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Some may see Glad To Be Green and go oh no. I want to let everyone know that I will be using this board to share information and answer questions and not to rehash negative comments that might be left on the threads. The Light The Tower Collective should be a positive addition for our athletic program so I ask regardless of how some of you might feel about collectives or me personally let's keep the topic positive for student-athletes and potential donors that might visit the site. To start, I want to addrees the latest release on the LTTC kickoff event to be held next Friday at Apogee. I want to clarify that is in no way meant to be exclusionary to anyone. It is our goal to create a large fund pool quickly and so a list of people who personally or through giving history would be willing to help at certain levels to provide the kick start needed to be viable and have substantial funding available before the end of the month. Honestly, if we have missed anyone who would like to be a part of this initial group please let me know and we will get you an invite. We are fianlizing another more generaal event to get more information to those who desire it. Everyone will be able and have the opportunity to join the cause. As we release information we want to make sure we are fully prepared to take donations and that we have created ways for everyone to participate. While we have moved swiftly, we are still tying uo the final loose ends of all the tools necessary to operate properly. Many of you may have seen the release this morning that SMU will be giving football and basketball players $38,000 annually. They have been working on theri collective for over 8 months and are just getting to the point they are ready to make deals. One poster asked when I became an NIL guru. Well I am not and don't proclaim to be. I don't think there is one as this process is still so fluid. However I understand many of the facets involved that make up the process having served on two NCAA committees that have discussed this topic fo the last 10 years.. I accepted this role because I know I can adminster the program, provide beneficial service to student-athletes inside the guidelines provided and make sure the Collective represents itself in a manner that reflects well on the University and the athletic program. The website is set to be complete in the next 7 days and will provide information on the purpose of the Collective, how donors can get involved and the benefits associated at a number of levels. There are also areas that talk about how companies, corporations and charities can join with compensenstaed athletes in beneficial programs. Again as the rules fo the game change, the website will grow to reflect new an pertinent information. Yes I am participating finanacially in the Collective. I have always participated financially in the causes I work for and this will be no different. Hard to ask people to financially support if you are not. I know some of you have asked how you can give and if you want to do so without knowing the options and benefits available please email me at rick@lightthetower collective.com and I will make it happen. We appreciate everyone's patience in getting this endeavor rolling. I, like some of you, was frustrated that it took so long to get started and why it did I am not sure. At this point it doesn't matter. We will have a functioning program operating this fall and be competitive with most of the schools in our new home, the American Conference. GO MEAN GREEN and let's LIGHT THE TOWER!

I do have one piece of feedback I hope is taken constructively. As the official lead and face of this effort, when you start typing posts, announcements and any other official or unofficial materials from you or the collective, put them in a word document and run editing software before hitting publish. Between the flyer typos and ones in this post, there’s plenty for naysayers to poke at that distracts from the bigger goal and this is all easily catchable in an extra five minutes.

The Hilltoppers own an important place in Mean Green trivia lore: Who was the only Sun Belt team to never beat Todd Dodge?

Thanks for the update Rick. Great to have you back on board and we are excited about the upcoming meeting. Exciting times to be a part of the North Texas family.

The best (saddest) part is that this was 100% believable

I thought the same thing. Maybe he just wants a Masters from Vandy.

Absolutely. Grant in a way has been bad news for Seth because he raised the bar higher.

Thanks RV. Looking forward to the meeting and the website. I admit that I am still trying to understand NIL better but it seems that it may be very important for us to get behind this if we want to be successful in the AAC.

Gee, what a shock! A UAB fan makes up his own predictions and puts UAB on top.

This is a knock on perceived recruiting to backfill the loss of TBIII & Drez. Thing is, people were saying the same exact thing after Javion graduated last season, and NT still finished atop C-USA. McCasland is finding the right guys to fit into his system and coaching them up. I have no doubt NT battles for the Championship again this season.

Hopefully he didn't transfer to be a backup his last season. That'd be unfortunate.

Same league as Simmons, Bell, and Miller. GMG!

Hambone sporting his UNT gear on the first day of training camp! You love to see it!

Because it's SMU and it's fun. Seriously though, we are in no position to criticize any school on the attendance front. The only silver lining for us is we have some sort of collective short-term memory loss condition and we are some of the best fair-weather fans around. Our attendance numbers are usually the highest the first game or two in the season (when we've forgotten the past and we're optimistically drunk on the pre-season hype). However, unless we get off to a good start, attendance fades down the stretch. If we get on a roll early, on the other hand, people do show up. That's seems to be something we can count on. The only problem is this doesn't happen very often as our seasons are historically front-loaded with losses.

I'd be more interested in having him lead the team out of the tunnel against SMU with a big battle flag and plant it in the middle of the field. The crowd would go crazy, it would be in the national highlights, and could be used for promo videos for years to come.

I am looking for a wedding or funeral to go to so I can miss the SMUT game. I was there rain or shine in the past and was one of the drowned rats at the UTSA game until it was over.

