Caw Caw

Star is still recovering from knee surgery. I wouldn't put too much stock in the loss.

Anyone who's followed the Baylor scandal to its current status knows that the it involved the coaching staff, administration, leadership et all. If you think somehow Kendall is guilt free of that disgusting mess you're just trying to be okay with hiring him because of his ability. If the whole house is burning it's unlikely he doesn't smell like smoke. I like Morris and the A&M commerce guy. I'm also potentially in on the Graham Harrell hire. I think the continuity would be important. It would also matter how much of the staff Litrell would be taking with him.

I love aggressive play calling. I think going for it on both 4th downs was the right call. I think running it on third down was actually the worse call in our current run game. Or, if we're going to run it, fine has to keep that option from time to time to keep them honest.

AND NOW WE ARE ALL OVERREACTING. Litrell and what he has accomplished in only three years. Will still make him one of the most sought after coaches in all of college football. If you think otherwise, you're lying to yourself. Frank Wilson and Lane Kiffin are the dudes who aren't moving on after this year without a doubt. And I think Seth would consider staying. His stock hasn't dropped for losing two games by less than a total of 10 points. It's absolutely mind blowing. If this is such a crushing blow and he's a bad coach I guess you'll be happy when he moves on. There are teams hoping their third year coach is bowl eligible. If I would have asked anyone if we would have one a division title in year two, they would have laughed. Ya'll went from tortured fan base to entitled pretty quick. Seriously, if you're that upset, try the sleep on it rule and come back with logical talking points. And if he doesn't get poached, we should consider ourselves incredibly lucky.

Just the way it goes psychologically. This program has gotten more positive press this year than in the last quarter century maybe. Don't sweat it. I understand where you're coming from. But the University of Alabama system f'd them so hard. They wouldn't even be competitive at this level without it. I think a lot of UABers know and recognize that. They really got kicked to the trash can, dug back out and given a lot of help to bring themselves back up to speed. Bill Clark will have to work very hard to sustain that edge, just as we will.

Our defensive line was arguably as disruptive, we just happened to be worse in the big moments. But that clearly matters a whole lot. UAB is a good team 16 red shirt seniors will do that. North Texas didn't get it done, UAB won the day. There's not much more to it. It doesn't matter if we lost it or they won it. Ends up in the same column. Happy for UAB. I like their fans and school. Also will be happy once their exceptions era is over and Bill Clark has the same limitations as the rest of CUSA.

Man, these two losses this year have been real heart breakers. The team comes out on fire, offense just airing it out and we throw quick releases to protect Fine from our suspect offensive line. Whatever is happening in the adjustment segment of our halftime show just needs to stop. Since we've lost Loren, we haven't been able to run. Even with Torrey's 3 TD he had to break two or three tackles each time to get in. If the pass game is working, abandon the run. Seriously. The officiating was horrendous, but honestly it went both ways. I don't mind losing to superior teams, but I hate losing the way we've been losing. Fumbled balls in big moments, trying to do too much. Defense did enough, Offense almost did enough IN ONE half. Then, imagine when we went back to the pass, way too late in the game, we go flying down the field but can't beat the clock. NOW, I will say, i'm incredibly happy, and have a long enough memory to realize i'm grateful to have these kind of expectations and be this disappointed. We've come a really long way in three years. The team and staffs expectations were as high as ours with the way we handle business in the non-conference segment of our schedule. That's good, we should keep that and be disappointed. No one has convincingly beat North Texas this year, that's the plus side. 16 of UAB's starters are seniors. Most of them redshirt seniors and UAB got an incredible amount of waivers in order to revive their program (before someone bites my head off, it was well deserved, their program being shutdown was a railroad job). They should be good, most of their team is playing their 5th year of college ball. This season is still one for the books, it's still a really good North Texas team. Last year we had 6 one score or less games and won them all. That type of luck can't hold forever. We need to put a complete 4 quarter game together. That's on the staff. Got to find a way to not get out coached in the second half. The staff has to evaluate what is being done. If we have to throw the slant to Darden 30 times because it's working, do it. I know we have options and range in the playbook but man certain aspects of our game CLEARLY work. Others are not. No need to overthink it. Honestly, Coach Ref's crew is still playing out of their mind. Our o-line, is one of the bigger limits on this team right now. As much as Litrell tells us how excited he is about the RB group, we really need that emphasis in this recruiting cycle. Replacing EJ, BG, Brooks, and Hall is going to be tough too. I'm still excited for this season and i'm still grateful. Let's not forget the gutters from which we have come. I'm disappointed for this team more than I am with this team. We have lost two games on basically two plays 9 (both within the 5 yard line) and are those two plays away from being undefeated. When you're not a dynasty or a powerhouse, that's how football goes. G5 conferences are the wild west and the last great bastion of the ideal of any given "sunday". Recruiting is improving, donors are improving, attendance (on non-rain games) is improving, Defense is light years better than we ever expected it to be this year if we're being honest. We still have some of the best receivers and one of the best QB's in the country. Our defense is awesome, and fun and creates havoc. We just have to put it all together and we still have a shot at a 10+ win season. I'll see you guys out at the games. Always proud to be Mean Green. GMG

Here's what I don't get on the "let's wait and see" group. What is our next best option. Say you don't want to pay him more. Who is the promised upgrade to what Litrell has delivered that will take the job?

