Texas fires pair of offensive coaches as part of overhaul

Texas coach Charlie Strong ended the year with a pair of dismissals, as he fired tight ends coach Bruce Chambers and wide receivers coach Les Koenning in a bid to spark the Longhorns’ recruiting down the stretch.

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Texas fans who had the displeasure of watching their Longhorns sleepwalk offensively during Monday’s 31-7 Texas Bowl loss to Arkansas can feel a wee bit better now that coach Charlie Strong fired tight ends coach Bruce Chambers and wide receivers coach Les Koenning, the latter having spent just the 2014 season at the position.

Chambers was one of the old guard, having spent the last 17 seasons with Texas and was the final holdover from the Mack Brown administration. Among Chambers’ pupils was Jermichael Finley, the former Green Bay Packers standout, who started on the team for their Super Bowl 45 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Koenning was a former All-Southwest Conference receiver at Texas who came back to Austin after serving as Mississppi State’s offensive coordinator.

Part of the reason for the coaching changes stems from the fact that Strong wants to further bolster the team’s recruiting efforts. Texas is ranked 14th nationally, according to 247sports.com’s most recent standings, and is rapidly approaching the top 10. The Longhorns have the top recruiting class in the Big 12, headlined by linebacker Malik Jefferson, the top player in the state of Texas. Jefferson spurred Texas A&M, which appeared to have had him locked up.

Strong also added four-star quarterback Zach Gentry, a 6-7, 230-pounder who could compete for the starting job next season. Tyrone Swoopes started most of the 2014 campaign after repeated concussions forced David Ash into retirement. Swoopes’ struggles reached their low water mark in Monday’s bowl loss, as the Longhorns managed only 59 yards of offense, the school’s worst offensive output in 71 years.

Texas finished 6-7 in Strong’s first season, one that was marked by its offensive struggles.

“Six-and-seven isn’t the standard at Texas and we all know that,” Swoopes said. “We just need to go get it fixed.”

By “getting it fixed,” that means upgrades from Chambers and Koenning, for starters.

Former Texas tight end Derek Lewis, who currently holds the same position at Florida, and Oklahoma tight ends/special teams coach Jay Boulware are among the candidates to replace Chambers, while South Florida’s Ron Dugans is the top name to replace Koenning. Dugans was a former standout receiver at Florida State and coached for Strong when both were at Louisville.

In the end, though, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson will be the one most responsible for whether the Longhorns can dial up a more potent scoring attack or he could find himself cleaning out his desk this time next year.

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