It took a while, but San Antonio billionaire and Texas Longhorn booster Red McCombs finally offered an apology to new Longhorns coach Charlie Strong for saying Strong’s hiring was a “kick in the face.”
McCombs told San Antonio Express-News that he had a phone conversation with Strong, who is Black, and said the new coach had his “total support.”
McCombs, who also slighted Strong by saying the former Louisville coach “would make a great position coach, maybe a coordinator,” said: “He wanted my help and my support,” McCombs said. “I told him I’d be happy to do it.”
He tried to explain away his comments by saying “my interest in this coaching issue was to see that we had one of the three best coaches in the United States.”
McCombs, former owner of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, sounded genuinely hurt that his comments had been interpreted as racially motivated. McCombs obviously cares about the school; he’s donated more than $100 million to Texas.
