TIgreen01

RF's actions were definitely ill-advised and completely unacceptable, but why celebrate the actions of the fan at the same time? I don't know if it was the same fan, but during the second quarter there was a fan, just below the coaches box, shouting some less than 'PG' insults at the coaches....this guy sat near the area where all this happened. IF this was the same guy (I didn't see the incident at half-time), he said MUCH more than "you are being outcoached"..... I would also wager that we see absolutely no response to this from the AD or DD. While, at the very least, a public apology from RF should be issued.

We haven't scored more than 14 in a game. Yep, just re-read that....slapped myself in the face to make sure I was awake and not having a nightmare...it is still true.... Our D better be up to the task.... No predictions from me....only that I'm running out of "lucky" NT gear to wear to try to get us out of this jinx!

Awesome post....and very positive. I am very interested in what Chancellor Jackson is up to.....sounds like GOOD things! For all the negative stuff I've heard about him on the board and from a few "in the know" friends, he sure seems like he IS NOT going to derail the athletic push that UNT has been making the last 5 years....whether or not he's a micromanager is matter of choice--but as long as he keeps the ship moving forward I'm EXCITED!

WOW....talk about a nutshot! I like it!

I don't think we should just be throwing away winning the SBC title. To call it a joke is disrespectful to every team in the conference. Not to mention the fact that almost every other school would kill to have gone to even ONE New Orleans Bowl.

THAT....was a great post! My personal peeve (and I'm sure many here will share it) were the students that used to be on campus wearing UT, tamu, Ttech gear and talked about how they were going to transfer at the end of such and such year. I don't look very highly on those types of people b/c they're the first to go out and talk bad about UNT---which only trickles out to help foster the apathy. I think that experience is probably shared across all the campuses of the Sun Belt schools. I would, honestly, like to know what kind of recruiting pitch is used by the UNT coaches. Do they sell the school?....let the players do that? I guess the biggest thing for me is that the only access most people have to the program is what we hear on the radio or read in the paper...and unfortunately we don't always hear positives being spoken about our school. That's the thing that gets me most, that most of our supporters went through similar experiences as I described above and have a sensitive spot to it....why keep hitting that spot in public? Why not say things like what you said (highlighted above).... sorry...just re-read that and I don't want to come across as wanting everything to be candycanes and lollipops positive....just NOTHING to help along the notion that UNT is second rate to anyone.

I'll go ahead and expand that to be, "Not any one INDIVIDUAL." Throw everyone under that umbrella....students, faculty, staff, administrators, coaches, players, etc. I don't care who you are, if you'd rather be someplace else.....go. I'm proud of UNT....and not just the UNT football team, but every school under it and every quirky thing about the university. There isn't a person that knows me that does not know that one simple fact about me. Not one. We should not have to question whether or not certain leaders feel the same way.

This has gotten WAY out of hand. I think that the biggest problem here is that everyone is thinking that the entire future of UNT hangs in the balance on any given Saturday....that goes for fans and players alike. Fans think that if the team doesn't win every game, then come over and listen to the alma mater and wave to the fans before leaving the stadium(and act like some other school that is considered "big time") that we'll never be "big time"...so they get on the board to voice their displeasure and think that somehow their opinion will be heard and will save the day... Players/parents (and this is purely speculation based on the posts here today) think that if they don't win every game that the fans will not show up and UNT will drop football....so they get on the board to read the reactions and make sure that the sky isn't falling... Seriously, this is crazy. People need to start believing in the leadership currently in place at UNT. Stop believing the crap about how we're in some desparate situation and have the "worst situation in the Sun Belt". Even if that's true, you're never going to right the ship if you THINK that EVERY wrong move you make will sink the ship.

Yep....I'm with Coach on this one. The last straw for me was Sept. 5, 2005....the green rokemi uses the quote as his signature.... "we still have the most difficult situation to overcome of anyone in the conference.....I know, I work here EVERYday" --D. Dickey It's gonna be REAL easy to recruit kids to our school with a coach who thinks UNT sucks. Maybe he doesn't say this kind of crap behind closed doors to the recruits---yeah right! Even still, if I was a player and had to listen to my coach talk like this about the school that I chose to spend my college years at....well, I'd be less than happy. How are you going to build anything if you don't even believe, yourself, that there's anything here worth building on??? If DD would just attempt to focus on the positives here (at all public speaking arrangements), other than always putting the school down, I would shut my mouth. ....but it has been 8 years of this. Enough is enough.

