One of the big questions surrounding Charlie Strong when he arrived in Austin was how he would focus his recruiting with his prior ties to the state of Florida. In a job that is known for its in-state recruiting dominance, many questioned how a coach with no ties to Texas would fare. So far, he has done a solid job in Texas and has a chance to gain commitments from some of the top talents in the state. While still working on the likes of Malik Jefferson and others, Strong decided to try his hand with some players back in Florida.
Charlie Strong has always been a big player in the Florida recruiting game, which stems from his time as the University of Florida defensive coordinator. However, even while at Louisville, Strong always seemed to have a large percentage of Florida products on his roster. When hired by Texas early in January, Strong did not have much time to recruit as he was focused on retaining the players that were already committed. After understandably losing out on a few of the incoming freshman, Strong was able to get last minute pledges from Florida natives Chris Nelson and Andrew Beck.
In the last two days, Charlie Strong has offered scholarships to seven secondary players from Florida. How quickly did it all go down? Well according to multiple reports, the scholarships offers were all sent out within an hour of each other. While it will be an uphill battle to gain commitments from any of these highly touted players, maybe Strong's success with Sunshine state players will sway a few of them to come play for the Longhorns.
While many once saw his lack of ties to Texas as a negative, Strong's connection to Florida mixed with his up and coming roots in Texas may be exactly what the Longhorns need. If he can manage to gain a strong hold on Texas recruiting while picking up top talents from Florida, the Texas Longhorns should return to the national recruiting powerhouse that they are supposed to be.
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