Top 15 Coaching Duos in College Sports

Sep 6, 2014; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong prior to kick off against the Brigham Young Cougars at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

When Charlie Strong busted onto the scene after much success at Louisville, everyone wanted him. He can recruit. He can coach, and he was likely heading to the highest bidder when he decided he was done winning in Louisville. He went to the highest bidder, Texas, who gave Strong $5 million a year.

Strong’s first year in Austin, however, wasn’t worth five million. Strong’s Longhorns’s barely made a bowl game and lost big to Arkansas in that bowl game. Strong came in with high expectations, and well, things didn’t really pan out for his team in year one.

Strong’s a good coach, and when it’s all said and done, he will likely see the same amount of success he had in Louisville at his new job in Texas.

I could literally copy and paste the first paragraph and change Strong to Smart. Shaka Smart had an unbelievable amount of success while at VCU, making it to the NCAA Tournament in five of his six seasons, with a Final Four run in 2011.

Like Strong, once Smart had enough of winning at VCU, he sought something more and went to the highest bidder, Texas, who gave Smart close to $3 million dollars, with about a $100,000 increase each season.

Smart is best young coach in college basketball, and after much success at Virginia Commonwealth, he will surely see even more success at Texas.

Next: No. 8 Michigan Wolverines