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I think UNT has a Will Darnell problem....

Articles written by people like this hurt our reputation as a "solid, growing academic university"...replacing a crumbling 60 year-old stadium with a quality football facility we can all be proud of does not.

Will Darnell has no penis, just a hairless patch of skin where a penis should be.

I think Will Darnell has retardation problem. "UNT is masquerading as a Texas Football Factory", WTF are you smoking? To summarize his argument, we shouldn't have football because we don't have as much money as UT, and because sometimes people get hurt. By that logic, Oklahoma shouldn't have any highways. They don't spend near the money on highways that the State of Texas does, and sometimes people die on their highways.

This isn't about making a profit OFF OF THIS ONE GAME. This is about trying to get a win in front of people who may become donors. This is about selling season ticket packages and MGC donations. This is about making us look like a real program. Winning in front of home crowds is what this program needs to grow and make much more money in the future. How can anyone have a problem with this? What are our options? Take a money game road trip to the SEC and lose? Done enough of that. How about we don't start off 0-1? And in case no one has noticed, between increased ticket sales and giving, the athletics fee, and new conference revenue we are no longer in the position where we HAVE to sell as many of our games as possible. Schedule a 1 and 1 with a MAC team? Great, that means looking forward to five home game seasons when we return those games. We can now afford to buy games instead of having to home/home splits with Ball State. This is a good thing. Save those splits for SMU and that type of program. Get aTm to play in Denton? Good luck. They make $4.2 million a home game. Most of the teams we "want" to play, which would bring a crowd to Apogee either 1) we can't afford to bring here, or 2) don't want to play us and possibly give us a recruiting advantage, or 3) both.

Iowa had endured 17 straight seasons without a winning record when Hayden was hired so expectations were not too high during the first two years. Ironically the record in his first year was 5-6 and in the second year it was 4-7 which sounds pretty similar to DMac's first two Mean Green years. Coach Fry won the fans over pretty quick with his enthusiasm, his promotion of the team, his genius and all the unique phrases he would say. He changed the long time helmet logo from Herky the Hawk to the Tiger Hawk. His team entered the field just before a game in as he called it "The Swarm" where they slowly walked holding hands onto the field to the sidelines rather than running which brought the crowd into a frenzy. He changed the uniforms to look like the Pittsburgh Steelers which were a very dominant team at the time. Year three was when the program really took off with wins over Nebraska, UCLA, at Michigan and a trip to the Rose Bowl. We can only hope that something similar will take place in year three for DMac!

I noticed he won 9 games his first two years at Iowa. Do you recall the student's and alumni's attitude towards how Fry was doing at that time?

These two things related?

I am not one to really talk about particulars in this regard. I see irritability. And, that goes with the disappointment of the season I am sure... they all had big expectations and it just isn't happening. One thing I was/have been impressed with is how many of them go about sharing their opinions. They are really good about representing the team, the coach, and themselves fairly well. They aren't going to be quick to trash anyone. Some keep it to themselves and wont say anything at all. I think they all "like" coach benford. hell, I like coach benford. Just like JJ, He cares about what they do and who they are on and off the court. I want him to do well. I am not rooting for failure or anything like that. I am just not covinced that he can even get this thing back to JJ levels. If he sticks around, i hope I am wrong. But, back to the players, I don't think they all have his back. No, not think... I know it isn't true for everyone. They have their frustrations and uncertainties now and even some in preseason with him. There were some things they questioned and with the lack of results those questions get louder. Do they look at themselves too? sure. I think with the failure of this season, they are really frustrated with everything. They are a close group. Closer than any group I have ever seen from UNT BB the past 6 years. But, they have been all together more than Benford has been here. They respect the coach because he is the coach. But, from my conversations I do not get the impression that they would go to battle for him. I have spoke with more than just those 5 in the past that you have mentioned. It isn't that they don't like him. They like him, but I just get the impression that they don't have complete buy in. And who can blame them? Look at how this season has gone. Oh, one more thing... I wouldn't be all to shocked to see Tony Mitchel in a north texas uniform next year.

Did you learn how to spin things from Baghdad Bob? At this point, I am starting to believe you post on this board just to troll. Defending Benford's coaching ability all season is what most people would call "low basketball IQ". You will get your chance to be proven right, in regard to Benford, since he will be back again, but to me, that shows a low basketball IQ by the BOR and the AD. Actually it shows a low basketball commitment by the BOR and the AD, but that's nothing new. I will say this--you are the perfect fan for the BOR and administration here.

