Texas leaves Charlie Strong and Longhorns players in limbo

— -- When embattled Texas?coach Charlie Strong walked into a team meeting room on Sunday, a day after another devastating loss, this time to woebegone Kansas, he said his players looked at him "like they were seeing a ghost."

"Guys, it's really me," Strong told them.

Strong was the only Texas official with enough courage and guts to show himself in public on Monday, a day after there were various media reports, including from ESPN, that athletic director Mike Perrin and university president Gregory Fenves had already decided to fire him.

For the record, Strong said he met with Perrin and talked with Fenves on Sunday. Strong said he was told that he and his coaching staff would be evaluated at the end of the regular season, and that a decision wouldn't be made until after Friday's regular-season finale against TCU in Austin. Perrin said the same thing in a statement the university released on Sunday night.

For what it's worth, Strong believes the result of Friday's game will carry some weight as to whether or not he'll be coaching the Longhorns beyond this season. It might only be wishful thinking -- or maybe not.

"I don't really think so," Strong said, when asked if he believed a decision about his future had been made. "I'd like not to think it has, because I've been told they would make the decision after the TCU game. I don't believe it has been done."

Clearly, the odds don't seem to be in his favor. The Longhorns dropped to 5-6 overall after losing 24-21 in overtime at Kansas, which hadn't defeated Texas since 1938. The Longhorns have to beat the Horned Frogs on Friday to become bowl-eligible.

Strong is 16-20 overall and 12-14 in Big 12 play in three seasons at Texas.

"I know the wins and losses don't stack up," Strong said.

But after cleaning up Texas' off-field issues, Strong believes his young team is improving every week and will be even better in 2017.

"Next year, I want to come back," Strong said. "I look at the job this staff has done and the players they've put in place and how far we've come. ... You're looking at a young football team that, when you get everything back in place for the upcoming year, has a lot of talent."

It's hard to imagine that Perrin and Fenves would string Strong along for five more days, especially during the Thanksgiving holiday, if they've already decided he won't be returning for a fourth season. But then again, we are talking about Texas, where the uncomfortable ending of longtime coach Mack Brown's tenure dragged on for days before reaching finality in 2013.

If Fenves and Perrin had already decided to fire Strong, would they really have paraded him out in front of a roomful of reporters for his regular news conference on Monday? If they were certain they were going to fire him, wouldn't they have already delivered the news to him? At least then he and his players could relax and enjoy what might be their final game together on Friday.

Strong said he could already sense that his team was playing tight as speculation about his future swirled the past few weeks. The Longhorns blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter against Kansas, which had lost nine straight games and 19 consecutive Big 12 contests. Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele threw three interceptions, including one in overtime, and star tailback? D'Onta Foreman?fumbled twice.

"I can tell on the field how we're playing not to lose," Strong said. "We have one game left. It's important we play this game for our seniors, because they deserve to get to a bowl game. We're all frustrated. Standing in the room [with his players on Sunday], I could see the look in their eyes how frustrated they were about that loss."

It's hard to say Strong has lost his locker room given the show of support Texas players gave on Monday.

"He doesn't have the support, I guess, of some of the people who are trying to get him out," receiver? Jacorey Warrick?said. "But the people who really matter, the players, you can see where our support lies."

Texas defensive tackle? Paul Boyette Jr.?made a tearful defense of Strong on Monday. "In my heart and my spirit, I want him to be here," he said. "I don't make the decisions. I'm not the head man in charge. All I can do is pray and hope for the best. I can't say enough about him."

If Texas' administration has no intentions of bringing Strong back next season, waiting another five days to fire him is only going to make matters worse. The current situation in Austin is eerily similar to what happened at LSU last season, when the Tigers were trying to decide whether or not to fire coach Les Miles.

In the days before LSU's regular-season finale against Texas A&M in 2015, there were widespread media reports that the administration was leaning toward firing Miles, who guided the Tigers to two SEC titles and the 2007 BCS national championship.

But then a funny thing happened: LSU fans decided they wanted to keep their popular coach. They chanted his name and roared when he was introduced during Senior Day ceremonies. Other fans waved signs of support from the stands. After LSU knocked off the Aggies 19-7, LSU's players carried Miles off the field on their shoulders.

Then athletic director Joe Alleva unexpectedly announced that Miles would return to coach for another season. According to various media reports, LSU president F. King Alexander decided Miles wouldn't be fired during a meeting with Alleva and influential boosters in a luxury suite at halftime of the game.

Of course, LSU's decision is also a cautionary tale for Texas. After getting new life, Miles coached the Tigers for only four games this season. Alleva fired him the day after an 18-13 loss at Auburn dropped LSU's record to 2-2.

Regardless, the Longhorns need to decide what they're going to do and go ahead and do it. The outcome of one game really can't mean that much in the big picture.

As Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley famously said in 2002: "If something needs to be done eventually, it needs to be done immediately."

It sure beats Strong's current predicament.

"No person deserves to be in this type of limbo," Boyette Jr. said.