untjim1995

I hear you, but the other side of the coin is that having UNT alumni on the BOR may very well hurt our athletics funding or direction just because of the cultural history of this place. I really can see it both ways...I do know that a BOR full of UNT alums would be a boon to the music and arts programs, though...

Ohio State has the prestige, budget, and the eyeballs that Baylor and TCU don't have...its pretty much that simple. Replace the two private schools with Texas or Oklahoma and Ohio State isn't even in the running right now.

I never questioned Mac getting an extension for what he put together last year. It was well-deserved, if for nothing else you tell the fanbase that winning will be rewarded here. However, IIRc Dickey got two-year extensions after our bowl win, not a five year extension. That is the issue here, since we know that if you don't perform well, it doesn't matter because we put the value on cost, not winning. There is zero doubt that Dan McCarney will be our head coach in 2017, unless he resigns, which would only happen because of health. Not likely... As some have posted, what football games have become at UNT is the chance to tailgate with your friends and family. Tickets are cheap and easily available. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg to attend and setup a tailgate for a full day, like it does at most other places. It is by far the smartest decision that the university (see RV) ever instituted, as you have seen attendance increase dramatically since it was instituted back in 2001 when RV got here. And I think that with Apogee having been built with this tailgating phenomenon that has grown at UNT, that has more than easily checked the box for athletics funding and promotion for these leaders. McCarney is a good coach, albeit stubborn and boring. He knows how to speak in public (unlike Dickey). He knows how to coach college football (unlike Dodge). He is better than either of them, by a long ways actually. In 4 years here, he has amassed a total record of 22-27, which is way better than his predecessors, who went in four years here 13-33 (Dickey) and Dodge (6-37), obviously. Again, to the leaders here, that is just fine with them--it shows progress, which is unarguable in their minds, especially for the increased costs of Mac and his staff, as compared to the previous two. Dickey's bad mouthing would never have gotten any major extension from the BOR, and Dodge's losses were the only reason he finally got fired in the end (since he never really bad-mouthed the school). At this point, all we can do as fans is to pray that the positive and upbeat Dan McCarney shows back up and that his pride has been damaged so much from this season that he will be singularly focused on turning this thing back around. The problem is that 2015 isn't going to be that season--we have a poor QB, a brand new OL, and a Defensive front seven that is still undersized and young. And all this is in play while we have the hardest schedule we have had in a long time here. To me, the best hope for us to be a winner again is at best 2016, since 2017 will have a schedule that is identical to 2015 (nice job on the Iowa 2 for none!!). Even with a new OC next year, the best you can really hope for with McNulty as the QB is 4-5 wins, IMO, since his line will be worse than this year from an experience perspective, and the defense will still have a lot of work to get back to the form of 2013, which is the only way you can win at UNT when you run a boring offense (see 2002-2004, and 2013). But that's best case scenario, to me. I don't see how you can expect anything better next year. We aren't going to be better than Rice, UTSA, UTEP, La Tech, USM, or UAB in division play. Maybe we get an F_U underachiever on the schedule from the East again, maybe SMU is still so bad that they cannot even beat us in our "alternative" home game, and maybe we buy another Nicholls State type of opponent to beat down. Again, I just don't see more than 4 wins in that bunch, with a real possibility of 1-2 wins again. If we only win 3 games or less, that will be the 11th time since we came back up to Division 1-A in 1995 to finish with that number of wins in a season, out of 21 years. When that is your track record, you obviously understand why its almost impossible to convince many of us who have been around here for decades to believe that we will ever demand having a winner in revenue sports from the higher ups. Instead, that demand from those folks is to have a budget maker who doesn't complain out loud. Guys like RV, Trilli, Dodge, and, so far, Benford and McCarney have been rewarded with this rule to follow. And that's why its not gonna ever change here. The people that make the hiring decisions know that the UNT Family don't want major funding to go at UNT Athletics for the cost of "winning"--they want it to be as minimal as possible so it doesn't take away from the areas of the university that are considered as the preferred window to the school. As I have pointed out several times, that may be the correct way to do it, but literally no other FBS university in Texas or in the region of the country does it this way. Your ideal alum everywhere else comes back to the university for athletics because of the many opportunities they provide. And, for me, that is why I have watched so many of my friends and fellow alums follow UT, OU, LSU, Arkansas, A&M, Tech, Baylor, TCU, and other P5 giants--this place literally told them that the area that they care about most as a supporter of the university doesn't matter here as much as you want it to, that there are other schools that offer what you want, so go follow them instead--and take your dirty, unrefined dollars with them. We don't want that kind of "support" here.