Ditto that sentiment.

I would also add that the biggest reason attendance is up this year is b/c of Jamario Thomas. People will come out to see a marquee player who runs through defenses like they're swiss cheese. Jamario did that last year. People, who were not fans of NT, talked about Jamario last year. Tailgating has been helping, but we've been doing it for 4 years now....this year we've got Thomas and Cobbs (and USA Today even covered that!). It is a shame what has happened to that HUGE marketing opportunity this year as we continue to underachieve.

Plumm, He said that THIS SEPTEMBER.....Sept. 5th to be exact. Go listen to the coaches show over at KNTU...they keep them all online for the year.....skip forward to 19:00 minutes into the broadcast. It's pretty ridiculous....I just hope he gets fined by RV everytime he says something as dumb as that....

Wow...I remember that article! I think it's an interesting point that he makes about SMU not being able to nab any recruits that were also coveted by Big12 schools....have we recruited a guy like this yet?....Jamario?...maybe Buckles?

Good post. Brings new meaning to the comment by DD around the start of this season when he said that we have the "most difficult situation in the Sun Belt....I know, I work here everyday". Clearly we have been more established and have enjoyed far greater facilities than trailers! Hearing those comments by DD was the low point for me in the DD era. Any credibility he had with me was lost the moment I heard it. I understand the need to keep around the coach who has brought us to 4 straight bowl games, heck I defended him over the last few years on this board....often trying to overlook the negative way that he talked about our fans and school....but this one was the last straw for me....and I don't understand ANYONE who graduated from UNT being able to stomach that kind of talk.

I think the single most disappointing thing of the last 4 years is our inability to compete for linemen in the recruiting wars. DD's philosophy is to play sound defense and take advantage of field position with a run based offense. To do this you need to be able to own the line of scrimmage with physically dominating play on both sides of the ball. It seems that we recruit to many tweeners on the line to be able to play this style. I know that it is harder to pick up the great lineman than it is to steal a great RB, but I would hope to be seeing more progress here than we have seen with 4 consecutive conference titles. Add to that that most fans can see that we are clearly not talented enough to compete with anyone outside of the conference on the lines and it becomes frustrating to watch us continue with the current philosophy that is in place. I think that most fans would like to have a Charlie Weis type coach...one that is a gameplanner and is going to build his team around it's strengths on any given saturday based on the opponent.....DD is a system coach who is going to stand by his system regardless of the opponent and work on getting so good at the one thing that you do that noone can stop you at it. It is much more difficult be patient and watch the system grow.

Very good (and true) comments. There have only been 2 (T-W-O) games in the last 4 years (since that is the timeframe everyone wants to discuss) that our offense has produced anything noteworthy against anyone outside the Sun Belt conference. Those games?? Colorado last year and Baylor in 2003. You could argue that our offense didn't do anything against Baylor until they basically quit playing in the second half after their 6th straight turnover. Both of those games our offense went for over 500 yards....I can't remember another that we went over 400...anyone know where to look up past season's individual game stats? I'll go ahead and add some speculation to this thread....anyone else look up at Dr. Pohl in the suites at Tuesday night's game? I did....right after the Meager pick with about 6 minutes left in the 4th--you know, when half the stadium got up to leave?? He looked flat out pissed off. True, he could have been mad at something totally unrelated, but I still wonder how much it hurts guys like RV and Pohl (who have STUCK THEIR NECKS OUT for DD) to watch us lay egg after egg in big games? Is their patience wearing thin?