What helmet logo would you prefer?

Interlocking, letters, or abbreviations = 78 Animal, animal related thing, or mascot = 41 Misc./WTF? = 10 Nothing = 6 School Name Spelled Out (Our current helmet) = 5 Team Name = 5 Native American Themed = 2 Now...again...RV's theory that we have to have "North Texas" or people won't know who we are is blantantly ridiculous. If that were the case, the only time people would know who was playing is if Illinois, Tulsa, Troy, Ohio, or us were playing. Almost every school in the country has either letters, the team mascot, or a combination of both on it. Only 20 schools fall outside of that group, 16%. It is not going to kill us to go with a real logo. I'd go for interlocking NT I'd go for SOW I'd go for UNT I'd go for NT or UNT with SOW I'd go for NT or UNT with an Eagle, Eagle head, claw, or wing I'd even go for NORTEX just to be original with an abbreviation, or NORTEX with SOW or an Eagle, Eagle head, claw, or wing. The only thing I'd want spelled out on our helmets ever again would be MEAN GREEN, a nickname that truly is unique. MEAN GREEN with an Eagle, Eagle head, claw, wing, or SOW is also fine. Whatever. We have plenty to work with when you look at what the vast majority of schools do. Just, please...kill off the NORTH TEXAS spelled out.

So, that's - so far - 85% for SOW or Interlocking NT. Is it useless again to post the number of college that use interlocking letters or school letter abreviations? I can't remember the last time I did it, but I think it was over 60% of the schools. Again, countering RV's opinion that we've got to have "North Texas" or people won't know who we are. Interlocking, letters, or abbreviations Akron - both letter and Kangaroo Arizona Arkansas State - abbreviated "A State" Auburn BYU Baylor Bowling Green - both letters and Falcon Buffalo California - abbreviated "Cal" Central Florida Central Michigan Cincinnati - the C made to look like a bearclaw Colorado - letters and Buffalo Connecticut Duke Eastern Michigan FIU - both letters and Panther Florida Atlantic Georgia Georgia Tech Hawaii Houston Idaho - both letter and Vandals Indiana Iowa State Kansas Kent State - both letter and some sort of angry bird head Kentucky LSU - both letters and Tiger head Louisiana Tech - both letter and Louisiana state shape Massachusettes - abreviated "UMass" interlocked Marshall Memphis -both letter and Tiger Miami (FL) Miami (OH) Middle Tennessee - both letters and Horse Minnesota Mississippi - abbreviated "Ole Miss" Mississippi State - abbreviated "M State" Nebraska New Mexico State - abbreviated "NM State" North Carolina North Carolina State Northern Illinois - both letters and Husky head Northwestern Oklahoma Oklahoma State Oregon Pittsburgh - abbreviated "Pitt" Purdue Rice Rutgers San Diego State South Carolina - both letter and Gamecock Southern Mississippi - abbreviated "Southern Miss"...(my nominee for worst helmet in America) Stanford Syracuse TCU - both letters and Horned Frog Temple Tennessee Texas A&M Texas Tech Tulane - both letter and Green Wave UAB - letters and Dragon head UCLA UNLV UTEP - both letters and Pickaxe UTSA - letters and Roadrunner head Utah - both letter and Indian feathers Utah State - abbreviated "U State" Vanderbilt - both letter and Star Virginia - with interlocking swords beneath it Virginia Tech Wake Forest Washington State - letters formed into a Cougar...very stupid looking West Virginia Western Kentucky - both letters and Hand waving a flag? Looks ridiculous Western Michigan - both letter and Bronco head Wisconsin Animal, animal related thing, or mascot Akron - both Kangaroo and letter Arkansas - Razorback hog Ball State - Cardinal head Boise State - Gay looking oversized Bronco head Bowling Green - both Falcon and letters Clemson - Tiger paw Colorado - Buffalo and letters Colorado State - Ram horns East Carolina - Pirate skull and crossbones...basically, a Jolly Roger with an ECU-colored pirate hat on FIU - both Panther and letters Fresno State - Bulldog Iowa - Hawk head Kansas State - Wildcat head Kent State - both somesort of angry bird head and letter LSU - both Tiger head and letters Louisville - Cardinal head Memphis - both Tiger and letter Michigan State - Spartan head Missouri - Tiger head Nevada - Wolf head New Mexico - both Lobo head and team name Northern Illinois - both Husky head and letters Oregon State - both Beaver head and team name SMU - Pony San Jose State - Spartan head South Alabama - Jaguar South Carolina - both Gamecock and letter South Florida - U shaped Bull head Southern Cal - Trojan head TCU - both Horned Frog and letters Texas - Longhorn head Texas State - Bobcat head Toledo - Rocket Tulane - both Green Wave and letter UAB - both Dragon head and letters ULM - Hawk head UTEP - both Pickaxe and letters UTSA - both Roadrunner head and letters Washington State - Cougar formed out of letters...very stupid looking Western Michigan - both Bronco head and letter Wyoming - Cowboy riding a bucking bronco Nothing Army Boston College Navy Notre Dame Ohio State Penn State Team Name Florida - Gators Idaho - both Vandals and letter Louisiana - Ragin' Cajuns New Mexico - both team name and Lobo head Oregon State - both team name and Beaver head School Name Spelled Out (Our current helmet) Illinois North Texas Ohio Tulsa Troy - both school name and Shield and Swords...very Dungeons and Dragons Native American Themed Florida State - Spear with two feathers Utah - both letter and two feathers Misc./WTF? Air Force - Lightning bolt Alabama - Uniform number of players...fine because what is a Crimson Tide anyway? Arizona State - Trident...looks dumb Maryland - Some concoction for their ugly state flag. Screw Maryland...it's a fake basketball program school anyway Louisiana Tech - both Lousiana state shape and letter Michigan - That gay yellow thing they have with the three stripes. Yeah, I said, "gay" and I meant "gay." Middle Tennessee - both Horse and letters Troy - both Shield and Swords and school name Vanderbilt - both Star and letter Western Kentucky - both Hand waving flag and letters...awful, please remove the stupid hand