This is all so Dickey 2.0, it's not even funny...we are a MF'er rant away from DMac being the Buick again. Their game plans are identical, as is their use of the QB position. Right now, McNulty is our version of Richard Bridges, but he gets to start even more than Bridges did.

I see us winning 3 games next year--the presumed bought FCS win, then another two against the CUSA games and SMU. McNulty starts all 12 games...and our real attendance is about 14k, although it will be reported as much higher. Gotta pray that we find a better bus driver for 2016, not to mention a defense that can actually stop someone besides the offensive juggernauts that were SMU, F_Us, and Nicholls State.

FFR, what is the area that does bother you the most? I bet we all feel the same way...for me, it's the fact that we just don't care about winning here. Never has, apparently never will...

That play just described our whole season in one instance...

What a give up call, Mac

He's gone, no matter what...DW knew it was clear that Mac didn't want him around anymore. I'm sure Mac told him McNulty is the starter next year, no matter what....

That should do it--McNulty looks he can barely move and the blitz is coming every down now.

How in the world did Marshall not get that fumble?

We heard all of the same things when they hired their last "best assistant coach in the land", which was Phil Bennett. He had Texas ties, he was a great DC, and he was gonna resurrect the Hilltop...then promptly got fired after going 1-11 and never went to a bowl game. I'm not too worried about SMU being relevant ever again in football. Their day had passed. I'm more worries about La Tech, Rice, UTSA, and USM than I am the Ponies and their dozens of fans...

How's the crowd tonight?

Yeah, all of those teams are new FCS schools in the scheme of things, including UH-Third Ward... You got owned by Ben Gooding...you might want to consider quitting the internet forever. You don't have any fanbase at all

It won't matter because the costs for being in a conference will make this all moot anyway in a few years. But for arguments sake, the MWC sent its champion or a current member who is now in the MWC to a BCS Bowl game in 2005 (Utah won), 2007 (Boise State won), 2008 (Hawaii lost), 2009 (Utah won), 2009 (Boise State beat TCU), and 2010 (TCU won). Since then, the MAC sent NIU in 2012 (lost) and the AAC got their only automatic bid they will ever have in 2013 and won when UCF beat Baylor. So, in earning non-guaranteed bids, the MWC contingent of old and current teams got 7 bids. The MAC got the one that was guaranteed to a G5 if it finished in the top 16 and ahead of another AQ conference winner in the polls. AAC, CUSA, or the SBC have never gotten one. And it appears that in the first season of having a G5 champion being included in a big money bowl game, a two-loss MWC team in Boise State will earn the bid over the others, including Marshall who will probably go 13-0 before their bowl game in The Bahamas or Boca Raton or Hawaii... As for hoops, which is completely different because everyone is included and you can get hot in a flash, UConn rode two hot guards all the way to a championship. And speaking of UConn, they may be stuck in the AAC right now, but they are a Big East team, which is completely different from being an old CUSA team, such as UH, SMU, ECU, Tulane, Tulsa, etc...UConn, because of their Big East basketball program, is about 10 rungs above most of the other AAC teams right now. Although the MWC champion has only made it as far as the Sweet 16 in the last 10 years or so, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Colorado State, Utah State, and Nevada all ahve wins in the NCAAs, plus their league always rates higher than the old CUSA did. If it weren't for Memphis under Calipari and just after he left, that league would have been a one-and-done league often in the NCAAs. I cannot remember anything special from the MAC in hoops in the tournament recently, and aside from Western Kentucky's run in 2008 and 2009, the SBC didn't win anything in the NCAAs either. All I know is that the Pit in Albuquerque, as well as the venues in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Logan, Utah are all regarded as very hostile places to play in the country, especially The Pit. Its all moot, though. We are in a very fine conference setup for us right now in CUSA, which I totally agree with you on. And travel costs will continue to get more manageable as the G5s and the better FCS schools come together to form their own division down the road. Its feasible to have a conference setup in the near future that will look like this for us: UNT, SMU, UH, Rice, Tulane, ULL, La Tech, ULM, UTSA, Texas State, NMSU, UTEP, SHSU, SFA, Tulsa, and Arkansas State Each school would be a travel mate for conference games in hoops and other non-revenue sports. Those schools that look down on others near them (SMU, UTEP, La Tech, and Tulane) will have to deal with this new reality or they will have worse options to consider.

