[Pat Smith!]

It was great to see several underclassmen make significant contributions. 

[Can we still make a bowl?]

7 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

2- You never turn down a bowl invite.

Unless you're La Tech faced with playing Lousiana Monroe. 

[***OFFICIAL UNT vs TULSA In-Game Discussion Thread***]

No more moral victories. 

 

[Understanding the 3-3-5]

After reading the article, I noticed several comments from the announcers more than I would have before. 

1. NT is not only blitzing some, they are showing a blitz often which is a feature of the 3-3-5.

2. NT is using smaller but faster linemen to tie up the blocking.

3. 5 DBs make it very hard for a QB to account for everyone. 

Of course, I notice multiple plays where we miss two, three, and at least once four tackles. I don't care WHAT defense you are running, you can't stop an offense if you can't tackle! 

[***OFFICIAL UNT vs TULSA In-Game Discussion Thread***]

What with our receivers? The ball is hitting the in their hands and they can't pull it in!

[Praying Maclin does not enter the portal.]

On 11/13/2023 at 12:15 AM, Cooley said:

Hope we can hang on to 6-5 WR commit Baron Tipton of Coppell. Kid is having a monster year and surely attracting major interest from others. I think he helps this team from day 1.  

Last night Baron had three touchdown receptions in the FIRST QUARTER of Coppell's area game against Jesuit. He's a good punter as well! After the 3rd touchdown, he did a standing backflip in the end zone. There's a picture of him half way through the flip in the online sports section of the DMN. 

[AAC Title Game]

On 11/16/2023 at 8:23 AM, Jonnyeagle said:

I am picking SMU to win the whole conference.  They should handle Memphis easily.  SMU is paying more NIL money than Texas or A&M right now.

Why would you think NIL money would guarantee good results? A$M proves that’s not true!

[Understanding the 3-3-5]

I've finally had a chance to start reading up on the 3-3-5 defense. Someone - I forget who - asked me to explain why you use smaller linemen in a 3-3-5. Here's what I found from an article in the San Diego Tribune - "The defensive linemen in the 3-3-5 tend to be smaller and more mobile, their main objective not to rush up the field, but to tie up blockers so the linebackers and safeties can fill the gaps and make tackles." 

I found this from a primer on the 3-3-5 from Throw Deep Publishing. 

Quote

What Kind of Players Do You Need for the 3-3-5 Defense?

The 3-3-5 relies on faster, more athletic players that may be considered smaller in a more traditional defense. In a 3-3-5, some defensive coordinators will drop bigger linebackers down to the line of scrimmage to play the defensive line. This will allow for the defensive linemen to student and move, something typical in a 3-3-5 defense. To fill the void at linebacker, dropping bigger defensive backs down to linebacker allows for maximum speed and athleticism on the field. Faster linebackers to go with the more athletic defensive line are able to stunt and blitz. 

The primer is good and understandable for those of us not steeped in deep Xs and Os. You do need a base level of football understand to follow, but it assumes a pretty basic starting point. The primer is free, but the more in-depth training with videos is behind a paywall. Here's a link to the free stuff

https://throwdeeppublishing.com/blogs/football-glossary/the-3-3-5-defense-an-in-depth-guide

 

[Grading First Year Head Coaches (with two games to go)]

41 minutes ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

if your base look is a 3-man front, don't you need bigger than you would in a 4-man front?

After checking 3 different coaching sites,  the answer is not with a 3-3-5. The whole idea of the 3-3-5 is it works as an alternative for teams with smaller, but relatively faster linemen. 

[Opponents Records]

Most schools are members of conferences. Every conference win generates a conference loss for another team. Teams with the best records will have more wins against teams with losing records. It's just math, folks. Discounting wins against teams with losing records ignores basic math! 

[Grading First Year Head Coaches (with two games to go)]

@keith thanks for putting this list together. I'm really curious to see what the results are at the end of the year. 

I remember seeing a study that was published in 2012 or 2013 that went back 8 to 10 years comparing how firing a coach resulted in an improved record the next year. A lot of the trends from then still seem to be valid. For example, the worse the team was, the more likely there was immediate improvement. But for teams with a 7-5 record or better, firing the coach only resulted 1 out of 3 times in equalling or improving. Looking at this list, there are seven teams that were 7-5 or better last year and only 2 improved. Yes, firing a coach sometimes works immediately, but 2/3 of the time it doesn't. 

