untjim1995

I understand your frustrations, especially when I told my dad who we were playing this weekend and his response was "Who?" Of course, I knew that response was coming and could still not come up with a good answer for him to understand why I wanted him to go with me on Saturday night. But, in reality, I think the SBC is a good spot for us right now and in the near future. Unless a new SWC gets formed anytime soon and we are actually included, then the SBC is about where we belong. As a matter of fact, one could argue that the other SBC programs probably look at us right now as the dead-weight that they are carrying around right now as conference mates.

To answer a few points here: 1.) there were maybe a few at most on here that were against hiring Dodge back then--I can pull just about any thread from back then to back this up. 2.) hiring an experienced coach is something we did the last two hires--two OCs from Division 1A teams. Sometimes, it just doesn't translate no matter how experienced you are. Remember, we have hired exactly one coach in 40 years with previous HC experience--Hayden Fry. That worked out fairly well, so in true North Texas spirit, we haven't done it ever again. 3.) The experienced college staff we should have gotten when Dodge started was not hired because of two things--Dodge's mistake in believing that high school coaching assistants would work here, but even more so, the fact that those assistants were affordable to a cash-strapped AD that was still paying for a head coach that had been fired the season before. Trust me, your frustration is noted--I agree with you on each and every part of it. I will say this, I want Dodge to be the coach here for a loooonnnng time here because he turns it around and begins winning championships. Here's the thing though--if your administration doesn't fund a program seriously, then you get what you pay for. If we do end up firing Dodge at some point, the new stadium should be the top reason that a new coach would want to come here--everything else, except for support, will be top-notch, IMO. We will know a lot about what the university thinks about our program with the next hire, whenever that will be. If we get another non-BCS coordinator, or worse, we will know the answer to that. It is going to take a commitment to make that next step up and I would love to see a guy like Kragthorpe or a Franchione be next in line. Or at least a head coach that has proven his worth at the FCS level at the worst. This would at least tell the fans and alumni that care about UNT Football that we are going to TRY and field a legitimate program that can compete at this level. I just don't want to see the next head coach at UNT being a running backs coach from Okie State or the offensive coordinator from UTEP, or gasp, the head coach from Highland Park HS.

Uhmm, I think we haven't beaten a full-blown SBC mate in two years and now have the longest losing streak against conference teams in the history of the SBC. Why can't you pick that??

Look, the record sucks--but it has sucked for a long time, even before Dodge. This year's improvement is dramatic--I remember last year that some of the most beloved fans on here were posting about leaving games for the first time before the game ended. And these were blowouts at home against such strong teams like Florida International and Louisiana-Lafayette. I want him to win games, too, but if we gave the previous two guys 4 years to get it figured out, we should at least do the same here. Look at how much attendance has grown over the last 3 years, how much better the recruiting has gotten, and also how nice it has been not to be called MFers and to hear every week how this job is the "hardest job in America". Now if we only win 2 games this year, then the firing decision is tougher--but the $$$ issue still stands. It is my opinion that if we win 3 or more games this year, then he will still be here with the next year to get a winning record. We introduce the new stadium in 2011 and I think the revenue stream alone should help pay for any buyout that will be needed at that point. But we need to give him at least though this year.

Yes--you are correct--it is.

Since I had to put up those dang nets with a duct-taped box everyday for you to hit when Coach Karcher was here and you were a freshman, I would tell you that , yes, the next year under Dodge, as a soph, your improvement was huge. Of course, not having to put up those stupid nets everyday once coach Dodge got there and actually seeing you throw to people instead may be clouding my view!! Seriously, it was night and day seeing how comfortable you got with a year under your belt!!

I agree completely with you and it is annoying to see so many people with degrees fom UNT that will root for some other school and in mnay cases support it financially because they are good and big and well-known and our piss-ant school isn't. That said, with the superior product that UNT has chosen to roll out there for so many decades, it isn't much of a surprise that the student body here never really supported their own. Heck, if the administration and alumni didn't care much at athletics, why should the students? I am glad it is changing now, though.

