Texas Football: Longhorns targeting TCU Sonny Cumbie for same position

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The Texas Longhorns are targeting TCU offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie to fill the same position. Would he be a home run hire for Charlie Strong?

The Longhorns have been less than spectacular on offense this year, and it looks like they’re already locked in on a new offensive coordinator. According to a report from Anwar Richardson, a Texas beat writer for Rivals.com, Charlie Strong is targeting TCU co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie.

Texas promoted wide receivers coach Jay Norvell to play caller earlier in the year, but he’s failed to produce for the Longhorns. Of course, it’s not all Norvell’s fault; the quarterbacks, offensive line, and running backs have all been pretty ineffective for Texas this season. Despite lackluster results from the players, Texas should still make a change at offensive coordinator.

Charlie Strong’s offense could definitely use a makeover, and Sonny Cumbie would be more than qualified to do it. Cumbie played football at Texas Tech under Mike Leach and coached there with Kliff Kingsbury in 2013. He’s a Leach disciple so he is well versed in the same offenses that other Big 12 coaches Dana Holgorsen, Art Briles, and Kingsbury run.

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His presence, along with fellow co-offensive coordinator Doug Meacham, helped transform Gary Patterson’s TCU team into a power and Trevone Boykin from a backup quarterback into a Heisman contender. In 2012 and 2013, Boykin posted quarterback ratings of 55.6 and 41.9, but Cumbie helped improve those numbers to 73.6 and 82.3 in Boykin’s last two seasons.

I think hiring Cumbie would be a coup for Strong’s program. Not only would they be adding a top offensive assistant, they’d be stealing him from a Big 12 rival.

There is speculation that TCU might be able to retain Cumbie, however. The Star-Telegram reported that co-offensive coordinator Doug Meacham will be named North Texas’ next head coach, which may increase TCU’s chance of keeping him.

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Expect Cumbie to receive a lot of attention these next few days, both Strong and Gary Patterson will have a little extra recruiting to do.