I have zero problem with coaching last night---outside of the way the TJ Covington unsportsmanlike penalty was handled by our coaches. From where I sat (up in section F), EVERYONE watched as one of our coaches patted TJ on his helmet after that ridiculously stupid play. That was bad....but what was worse was when TJ walked back across the field and started shouting at the ref who made the call....he was very animated and at the end of his rant he waved his arm at the ref as if to say, "well I don't care and screw you". To me, that cannot be tolerated. I was shocked that he didn't draw another 15 yarder right there. TJ is supposedly a leader on our defense....the coaches had an opportunity to do the right thing, but chose not to. The grumblings from the fans around me say that I'm not alone in the thought that he should have been put on the bench after that mess. It is hard for most people to root for teams that have players that behave this way and are seemingly encouraged by their coaches. I'll be honest when I say this....if I was not an alum of North Texas and had witnessed that display, as a sports fan I would promptly begin rooting against NT. I think most of the people around me (in the stadium) feel the same way. It would sure be nice to see these players disciplined from time to time....regardless of how talented they are.

Good post! I'm a diehard who's been to every home game(a few away and a few NO Bowls) but one since 1997 and I came away with pretty much the exact same thoughts. Before this game I was very worried about this year's team. The Tulsa loss was awful, but we had chances last night. Our O & D lines are really struggling....I feel better about our Oline's chances for improving b/c there are some players there but they just don't seem to have the confidence yet. Our Dline just flat out looks outmanned--they play HARD, but just don't seem to be as talented. That said, there are bright spots on the DLine. Willie Ransom finally made an impact, so did the freshman J. Miller. There is hope here for next year. Our QB has some serious athletic ability...He showed signs of having that "refuse to lose" attitude that Hall had, but he's young and makes mistakes. I feel much better about this team (for this year and next) after last night's game. ...and yes, our tailgating is improving every single week. I was confused, at first, by the parking lot security guards, but filling in the rows and closing them off is MUCH safer than we have had in the past. All in all, gameday at NT is getting much better.

I agree with you. We've got 3 BIG TEs who never get thrown to and we never run outside anymore, so why not pull them into the backfield and use them as an Hback?? Seems like we did this occasionally in the past, but never this season. Why not try it to at least give Cobbs and Thomas a chance to do something??

You took the words out of my mouth....Jamario comes to play, and so does the Oline. Now....does DD give him the start or stay with Cobbs? Either way, Jamario gets 100 by halftime.

Just got some NT gear(one of those shiny footballs made by Baiden) from a local (Allen, TX) Kroger. I was shocked. SHOCKED! The Kroger in Denton never carried NT gear when I was in school there, let alone any stores outside the city of Denton. That and I bought one of the new logo hats from a mall in Plano over the summer. What's going on out there?....are stores actually starting to carry NT gear? Is the school doing more to get our gear out and into stores? Whatever the case may be, I am excited! Oh...and I pretty much agree with MeanMag on this one. We need MORE fans. Stop all this talk about "real" fans vs. bandwagon fans. I, for one, welcome anyone to Fouts field who wants to watch a college football game. Come one, come ALL!...esp. this Tuesday night! I'm taking off from work to make this game....so can you!

This is exactly why I went out and bought a copy of the USA Today that we made the cover of last August. Just leave that puppy on your desk and shove it in people's faces from time to time to remind them that their school didn't make the cut. Seriously, don't take crap off of anyone. You went to North Texas. Be proud of it.

Yeah, I was at the NO Bowl and got a handout and everything...then the game started and nobody else around me was doing to the kickoff yell....it was disappointing. Has there been any effort to try to get that started up during our home games this year? Was the band ever approached with the idea?...or did they drop the ball like the cheerleaders? Seems like the band would be the best place to start with new cheers b/c you instantly have 300+ all doing it together.

Yeah, there are some 300+ div1(top level) basketball schools...last time I saw our RPI we were somewhere below 240. I'm sure they're competitive with that...and if not, who cares we're not exactly in a position to talk down to anyone when it comes to basketball. I tend to agree that we should be picking on schools that are currently I-A football schools or are planning to move up quickly...but seriously, why the hate (not just from e-bone) towards SGA. They've got a ton of other stuff to work on, but they also have a huge budget and direct access to some pretty high offices within the UNT administration. If the SGA didn't champion this kind of thing, who else on campus would?