Boise State has gone to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2013. I don't know how (or care) how they've done in non-revenue sports, but that's not bad to have two NCAA apperances in the last 6 seasons, as well as their football success.

Hanging out with RV and some BOR folks, laughing at how awesome it is that he can rub elbows with the AD and the BOR at his school...I mean, its just like knowing Deloss Dodds and a BOR member at UT, right?!! NOT A CLOWN SHOW AT ALL AT UNT!!

I have stated for many years that the MWC as a league is the best G5 league--and it really isn't close in my opinion. The other 4 are below it, in some form or fashion. You really know its true when a 9-2 Boise State team gets ranked ahead of unbeaten Marshall for the top G5 spot. In the old days, before it was obvious that the P5s will pull away on their own, I was a huge advocate of getting into this league if at all possible, even after TCU, BYU, and Utah left. I'd take Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada, Air Force, Colorado State, SDSU, UNLV, New Mexco, and Utah State for conference mates in football and basketball over what we have now--but only if FBS football wasn't going to change. Since it will, these G5 conferences will have to consolidate regionally, which means Marshall, Old Dominion, F_U, Western Kentucky, and Charlotte will not be in a conference with us, UTEP, Rice, UTSA, or La Tech. Same will go for the AAC and the SBC, too. Travel and cost containment will matter way more than it does today when G5s and FCS schools merge into their own level of play. But I've always thought that a Texas school could duplicate TCUs methodology for becoming a big time program by playing and beating teams that are well known and recognized out west, whether it was us, UH, SMU, Rice, or UTSA. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jerry-palm/24840440/cfp-rankings-comittee-finally-weighs-in-on-group-of-five

The more I think about it, although I agree we will probably pay 400k or more for a FCS game, I could see a big time P5 powerhouse coming in and offering us a $750k to $1 million to come play them. Someone who has had a school bail on them for an OOC game or a school like Baylor, who may drop a FCS game in Waco to play us, just so it doesn't look as pathetic for them next season as this year's OOC has, since they played SMU, Northwestern State, and Buffalo. I could easiily see them dropping Incarnate Word or someone like that for us, just so they can say that they can say that they aren't playing a FCS school in OOC so that they won't get publically bashed the way they have been this season for their ridiculously easy schedule. And even more ridiculous will be the AD's stance that we will then play the equivalent of two "alternative" home games, since they aren't that far away in Waco and we can use the extra money to pay bills for the rest of the department.

