LongJim
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GoMeanGreen.com
Posts posted by LongJim
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Just as a little comparison, our athletic budget is 12 mil right? UT's is 80 mil. It sounds about right if you look at the size of our stadium, alumni base, FANS and winning seasons. They sell out just about every game, and they charge good money for those tickets. We can't understand what type of cash cow football is for that school, because it has never been an issue for us. Why wouldn't they keep pumping money into it if they can turn a profit?
Yepper.
Rick's links brought up some interesting figures. A couple of which were that the UT football program is now bringing in ~50 mil per year in and of itself, and that's out of around 67 million total budgeted for all sports except basketball. Around 20 million of that is from donations from the alumni!
Again: the football program GENERATES ~50 million for the athletic budget.
That is what I hope for UNT, and that's what I think UNT is shooting for. With all the new facilities and expansion, UNT can hopefully begin to generate a larger amount of cash to fund ALL their athletic programs at a higher level by putting more butts in seats, selling more UNT stuff, and hitting alumni pocketbooks. Which will (hopefully) influence recruits, generate consistent winning seasons, build ticket/donor base, and then the cycle continues...
The "big $" schools have been doing this at this level for a long time. I hope that when UNT does it--and finally has consistent success at D1 football in all aspects--that people can enjoy it for what it is, and realize it was a long time coming.
I have the feeling that you won't hear too many people pining for the days when the program "only" had $12 mil to work with. Then we'll hear: "We WORKED HARD to get to this level. Our REAL FANS deserve this success after supporting UNT through the lean years, so I don't care how big the athletic budget is!"
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That is pretty awesome. Congrats!!
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Coach Fry whole-heartedly endorsed Coach Dickey and told our alums and NT Lettermen from his era to get behind Coach Dickey and his program GMG!
Yeah, but what does HE know?
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The answer is no. You made your decision when you went to UT.
Yeah. That's pretty much what I thought you'd say. Enjoy your sackcloth and ashes.
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During the 60's my High School band would go to the North Texas homecoming games every year, so my first D-1 experience was watching North Texas football.
So was mine. In the 70's though. And sometimes we'd eat at the McDonald's across from "Gibson's", and near "Buddies". When it had the "flying worm" helmet light fixtures. I always wondered what it would be like to play football there.
People still talk about what a great coach Darrell Royal is. Years ago I observed that considering the resources at his disposal (money, facilities and having the "pick of the litter" of Texas High School talent) DKR was really a pretty average coach.He won 3 NC's in an 8 year span. He introduced the Wishbone. He never had a losing season in 20 years. He was not a "pretty average" coach by anyone's standards--even Texas'
To me, the it's not just about pulling for the underdog, it's watching a team (or teams) do the most with limited resources. Those are the players, and teams, that are truely doing it for the love of the game.I find that comment ridiculous, but to each his own.
Again: If UNT and donors spend the money for upgraded facilities, coaches salaries, etc., and begin to win and be competitive at a BCS level--will you still support them, or will they no longer be competing for the "love of the game", in your opinion?
ANYONE can buy a t-shirt and jump on the bandwagon......like most Texas fans do. North Texas fans are REAL FANS.All teams have their share of nutjobs, but go ahead and insult Texas again.
Yes. I'm sure ALL UNT fans are REAL FANS.
Anyway, my apologies for taking this thread OT.
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Keep an eye on this guy, too...(dated 7/05)
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Matt Stepp
TexasPrepXtra.com
Jerry Hughes the RB/DE from Austin High in Sugar Land is getting closer to making a decision on where he will land. "I attended the mini-camp at the University of North Texas this past weekend, and I was really impressed with the campus and the program. They are an up and coming program and their facilities impressed me," said Hughes. Could Coach Darrell Dickey's Mean Green be moving into the picture? On Sunday Hughes impressed scouts at the mini-camp at Texas A&M. The last week of June Jerry was also making waves at the mini-camp at Baylor University in Waco.
The 6'2 215 pound senior to be says this weekend he plans on attending mini-camps at TCU, which still appears to be the favorite in the Hughes sweepstakes. "Besides TCU on Friday I will go up to Tulsa and attend their camp Saturday," says the Bulldogs star player. Missouri, Arkansas, Northwestern and Wisconsin and Texas Tech are also in the mix to land Hughes.
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Unfortunately, I find UT ball BORING and would much rather cheer for the Mean Green than a semi-pro team that has all the advantages on earth and more money than we can even dream of. At least, when North Texas achieves something on the field it is through meeting a challenge and making do with scarce resources. When UT achieves something, it is simply the result of the fact that if you spend enough, long enough, something good will eventually happen. Where is the challenge and joy in that?
