I used to have a Band Director (NT McAdow student), who one day stopped us in the middle of practice and asked "how many of you believe the old adage that practice makes perfect?". Well, we thought that was an easy question, so we all raised our hands. "Well you're all wrong" he said. GOOD PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT AND THIS PRACTICE IS THE WORST I'VE EVER SEEN". The rest of practice ended up better.
My point? Under DD and Littell, North Texas won a lot of games. They set impressive rushing and passing records. But when it came to winning games that REALLY COUNTED (the good practice part of my analogy) like conference championship games, and bowl games, and games against La Tech at home with a big crowd watching.........WE GOT OWNED.
Winning the conference championships, and bowl games, and big games at home in front of large crowds , does wonders for a program.