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When Texas transitioned from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong in 2014, it came with a monstrous price tag.

Eric George, now in his fourth year as the chief financial officer for Clemson's athletics department, had a front-row seat to the changeover in Austin. He spent two-and-a-half years at Texas, dealing primarily with the Longhorns' finances.

Add up all the buyouts from the previous staff, salaries for the new staff, moving expenses, and some immediate renovations negotiated by Strong, and George estimated the total cost was $18 million.

This was five years ago. Texas had more turnover when Strong was out and Tom Herman was in, and the Longhorns spent piles of more money on that transition.

This goes a long way toward explaining how Clemson, which 10 years ago could only dream of reaching the stature of Texas, is now the gold standard in college football and the Longhorns are trying to get back to prominence.