You know, it doesn't bother me too much. I mean these are two different levels of competition that we are talking about. The NCAA may classify us as both FBS, but the Grand Canyon-esque divide between UNT and UT is just so enormous. To me, a college football fan should love and support their school first--I agree that a real douche chooses to root for UT, OU, Tech, etc. over UNT when his degree says North Texas on it. But, if you like another school, too, I don't see any problem with sporting their apparel at their games like was being told here. At UNT, we would love it if someone who went to A&M wore a Mean Green shirt to a game just to fit in at Fouts. He would not be a douche, either.

Having seen both Parker and Simon closely during my years working down at the AD, this is a summation in my opinion of both: Parker was a great family man and had a strong faith. He was meant to be a high school coach--he connected with kids and their families and really wanted them to become better men as he played a fatherly role. He was very much unprepared for being a head coach of a college team, though. He was very much in over his head. I remember in his last year, he spent the entire off-season and fall camp having the team read a book called Psycho-Cybernetics because he was convinced that his guys would understand that we could go up to Lincoln, Nebraska and beat them. He was so convince that we would go up there and compete and he talked to the team about when Odessa Pemian came into Marshall ranked #1 and his team out there beat them by a point. He thought UNT could do the same because his Marshall team knocked off that grand program out west in Permian. Well, we lost a squeaker 76-14 to a team that played for the national championship in I-A. It just showed how out of place he really was at UNT. Simon was not in over his head as a head coach at a college. He had a lot of experience as an assistant, especially under Don James at Washington, where they won a national championship. He had a great offensive mind and he especially connected with the running backs and the OLine. His saga was really the most disappointing of any UNT coach since Fry--he had GREAT potential, but two things absolutely sunk his tenure as a head coach--he was unbelievably paranoid and he believed that he was often a victim of racism. Before games, he would meet with the head coach at midfield and openly accuse them of spying on his practices. During practice, he would send various staff over to students who were at practice to enjoy a nice day and ask them why they were there. During games, he would accuse the referees of being racist--one particular game, he told one ref that all the official wanted was for Simon to call him "Massah", which immediately drew a flag. He would call the DRC and complain that the owners there were racist and wanted him fired. In the end, that paranoia just buried him. The chip he carried on his shoulder was great when he wanted to motivate the team in a big game. But when the opponent was not a big name, his teams almost always got outplayed because he couldn't motivate them against the lesser opponents. Simon SHOULD have been a successful coach here, similar to what the Troy coach has been to them--in place for many years and having a reputation as someone you really could lose to if you weren't prepared. But his personal stuff just did him in, at least in my opinion.

Well, I wanted Kragthorpe back before he took the Tulsa job and when we fired Simon. He was an awesome coach when he was here and after he left, esepcially at A&M where he was the OC when they won the Big XII. But, at the time, he told the DRC back then that he wanted no part of being the HC at UNT. It probably didn't matter anyway, as Dickey got ram-rodded thru and we had a cheap head coach. Now, who knows, maybe with a new stadium that changes, but he knows he can make more as an offensive coordinator at a big-time BCS school than here at UNT--unless, of course, UNT does soemthing it never has done and pays their next coach a competitive salary. But, I do agree with you--he would be a tremendous hire here. But, I doubt it would happen, as Dodge isn't going anywhere until at least the end of next year, when there wold only be one year left on his contract and we enter into the new stadium.

Pal, we aren't far from being a FCS school--our support has never been even good for a school this size, our administration made sure that music, arts, education, and business were going to be the best window to the university--not football or any other athletic venture. Look at what we pay, look at who does the hiring, and look at our FBS history since 1995. I posted on a thread last week about this, but it still blows me away. We have beaten more than 4 FBS teams in one season on 4 occasions (2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004). We beat exactly two non-conference FBS teams in that span during those seasons. Your question on standards is sad--becasue you know where they are, why they are that way, and that based on our history, it probably isn't changing. Blame Todd Dodge for losing a Sun Belt game on the road with his freshman QB, but recognize that if Riley Dodge learns from all of this--much like Mitch Maher did from his freshman year to his sophomore year--the future could be brighter. Its not a pass on TDodge, it is recognizing what he has THIS season and what could potentially be there. If that is too hard, though, UNT probably ain't the place for your fandom--because its gonna frustrate you more and more if history keeps getting followed here at our alma mater.

