, have two daughters, Hailee and Hope; he has a son from a previous relationship, Tory.
[edit] Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Gators (Southeastern Conference) (2004) | |||||||||
| 2004 | Florida | 0–1 | 0–0 | L Peach | |||||
| Florida: | 0–1 | 0–0[2] | |||||||
| Louisville Cardinals (Big East Conference) (2010–present) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Louisville | 7–6 | 3–4 | T–5th | W Beef 'O' Brady's | ||||
| 2011 | Louisville | 7–6 | 5–2 | T–1st | L Belk | ||||
| Louisville: | 14–12 | 8–6 | |||||||
| Total: | 14–13[3] | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
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[edit] See also
- Florida Gators
- List of Florida Gators head football coaches
- List of University of Florida alumni
- Louisville Cardinals
[edit] References
- ^ "Florida Coach Charlie Strong Believes that Race Affected Opportunities," Sports Illustrated (January 6, 2009).
- ^ 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 122–124 (2011). Retrieved September 1, 2011.
- ^ College Football Data Warehouse, All-Time Coaching Records, Charlie Strong Records by Year. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
[edit] External links
- Charlie Strong at the College Football Data Warehouse
- Official profile on UF sports website
- Courier Journal article on Strong
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- 1960 births
- Living people
- African American coaches of American football
- Central Arkansas Bears football players
- Florida Gators football coaches
- Louisville Cardinals football coaches
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches
- Ole Miss Rebels football coaches
- People from Independence County, Arkansas
- South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches
- Southern Illinois Salukis football coaches
- Texas A&M Aggies football coaches
- University of Florida alumni
