aztecskin

Regarding this: Loosen up media credential ability while we continue to get little coverage. Allow/encourage local Denton high school newspaper/videoproduction/photography organizations to be a part of North Texas game days. The AD / School do a great job supporting media. I covered all of CUSA for a bit and there are some programs that actively discourage anyone not named ESPN from covering things. NT is great at encouraging and supporting non-traditional media coverage (blogs, podcasts, small sites, etc) . No complaints.

Yep. Hey loser, it's season ticket time. Don't you want to watch the kid you chipped in $10 / month to fund? Time to put your deposit in! (also we need a new locker room so leave your checkbook out)

I think the defense was awful. Jeffries went coast to coast down the middle of the court. This is a no-middle defense folks. Couple of guys got caught ball-watching while MSST drove and dumped it off for dunks. Some of those dudes joined the squad to be scorers and aren't scoring too much.

I asked the program for more detail and if Rondel Walker will play this week. They said they are waiting for more information. (link to mgn forum for more detail)

If the NCAA is prohibited from enforcing restrictions (fine with me) and the schools want some kind of restrictions then they will need to bargain with the players -- collectively -- to agree upon some kind of system. I've written before that some kind of compensatory system for programs that develop players is beneficial to the entire football ecosystem. Right now there is no incentive or mechanism to do that. I can see a situation where G5 programs on down simply give up trying to play. For the players, that means fewer opportunities to play.

Maclin is a talent -- but 1) WR is more replaceable than other positions. 2) the offense and QB should attract more talent. 3) I'd rather have 3/4 "B" WRs than 1 A. Ayo is a talent -- but RB is *very* replaceable. We might be a little spoiled but losing Torrey just opened the door for more guys to come in and show they could do a lot of the same. OL losses -- the OL was good in run situations, but even going back a couple of seasons in big moments they did not produce -- v UTSA, v UAB, v Bowl Opponents. This year, they got killed in pass protection. I liked Miner, but I don't know that anyone on the line can't be upgraded. I don't like losing guys, but the real travesty would be not finding someone better -- something I think the staff needed to do anyway. Either developing the guys there or finding swaps. Defense -- I've argued a large portion of the poor defensive play this year has been due to the lack of building on the defensive side for years. I mean, PB had a squad ranked in the 100s and they lost the MLB, CB, and a safety from that group. I like that some of the young talent got time -- means they should develop. Losing Wilson is not great, but he was an upperclassman. He wasn't going to be around for that much longer anyway.

@MeanGreenTexan I get what you mean but I think he did a solid job here. The first 60% of his tenure is already an outmoded way of recruiting. If he goes on to do something better it will be because of what he learned here as a head coach.

Yeah Match Quarters had a good number of articles on the ideas behind the 3-stack this team is using. You have to use archive.org to access it now: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604171532/https://matchquarters.com/tag/3-3-3/ In short, and speaking generically, there are two broad categories of line play. The first is Eat Up Space -- where you want big guys who draw a couple of blockers. This is generally the 3-4 defenses, think of Vince Wilfork, Tony Siragusa, et al. They caused havok and allowed the linebackers to make plays. The second is Own Your Gap. This is generally the realm of 4-3 defenses. You usually have a big nose -- Warren Sapp -- who is more about being fast and getting into the backfield than eating up a couple of blockers. Because of the nature of football, someone is going to have to be your Dynamic guy. In the 3-4 stuff, you generally asked your middle linebackers to be bigger, as they would need to be run stoppers, and one edge guy to be like a pass-rusher more than a coverage linebacker. In the 4-3, you wanted fast guys, but every lineman would need to stop the run. You generally needed one good pass-rusher who could run. ---- The 3-stack prioritizes speed above all else. It is like a Landry 4-3 in that it is about controlling gaps quickly, and reacting instead of over-powering. The Match Quarters articles talked about the Star safety (middle safety) being like the Tampa 2 middle linebacker. Instead of the Lovie Smith/Monte Kiffin backer who would think run first and bail out into the middle of the field, the Star thinks pass first, and will fly up the field to make a tackle. This is why we generally have a "light" box. Light boxes are bad if you have grown up watching/playing football for any number of years. But they are en vogue across all levels of football. The idea is you give up short runs and limit big plays. * You can watch Mazin Richards and Rod Brown slant hard to disrupt the gaps. The linebackers are supposed to fly up and make the tackle. Our problem is that our LB play was atrocious. I linked to the PFF grades in the season review. https://www.meangreennation.com/p/2023-season-review I don't hate the scheme. I think it showed a lot of promise in some moments. I talked a lot on the podcast about the string of stops against Memphis, UTSA, Tulane, Navy and others that are encouraging. If we can not allow the 80-yarders, I think we are in a good spot. *Incidentally, like all innovations, you see them in video games first. I remember a dude playing like NCAA10 and dominating by running a dime package on defense, killing the run attempts by using the middle safety. It felt like cheating and un-real football. Fast forward 15 years and Iowa State is using it vs Texas in real life.

the way it usually works is the salary offsets the buyout. so whatever he was getting as an analyst would count as well. He could be getting 100K and that would simply reduce the amount of the buyout is all. The co-oc thing is just prestige and role. It's kind of like getting "asst head coach" -- which is just prestige and reason to give a guy a bigger salary. OU/ the state of oklahoma is his home so I imagine he will try to stay on for as long as he can there. If Oklahoma impresses with him as the head guy (like Lebby) and he gets offered some ridiculous salary with a real shot to win, I imagine he takes it.

The deal with the devil to win two football championships was for the soul of the basketball program.

https://www.meangreennation.com/p/216-thanksgiving-hoops-check-in#details Greg and I got together before Thanksgiving to talk some hoops

Greg got on his typewriter once 'gain. https://www.meangreennation.com/p/2023-beyond-the-arc-week-2

I got here because I had an notification of thread necromancy. I re-read my post and agreed and laughed at it and was about to give it a like until I was prevented in so doing because it was my own. Somewhat relatedly, I watched some old video of my kids when they were younger and laughed when they said something cute. The cameraman, also me, laughed at the same thing. Either some things are universal and true always or I am immature. Or both, you know.

Yep. we mentioned this on the podcast and in the recap. I am not as ant-defense as some other because of three games against good (ish, if you include utsa) competition and some nice defensive stops. There were some big ones in must-have situations as well. The defense still needs some game-changers, and some development in the weight room and in the film room. I think this system is interesting for what we are trying to get out of it.

It was Morris' call on the system. Caponi could be a bad coach, defensive play-caller, or game-planner, but from what I've seen it is a personnel thing. There simply aren't dudes getting the kind of movement and reaction that is needed. So you could blame the system -- but again that was the head coach's idea. Clint Bowen had two shots here and he was awful both times, with the players talking about how awful of a motivator he was among other things. Caponi's squad has deficiencies, but I've seen good play in spurts. The likes that can be built upon. I said on the podcast that I see the silhouette of the defense that it could be.