There are two home games that I think we should win (WKU and Army). 2-0 There are two more games that I think we could win (FAU and ULM). 1-1 There are two road games that I think we won't win (@ Troy, @ Arkansas State) 0-2 There are two road games that I thnk we could win, but won't (@ULL, @ FIU) 0-2 In this scenario, UNT finishes with a record of 4-8. That would represent more wins this year than in the previous 2 years combined and more wins than UNT has had since the last year of the SBC championship run (2004). Here is the really sad part and what I hope gives some perspective to the board about our program. We moved up to Division 1-A in 1995. From 1995-2008, UNT has won 5 games or more in a season 5 times (1996, 2001-2004). In 1996, we won 5 games (including a win at home over 1-AA Illinois State). In 2001, we won 5 games in the first year of the SBC. In 2002, we won 8 games (including a home win against 1-AA Nicholls St). In 2003, we won 9 games. In 2004, we won 7 games. In the other years, it wasn't so pretty. In 1995, we won 2 games (including one against a 1-AA Idaho State). In 1997, we won 4 games (including 1 against 1-aa Indiana State). In 1998, we won 3 games. In 1999, we won 2 games. In 2000, we won 3 games. In 2005, we won 2 games. In 2006, we won 3 games. In 2007, we won 2 games. In 2008, we won 1 game. It doesn't matter if we look at the coaching of Simon, Dickey, or Dodge, getting 5 wins against Division 1 teams has been amazingly difficult. As a matter of fact, we have done it exactly 4 times in 15 years. If Dodge gets us to 4-8, there is no debate about him being back next year. It might frustrate LoveMG, TFLF, shaft, UNTPlaymaker, and others, but he will be back--and should. Because, sadly, he will have done something that just doesn't happen much around here-- win 4 FBS games in one season. And, trust me, if you want to get into a debate on raising standards, I'm all for it--but talk to the administration and the BOR first. They are the only ones that can apply the pressure (and $$$) to the AD and the head coach to change things. With a 28K stadium on the way and a coaching staff that combined probably makes less than all but 15-20 other FBS team, none of us should our breath.

Speaking of the coach (RF) that you are referencing with your incident that you were correct about, remember when that said coach was also involved in a fistfight with another coach at halftime of one of our games in their last year here? Well, apparently, our old head coach, DD, must be a magnet for this kind of stuff. Now that he is on the staff as the OC at New Mexico, the new head coach there, Locksley, i believe is his name, has now been outed for punching one of the position coaches during an argument in Albuquerque. What are the chances that DD could be a part of two staffs in three years where the coaches are PUNCHING each other because of disagreements--not players, the freaking COACHES!! I hope Dickey has taken up self-defense classes--he's gonna need it.

And yes this relates to NT football....because it shows that if they can get teams like this to their craphole....we ought to get some decent games in Denton......even if our place seats 28,000.

I'm pissed off that we are still in the SBC...

I think we should just have RV meet with the commissioners of the Big XII, SEC, and the MWC and tell them that we want in their conference and it is up to them to bid for us. To heck with the Sunbelt--which is the only thing we have won at the Division I level in 30 years. I can't wait to see how LSU, OU, and TCU fight to get us in with them--should make awesome headlines. This is gonna be great--especially since we will have a BRAND NEW STADIUM that holds 28,000 fans!! Hopefully, though, the stadium will be hurricane proof--in more ways than one. Off.

I feel sorry for Cougar high in this regard. Back in the 70s thru the early 90s, they were good to very good just about every year. When it became clear that the old SWC was not gonna make it much longer, UT wanted to join either the Pac-10 or the Big Ten because of those conference's academic and athletic reputations. UT did not want to entertain the SEC, even though overtures had been made by that conference to invite UT and A&M, because of academics in the SEC. A&M was all for it, though, so the SEC looked into getting UH as a partner for the Aggies to join the SEC, too. But, the Texas Legislature basically said that there is no way Texas will be in a conference without A&M, so the SEC idea got shot down, as did the Pac-10/Big Ten idea. Basicaly, the old Big Eight then came in and said we want A&M and Texas, but the folks in the legislature with Baylor and Tech ties soon made it clear that they weren't going anywhere without them, too. Unfortunately for UH, their attendance was never good, and with A&M's proximity to Houston, the Big XII knew that they could get that market covered, leaving UH high and dry. Imagine how pissed you would be if you were a UH fan/alum. You were once being mentioned to be in the mother of all BCS leagues (SEC) only to get that pulled out from under you and get left out COMPLETELY. I suppose the rumor of UNT to the old SWC might compare somehow, if it is true.

