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Update: Texas coach Charlie Strong confirmed Monday that defensive coordinator Vance Bedford has been stripped of his play-calling duties. Bedford will continue to coach the secondary along with Clay Jennings. Strong will now assume play-calling duties moving forward.

"The way we've played on defense is unacceptable," Strong said. "So I'm gonna run the defense. I'm going to coach the defense."

Strong said the move was not made out of "desperation." However, demoting defensive assistants has been a negative trend for the Longhorns in recent years...


Original Story: Texas' 50-47 overtime victory against Notre Dame from a month ago feels like it was forever ago now, especially now that the Longhorns have continued to see their defense gashed on big stages.

According to Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated, a "high-ranking Texas official said on Sunday night that Strong is 'very close' to losing his job at the end of the season."

The news comes after Texas lost on the road in Week 5 to Oklahoma State 49-31. It was the Longhorns' second successive loss. Texas plays Oklahoma in Dallas on Saturday, one week after the Sooners bounced back to beat TCU 52-46.

Thamel's report states that no move will be made in-season because "there's no logical candidate on the staff to take over the program." That would fall in line with the stance of Texas athletic director Mike Perrin, who told reporters over the weekend that he would be "evaluating everything" about the program.

It appears as if more, not less, will fall on Strong's plate as he apparently fights for his job. 247Sports late Sunday reported that Strong will take over play-calling duties on defense as coordinator Vance Bedford will be demoted. Strong has an incredibly successful background as a defensive coordinator, which is one reason his teams' defensive woes have been so troubling.

Strong is scheduled to appear on the Big 12's coaching teleconference Monday.

Texas is 2-2, and 13-16 overall under Strong. The process to rebuild and change the culture of the Longhorns program has been arduous to say the least. But while Strong's efforts to clean up the team have been admirable, there have been more mistakes made in his assistant coaching hires. Sterlin Gilbert has resurrected the once-dead offense, but only after Strong went through Shawn Watson, Joe Wickline and Jay Norvell as play-callers in his first two seasons.

Things haven't been much better on defense or special teams, for that matter. The Horns went 1 for 4 on extra points and 0 for 1 on field goals against Oklahoma State. Additionally, Texas has given up at least 47 points in four of their past five games dating back to last season. Demoting Bedford midseason could be a last-stand effort for Strong.

The fact that this is all playing out publicly with two full months to go in the season means, at the very least, that things could even more tense before they better -- if they get better at all. Texas is a mess, and it's not just because of football team's record.