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Only at UNT? Please, this happens at just about any and all government jobs anywhere in the country. The man was under contract. We either wait for it to expire (allowing him to continue to run the department) or we come to a settlement to get him away from the decision making room. For someone all gung ho about him needing to removed, your now going to bitch about how it was made to happen? If you don't want to know or like how the sausage is made, then get out of the damn kitchen.

No way we take a step back. I honestly cannot see a scenario where that is even possible.

It seems every year CUSA looks a little less appealing and I have little confidence in the new Commissioner being able to do more than just slow the decay. CUSA is dying and merging with the Sun Belt won't fix that. We need to get our own house in order on and off the field.

This is what I mean by saying we have squandered the past 10 years by pretending to be a 1-A program when we should have been the big dog in the conference. Thanks, RV, BOR.

Hattiesburg Hustler

I wish i could be bad at my job and get a fat payout.

And on what basis would you fire him, and before you list a summary of about 5000 posts; think about all the good reviews someone has that has been on the job for over 15 years and got multiple contract extensions. A lawyer would eat NT up if they tried to do what you propose.

I have a theory about why Texas has been so adamant blockading expansion. If they expand, to truly make it worthwhile they need to renegotiate TV, if they renegotiate TV then they will look to extend the grant of rights. I believe Texas is anti-expansion because they want to get closer to the end of the grant of rights and explore membership in the Big 10, Pac-12, and ACC. Not to say they will look at the situation and choose to leave but they don't want to lock in to Big XII any longer than they have to before taking that look.

Looks like this is a big time playmaker!! http://247sports.com/player/devron-davis-82195 Was Committed to Colorado State, looks like he signed etc and just got released looks like an illness with his mother. http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1476642/devron-davis

Social Media (gotcha) WTF where is it? I am not an expert on this but I am a marketing guy and I don't understand why we are not seeing action in this area. I thought we had hired a guy to handle! Camps are going on but no post, pics or tweets! Things are dead keep fans and kids engaged! Take a fring'n picture! GMG

Apparently they are looking into a new position(s) within football department who help facilitate and manage these social media efforts by the staff.

because white guys go into churches and shoot people after they participate in bible studies.....and autistic kids, a child of a dumbass who left 20 unlocked guns around the house, walk into elementary schools and start blasting children. I hate the wahhabi brand of Islam as much as the next guy but the problem does not start and stop with them. Dude was talked to by the FBI twice.......and still bought guns the other day......you don't see a problem with that then you are part of the problem.

Dad's family is from Denton.

The AD position has been a tell tale sign to the lack of stability in North Texas athletics. We had six athletic directors in the 80's, with Fred McCain holding the position for five of those ten years. Corky Nelson was named athletic director in 1989. This only lasted until 1990 when Steve Sloan was hired. Sloan in my estimation was a good AD. He had been AD at his alama mater Alabama. Sloan was the catalyst in moving the program to I-A, and helped convince chancellor Hurley to allow him to reach out to the Big West conference about membership. Sadly Sloan left UNT for the same position at Central Florida in 1993. As we all know, UCF's progress after him arriving was dramatic. The sad fact is that had we had the foresight to retain Sloan we might be in a completely different place right now. Helwig served in the post from 1994-2000. Helwig was the executive director of the John Hancock Bowl and had been an associate AD at UT Austin and KState. He was responsible in carrying out Sloan's plans to expand Fouts which was required to get approval for I-A status. UNT joined the Big West in 1996.

I don't know what to be more upset about, being paid for the next 15 months not to do his job, or being paid the past few years for not doing his job.

Not sure what your point is. Most of these buildings were built long before big donors were honored with name buildings. Also most were primarily built with state funds so the naming was done to honor past leaders of the university.

I don't think smu has as much pull as y'all think. Plus if we start winning consistently it really won't matter what they want.

My company let go of one of its executives with a $500k buyout. I hate that she got the money, but the company will come out ahead because her incompetence cost the company 100x more than that over the prior years. It's like the old joke, why is divorce so expensive? Because it's worth it. (Says the guy having his 20th anniversary this year)

If only RV had negotiated for UNTs schedules as succesfully as he did for his buyout....

