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I don’t care if it’s beating a dead horse, it can’t be overstated how much RV was holding this athletic program back in every regard.

DRC: Plus what Baker, Littrell and Neal Smatresk have to say about the moves and the future of UNT athletics https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/unt-makes-key-moves-to-lock-up-leadership-in-athletics/article_834a9e64-87b7-50e3-898e-365b18741a6c.html

“UNT raised $8.9 million for athletics in its last report for a fiscal year. That total far surpasses the previous record of $4.7 million.” best line in an article loaded with good news.

Here’s what the new endzone looks like. The colors definitely contrast lol

The Von Erichs are returning to TexasIn the first ever professional wrestling event to be held in conjunction with a major college football game, Kevin Von Erich's sons Ross and Marshall and his niece Lacey - grandchildren of legendary pro wrestler and North Texas icon Fritz Von Erich - will headline a World Class Revolution wrestling card following the North Texas football game against SMU at Apogee Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 1. Kevin and his wife Pam are scheduled to return to Texas for the event. "What a day coming Sept. 1 in Texas!" Kevin said. "My alma mater playing my dad's alma mater on opening weekend. My two sons will be featured at the first wrestling event held at a college football game. It will be great to see my old UNT friends and teammates and wrestling friends like "Hacksaw" Jim Dugan and Bill Mercer. I can't wait to return to my home state. God Bless Texas!" The bouts are being sponsored by World Class Revolution, one of the premier professional wrestling companies in the United States, and will take place in a wrestling ring set up on the field at Apogee Stadium immediately following the Mean Green season opener. There will also be interactive events and photo opportunities with some of the wrestlers in and around Apogee prior to and during the game. Purchase tickets by calling the North Texas Tickets at 940-565-2527. Full story at www.MeanGreenSports.com

Actually, not sure that the ol did that bad a job. NT gave up 39 sacks which was 112 most out of 120 teams. However NT passed 520 times which was eighth in the nation. So passing more than 121 teams puts the sack stats in a more favorable light. There is obviously room to improve, but overall the ol was not near as bad as they are often portrayed. An above post questioned how the offensive line could improve with basically the same cast. Easy, most players get better with playing time. I really think that linebackers were the weakest position on the team last year. It can be argued that a suspect dl offered the linebackers little protection. However, I saw a lot of missed tackles, and a lot of failures to get off blocks. There are only three defensive lineman in most plays, and there is no way they are going to be able to absorb 5 or 6 blockers.

Whoa Kemosabe! Let's pull in the reins a little bit. We may have a much beloved Cherokee quarterback, but Apogee stadium is located where its at because of the Wichita Tribe, not the Cherokees.

Who are the Chefs?

It definitely looks better in person. Here’s one without all the people on the field.

Love it. Rick

It’s crazy how many people don’t get this. There’s nothing to be scared of anymore. “Little Ol UNT” has finally grown up.

He was, quite simply, the laziest AD we could’ve had for the time he was here.

Palm to forehead.

How can we help the Mean Green beat Arkansas ? One way is to show up for the Southern Meth game in seats before the team comes out of the tunnel. Cheer as loud as possible and get these guys as much confidence as we can. They can carry that momentum with them all the way to Fayetteville and bring home a win. GO MEAN GREEN

North Texas gets a mention at the 1:45 min mark. North Texas fans are thinking upset and frankly so do some Arkansas fans. Cool video

I like it! Kind of makes me wonder what it would look like with the whole field that color with white endzones.

I don't really see A&M being a blowout, 3 of the last 4 games have gone into OT and that was with Bielema lol. Ole Miss and Vanderbilt at home are chances for a win. But anything over 6 wins may be a stretch.

Beat the Chad. Nuff said.

The SMU game will be the most important of the year. Be there and be loud and be punctual.

Again I ask, does any other reporter in America go out of their way to give the full name of the practice field?

The Italian fans didn't take that outcome too well! Some were chanting vulgar things, making hand gestures, and turning on their own team. One guy shouted "Stella Azzurra my ass, you are Stella Merda!".

I bet you it looks a lot better in person. Cant wait to pick up the tickets and grab a look this Saturday.

I like it. Definitely more of a Kelly green that will stand out rather than blend in

This does nothing for me personally, but I like the idea and attraction it creates for the people into this kind of stuff. Great job.

Yes, Vito says this stuff a lot. Just know that there is an audience such as myself that it doesn't bother or think it is terrible.

The institution has much more to work with these days than ever before and the gifts just keep coming. People like being on winning teams, whether that’s politics, athletics, academics, donations, etc. We’re out of the Dark Ages.