These old posts are always entertaining to read back on because of the opinions of the time and how strongly people either agreed or disagreed with them. The funny part about this particular thread is that in two years, some other poster could bring it up and show that people were making a big deal about Tre Newton being named the starter, and he ends up being a spare. Who knows?

Not necessarily the direction that I was going for, but I will say that I appreciate every single $ that we got for that game--so, again, thank you Alabama!!

Not exactly--Michigan ended up being pretty decent actually and they beat Florida in their bowl game to end the year. That Appy State loss just killed their season. They were good, but that loss just crushed that team. I can promise you that K-state won't be playing in any bowl game this year.

I can't believe that it took 17 posts to get to the best positive of the Bama game--The better questions would be what will we spend $900k on? 1.Coaching/ AD Salaries 2.Title IX sports 3. non-revenue sports 4. equipment 5.maintenance I just want to personally thank the taxpayers of Alabama for making donations to their university who then gave $900K to a university in Texas!!

I agree completely. Attendance would be huge at UNT compared to today if you got SMU, Houston, Tulsa, and UTEP in a conference. My thoughts echo, though, what ColoradoEagle said, which is that CUSA (as a whole) is just about even with the SBC of today. This is good for us for two reasons. While we are in the SBC, the competition is getting better which should help our program continue to build up. The second reason is that as the SBC continues to perform well against the CUSA schools, maybe sanity will reign and the snobbery of looking down at the SBC programs will stop. Then the two conferences will re-align within their respective footprints and make conferences that are geopgraphically aligned instead of being politically aligned. I have always heard that UTEP wants nothing to do with having NMSU in a conference, which is similar to LaTech's view of ULM, and TCU's view of SMU. This mentality has got to end for fiscal sanity and regional rivlaries to come back again. Remember, the SWC of the old days was great because of the closeness and the rivalries. It would be great to be a part of that again, in some shape or form.

Trust me, venturing over to other message boards will make our board look saintly compared to those at BCS schools. And to a great number of UNT fans, SMU is our biggest rival. Now, maybe that is the pathetic part, since they could care less about us. But, Tech fans get the same treatment from Aggies, who only think of UT as their rival, but look at Tech as a pest. At least Tech gets to beat their ass every fall, though. But, the Red Raiders used their "obsession" to make their program better. Unfortunately, SMU and UNT have played exactly twice since we moved back up to Division one in 1995, which is less than the number of times we have played TCU in the same timeframe. We haven't been so lucky to play them because it was nothing that SMU wanted to do for years. Hell, even Phil Bennett himself said when he wanted to schedule UNT, that he caught lots of flack from SMU alumni who saw nothing to gain by playing us. I agree on the obsession part, which to me is posting their scores on our board or their media reports here, but I understand the Mean Green hatred of them very much.

Good point--I mean SMU isn't even our rival, so we should just, you know, praise them. Especially now, since they are in the same boat we are in--crappy conference, after-thought to most college football fans over the last 25 years, and the fact that you can go onto ponyfans.com and see how "highly" they think of us here at UNT--pardon me, that's NTSU, the official name they use for us there. Yeah, I think we should have them over for a cup of tea and see if we can find common ground and make sure they know how much we like them., you know, to "earn their support". Does it really take much to figure out that SMU has absolutely no interest in being in a conference with us? If you think otherwise, I feel sorry for you. Hell, TCU fans want nothing to do with SMU being in a conference with them again because they are higher up the ladder. Its no different then how SMU views their standing on the ladder versus UNT. But, I guess SMU fans should just be nice to TCU fans to "earn their support". Rainbows, puppies, and harmony everywhere!!

I knew TFLF would show back up. Gomeangreen.com is just too addictive. Of course, it was after a loss, though. Just kidding, TFLF