Why Offensive Improvement Is Texas Coach Charlie Strong's Biggest Goal in 2015

Defense is what got the Texas Longhorns to a bowl game in head coach Charlie Strong's first year in 2014. Offense is what might have to do the job this time around. Considering the Longhorns could barely move the ball at times last season, improving the offense dramatically is Strong's biggest goal for 2015. 

His own job security likely depends upon it, as if you needed any more proof that being the head coach at Texas is that demanding. 

Let's start at the beginning. On national signing day in early February, Strong promised Longhorn fans a more wide-open offense going forward, noting that it behooved the program to run something similar to what high schools across the state did. That made sense; Texas is a recruiting hotbed, and the flagship program no longer had a kung-fu grip on the best in-state talent. Promising more excitement on offense is one way to fix that. 

At the very least, though, Texas needed a change after finishing last in the Big 12 in passing offense and ninth in points per game. 

There's no doubt the offense had to be shaken up—Les Koenning and Bruce Chambers, two offensive assistants, were shown the door as well—but now the question remains whether the changes will spark any, um, change. 

Preseason magazines are around for entertainment purposes first and foremost. Their job is to bide the time until real football begins. That said, it's telling that well-known sources such as Phil Steele and Athlon Sports have one offensive Longhorns player—offensive lineman Sedrick Flowers—as a first-team Preseason All-Big 12 selection.

Combined. 

Running back Johnathan Gray, who might be Texas' most well-known offensive player, was a third-team preseason selection by both publications. (Gray, of course, suffered an Achilles injury late in 2013 and was never quite the same last year.) 

These types of preseason all-conference teams are put together with last year's production and offseason rumblings/reports in mind. What they tell us about Texas is that few Longhorns are getting attention on offense. 

Long gone are the days of Vince Young, Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley and Jamaal Charles. This year, Strong's checklist includes: sorting out the quarterback competition between Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard; developing the offensive line, which was crushed by attrition last year; and finding a reliable receiving corps after losing their top two wide receivers from 2014—John Harris and Jaxon Shipley. 

It's going to be up to Strong and this offensive coaching staff to develop a lot of under-the-radar talent. That's not a line you expect to write about Texas. Ever. 

But at least there's some experience returning on offense. That's important because the Horns might not be able to rely on their defense like they did a year ago. There are a couple of staples in place—defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway and cornerback Duke Thomas, for example—but there will be a lot of new starters and new players being broken in on that side of the ball. 

"This is probably going to be one of those years where we’re going to have to go coach, and we’ll just see how good of coaches we really are," Strong said, per Rod Babers of 247Sports. 

Strong and his staff are good coaches. One look at the players Louisville has put into the NFL draft over the past few years is a reflection of that. In time, Texas' defense will be stout again (at the very least, the defensive line should lead the way). But if you want to know if Strong is going to make it as Texas' coach, let's see what he can do with the offense.  

Strong is regarded as one of the brightest defensive minds in college football, and his assistant coaching staff reflects that expertise. As such, changing the tune and putting a priority on offense in '15 is going to test Strong's flexibility as a head coach. 

It brings to mind what Gary Patterson did at TCU. Patterson, another defensive-minded coach, went outside of his comfort zone and hired two co-offensive coordinators, Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham, for the '14 season. As it turned out, there may not have been a better set of hires than that all year. 

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That's not to compare TCU to Texas, but it does show that great coaches are willing to change things up and go in a direction that's different for them. Strong has already started down that path by promising to modify the offense.

Will he get the results to go along with it? That will be his biggest test. If he doesn't, people could get anxious heading into year three.  

Put it this way: Strong was listed at "3" on Dennis Dodd's recent hot seat-o-meter. A "3," means "Starting to feel the pressure." Spinning off that rating, Max Olson of ESPN.com recently wrote "Strong's status on this list is debatable, I guess, but I get it: If you're the head coach of Texas and you're coming off a losing season, you're going to feel at least a little pressure."

That little bit of pressure will be a lot of pressure if Texas has two straight losing seasons. If the offense doesn't take a major step forward, that could very well be the case.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.