I guess you don't watch much D-1 football, then.
Nothing wrong w/cheering for the underdog. I'm sure you're using UT as a representative of all big-school, big-donor, big-time athletics, right?
Hopefully, when UNT gets to that level of success--and it will take big-donor, big-time support, with big money--you will still feel the same way.
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I just had a co-worker ask why I have a NT screensaver? He also wanted to know why I like NT so much.
You could have said: "I'm not sure. I'll ask your mom tonight, though."
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It is my understanding that Carson Coffman's father is a close friend and was a teammate of DD. His 40 time is listed as 4.9 so if he has reduced it by .2 it would be at 4.7. Carsopn is 6'2, 171 lbs and is a pro style QB. He was HM all Kansas City area as a Jr.
Sorry for the confusion: Rivals has him at 4.88 from the Manhattan KS combine 5/05. Down from 5.09 run at Iowa City 5/04. He's also bulked up from the 171 during his jr. year.
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Another point of interest: the positions being recruited that have highest rated (by Rivals) athletes are QB and WR.
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My question is:
1. How much recruiting does UNT do with H.S. / Prep School atheletes in their Junior year??
I think they probably start looking closely during the junior year.
2. How many TOP recruits, in their Jr/Sr., years do we go after to start the exposure process to UNT??Rivals has 33 athletes on their board for UNT as of right now. Six have verbally committed to other schools. Some of the schools? Tulsa, Kansas St., TCU, NC, aTm, and Prairie View.
13 are considered 2-star recruits by Rivals. 2 are considered 3-star, one of whom has verbally committed to TCU.
As an aside, one recruit is playing at Northwest, and another at St. Jo.
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That last info was from May of this year. Below is an article from 9/15/05. The kid has added 10 lbs. of muscle, and shaved almost .2 off his 40 time. From his film, he appears to have nice touch on the long ball, and good arm strength.
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More from www.rivals.com
With his older brother, Chase, already making an impact for the Missouri Tigers, Peculiar (Mo.) Ray-Pec two-star quarterback Carson Coffman hopes to do the same thing when he makes it to the next level. So far the results of his senior season seem to indicate that he's a got a shot at that happening.
"We're 2-0," Coffman, who is 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds, said. "We've beaten Kearney and Raytown. My first game I was 6 for 11 for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Then last week I was 8 for 8 with around 100 yards."
It definitely seems like Coffman is much improved over his junior season.
"I'm more confident and better at reading coverages," he said. "Last year it just all seemed a lot faster, but this year, I'm more settled and things come more naturally to me."
Coffman still has a lone scholarship offer from North Texas. He said he is still being personally recruited by North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey.
"I like them," he said. "They've been on me for quite some time and they say I'm important to them."
Coffman said he also received a call from Utah State earlier this week.
"I don't know much about them," he said. "But I'll have to see what they have to offer now that they're calling me."
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Info from Brian Gates at www.rivals.com:
Peculiar (Mo.) Raymore-Peculiar quarterback Carson Coffman picked up his first scholarship offer earlier this spring. Now, the son of former NFL tight end Paul Coffman is preparing for a series of summer camps.
"I am getting regular letters from some of the Big 12 schools and Iowa and Colorado State," the 6-foot-2, 171-pound Coffman said. "I got my offer from North Texas when I was down there for the Elite 11 camp at TCU.
"We stopped by the North Texas campus while we were there. We talked to Coach (Darrell) Dickey and watched my film with him. He was really impressed. He said I would probably get some offers from bigger schools but if I wanted to come there he had a spot for me and offered me when we were there."
While several schools are talking to Coffman, nobody has emerged as the favorite at this point.
"I'm just watching these schools," he said. "I'm trying to take in all of them and learn about them. I don't have a favorite at this point. I'm going to go to the several camps this summer. I'm planning on going to Missouri, K-State and Kansas one-day camps in Kansas City. Then I might go to the Kansas and Iowa camps at the schools."
A workout program is keeping Coffman busy this spring.
"I'm lifting after school. Then, my dad, brother and I with some friends do some speed training on Tuesday and Thursdays. All of that will help me."
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There needs to be a reality check here. Newsflash: We don't have the talent to compete with Kansas State right now no matter who the coach is.