[DRC/Vito - Five thoughts on UNT's loss to SMU]

15 hours ago, NT93 said:

I’m glad they’re ranked, but no way Tulane is #17 in the country. 

Waaay back in the 80's, I saw more sports reporters on a regular basis. What I was told by an AP voter was the rankings for the top 12 were pretty accurate, but beyond that most reporters don't follow closely enough to know for sure. Once a team gets into the top 25, as long as the don't lose they will likely stay there. 

[Jimbo]

This has to be the greatest Aggie joke of all time. 

No one held a gun to the Aggies and forced them to sign that contract. They did it because they thought Jimbo would win them a National Championship by now. He didn't, but those who think he's "not motivated" haven't been paying attention. He's been doing everything he can to improve, but it hasn't worked yet. 

I find it very funny no matter what they try, the Aggies seem to average 8-5 in the SEC. They averaged 8-5 in the Big XII. They averaged 7-4 in the SWC. Maybe, just adding more money isn't the answer. 

[Worst hire since Dodge?]

6 hours ago, MAX KOCH said:

Coaches should just get paid a ratio percentage of wins to losses. If Morriss ends up 3-9 then 3/9 = 33% of his salary 

Win all games and get 100% ... lose them all don't get paid at all.  

 

Good luck with that!

[Checking in for the SMU game]

1 minute ago, DentonLurker said:

10?

Early morning and I was just looking at high school playoff pairings! 12 - 12 chances. 

[Morris Weekly Press Conference (11/07/2023)]

17 minutes ago, Glory to the Green said:

Is it really as simple as “we just need to tackle better?”  I mean, I agree.  Is that it, though?  Let’s make it happen!  Would love to give SMU an L on Friday. 

I don't know if that's the ONLY thing, but better tackling would go a long way toward improving the defense. I've lost count of the number of times a player was in position for an early stop only to miss the tackle. If you can't tackle, the scheme doesn't matter! 

[Should Matt Caponi Be Fired? My Thoughts on the Situation.]

9 hours ago, aprice said:

if my employee can be fire for being 5 mins late in a 3 months span, I think we might have a case against caponi

Do you have a really high turnover rate?  

[Checking in for the SMU game]

8 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

Because there are only 10 chances to see our Mean Green football team play each year. 

[UNT vs. SMU (11/10/23) Score Predictions]

Our offense is good. The defense seems to be slowly learning to tackle. Each week we get better. It’s the last time we’ll play SMU for a while. 
I think we win by one score in a shootout. 

[Should Matt Caponi Be Fired? My Thoughts on the Situation.]

THIS!!!!! I can't upvote it enough! 

[Who Should We Hire to be Our DC Next Season?]

Wait, people want to fire Caponi because he runs a 3-3-5 "which cannot work" and replace him with a coach that runs a 3-3-5!?!?! 

From what I've seen in our games, we need better, more consistent tackling. There were a LOT of plays where guys were in position but didn't tackle well. If you can't tackle, it does not matter what scheme you run it won't work! Fix the tackling and the defense will improve! 

[Worst hire since Dodge?]

1 hour ago, keith said:

his hire was a big risk

I just went back and looked at several newspaper articles from when he was hired. He was most certainly NOT a big risk. Multiple news articles praised him as a PAC-12 OC last year. Here's just one from the Seattle Times. Morris built a winning program at UIW and his recruits are now crucial to Texas State's current success. 

A LOT of people on this board were strongly in favor of hiring a successful P5 coordinator with successful head coaching experience at a lower division and Texas ties. That's exactly what NT did! 

[If we beat smu]

If we beat SMU, all will not be forgiven. But a lot of NT fans will be much happier!

[34,057]

2 hours ago, KingDL1 said:

It's so silly to compare Boone to Denton. 

True! Denton county has a population of 941k+ and is a 40 minute drive from hundreds of entertainment options. Boone is in Watagua county with a population 54k+ and is a two hour drive from Charlotte with about a quarter of the entertainment options. Going to a game is one of very few choices for a fall day in Boone! In Denton, there are a lot more options. 
 

Saying that’s an “excuse” is like saying the rotation of the Earth is just an excuse for the sun not rising in the west! 

[Can we just dump the 3-3-5 already?]

Do want to institute a totally new base defense or do you want to win immediately? Those two choices are mutually exclusive!