Last year, I said that if we didn't have a winner in place within the next 5 years, that I was gonna call it quits. After all, in the 23 seasons previous to 2013 as a fan, I had seen all of three good years of winning FBS football, 2002-2004, when we played the newbies and dregs of I-A football at the time in the old SBC. Other than that, it had been 20 years of mostly pathetic football at a university that clearly shows that they have zero interest in being a winner. But then, out of nowhere, 2013's magical season occurs. We go 9-4 in CUSA, win the HoD Bowl convincingly in front of 40k Mean Green fans, and extend Mac for turning things around. The slate was clean, again. They did what I asked of them, which was to just act like a program that cared about winning football and rewarding those who made it happen. But it is stuff like this--poor scheduling of OOC opponents, having an "alternative" home game at someone else's stadium 45 minutes away (when traffic isn't bad, I might add), keeping the student fee way below the state-mandated level that traditional powerhouses like Lamar, Texas State, and UTSA fully take advantage of, and then the worst of all, the building of a great new stadium only to watch teams come here that toilet-bowl Fouts could still host quite easily today--it all just beats me down. I drew my line in the sand as a fan last year and watched the program do what I asked. I have now given 25 years to this place as a student, alum, and fan. I've been rewarded with exactly 5 winning seasons, 4 of which are at the FBS level since 1995. I'm just amazed at the patience (or masochism) of those who graduated in the deacdes before I did in 1995 and still actually care about this place. Most years, I feel like I do right now--like I have completely wasted my time and money. But because of last year's great renaissance season, I feel compelled to keep moving forward, against my better judgement, to see where we go from here. Hell, I'm even at the point of being fine with just being in a pseudo-i-aa setup again, just to see if we can compete for championships in football. That's how much I want to see us win. But there is absolutely nothing from the university's BOR, chancellor, or administration that makes me believe they even care about winning football at all, much less care about it more than I do. And, to me, watching a school go from a toilet bowl of a stadium to a great one in Apogee, from playing in the SBC 1.0 to the SBC 2.0, and from hiring a HS coach to one who actually has been a good head coach in the past, as greatly improved as that is, you still cannot tell me you are about winning football if you schedule 5 games (or less) at home and that you make it clear that buyouts aren't anything to even consider until there is no more than 1 year left on a contract (this is more on hoops than it is on football right now, but the Dodge fiasco stays in my mind here). Its just that we know that if 2015 and 2016 look like 2014 has, that there is zero doubt that McCarney will coach in 2017, just because it would cost to buy him out. Trust me, by the way, I don't want any of this to even have to be debated--I hope and actually believe Mac will get this turned around by 2016, if not sooner. But even he knows that he has until 2017 to turn this around--hell, he could always announce he wants to retire in 2018 and the school would keep him until the end of that contract just to save money. When cost is what you care about the most, quality always suffers--it really doesn't matter if its a house, education, car, food, etc..--if you promote cost as your best attribute, you attract cheapskates, both in customers and in employees. To me, that's the biggest issue we have today, athletically speaking. We view the entire athletic department as a cost, not in terms of revenue.

Real quick--name the other FBS school in America that could end up having 4 home games on a 12 game schedule in 2015? Not that we will, but if we do, that would have to put as in rare air as far as being the only FBS program to have 4 home games...Al Hurley and Craig Helwig would have loved that kind of foresight for UNT Football!!

So MVSU is where Craig Helwig decided to start again as an athletic director...

UNT90 told us this would happen, that we would only have 5 home games next year, and it will be a FCS game, most likely. But with that said, can you only imagine how many season tickets are gonna get sold for next year's home schedule? I cannot wait to hear about the increase in season ticket holders that the AD will have to handle for 2015!! As a bonus, you get the opportunity to also add a neutral-site gaem in Dallas against SMU, too!!

You won't have to worry about Means and mistakes next year. He will get mop up time at the most, just like McNulty got lst year behind DT all year long.

Greer and DW will transfer out. Their days at UNT will be over as soon as the final exams are finished, if not sooner. Greer could probably get a starting job at a bad FCS program right now, one that needs an infusion of new blood at that position, say a NIcholls State-type team. Dajon is the real question mark. Ic ould see him transferring somewhere like Texas State, where he would be a great fit for Franchione's QB-option offense. Or he, too, could go the FCS route, so as to not lose a year for transferring to another FBS team. McNulty will start in 2015, with Means as the main backup. McNulty is Mac's guy--its beyond obvious at this point. He has stuck with him as the starter for the last half of the season, knowing full well that he is getting great bus-driving experience. Next year, its gonna be shoved down our throats that Minimac is ready to be the next DT, in print or on broadcasts.