Horns, Strong Ready to Head to Season with Those Who Do Things the Right Way

By Steve Habel Texas coach Charlie Strong has proven himself a man of his word in his first offseason at the Longhorns helm, instituting a “zero tolerance” policy toward the team that has resulted in the dismissal of seven players, including two arrested last month on sexual assault charges, and the suspension of three others for at least the first game of the upcoming season.

(Also Read: After Long Summer, Horns Begin Process of Answering On-Field Questions)

Sunday, in his first meeting with the press since July, Strong confirmed the dismissal of running backs Joe Bergeron and Jalen Overstreet and defensive back Chevoski Collins. Strong called Bergeron, Overstreet and Collins “repeat offenders” who broke team rules “over and over and over.” All three players have been granted a release to transfer. The coach also revealed that offensive tackle Desmond Harrison, safety Josh Turner and [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] running back/receiver Daje Johnson will miss at least the season opener Aug. 30 versus North Texas for the same unspecified violation of team rules.

Those three players will be able to practice with the team during the suspensions; Strong has not decided how many games they will miss. Strong also confirmed receivers Kendall Sanders and Montrel Meander, charged and booked last month on sexual assault charges, have been removed from the program and will not have the chance to rejoin the team regardless of how their legal cases turn out. ”They can’t work their way back,” Strong said. Both are scheduled for court appearances next week.

Reserve linebacker Chet Moss and safety Leroy Scott were kicked off the team in March. In confirming the dismissals and announcing the suspensions Sunday on the day before the Horns began fall camp, Strong put another stamp on the team. Strong laid out his five core values – honesty, treating women with respect and no drugs, stealing or guns – in his first meeting with the Texas players in January.

Those that have bought into the coach’s dictum are with him and members of the team today; those that aren’t are already an afterthought. “We have 85 guys on scholarship,” Strong said. “Eighty of them are doing it the right way – why can’t the rest of them? If a young man doesn’t want to be part (what we are doing here), just go break a core value of this program. You’ll be telling me a lot about where you want to stand.”

Now it’s time for Strong and the Longhorns to move forward.

From here until Aug. 30, the team will work to identify its leaders, hone its skills and focus its considerable talent on the task ahead – winning football games. Strong dismissed the notion that the dismissals and suspensions would hurt the Longhorns on the field. “It’s not like because we suspended some guys we’re going to walk in without players,” Strong said. “We have players, now it’s about developing them. We are in the business of developing players and helping them become young men who are a credit to this school and to society as a whole.”

Strong, who replaced Mack Brown as Horns’ coach in January, said there have already been plenty of challenges in his seven months on the job but that it was nothing he hadn’t anticipated. He admits that he’s been anxious to get started with the season and said that “it’s time to go build this football team.”

There’s little doubt that the Texas players understand that Strong and his staff remain serious about the rules and restoring pride to a program that hasn’t won a Big 12 Conference title in four seasons. Only time will tell if that message will translate to victories and steps forward with a team that is in a mode of forced subtraction. Just sayin’, ya know?

The Habe is Steve Habel, Horns Illustrated’s associate editor. He was the magazine’s first staff member, in 1994, and has covered Texas sports ever since. [/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [article-offer] [/s2If]