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I did the same thing that Rudy did and get nearly as many FIU emails as I do North Texas. Bringing up ideas is not about slamming on the Athletic Department. It is a new day in Mean Green land and I am excited about the future. But these types of communications of ideas is what is severely lacking and always has been. I get UNLV emails weekly letting me know what is happening with the Rebels in whatever sports are on deck for that week. The other thing I absolutely love is their "Meet your Rebel" email. I get a pic of a profiled UNLV Rebel highlighting his or her past accomplishments or introducing me to them if they are a new team member. BBALL is their bread and butter in Vegas so I get a solid 12 weeks of education leading me into the season. I haven't been a Rebel season ticket holder in over 3 years but got an email as recently as this past week, connecting me to the UNLV community. Many ideas come out on this board. We all have our inspector hats on when visiting another sports venue. That is why this A Department needs to figure out how to allow ideas to flourish in a safe manner without being shot down. Some are not doable in their perfect form but perhaps an adjustment of some sort. Our Athletic Department used to feel more inclusive in the past so it can be done but it starts with a reach out and request to know "how are we doing." Look at Tripadvisor and Yelp. My hotel clients watch that like hawks and know what they hit and miss within seconds of the effort. I used to employee a staff member at my hotel whose job was solely to manage the Facebook page and other communications. She became the virtual face of the organization responding to every single comment positive or negative and this was 6 years ago when social media was stirring but not driving company responses like I see it having an impact today. Finally being a Five Star experience can happen in Denton. The philosophy of the best of the best in the world I am privileged to work with build extremely guest-centric experiences. They don't want the guest to have to lift a finger or do any work during their visit. They pride themselves on having proactively thought of all of your needs in advance and do the unexpected. That phone call after the OU game is unexpected. You had never experienced that before and now you feel appreciated for your visit, time and money included. That didn't cost much either. The Houston Astros do this remarkably well. I bought tickets to go down to a game a few years back and was followed up with a call asking about my experience at Minute Maid park. This wasn't an automated call but a gentleman who acted like my personal concierge. He asked if I wanted to buy season tickets and after learning I was a Ranger fan made notes and asked permission to call me the next season regarding the future matchups. Somewhere in there he learned that though I was solo on that first trip I wanted to take some friends with me next time. The next year he called and told me about the scheduled matchups that season and offered his assistance for when me and my buddies come down. Fantastic. This dude made me king for the call, stirred my interest to round up the crew and was ready to set me up for a fun weekend down in H Town. Based on my background when I get WOWED that means you have hit a new high. Oh and they never take a play off. That flag story at the top of the stadium was much deeper than not flying the flags on the last home game of the season. It revealed a gap of opportunity to me that exists in our current state and I never want any employee at the University I treasure to play the victim card of "You don't know how hard it is here." That is yet another thing I don't see at Five Star experiences around the globe. The best just figure out a way to make "something" happen. Merry Christmas everyone. It is going to be an amazing year head. GMG

RV is an absolute failure in this capacity which is why it is a crime that he still has this position. It seems there was no plans at UNT for anything beyond building new facilities and starting a baseball program to get into a better conference. Great programs just don't have the support of a select few donors with deep pockets they have community support.

And Tommy Perry. EDIT: Notice the Winner's decision to go with New York Sub Hub. Uh.

It's hard not to knock the athletic department when all of these ideas are the norm. We're still using an abacus.

