Report: Shawn Watson expected to be Texas Longhorns offensive coordinator
Newly hired head coach of the Texas Longhorns, Charlie Strong could be close to hiring his offensive coordinator from his time with the Louisville Cardinals as Shawn Watson appears to be the man according to Horns247 after the buyout for Clemson Tigers offensive coordinator Chad Morris was too rich.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman is the other finalist with Morris according to Horns247, but CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman tweeted there is no truth to that rumor.
So Charlie really wants to hire Shawn Watson. He's not as bad as people have made him out to be. It would probably work.
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) January 11, 2014
However, Texas fans won’t like the hire according to Burnt Orange Nation’s Wescott Eberts, “if Watson is hired without any other interviews, that probably won’t play well with Texas fans, who have almost universally been panning the prospective hire.”
Watson has a reputation as a quarterback guru and one of the primary reasons for Mack Brown’s downfall at Texas has been the lack of great quarterback play in recent years.
Considering what Watson did in the development of Teddy Bridgewater, if Watson is the guy, Texas should embrace the hire and hope he can turn Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard into college stars.
Watson would join Vance Bedford as former Louisville coordinators to join Strong’s staff since taking the job in Austin. Bedford was hired to run the defense and brought Brian Jean-Marry from Louisville to coach the Texas linebackers.
A decision on Watson being hired could be made as early as today.