Whether Dickey and Flanigan planned to run 100% of the time or pass 100% of the time would not have mattered. Our players aren't as fast as K-State's. They're not as big as K-State's. They're not as talented as K-State's. Period.
Look, we have a good football coach. What we don't have is the facilities and support to help said good football coach consistently attract top flight talent.
If you don't think Darrell Dickey has done a great job against those recruiting odds, you're living in a dream world. We've got what we need in a coach - someone who wins with the players he can get. But, Dickey can't do everything.
I don't mean to step on anyone's toes, believe me, because we all want the same thing. But, tossing out Darrell Dickey based on games scheduled against opponents who have much more talent than we do is stupid.
It's the 21st Century, folks. Division I-A football is a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year job for everyone involved - coaches, players, administration, fans, community. The whole kit and kaboodle.
So, the bottom line, really, is step up or shut up. No 21st Century football coach will succeed at a Division I-A program without support, no matter how good he is.
Hammer. Nail. Etc.
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For the game, we had 21 pass plays (avg 3.2 yds per pass) and 26 rushing plays (avg 3.3 yds per rush). How is that "running into the pile of bodies"?
Good point. Kind of easy to overlook amid the severed limbs and general bloodletting out there...
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If it is a blow out.. then it is a blow out... might as well start trying new things and seeing what happens.
This whole "damage the qb's moral" crap doesn't make much sense.
To me, it doesn't make sense to basically hand the game over to a Frosh QB with 3 games of experience against a pretty good Big 12 team and tell him to go wing it, either--particularly when your O-Line looks like a chicken-wire fence...
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Agreed. Please note that I'm not hypothetically advocating a permanent change in strategy. I just want to see a damn gametime adjustment. A reaction to stimuli, if you will.
Boy, I don't disagree. It's frustrating. I'm just not sure if that kind of gametime adjustment would do anything but make it worse at this point.
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Let's say you're the coach of a non-BCS college football team. One that has had some pretty reasonable success in recent years. Your bread-and-butter is running the football. Old School.
"Your bread and butter" plays to your offensive strengths--which is the running game. You DO NOT ask your freshman quarterback to throw on every down, since your young, misfiring offensive line is a sieve in both run and pass blocking, and you run the very real risk of having passes picked and taken to the house, or getting your freshman quarterback killed, or his probably already fragile psyche demolished.
Why would you do this against a BCS team without playing a game in your own conference--which you have a very real chance of winning?
By "outgunned", you're really saying that your athletes are not quite the caliber of the "pretty good BCS team". Another reason that you do not ask your freshman QB to try to throw to "outgunned" wide receivers, or stand in the pocket behind outgunned linemen.
You've been blown out in 2 of your last 3 games, with your rushing attack either slowed or completely stopped. Both of the 2 winning teams used the same strategy to do it.
Hypothetically they've done this by stacking the box and daring the quarterback to beat them with the pass, probably.
What I would do is continue with the running game, while drilling my linemen during the week on their assignments, and possibly using more trap-type plays with my offense. I would also use play-action and rollout the QB more on passes, to help the offensive line, possibly even letting him keep on some occasions if he made that judgement. Hit the slant on a hot read. Might even try the middle or rolling screen pass a few times.
Being outgunned means that the offense does not have the speed to run outside effectively--they will be caught and dropped for no gain out there. The lineman are not quite fast enough to pull and block effectively against a defense of this caliber, so they will have to rely more on leverage and technique rather than strength at the point of attack. This plays right into the defense's hands because these linemen have not played together much, and most are the equivalent of sophomores as far as playing time.
At some point, though, the offensive and defensive lines will have to jell and show up--or neither the run OR pass is going to work.
Currently, this hypothetical team doesn't have the personnel or experience to throw on every down.
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I think many on GMG.com haven't really given Tulsa their due as of yet.
No doubt about it. I didn't either, but it may be obvious when the season ends. They're going to win some games this year.
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Good post. I have one problem with it, though.....if we are STILL not "recruiting athletes anywhere near as good as Tulsa" (and other OOC opponents) after 4 straight bowl wins, who's to say that we ever WILL?
That's a good question. I think that winning increases the quality of the recruits from year to year, but it is a gradual thing, especially for a mid-major.
Do kids want to come play the style of football that is played at UNT under DD? What about at Boise St. under Dan Hawkins? They were our equal a few short years ago....anybody know where their recruiting classes rank?According to Rivals: Boise State's ranking within their conference was:
2004--#1, with 1 4-star and five 3-star commits.
2003--#3, (behind Tulsa and SMU) Two 3-star commits.