And this is what infuriates me. Then he gets to walk away on terms of a "mutual decision" while latching onto UNT's teat for another 15 months. If we're paying this douche bag to kick rocks then call it a FIRING because that's exactly what it is. Instead, outsiders could chalk this up as something that it isn't. A firing of this magnitude gives the program credibility and sets standards of how not to suck. UNT just keeps doing UNT type things.

Yeah, this really needs to stop

But..but....but...I thought he resigned?

He should use the free education he received and try to get a job somewhere.

Over 25K a month over the next 15 months. I'm flabbergasted at the notion that he was able to actually talk someone into giving him that kind of money. It's not money well spent, it's money horribly wasted. Just literally set on fire as far as I'm concerned. Good riddance and never come back to this great university again, ever.

True: Ernie is a major contributor to UNT athletics True: Ernie is an ex-BOR member Speculation: has HUGE influence over AD decisions with multiple UNT power players. RV's Departure: I know you would prefer to kick him to the curb, but good business says to let him walk away with his dignity. Reviewing what the athletic department looked like when he arrived, and where it is today says a lot. Did he have his failures? Sure. Did he get lazy after Apogee was built and we got in to CUSA? Sure. But you can't ignore his accomplishments either. You still like to dance around the facts, theorized to make your point and avoid direct questions relating to your posts. I asked who else has made posts stating that Ernie made Mac disappear? No answer. In one post you state that Ernie wanted RV to stay. I just asked where you heard/read that, no answer. I asked again and then you state, "Well, that would be hard since Ernie never commented publicly about it." I reply to your posts because they are full of speculation, wild assed theories and crap you can't back up. You wanted RV gone and he is, so just let it go and see what happens.

Southwest Airlines is having a flash sale and just booked round trip ticket to New York LGA for $135.96 - out late Friday night back Tuesday night. Great deal and watching the calendar turn to fall should be spectacular in that part of the world. Go UNT beat Army.

One difference I hope we see from the new AD is transparancy and truthfulness. RV lied so often he had trouble remembering them and it got to the point I wouldn't listen to the guy in any public address because you couldn't believe a thing he said. For the love God, please give us an AD that publishes MGC numbers, season ticket numbers, donation numbers. An AD that stands up and says "I made a mistake. I have to do better. My staff has to do better. This isn't acceptable" instead of the excuse making and blame shifting we have seen for the last 5 years. An AD that HONESTLY engages the fan base. This is what I hope for the next AD. It would be a huge culture shift for the AD and the university, a sorely needed one.

Rick gone Tony still Calling Matress JuCo QB No tickets Savior Seth No baseball

Metro North will take you from NYC to West Point.

Completely agree. Rick

I'm more into this team than either of the 2 World Series teams for some reason. Probably because I was at the game where Odor almost knocked out the most douchey, hated player in baseball. Plus having a friend who is a personal friend of Odor and laughing at the text exchange between the two when Odor was in the clubhouse immediately after the incident. Funny stuff and made me a fan of his for a long time to come. This team is just so so deep, from pitching to position players. Choo goes down? Plug in Mazara who isn't going anywhere. Beltre tweets a hammy? Profar takes over 3rd base. Moreland and Fielder in a slump? Hot hitting Profar there to step in and provide a wake up call. Deep, talented team that should go deep in the playoffs. Fun

There was always a rumor that Helwig lived out of a Hotel his whole time in Denton. Does anyone know if this was true?

Are you talking about Craig Helwig?

do we even know if any has applied for the position? it is the off season and we need something to talk about otherwise the uniform and sticker debate is about begin.

