Ron Franklin (left) introduces Earl Campbell Friday at the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award dinner at Willow Brook Country Club. Both Franklin and Campbell are excited about Strong being named head coach of the Texas Longhorns. (Herb Nygren Jr. | Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Earl Campbell and sportscaster Ron Franklin are excited about new University of Texas coach Charlie Strong and what he brings to the Longhorn football program.

Both were in Tyler on Friday for the inaugural Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.

Campbell, the 1977 Heisman Trophy at UT, said fans should be patient and good things will come.

“I believe everybody in life deserves a chance and unfortunately there was some stupidity of some people associated with the university that talked about Charlie Strong,” said Campbell, who presented Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty with the first Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. “I had a meeting with Charlie and his staff last week. I think all we’ve got to do is give him a chance to prove himself. It’s going to be something that is not going to be overnight.

“I’d like to welcome him to the university and we look very forward to what he can bring to the university. His record (at Louisville) speaks for itself.”

Franklin, who served as emcee at the Friday event at Willow Brook Country Club, resides in Austin and has known Strong for several years.

“I really like it,” Franklin said of the hire. “I got to be around Charlie many years ago when he was at South Carolina and also when he was at Florida and I liked what he did. Louisville kicked the door open and said we want to give Charlie a chance. He not only answered the bell, but he did extremely well.

“I think if the people at the University of Texas take a step back … hide and watch and see what happens, you are going to have a good product. I know the stipulations that he puts on his kids about class and the reason they are there is to graduate and win football games and hopefully championships.”

Strong gave his players some rules to abide by while attending Texas.

The rules appeared on barkingcarnival.com.

Strong Expectations:

1. Players will attend all of their classes and sit in the front two rows of all of their classes. GAs, academic folks, position coaches will be checking constantly now.

2. No headphones in class. No texting in class. Sit up and take notes.

3. If a player misses a class, he runs until it hurts. If he misses two classes, his entire position unit runs. If he misses three, the position coach runs. The position coaches don’t want to run.

4. No earrings in the football building. No drugs. No stealing. No guns. Treat women with respect.

5. Players may not live off campus anymore, unless they’re a senior who hits certain academic standards. The University will buy out the leases for every player currently living off campus and put them in the athletic dorm.

6. The team will all live together, eat together, suffer together and hang out together. They will become a true team and learn to impose accountability on each other. The cliques are over.

7. There’s no time for a rebuild. “I don’t have time for that.” The expectation is that Texas wins now.

8. Players will learn that they would rather practice than milk a minor injury.

9. The focus is on winning and graduating. Anything extraneous to that is a distraction and will be stamped out or removed.

10. Strong met individually with seniors and key leaders and reemphasized that the plan is to win now. They can lead the new culture or be run over by it.

11. “I don’t want to talk about things. I’d rather do things. We just talked. Now it’s time to do.”

Franklin, who was the Texas play-by-play announcer from 1983-88, continued, “At Louisville in three years, a guy told me this spring they may wind up with 100 percent graduation and they had just lost three scholarships when he took over the program because it was horrific. Well, guess what? That is what Charlie did in three years. He’s tough, but he’s fair. The people in the (Louisville area) have told me the Texas people are going to like him.”

Campbell’s son, Christian, ran track at the University of South Carolina when Strong was the defensive coordinator there. He said he expects good things from Strong.

If Strong can win recruits like he did earlier this week with consensus four-star linebacker Edwin Freeman of Arlington Bowie, then he will make friends fast in Austin. Freeman picked the Longhorns over offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.