I agree with your post but the sentence I left in there really caught my attention. To some it is like the Athletic Department can do nothing right in every single decision they make. I am a short timer to follow the athletic program and I did not attend UNT so therefore I have not had to endure the frustration of so many losing seasons like so many of the long time followers. However, just in the six short years I have followed the teams I have seen many good things happen with facilities, conference affiliation, new coaching hire perceptions and feel like we are real close to having greater success in athletics.

5 gold stars for you, Trey White we don't have any appropriate emoticons available...

So...the saving grace for Benford is supposed to be his recruiting ability, right? Tennessee Tech, Appalachian State, Miami (OH), Jacksonville Univ., North Texas, Albany, East Tennessee St., SIU-Edwardsville, Northern Kentucky and Savannah State

I know that you have been a long time supporter of North Texas, both academically and athletically, but aren't we splitting hairs here? Someone would argue that by stopping at the goal line, it builds anitcipation, or someone could argue that by walking out in a "Swarm" as Green59 alluded to is too slow, while someone else would prefer they sprint out of the "tunnel" through smoke, touch Spiriki and keep on running to the sidelines. Maybe I am getting old and cranky, but it seems like everything this program or athletic department does today is attacked in criticism or suggestions. We love the uniforms, we hate the uniforms, the uniforms need to be tweeked, they should be replaced, recruiting sucks, recruiting is pretty good considering how we have performed lately, Benford sucks, the basketball players suck, start baseball, why waste money on baseball? and the list goes on and on. Now, I want North Texas to succeed in every endeavor whether athletics or academics. I want every hire to be the right one. Honestly, the local and some national media were touting the Benford hire as a great hire, much better than SMU and geriatric Larry Brown, so RV wasn't the only one that might have been wrong in this hiring. Benford surrounded himself with years of coaching experience on the bench, yet still the results have been much less than expected. Is it Benford's fault? Is it the players fault? Who knows, but many people, posters on here included, loved this hiring when it took place. A year ago everyone loved McCarney and what he was bringing to the program. From experienced assistants to a true strength program to building relationships with the high school coaches of our state, to reaching out to the alumni, community and students he could do no wrong. Then the 2012 season happened and it all changed. Could many not see that Dodge's "hail mary" of signing almost exclusively JUCO's in his last class was doing to the depth and senior leadership of this program, or are our memories and attention spans that short? We rolled out new uniforms for the opening of Apogee and hosted Houston. People loved it and loved the uniforms although many wished the North Texas would have been replaced on the helmets. A year later people were complaining about the inability to fill the stadium even after seven straight losing seasons and bitched that we fell a few thousand short of capacity. Who should we blame? Let's blame RV, the only AD that has come to North Texas, spelled out his vision for the department and facility upgrades, and stayed around long enough to see this vision start to take place. He led the construction of Apogee and secured a $20 million sponsorship in the worst economy any of us have experience, save the few extremely old timers that lived through the depression. Under his watch we have also experienced the building of the Athletic Center, practice fields, tennis center, the purchase of the Liberty Christian property, conversion of this property to include an academic center, indoor practice facilities for softball and golf, a volleyball center, a soccer stadium, a softball stadium with sponsorship, the current construction of a dedicated basketball facility and the obvious near future construction of a baseball stadium. He also has on his future agenda a new track and field facility, possible center court for the tennis facility and an indoor practice facility for football. And let's not forget the introduction of tailgating to North Texas sporting events. Has he been perfect? No, but