Greendylan

I don't know if it's fair to call this a generation-specific issue. There are a lot of reasons for players to enter the portal, so without citing data, should we assume that leaving "because things don't go their way" is the dominant factor? If you were to use North Texas as an example, it seems that the vast majority of our players transferring out (according to sources with inside knowledge) were asked/encouraged to do so by the coaching staff. Sure, they could just defy the urging of their own coaches and try to work harder or something, but those same coaches hold the power to pull their scholarships, if they so choose. It would be risky/foolish not to take their suggestion. In the case of star players choosing to leave of their own volition, they are usually being offered massive NIL increases. I hate to lose those guys, but some of them have family obligations or other reasons why they can't in good conscience turn down . . .oh, let's say $150,000 to play football for a year elsewhere vs. maybe just a few thousand to stay. I highly doubt that previous generations would be any more likely to choose having their family live in poverty with that kind of money on the table. Are there exceptions to my examples, where someone bolts for little or no significant pay raise or leaves for money despite having plenty already? Sure, of course. But, I still believe those exceptions could be found in any generation. Also, one could further make the case that coaches of ALL generations are just as likely to take off for a money grab despite having committed to whatever length contract.

Yes, exactly. Or, to put it another way, there is no such thing as a rebuilding year anymore. Every season is a one-off, and if you end up 5-7 (or worse) then the coaching staff just simply lost that year. They aren't ever "building" toward anything in the future. The good news is that you get to try again the next season with a new roll of the dice and an almost entirely new roster. Having a good system (on both sides of the ball) is important--in some ways that's the ONLY thing coaches are paid for nowadays, as developing "culture" is no longer relevant, and recruiting is based on the strength of NIL collectives). But, having said that, there is zero benefit in developing a system that cannot be effectively and fully implemented between spring practice and the following August. (I'm looking at you, 3-3-5!) If it takes players you don't have on your roster to run it, then why are you wasting everyone's time teaching it to a group of players who can't do it effectively, won't be able to have a successful season with it, and won't be around next season to continue it? I do think the various NT NIL collectives should marshall their resources and at least make a play at countering the massive offers coming at Rogers. I know they probably can't afford to pay him market value without blowing all the money needed to pay a whole host of other players. But, let's at least try to make him a fair offer--like UTSA did to keep Harris after last season. QB is so important to this offense that I shudder to think of how badly this season could have gone if we hadn't found the right guy. Letting him walk without a fight is very risky...

Tulsa: A Quick Look *Their offense has players who are live human beings with a pulse *Thus, the North Texas defense will give up a TD on just about every drive

We played two games against solid power conference opponents on neutral territory--teams that are expected to finish in the bottom half of their respective conferences, but respectable opponents nonetheless. They were both pretty close to being toss-ups, going into them, so losing both really, really sucks. I still am generally optimistic about the season, but this was a massive swing and a miss. The rest of our schedule is filled with teams that either are going to be extremely difficult to beat or teams that won't really move the needle much, win or lose. Disclaimer: I'm probably placing too much psychic weight on each basketball game, due to our football program being in disarray...

I guess it's likely we'll play Towson in the last place game. Really hope we can salvage something out of this.

If Rogers leads the offense to a TD on every single drive, we will be in the game!!

...and these are just the raw numbers. The real story is far worse since we've only played teams not known for their offense. If we had played good teams with high-powered passing attacks or something like that, then we would likely be averaging more than a 100 yards per game worse than every single other team. That's why I used the term "historically bad" in another thread. That is not meant as hyperbole.

I'm not sure "growing pains" is an accurate description of what we're experiencing. It shouldn't require NCAA-record-book levels of yardage surrendered to go through a shift in philosophy. If it does, then we have to ask if that change was an epic mistake.

Whether or not it's a bit, I'll say this about the "entertainment" value of this game: the only reason it was a back and forth game was because we have a historically bad defense that allowed one of the most pedestrian offenses in all of D1 football to go wild and rack up points/yards that they probably won't replicate all season. Being so inept on one side of the ball that we stumble into a dogfight with a really bad team that we blew out the past two years isn't entertaining to me. To be clear, there are entertaining close losses where two great teams show what they can do and trade swings and your team just falls short in the end. This was nowhere near what happened last night.

The total yardage in the Cal game was 600+ to roughly 200. Those are the type of numbers you see when a top-10 team plays an FCS school. Since Cal is likely not even close to being in the top-10, then one could extrapolate some pretty bleak notions about where NT sits at present. BUT . . . it was just one game with a new system on both sides of the ball. FIU is probably close to the bottom 10 in all of FBS. If we lose or win a very close game, then it will confirm that the Cal performance was no anomaly. For the record, I do think we'll show some substantial improvement.