Nealie Sanchez | Staff Writer @NealieSanchez Despite many subpar performances on the field, UNT athletics found success in the classroom, finishing 2014-2015 with high APR scores, according to an NCAA report. A team’s APR score is comprised of both student athlete GPA and retention of athletes. Each student athlete can receive two points for his or her team: one for passing, and one for staying with the team. UNT had multiple sports with perfect scores: men’s golf, women’s cross country, tennis, women’s track & field and volleyball, while various other sports ranked among the top in the NCAA. The football team finished with an APR of 993, which is the top 10 percent of all NCAA football teams. Men’s and women’s basketball finished with an APR score of 938 and 939 respectively, placing them in the bottom 20 percent in the NCAA. Super Pit / Coliseum – 600 Avenue D. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor Outgoing UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said these types of improvements are possible because the athletics department prioritizes academics. “My philosophy is that there’s some kids that we have that are good enough to go to the next level. But out of the 25,000 student athletes in the last four years, we’ve got five of them making a living [in sports], and the rest of them are out working in the real world,” Villarreal said. “I’ve always made it clear to our entire staff that the degree has got to come first.” For cross-country head coach Stefanie Slekis, the improvement is something that doesn’t go unnoticed. “This year we had our highest semester GPA ever, a 3.64,” Slekis said. “My first semester coaching here it was a 3.04. It’s great to see how much they brought up their GPA.” Upgrading academic spaces UNT was docked scholarships in 2009 for poor academic performance, but it has made strides in ensuring student athlete success since then. One step Villarreal took during his tenure was improving the student athlete academic center. “When we came here in 2001, we worked in a room that was probably 20 feet by 16 feet, and it had two tables and eight chairs with no computers. That was kind of our study hall for student athletes,” Villarreal said. “Unfortunately, at that time graduation rates were about 32 percent for student athletes, and so that to me has always been one of my main focuses.” UNT athletic director, Rick Villarreal. File Photo The improvements included a larger space, technological upgrades, staff members and an entire program dedicated to coaching freshman into a successful first year at college. Track & field senior Connor Bey is one of many student-athletes who has used the center since the beginning of his college career and said it’s clear how UNT prioritizes academics. “Freshman year, all student athletes have eight hours of mandatory study hall,” Bey said. “So it really sets the tone for how important it is.” The study hall remains mandatory for any athlete with a GPA under a 3.0, but students with higher GPAs can still utilize the space. Student athletes also have the added pressure of doing homework while they travel with their teams for away games. “It’s important to get our schedules so that they can do work while they’re on the road or before they’re on the road, or make arrangements if they’re going to miss a particular test while they’re out of town for three days,” Villarreal said. With many classes emphasizing online coursework and the use of blackboard to turn in assignments, getting homework done on the road has become easier, Bey said. “Online helps a lot and everything is sort of online now. I’ve taken my laptop with me out of town for homework,” Bey said. “I was at conference last year on a Wednesday and Thursday, and I had an assignment turned in on Thursday night.” From classroom to field Each Mean Green team seeks the same thing: students who excel in classes so their dedication originates outside of their uniform and carries over while wearing it. “A lot of the same work ethic translates [to classwork], and we try to find good students to join our program,” Slekis said. “They’re working really hard to finish what they started here at UNT, and it shows the dedication levels of the athletes in our program.” While every university is competing to win on the field, Villarreal insisted UNT would never sacrifice the academic success for a few wins here and there. “We want to win as much as anybody, and so we’re not excited that we don’t win,” Villarreal said. “But the fact that we know that our students here are doing what they came here to do – they have made academics a priority, and it’s been a priority across the board for everybody involved in our program.” Student-athlete success in the classroom was one of Villarreal’s biggest points of pride before stepping down as athletic director last month. “When somebody asked me what my greatest accomplishment is, was it building a stadium? Was it moving us from noncompliance Title IX to compliance Title XI? For me, it’s that we have set up a system that our kids academically have graduated and stayed in school at numbers that compare with the best in the country,” Villarreal said. “That’s the biggest thing that I can ever hope students do.” Featured Image: Apogee Stadium – 1251 S Bonnie Brae St. Tomas Gonzalez | Visuals Editor View Full Article

There may never be a dumber thing you'll ever post in your life than saying 30 P5 schools are "in the same economic boat" as us. You show me one F'ing P5 with an athletic budget like ours, a conference affiliation like ours, or is clearly near the bottom in recruiting against their in-state peers. Go ahead...Ill wait...ill even help. Kansas?? Nope, gigantic budget because basketball pays the bills there. Texas Tech?? Nope, budget dwarfs ours and they get annual visits every year from UT and OU in football. Washington State?? Again, budget dwarfs ours, they get Washington and Oregon every year there to boost attendance and media coverage. 30 teams...hell, you can't find one.