Like FAU, SMU has just been better than us these last three years. They had a solid offense, we had a below average pass defense. Courtland Sutton made us his bitch for two years in a row. I think this is the year we gain a lot of revenge on SMU. We are better than them.

I assume you’re talking about SMU?...put the beer down and go to bed.

I am most excited about Jalie... i think the modest bump is in anticipation of a serious raise if the next two seasons are steady improvements... I'd love to see her next contract up around $250k. that would likely mean we are a much better basketball team at that point, and make us competitive for hiring Jalie's replacement should she get called up to the big leagues.

Brint Ryan and Neal Smatresk hired Seth. Don’t mean to start the whole RV involvement debate but those in the know say Brint and Neal called the final shot. So I’d bet they drive the strategy here. It’s risk/reward. Are we assuming a risk, yes. But so far, it’s paid off (people made this same point last year when SL got a raise). My guess is the raise was part reward to Seth, part warning shot to TT and KU that hey we’ll play ball.

I am of the firm belief that with the state of D1 football right now, this is our last shot of being relevant and maybe a hail mary chance to play with the big boys. That being the case, i don't have a problem putting all our eggs in Littrell's basket. If he fails and pulls the ole Danny Mac on us, then i don't think it's going to matter much that it sets us back, because i think that would be the nail in the coffin at this point.

From just under $1M to $1.4M is a nice raise. That’s why we need to keep up the fundraising, so that we can afford another jump in the next season or 2 to fend some schools off.

Awesome news. $1.4 in total comp for Seth is awesome. Glad to see UNT stepping up. At this rate, we might actually turn this program around for good!

A wonderful opportunity to beat or scare the F out of an SEC team... what a great way to elevate the program!!

Not the most in-depth analysis but good to hear.

DRC: Highly regarded junior college linebacker might not be ready to make an immediate impact https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/unt-wednesday-practice-notes/article_042be504-390b-5d1c-b8ce-3d89b17c533a.html

I said once we started winning and the AD began making the right moves, I'd cease to care about uniforms and color hues.....but watching one of our grey-wearing boys dive into that end zone might make my head explode. (Deep breaths) Just win, baby.

I'm guessing he gets paid by the word, so.....

Amen! A great read and I found it very emotional. Two great guys we have there.

But what about the curtains?

DRC: https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/pro-wrestling-coming-to-apogee-for-smu-game/article_ac33dd21-c982-5756-96ac-23e6d7c314a9.html

All the ball has to do is touch the white line. Color of the endzone shouldn't matter much.

Oh I'm sure. Just as there are some who it doesn't bother or think it is terrible to never brush their teeth. Rick

I was thinking a contrast would look great but this doesn’t look that great unfortunately. They have gotten everything else right so far though.

Yeah, I saw this the other day when I went to go get season tix. They hadn't quite completely unrolled the the turf yet, but you could see the color. It's, uh, unique. Maybe when it's all unrolled and matted down it will look better, but the difference in the field color and endzone is quite different. Like, purposefully way different. Which reminds me, kudos to the fella helping us in the ticket office, Kyle. My grandfather-in-law wanted to get in on season tickets and had never been to Apogee before. Kyle walked us around Apogee to see the views from certain seats for about 30 minutes so my pops in law could check it out. He was personable and had answers for us for anything we asked.

Meh. Sort of, sometimes. They will have virtually no one from the 2014* class on the team any longer. So we'll start at the 2015 class... 2015 - 11th 2016 - 9th 2017 - 10th 2018 - 14th 2019 - 10th* *I didn't start on the 2015 class for the sake of hiding a quality class from the narrative. They were 11th that year. *Current recruiting class. They have a couple programs behind them that will almost certainly leap frog them before NSD. So this class could be anywhere from 11th-13th. So, they are recruiting SEC talent because their little logo on their uniform says they are in the SEC. But they aren't an uber talented team by any stretch. Nevertheless, this will be a difficult game because they have better and more athletic OL and DL than we do. And there truly lies the problem. I think we can give them a run and if we can jump early, we could run away from a vulnerable team.

In theory I agree with you. But I doubt there is a coach out there who has had even minimum success that isn't compensated in this way. It's just the norm for college athletics. It's to the point where if you have a winning season, you are getting a raise/extension. Matt Campbell at Iowa State went 8-5 and got a huge new contract. Overall he's 11-14 in two years. It's a crazy business.

Better idea. The School and Mason should encourage members of the Cherokee nation to come to games. Give them all free tickets. I think it would be awesome to have a big following of Cherokee that came to every game and adopt the Mean Green. We could have a designated tailgate area where they could do a war dance before each game serving the purpose of pumping up UNT fans while also educating the public of their traditions and culture.

Not exactly what I had in mind, but I will say the UNT dancers would look good in that garb.