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You know that weird feeling in your stomach when you know something isn’t right? Everything might seem okay Turns out, that was only the beginning of one of the worst campaigns in program history. Plagued by injuries, turnovers and poor offensive execution, the Mean Green finished the year 8-22 and said goodbye to head coach Tony Benford last weekend. I really do feel bad for Benford. He is an outstanding man. He took the time to get to know me this season, and I always enjoyed our chats in his office before and after interviews. Sadly, kindness does not win basketball games. Over the course of his five-year tenure, that was a recurring theme. Benford could never win the games that mattered. His teams, for whatever reason, always seemed to stumble, even when it looked like they were set up for success. Like this year. When this season began, Benford knew he had to win to save his job. The theme of the preseason press conference was “win now.” With a majority of his roster back, Benford thought he would have all the necessary puzzle pieces to string it together. He knew he had a preseason all-conference selection and a McDonald’s All-American ready to suit up for him. Then injuries came in and flipped the table, sending those same puzzle pieces flying. And while the injuries are unfortunate, Benford has no one to blame but himself. He put himself in this situation. In five years, none of his teams finished above the .500 mark. The Mean Green won only one conference tournament game under Benford and were a dismal 62-95 from 2012-2017. Over the years, Benford was given plenty of chances to make things work. But after five years with no real signs of progression on the court, the writing was on the wall. View Full Article

Dan McCarney was fired as the University of North Texas’ head football coach Saturday night following a devastating loss to Portland State University in the Mean Green’s homecoming game. The Vikings hammered UNT 66-7, the largest margin of defeat ever for a Football Bowl Subdivision team in a game against a team from the Football Championship Subdivision. The loss dropped UNT to 0-5 for the first time since the 2008 season and continued a rapid downhill slide following the Mean Green’s Heart of Dallas Bowl win following the 2013 season. UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal confirmed the school’s decision to part ways with McCarney in a hastily called press conference that took the place of the Mean Green’s regular postgame interview session. “This football team has continued to struggle more and more each week in the last three or four weeks,” Villarreal said. “It started at the beginning of the season. We are not in position where we are competitive really in any phase of the game.” read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20151010-unt-fires-mccarney.ece