I'm not writing this to knock on our athletic department, just wondering how you feel about exploring new technologies in the area of fan/customer communication. The wife and I took her father to see Creighton play the Sooners in Norman today. He is a life long OU fan and had never been to a game. It was my first time at Lloyd Noble. For those wondering, yes, I proudly wore my Mean Green gear to this game, and yes I got many odd looks for it. I bought the tickets about two weeks ago, and have received at least 20 emails regarding games and events at OU. Sadly, I know more about what is happening within their athletic department then I do about ours. Don't get me wrong, Within the past two weeks I have received emails from the Mean Green, just not as many and not as informative. The topping on the cake was when I checked my email tonight, I had received a "Thank You for Attending Today's Game" email. I can't remember ever getting one of those from our athletic department, and like many of you, I'm and season ticket holding member of the Mean Green Club. The "Thank You" email from OU contained pricing information for the seats we had today, for upcoming games against Iowa State and others. The email was sent out within minutes of our tickets being scanned at the arena. I tip my hat to OU for doing an amazing job with communication and marketing. I'd love for us to have this software too. I don't believe we have something like that right now. Again, I'm not knocking our department, I just want us to have the best possible chance to increase attendance (aside for our on the field and court performance). I think more in depth emails and adding a similar "ticket scanned" automated email system would help for both football and basketball. Observations - Lloyd Noble is a nice venue, but it isn't substantially better then the Super Pitt. It has better lighting and a very nice double decker 12 screen jumbotron with digital ribbon, but both are similar in size. OU does a great job of making sure that wherever you look in the arena, you see the logo, name, and slogans of their teams. I'd like it if we did that in our facilities.

Not to nitpick, but 30,850.

It all boils down to whats important to these two as all 3 local schools will bring them closer to home/family. 1. A chance to play for a national championship in a Power 5 conference and a private school education while hoping for playing time behind 3 and 4 star athletes(TCU). 2. A chance to play immediately at a school with great diversity in a great college town(UNT). 3. A chance to suck for a few years at a vastly overrated school(SMU).

At the top of the Killerfrogs site is an interview with TCU's AD, Chris Del Conte. He was being interviewed about the new basketball arena opening and TCU's incredible accomplishments since his arrival in 2007. I didn't watch the whole interview but what stuck out was when he mentioned that in 6 years he helped get TCU into the Big 12, get their football stadium redone and built the new basketball arena. I particularly love where they placed their Hall of Fame, in a location where everyone can see it often. Could we do something like that with the Alumni Pavilion to make it more of a draw - "Here friend, let me show you some history about North Texas." The other thing he mentioned was his strategy for R&D included stealing as many good well executed ideas at other universities. He spends half a day on every trip examining what other programs do well and sees how he can integrate them at TCU. I love that idea and I would love to see UNT have a team dedicated to seeing what works at our level, higher levels and lower levels from game day experiences to promotional efforts, communication strategies and facility logistics. I would LOVE to see the Green Brigade have their own scouting group of effective marching band efforts and traditions that stir the energy of fans in bball venues and stadiums around the land. The last thing that I heard that I loved was his belief in what his responsibility is and that included setting his coaches up with the tools to be successful, but also igniting and rallying the community. When RV retires/leaves our next AD needs to really WIN right here. Imagine what could be in the land of GREEN if they would get the masses on the sidelines more involved. In fact, many of us see phenomenal ideas in action around the country when we take in game days and see what top programs do. If the Mean Green would even set up a virtual suggestion box or allow the thousands of eyes ears and motivated to offer suggestions and report findings now you have mobilized the Nation. This is what Chris has done so successfully at TCU and could be replicated with the right ignition switch in Denton. Give it a look over on the Killerfrogs site. He also said they realized after the SWC breakout they needed to earn their new desired place, and they have. GMG

Are we so bitter that we are actually wishing bad things upon our former coach?!?! That's shameful. He wasn't great here and there are many reasons for that. But at some point don't we have to get over it?

MGB: Updated with the current lineup http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2015/12/report-patrick-perry-staying-on-at-unt.html/

It's funny, in the summer of 1999 the SGA exec board and a couple of others took a trip to Austin to meet with UT's student government and get some tips since they're always on top of lobbying and get a lot of respect and somewhat equal footing with a good portion of the administrators on their campus. While some people saw the wisdom in it, others asked why we were "kissing the collective ass of UT" and if it was intended as a way to get in tight with people to transfer or pursue higher degrees there later. The fact is, if someone already does something as well as you want to do it, there's no shame in humbly asking them for information/background/ideas. Anyone who feels otherwise has likely fallen victim to their own hubris and deserves the failure so often aptly associated with it. I see this as a parallel situation (read as: opportunity).

well.. just keep your eyes open. mutual friend.

