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Texas head coach Charlie Strong is under fire after starting the season 2-3. CBS college football analyst Brian Jones says it is time for Longhorns fans to relax and let Strong coach.

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If Texas Longhorn fans are hawks and head coach Charlie Strong is a mouse, the hawks are lurking around, keeping watch of when to strike and eliminate their prey.

CBS Sports College Football Studio Analyst Brian Jones has a strong message for those predators.

“They need to leave Charlie the hell alone. He’s recruited well. Give the guy time. Two-and-a-half years is not enough time. We’re so impatient. Not just as Texas, but most marquee programs and just in general as humans in this immediacy world we live in. Everything has to be ‘now,’ and ‘I want to win right now.’”

It seemed like all those critics would disappear after a thrilling win against Notre Dame to open the season, but consecutive losses to California, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma have the Longhorns at 2-3. Jones, who played linebacker at Texas from 1989-90, says that execution down the stretch cost the Longhorns those games.

“There’s a couple of games they should’ve won. Shouldn’t have lost to Cal. Shouldn’t have lost to Oklahoma State. Could have won the game last week against Oklahoma. There were plays to be made; they just didn’t make them.”

As a former player himself, Jones knows that the kids in the locker room feel worse than anyone about losing.

“I’ve been there. I know the highs and lows those kids feel. I’ve been where they sit. And you just have to give them time.”

Strong has been a successful coach, first as an assistant and as the head man at Louisville, something Jones wants the powers-to-be in Austin to remember.

“Charlie Strong hasn’t forgotten how to coach. He knows how to coach. Let him do his thing. Let him work his magic. We have the offense fixed. Now let him go do magic on the defensive side of the ball. [Let him] get some ballers over there, especially on the d-line and they’ll be fine. You gotta be patient. Two-and-a-half years is not enough. Those cats are freshmen and redshirt freshmen. You gotta let them grow and develop. You wanna have someone else come in there and take credit for what he’s done to restock the cupboards? No, just chill out. That’s what I’d say to my Longhorn faithful: just chill the hell out and let the guy do his thing.”

There is one thing Strong must do if he wants to keep the noise down, and that is remain competitive.

“Now if they go and get waxed by Iowa State again, I’ll eat all my words. But I don’t foresee that. Hopefully they continue to play well. They just can’t lose to teams they can beat, and can’t lose badly. Those are my two criteria.”

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