First, under Mac anyone with any offers would be a big get. However, I am not sold on 247 being that great of identifier of talent and I trust the current staff a lot more to evaluate players than 247. I hope the days are quickly ending were NT has to battle for low offer players and fans think it is a recruiting coup to beat out the service academies.

When the big 12 moves it will ripple down as usual. I agree that there needs to be more regional competition to save bucks and attract fans from the competing school. Filling stadiums needs to be the model. Mac and MWC will have the same problem on their new contracts. I feel really strongly that there should be a playoff system with games being played at the schools. Another home game of 25,000 means big bucks. Maybe a champion out of the Mac, MWC and C- USA. The bowl system which costs the schools money should be turned down. There is money in playoffs!!

Now that some years have passed since his acrimonious departure, I'm fine with the practice fields being named after Dickey. He did a lot for football in the time he was here. The winning streak and bowl win were great achievements for a program that had suffered for so long.

We made him an offer he couldn't refuse! I am sure it was resign or find a horse head in you bed!

I thought LSU would not have a team next year because of the states budget? lol

So in 2009 we had horrible facilities for a study hall and were docked scholarships for bad academic performance. RV had been the AD for 8 years before that? I guess the importance of academics wasn't there for RV until after we got slapped.

He should be running 40's or pumping 225 instead of just standing there.

A demand to examine evidence, followed by two sentences of pure speculation. Come on, I just took you off ignore when RV was let go. Go to the light 90...resist the dark side!

Well, that would be hard since Ernie has never commented publicly about it. Ernie is a huge donor. Ernie made Mac disappear (if you believe other people. You must, because I'm the only one you ever question). Ernie was on the BOR and has direct connections to the current BOR members. UNT is paying off the contract of Rick Villarreal and I would be willing to bet making sure he gets his 20 year state pension. Examine the evidence. That's what we do in these cases. Maybe Ernie finally came to the conclusion that RV couldn't get it done, but he was WAY late getting to that table. I think he still wants his little buddy taken care of with a state pension. Lazy, bad leadership can lead to a whole host of other problems. I hope a complete audit of the AD occurs when the new guy comes in, and I pray to God major issues aren't found.

Such convoluted theorizing on your part and so typical. You claimed Ernie wanted RV to stay, Smatresk wanted him gone and that Ernie allowed this with the stipulations that he and his family get to pick the new AD and his grandson gets a scholarship. I questioned this and your response was to check Fly's posts. What does he have to do with any of this. Now you change gears again and throw out the response above that is full of accusations. You have provided zero facts in support of your comments. That is all I ask. Show me once, just once, where Ernie said RV had to stay, where he had to be involved in the hiring of the new AD, etc.... Ernie, not Fly.

Fly and Ernie are thick as thieves. Fly did not want Rick Villarreal fired and thought he was doing a good job and expressed so on this board. It wasn't the "praise in public, criticize in private" crap that he and others always threw out. If that were the case, Fly would have just not said anything. He actively defended his friend RV very publicly on this forum. If you want to dig to find that mess, have at it. There was clearly a power struggle that was somehow eventually won by Smatresk andhe c RV was fired. That is the reality of the situation. The fact that Fly and Ernie protected RV for so long throws a huge cloud of doubt on the whole "he doesn't accept losing" bullcrap being floated out there. He did accept losing because he cared more about RV than he did winning. Let's hope that never happens again.

"You want a fun fact that will take two seconds?"

Well with TV taking hit down to what the Sun Belt is paying, CUSA 3.x and Sun Belt earning the same number of basketball units, and the CFP money being better for the Sun Belt members other than changing patches what has really changed? There are now three ain't AAC or MWC conferences with very similar success and money and of the three, only one makes a lick of sense geographically.