Totally agree. There's a lot that we need to fix off the field...portal strategy, NIL transactions, etc. But, regardless, there was also an in-game coaching failure, considering we went from generally competitive (though losing) in the first half to disaster in the second half. One coaching staff made the right chess moves at halftime and the other was stumped. Not a good sign, but I don't want to be too harsh about that particular point after just one game. We'll see if this was an anomaly or the start of a trend...

I should also point out that it's OK, as others have pointed out, that we are a basketball school. We can't afford to get enough players through NIL for a full football roster, but basketball is a little different. That's simply the economic reality...

We will play 3-6 bad teams, and that will allow us to feel like we are a solid team. We aren't. Cal is a below average team that looked like a top-10 team. They will finish in the bottom half of their conference, and if we finish near the top of our conference, then that will just show the P5-G5 disparity. We might improve throughout the year, but regardless, the season story has been written: we are a bad team that will only beat really bad teams.

6-6 6-7 after bowl game

When it comes to the $200 million number that is being bandied about as extra money that SMU boosters have to inject into the program (or, let's say hypothetically NT has this money--just for this thought experiment), I would not support using that to buy our way into a "power" conference that may within the next few years lose its A5 status and plausibly could end up dissolving altogether. This feels like TCU to the Big East all over again, and if TCU had mortgaged their entire future just to secure that invite, then they may not have been in any position to then earn a Big XII invite--or would have been unsuccessful once entering that level of play. If we had a $200 million budget surplus among monied donors, I would prefer that the money go toward creating a massively successful NIL collective. It's like the Saudi soccer teams: They aren't trying to get a team into the EPL; they're just buying good players. Now, if that money could go toward getting into a more stable, actually top-level conference (Big 10, SEC, or Big XII), then it would probably be a wise investment. I just don't think the ACC fits the bill at present. Just my thought...

Reece with the winning shot!

Sara's Secret Stadium

Dryce has phenomenal craft cocktails and some sleek, modern-West-style decor. I used to live walking distance from Ye Olde Bull and Bush, and it's a fun little place--classic English pub (but without food).

Yes, this is exactly the point. I think there are two different perceptions when one of our star players (backups seeking playing time is a different situation) enters the portal seeking "greener pastures." Some of you are looking at is as disloyalty because you perceive that it's someone who just wants to play at a "bigger" program--one that wouldn't give him the time of day in the past, prior to "using" NT as a stepping stone. But, that perception is outdated. In reality, if we have a highly successful season, all of our starters and certainly the CUSA/NIT MVP have the opportunity to make WAY more NIL money by leaving. If any of you had an unpaid intern at your office, and your company, which gave him a start and has been good to him, offered one additional year as an unpaid intern, but he had an offer to make a 6-figure salary as an intern for a different, equally reputable company for that same year, would you consider him disloyal--or simply logical? It'll hurt to see Tylor Perry in another college's uniform, but I can't blame him, and hell, he's done more for our basketball program than practically anyone who has worn our uniform, so let's not forget that. My problem is with our NIL collective, as it does not seem to be even remotely competitive with our peers. We aren't going to hang onto every player, but we should be able to identify a couple stars in both football and basketball each season whom we target for retention, and I do not get the impression that this is happening at all. As soon as a player accrues any market value above 0, we seem to throw our hands up in the air and conclude, "welp, he's going to move on to bigger and better things!"

He actually has an excellent track record as a recruiter, and I have a lot of faith in him. Still, the major recruiting these days is done by the NIL collectives, not the coaches. I know we're going to lose a lot of bidding wars for our top players, but I really hope our NIL program at least tried to offer him everything they could. All the championships in the world don't mean anything in terms of sustained success if we're trying to throw together a roster of volunteers and have them compete against top-dollar professionals.

I have a sneaking suspicion that they didn't try all that hard to prevent this news from leaking--just needed some plausible deniability for when McCasland asks their AD what the hell happened. Oh well, we have a championship game to be excited about, and that's pretty much occupying all my attention today.

Utah Valley was the home team.

If you look at the numbers across the nation, attendance is pretty ugly for most teams hosting first-round NIT games.

To be fair, North Texas didn't even fire Benford before his contract was up. And, Benford's performance makes Jalie look like Pat Summitt by comparison.

That's not how it works.