2002--#6, (behind Tulsa @ #5, who had five 3-star commits)
Total commits: 72
Compared to UNT's ranking within the Sun Belt:
2004:--#2, (behind Utah State) Two 3-star commits.
2003:--#4, (behind ULALA, MUTS, Ark St.) Two 3-star commits.
2002:--#7, Tied with NM State. One 3-star commit.
Total commits: 45
Something to keep in mind: the total commits represent athletes who are ranked nationally by Rivals, so they don't include a lot of the JUCO players that DD has brought to UNT. Even so, it's easy to see that Boise has had over 1.5 times more nationally-ranked athletes sign with their program--although UNT is improving every year.
Are they still recruiting Big West/Sun Belt caliber athletes but win more b/c of their creative gameplans??They are (right now) recruiting better athletes--and more of them. As is Tulsa. According to Rivals.
mid-majors can't just line up and run the ball against BCS caliber opponents...heck, you have a hard time doing that unless you are more talented than the opponent--which is why we win the Sun Belt every year. Thoughts??I agree. But the same applies for the passing game. If the quarterback and receivers aren't as talented or experienced as the secondary and DL they face, they're going to get creamed too. If a team has been able to recruit well at the RB position, relative to the other athletes they have, doesn't it make sense to have a run-oriented attack? Conversely, if you're recruiting has been great at QB and WR for the last couple of years, you'd be passing a lot more.
I think UNT's backs are BCS level backs. It remains to be seen if the QB and WR positions will be/are. I personally believe that if UNT keeps winning, their recruiting will continue to improve--no matter what style of offense they run.
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thanks for the info on TU and i don't mean tulsa (sarcasm)
You're welcome.
A pretty limited list, and with only one year, but it gives a very small indication of where UNT's at vs. other schools that we're playing, and the talent level of the players facing each other.
Maybe also helps w/expectations regarding how we should compete in a game against those teams--especially when 2-3 years are factored in.
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Just as food for thought...An idea of where UNT fell in recruiting for the year 2004, according to Rivals.com.
I took some teams at random, based on teams UNT has played recently, or will play.
(Jamario's class, btw.)
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Unless noted, all other recruits in totals are 2-star athletes, according to Rivals.
Texas--#10 Nationally
20 commits. One 5-star recruit. Nine 4-star. Eight 3-star. Average of 3.5.
Kansas State--#18
26 commits. Five 4-star recruits. 11 3-star recruits. Average of 2.81.
Tulsa--#67
26 commits. Five 3-star recruits. Average of 2.19.
UNT--#72
18 commits. Two 3-star recruits. Average of 2.11.
MUTS--#82
30 commits. 1 4-star, three 3-stars. Average of 2.17.
Baylor--#87
20 commits. 1 3-star. Average of 2.05.
Outside Observations.
in Mean Green Football
Posted
Wow! Great gameday atmosphere last night! Wife and I really enjoyed the game, and the atmosphere, which is really getting better and better. Tailgating has really taken off! Wow! Whomever should get kudos for that--here's some love!
Positives: I think Meager, although he's young and learning, and with the exception of the picks, played a pretty decent game overall. Looked about like what I expected for someone of his experience. Thought he outplayed Troy's QB. I think he has a lot of promise, and is going to be a pretty good QB. Nice to see him rolling out, and turning upfield with the ball a couple of times. I was hoping he would be able to do that.
RB: Cobbs and Thomas are studs. That's all I'm going to say about them.
OL: Inexperience. Troy DL got under them and filled gaps all night. That's inexperience and technique, and something they're going to have to work on and learn. Pass protection was...eh...ok, I guess. Making strides there.
DL: Were owned most of the night, but still managed to keep the points off the board for the most part. Troy RB's were absolutely gashing them in the early 3rd quarter, so I don't buy the fatigue factor. LB's had some trouble scraping and filling because several times linemen were backed up into them. That was kind of surprising.
Tacking: Wow, really need to work on that. Waaay too many arm tackles. A couple of good pops here and there, but just too many tackles by CB's and safeties for comfort.
Kickoffs looked great. ST coverage was really good.
I just didn't see the run run run punt thing that lots of people talk about. Probably just me, but for the most part, I didn't have a problem w/the play calling. OL, QB, and to a lesser degree, DL need the most work IMO.
Troy had good outside speed, but pretty evenly matched with UNT, from what I saw.
Had a great time last night. UNT will win some games this year. SBC isn't out of the question yet, everyone.