who is? Shanice Stevens was a disaster and surprisingly to many, so was the hiring of Todd Dodge, and Benford may end up in this category before long, but overall the man has accomplished much more than many of us ever thought possible. Emmitt, who I admire for his dedication to North Texas, and others may call me an apologist, but that is far from the truth. I believe I am a realist. I am old enough to realize that changes of the magnitude that North Texas needed to and still needs to make don't happen overnight. Unfortunately, we now live in a "I want it now" disposable society where many no longer have the patience to see things through that take time to change. I think back to where we were 10 or even 5 years ago and am amazed at the changes I have seen. I grew up going to Fouts thinking it was the greatest place on earth. Then I visited other stadiums as I grew up and realized how poorly the administration at North Texas supported the programs I loved. The changes that needed to be made were monumental to say the least. North Texas never, ever asked alumni to give back. They only targeted a few with deep pockets that seemed to fund everything, everything but athletics. RV and AD's before him were told these people were off limits to approach for giving to athletics, but RV pushed and pushed until some of the walls finally started to fall. The current administration is the most athletic friendly in our history, yet some continue to criticize them for what they don't do. Again, where we are today compared to ten years ago is mind boggling to say the least. Now, are we where we all want this program and university to be? No. Denton is still Denton meaning the majority still shoot down development every chance they get. They barely support the high school programs, two, Ryan and Guyer, that are incredibly successful and are filled with young men and women that are Denton's own, so naturally they still don't connect with NT. Will that ever change? I am beginning to doubt it, so let's go after the current students and young alumni and build support from within, which I think is the path NT has chosen. I want nothing more than for North Texas to succeed and I hope 2013 is the year this finally happens. Let's all support this university and program the best each of us is able and continue to see great things happen at North Texas. Done.

Why is it that these people have a problems if the Athletic Department doesn't make a profit? How much money is the Journalism or English department making for the University?

Don't bother explaining, Lifer........sadly the point will fly right over the head of certain individuals.

So, you don't know what size T-Shirt you wear? Come on now...don't make me pick a size for you.... You must really be shedding the pounds these days....looking forward to seeing you at the game! Appreciate the support.

is 'North Texas Normal College' completely off the table as an option?

Is this that fat 45 year old career student again?

QB. Brock Berglund TB. Brandin Byrd...we'll see lots of Jimmerson and Pegram, but I'd expect the senior to get the first of the carries. OWR. Darius Terrell OWR. Darnell Smith...look for Brady Brown to make an impact here as well...note that I'm 2 for 2 in calling dark-horse receivers (Delgado and Smith) SWR. Brelan Chancellor TE. Chris Loving OT. Antonio Johnson OG. Cyril Lemon C. Shawn McKinney...he was signed to buy Feldt (or Kirby) time...wouldn't surprise me to see one or the other start later in the year. OG. Mason Y'Barbo OT. Justin Manu...if this is right, it means he really impressed to beat out a senior starter. I think we'll see quite a bit of Carlos Harris and Carl Caldwell in passing downs...Drew Miller and Daniel Prior in running situations...I'm also really hoping Marcus Smith can come back from injury and be a legit receiving threat from the tight end position. DE. Brandon McCoy DT. Richard Abbe DT. Ryan Boutwell DE. Aaron Bellezin...my hope is that Quenton Brown is used primarilly as a rush specialist, rotating with either McCoy or Bellezin OLB. Derek Akkune MLB. Zach Orr OLB. Will Wright CB. Zac Whitfield CB. James Jones...corner will be the battle I'm most interested in watching...between Whitfield, Jones, Jackson and Warner...maybe even Xavier Kelly or D.Q. Johnson...we'll hopefully see 2 emerge and solidify what has been a position of weakness for quite a while. FS. Marcus Trice SS. Laramie Lee...don't know what any of you saw in Busby last year.

