Charlie Strong Must Take Action After Texas Players Publicly Rip Each Other

Texas Longhorns football has had a Twitter problem these last few days.

At halftime of Saturday's 50-7 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs, Texas freshman cornerback Kris Boyd apparently retweeted someone who talked about Boyd and freshman linebacker Malik Jefferson transferring to the rival Texas A&M Aggies. 

Boyd later apologized for the incident in a statement released by Texas. 

Then, on Monday afternoon, junior safety Dylan Haines voiced his frustrations with the Longhorns' 1-4 start, going so far as to call out some of the younger players on the roster during media availability.

Of course, as shown above, media members tweeted out Haines' quotes. Some of those younger Texas players saw what the junior said on Twitter and fired back.

True freshman defensive end Charles Omenihu publicly responded to Haines on Twitter. While he quickly deleted his tweets, screenshots made sure they didn't go away permanently.

Wide receiver DeAndre McNeal, another true freshman, then offered a much longer opinion on Haines' comments, saying "we haven't won anything to have people calling out others."

Now all eyes are on Charlie Strong, the head coach who was the subject of yet another Twitter controversy involving a different team this weekend.

Frustrations are clearly running high in Texas after losing back-to-back heartbreakers and then a blowout against a Big 12 rival. Now they're starting to boil over.

According to Jeff Howe of Horns247, Haines said there wasn't a "strong, written divide" between the upperclassmen and the underclassmen on the team.

Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

"But there's definitely... everyone's not on the same page," Haines said, per Howe. "That's why we're playing the way we're playing and that's why the season is going the way it's going."

Not being on the same page is definitely an understatement, especially when some of the freshman class Haines called out reacted the way they did.

No matter what Haines said, there is definitely a rift between the veterans and the young players on the team.

If the Longhorns are being public about it in front of the media and on Twitter, there's no telling what the problems may be in the locker room and out on the practice field.

Now that it appears that Strong isn't necessarily fighting for his job security this season—according to a Monday report from Joe Schad of ESPN.com—he still has to salvage what's left of a fracturing roster.

Before Texas players spoke with the media Monday afternoon, Strong had his turn at the podium, vowing that his team wouldn't fall apart.

A little while later, his own players showed signs of falling out with each other.

Strong certainly won't shy away from discipline, as evidenced by "the purge" of players from the program prior to the 2014 season. 

Now he has to put his foot down again with this team.

Whether publicly or internally, Strong needs something big to bring his team together—from the seniors who told him they needed to make a bowl this season down to the freshman whose development will ultimately keep his job secure in Austin. 

While Strong might not have to go full Remember the Titans on his players, something has to be done to restore some unity back to a team that is clearly frustrated. 

Strong's next move needs to make a statement and put an end to the extra drama that surrounds a high-profile team that is always under the microscope. He can't afford any more damage to the support of his upperclassmen or the potential of his underclassmen.

If not, Texas will continue to move nowhere but backward in Strong's second season.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.