Meaning: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/rudderless Back then: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Benford https://247sports.com/college/rice/Article/Rice-Rolls-Over-North-Texas-77-20-104552419/ https://www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football/2015/10/10/9494755/portland-state-vikings-football-washington-state-north-texas-fcs-win-records Now: https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/dfw/news/even-after-3rd-conference-championship-unt-mens-basketball-team-still-working-to-prove-critics-wrong/# https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/11/27/no-15-utsas-perfect-season-ends-in-blowout-at-north-texas/?outputType=amp

Nothing like a fan refusing to support the team before the season even starts. We don't need that garbage around here.

Lol. It'd be the same thing every day: Littrell drably talks-up the day's practice, saying things like, "the intensity was good", "we're getting better each day", and "I've seen so much improvement from last year". Vito asks him about any standout players of the day, and Littrell will pick someone & pump him up a little. Then Vito will give a long-winded leadup to a random question about a specific player he wants to write a story about. Littrell will get miffed at the question for some reason and death-stare Vito while giving a lacking answer, forcing Vito to get more info from other sources. Then the new NTDaily sports guy will ask a straightforward, easy-to-answer question, and Littrell will answer with a sarcastic chuckle and start his answer with "Again..." (even though no one has asked him this before), and then give some more coach speak nonsense that barely answers the question.

I love this.......But I hate this! I feel like this would be how I felt if one of my kids went to UTSA for school. Even though Im a Cowboy Fan, I want him to go to the Pro Bowl

And if that's the case, there's nothing wrong with that. Regardless, I wish him well.

I fully understand and do take it that way. Trying to get so many thigs done in a short time but no excuse. This must be done correctly in every facet. Appreciate your feedback.

I hear one of them got ejected from the Fall Scrimmage after getting their 2nd Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Who?

Reed Smith also noted in his 24/7 article from Tuesday that it was the first time Gunnell took first team reps. Said the staff still maintains that Aune is the starter but Gunnell seems hot on his heels.

And how's that been working out for the team so far? 😉 I would love to see Gunnell day 1, unless Aune had a magnificent offseason, I would want to see something new on the team, generate some excitement. Unfortunately, looks like more of the same. Still going to watch every second of this mess though!

I assure you that I dislike me more than any of you possibly could ❤

Appreciate you and the other leadership of the collective stepping up to make North Texas competitive in this area.

Thank you, Rick. Go Mean Green!

Yes! Maybe a short intro video of his time in Denton, the glass breaks, he slams two beers, then leads the team out! “When you hear the glass…”

Adaway, Bush, Maclin, Neville, Gunnell, Trieb, Richards, etc.

The payout only includes 5 hookers per fan.

The coaches that in my mind stray from coach speak are:

Lose to UTEP we start 1&4....thats not going to get Seth another year with several big conference games coming up. El Paso is make or break for SL. IMO Not a big SL fan but but I'm hoping for a win in El Paso. It's just more fun winning.

The payout only involves about 150 individuals, I am told.

Not only that, but all you need to do is simply look at the scoring averages of our returners, and the guys we brought in: Tylor - 13.5 Abou - 10.2 Rubin - 8.2 Then, the guys we added: Tyree Eady - 10.3 @ NDSU Jayden Martinez - 14.9 @ New Hampsire Kai Huntsberry - 19.6 @ DII University of Mary The scoring is there.

Really poor analysis, where will NT scoring come from: when you hold the other teams to a national low average; you don't have to score a lot.

Alright, alright. I admit it. I looked.

Was I disrespectful? I saw that he was an alumnus spending a couple of years here prior to going on to Baylor. I was just curious, because usually these are saved for people that contributed something significant to our university.

Every time you post, I envision this as you and your family out on the town.

Were you around for 2017 and 2018? He’s already demonstrated he can produce 9 win seasons. We’ve dropped off since then, mostly due to staff turnover impo. From where I sit, this is the best staff he’s had since that 2018 season. We also have more quality depth across the board than we’ve had in his entire tenure. It’s hard to guarantee success as you never know what will popup in any given season, but I think we’re in position to have a very positive year in the W/L column.

I still don't get attendance smack from a much larger school with generally similar attendance. Is the argument that we are such a superior program that we SHOULD have better attendance? Or is this a wealth joke such that despite having vastly fewer alumni, they should turn out at a higher rate?

UNT had one of the top defenses in the country last season, I dont think that changes much going into the 22/23 season, so I dont see them loosing 7 games in conference.

I think you are over estimating the impact of a loss. If UTEP blows them out then yes there will be very significant drop in the gate. But SMU vs UNT in Denton only happens once every 2 years. And while SMU prospects of getting a conference upgrade to a “P5 ish” conference from the AAC are slim, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made a move to the Mountain West or a conference full of PAC 12/Big 12 superconference rejects down the road. This series could be suspended at anytime. So if they look decent in a loss expect between 21k to 26k. Now if it a miserable 101+ Temperature day with high humidity and we don't look all that impressive in a win or loss we looking at under 20k. Students aren't showing up with that killer sun on them in those conditions unless they excited by the team's play. They will tailgate (preferably in some kind of AC or Tent with fans) and not come into the stadium. And I can't blame them for that. Love my school but I am not having a heat stroke over it. Without the shade on the alumni side on 100 degree days I wouldn't be showing up either.