It's just an eternal problem faced by students everywhere: blank piece of paper; or nowadays, screen. Eternal solution: write SOMETHING. Do research? Nah. I can't fault his laziness, not having read the whole thing.

Common attitude from students at every college in the nation. Nothing to see here. Articles like this are pretty much where the term "sophomoric" came from.

Thanks Travis! I like the post. Everyone wants it to all come together for this group. The ad, the players, the coaching staff all want this season to be successful.I do honestly think that slowly they are working more with each other. I did have a different opinion at the beginning of the season when I saw more frustration. I also think Tony stays if not just to ply with CJ for a full year. I could be wrong but really who knows.

You know what? This kinda sounds like UNT is on the road to the BIG TIME PROGRAM we want it to be. If you're complaining about paying this much money to ID, then you're probably one of the ones who also complained about the price increase of season tickets between Fouts and Apogee, and you probably have gobs of money stuffed under your mattress. Or, you're one of those students who never attends any UNT sporting event because it's not cool. Or, you're GL2G.

How is that "not complaining"?

Maybe because it reads as "TN" instead of "NT"? Maybe it looks like every other interlocked logo half the other colleges in the US use? Also, those uniforms are really, really busy. I like the modern edge but there's way too much going on there.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8942451/barry-alvarez-says-big-ten-schedule-fcs-teams RV needs to be on the phone immediately trying to schedule some 1 and 1's with these schools, see if he can't get some more big ten schools to Denton

The one recruit we have pulled out of that area is from Marble Falls (Austin) and one of our best. Cyril Lemmon. Some great talent in SA &Austin. Hope we can tap into it

It was noted he recruited several areas in Texas and Colorado. I believe his Texas areas were Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio.

Correct you are, Sir!

Agree...and I can think of several others!

As a student at the University of Iowa back in 1979 when Hayden arrived from North Texas, he was an unknown quantity to the fan base....He did such a tremendous job of turning the program around from a perennial loser to a perennial winner that he became the most popular person in the state....It is great to see that his coaching tree has such a remarkable list of well known coaches.

I'd at least like a vote on it.

Just curious here but didn't your basketball IQ take a huge hit when you said a 2-3 zone was used to defend the 3 point shot?

This attitude is but one of the many culture problems at UNT. Will it ever change?

No Dan McCarney?

90, which of Silver's original 2 statements is your follow up question addressing? I would say I agree with both of them. I hope UNT's promotions staff would aggressively pump up this game. I also believe I would rather see UNT play ID than TSU.

Its not a big deal if we win. Seriously, $400k sounds like a lot more than it really is in the world of college football, even at our non-AQ level.

How is more than your likely revenue for the whole game, and we are talking a sell out, something NT can afford? This is about the equivalent of UT paying NT over $3M for a guarantee.

I think Lee Jackson and other 'higher-ups' would love to see "UNT" used. But apparently he doesn't care enough to bother RV, who is adamantly against using anything but "North Texas".

Also, not sure why this is coming out now, this is the same number I posted in October.

I think some here would take a free ticket to the sinking Titanic... after all it was the elite ship of the time. [ BE too unstable ]

Dream world, or just being realistic. It would be disasterous financially to join the Big East considering the travel costs alone. Some of you lose sight of that fact just because you could be in a confernce with UConn and Cincy, who have been marginally successful in football and are looking to move to the ACC at first choice. That same conference they are running away from that includes UConn (marginal football/see what happens to BBall with Calhoun's retirement), Cincy (trainwreck of Turbeville as HC in FB, and so-so BBall after Huggins left) and Houston (good football/basketball-who knows) also includes the likes of Temple and Tulane that have zero appeal. Well, Tulane has New Orleans. The Big East is slowly withering away. Being in a conference with regional teams is the most financially responsible thing we can do at this time.

Pay for it with beer sales? Question. No Info.

Awesome. For Valentine's Day Benford can break our hearts...again.