MGB: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2015/12/report-patrick-perry-staying-on-at-unt.html/

Those property taxes tho...

Dude you were definitely drunk when you wrote that…..

I would look for an announcement around Christmas day

I mean...plenty of NCAA tournament teams have in the past.

I was lost after the first sentence, but anything that is sent out from the athletic department/university is a reflection of the university. It should read perfectly.

Cross is making his bones with local talent. For him to maintain that stream of success he needs to stay somewhat local. UNT will be the only opening! He wouldn't have to move! Double the money and hire his entire staff! HOPE!

.407 vs .139. 2.92 times better results = ~ three times pay

This athletic department is lazy. That won't change until RV retires.

Are we giving these guys raises, or are they coming to North Texas for the opportunity to be coordinators? Last season at Washington State, Harrell was making $211,500. Our last offensive coordinator was making $190,000 Ekeler was making $275,000 at Georgia in 2015, while Cosh received $180,000. I think it is interesting that we are attracting coaches that appear to be higher up on the food chain. Thoughts?

would like to see Patrick Cobbs also. Fellow Okie with Littrell, NT legend, former NFL player, Cobbs has lots to offer.

Filani is the DC? Brett has started Christmas vacation early.

Didn't we have a year where we had 10+ field goals blocked and missed nearly the same amount of extra points. That block last night came straight up the middle and reminded me of the terrible special teams units Dodge fielded here...

well based upon your self-assessment, I would think that you would be the one to " flame away."

Rudy understands this more than most. The number of officers dispatched or on scene at the time would not change the results. Suspect with a deadly weapon possibly under the influence of who knows what advancing with a deadly weapon after repeated commands. We would probably just have more officers on desk duty. Rudy I quoted you because I want to thank you for what you do to protect the public and wish you and your family a merry Christmas. Stay safe out there. "The department has jurisdiction within the UNT campus, the city of Denton, and any county where UNT maintains property. Our 44 sworn police officers are state certified and enforce all city, state, and federal laws, as well as university policies." As stated they have a broad jurisdiction.

No city or state income Taxes!!!!!!!

I have doubts that had there been other officers present, non-lethal measures would have been taken had the suspect still had the weapon and still advanced towards any of the officers on the scene. The actions of the suspect did dictate the actions the officer took and would have still dictated the actions additional officers would have taken.

you made it sound so ninja like that you had some info...

:08 left in the first half, Westlake up 7-0 North Shore has 2nd and goal, and commits a false start But, Dodge calls a timeout just before the penalty...saving North Shore the 5 yards and allowing them to score 7-7 tied game at half Nice to see his use of timeouts has continued to punish his own team

Did anyone watch the Creighton/OU game this afternoon? OU won but Creighton did a good job of trying to stay in the game.

???? that is not true... Mac got all of them raises with his new contract.

Mac fought for raise for all of his staff after the bowl win and again to start this season. The AD shot him down every time he tried. It would be very interesting if they pay them more. I am wondering what Patrick and Perry will receive if the new hires get raises. Perry and Patrick were safe the day Littrell landed, but I never was told anything about their pay.

If you aren't watching the Air Force Celebration Bowl (pitting the SWAC against the MEAC to determine who rules the HBCUs), you should. It's freaking insane. Every score has been a punt return or other super long play for a TD.

There are many similarities that can be drawn between EMU and UNT. It is a school that has traditionally struggled in football and sits in the middle of the Big Ten conference. It's right down the road from two powerhouse programs in Michigan and Michigan State, but it shares a conference with two other G5 Michigan schools (Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University). When EMU hired a new coach a few years ago, they took the UNT90 route and hired a winning coach who had been wildly successful in schools without many resources. Chris Creighton had been a head coach at three different schools and was a winner at every stop: 32-9 at Ottawa (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference)63-15 at Wabash (North Coast Athletic Conference)42-22 at Drake (Pioneer Football League)His total career record prior to EMU was 137-46. (He's a winner!) Since arriving at EMU he has gone 3-21. I don't mean to derail this thread, but since EMU came up and it is a school that shares many of UNT's struggles, I thought it was worth pointing out that they took an approach similar to what UNT90 has been campaigning and it hasn't worked out for them thus far. Time will tell if he is able to turn it around, but this is one example of how prior winning records at schools with fewer resources don't guarantee winning records at a new school any more than hiring an up-and-coming first time head coach.

I wish those numbers included the stadium capacity to show how bad some of the teams actually are.

Either way, it is a good situation for each of them. They get to add coordinator to the resume at roughly the same salary. If they win, the next step is P5 coordinator. If not, they will always be able to go back to P5 position coach. My hope is that they win big here and in 4-5 years we are looking to replace them.

uh maybe wear the Super Bowl Ring!!

These articles are so poorly written and full of grammatical errors :-(

Yeah, he posted on his twitter too, he's talking about good luck in the Texas High School Championships in Houston. He also has his own recruiting hashtag now "#LineUpWithLittrell"

Mark,...do you want me to go on and tell everyone what you have done in public? If I do, will you again go at Harry with your pathetic threats of calling your lawyer? If you don't want to be mentioned don't fabricate things like season ticket holder numbers or use someone else who isn't here to defend himself to prop yourself up that list of do-gooderness you keep in your RV sweater vest. Rick

Box score says attendance was 2,180. Are they counting no-show DISD tickets?

You gotta look at the bigger picture folks... The most important aspect of this game is the AD dept got it over with and the workers at the Coal Mine on Bonnie Brea can get out of town for Christmas break as soon as possible. Priorities!!!!! Rick

Zach still recruiting! Awesome.

"Jinks comes to Bowling Green after spending the last three seasons as the running backs coach at Texas Tech. This season he also served as the associate head coach under Kliff Kingsbury. His path from coaching in high school in Texas and becoming a head coach at the Division I level is becoming more prominent in recent years. Jinks is the 11th active head coach at the FBS level after having previously been a high school coach in Texas, joining Baylor’s Art Briles, California’s Sonny Dykes and Tulsa’s Phillip Montgomery, among others." I was reading about Jinks and saw this quote in the newspaper. I did not know there was 11 active head coaches that started out as high school coaches in Texas. I find that very interesting as there certainly seems to be a bias against high school coaches moving up to college ball by some fans.

Alright, I'm an alumn of Southlake-Carroll ('96) and my kids are there now (grade school). There's a little over 8,000 students district wide. 4 (small) Elementary schools...that does not warrant 2 to 3 high schools. Aren't there high schools with 8,000 students? I hate that arguement. It has nothing to do with keeping all the talent under one roof. The (Senior) High School was built in '92 when we had around 200 in each class, before the population boom. It's been expanded (maybe twice?) but in no way can it contain 4 grade levels. Sure, they could have built another High School but the current facility has nothing wrong with it other than size. It's not a two high school district. Isn't projected to be any time soon either. Southlake-Carroll has tradition. Not talent. That's why there's a history of success, football and otherwise. And since we're on the topic, a certain Defensive Coordinator was my neighbor for several years. All of you need to get over 2007. He has, no reason you can't.

This is a dumb back and forth.

Westlake hasn't been to the state finals in 6 years. He is a good coach. You guys are still bitter because he made some rookie mistakes while coaching us. I'd take a Todd Dodge coached quarterback over anything else we've ever had at NT. Mitch Maher, Vizza, Riley, and DT all at NT. Chase Daniel and Greg McElroy at Southlake. Tom Savage at Pitt. Sam Ehlinger at Westlake. He neglected the defense, we all know that. By the time he made the effort to correct it, it was too late for his career. Let us not bash a man who was a tremendous ambassador for UNT, recruited the bulk of our 2013 bowl team, and was vital to our making Apogee a reality. Yes he had a terrible win-loss record but I am forever grateful to Todd Dodge for the positive things he brought to our program.

Nothing against the man but it's simply not true that he is a "great coach". He has a losing record everywhere he has been besides two of the most resource rich HS programs in the nation.