Seems we need [serious] tags like on reddit now. We need a clear plan on dealing with/retaining seth. We need a clear plan b. We need more tradition/coordination for student section. We need a little more improvement on the O-line. A true RB1. Transition to a program that shows up in the rain too. Find a way to bring Mattress Mack back into the fold. Secure another couple major donors. Maintaining at least the level of recruiting for this years class.

He fumbled one and it barely bounced out of bounds. Liberty had it in their arms as it was going out. About 1 step away from being a turnover.

Liberty is a good squad, and they are serious about athletics. You know those, would you trade having a Baylor Scandal for success discussions we've had? Liberty hired disgraced Baylor president during that era Ken Starr. Also famous for his prosecution of a presidential bj.

can you flesh this out with more context please?

This type of momentum is big. These facilities and these types of donations have to be part of our pitch to Litrell and Co. This school, these alumni, this administration and donors are serious about taking the university to the next level athletically. We can give you everything those powerhouse schools can, it's just going to take a little patience and a little time for growth. The sleeping giant is yawning, let's give it time to wake up. Thank you to the Lovelace family. Now someone go get Mattress Mack back.

We are good, and our defense is much improved. Even against bad teams last year we were an absolute swinging gate. We won like 6 games by less than a touchdown and averaged like... 37 points while averaging giving up 35. Players like Singletary for FAU absolutely decimated us. While the jury is still out, that's why you're seeing a lot of cautious optimism in our fan base. It's a big game, it would mean a lot to our fan base. But North Texas fans, especially the ones who frequent this board have seen and survived some ugly days. It does make us incredibly cautious, and hopefully gracious in victory (Unless you are SMU or UTSA). Most of us think we are good enough to win this game, but a whole lot of things need to go right. You still have a team with a lot of talent, and now, probably have their hair on fire.

Pretty sure sosia mose and JM were held out on account of benefiting from extra rest and their services weren't required. I think this staff is sharp enough to give guys extra rest where they can. I think both of those guys sat tactically not because it was absolutely required.

We do know who the worst is...

Yeah, i'd love to be a fly on that wall and see what those two new staffers are doing that the others weren't. I mean clearly there is merit to those hiring moves.

I mean if you we're going by stars and evaluations let me go with: Rico Bussey Jr., JoJo Ozougwu, Jameel Moore, DHG, Mason Fine, EJ Ejiya, Khairi Muhammed, Tyreke Davis, Dion Novil, Brammer, Johnson, Sanders, Manase and Saia Mose, Kemon Hall was unrated. Cameron Johnson, Guyton, Hambone, Darden, Greg White and Siggers are definitely meaningful three stars. I'm just saying I think there's a lot to be said about our staffs ability to either identify or develop talent in their players. Edit: Also any time a players size comes to mind I think of McCarney and his obsession with it. Set us back many a year taking kids with measurables instead of football players.

Now that the majority of our recruiting class (20/21 scholarships) are committed. Let's talk about the past classes and what got us here. Obviously the season is young, but so far, our team is heads/tails above where they were before. And while some young guys have cracked the depth chart, a good portion of our starters are upper classmen (17/22). Only one RS Freshman starts (Manase Mose). As we have a chance to admire a really strong recruiting class from this staff, I can't help but think back to some of the bigger and longer argumentative threads on recruiting. A lot of people, prior to this recruiting season, have kept it as the staffs major knock, yet here we are, with potentially one of the best teams North Texas has had in a long time, maybe ever. I remember a few of us defending the staff and saying while the recruiting was middle of the pack or worse, we should trust their evaluation and development abilities. Let me start by saying I'm glad to have the boon in the current era, but how would you explain the disparity that's been heavily complained amount with the disparity of our success. For a counter example, we have UTSA who has had several lauded classes with average/middle of the pack results. They did touch on player development briefly in the Beyond the Green episode. And part of their evaluation is a guy's commitment to the game, do they love football? What's their motivation? Do they want this culture or not? Fillani said that guys either buy-in or get out and the team was fine either way. For those of you who have been really disappointed in the last couple classes, if you don't use the 2019 class as a metric, has anything the other classes have produced on field changed your opinion? Do you find yourself trusting those evaluations more?

I prefer to imagine brelan chancellor in this system.

I was also coming to comment that Seth seemed extra tired of his ish today lol.

You go for two because it makes it 35 which means they need more than 5 touchdowns + extra points to win. It's not vengeance just math.

The staff signed alfred morris late late in the post season. At the point they did that he didn't really have a shot.

Honestly, it's the constant overlooking of "lesser" and less storied programs, and the culture built around that idea that is propelling us forward and them backward. This coaching staff and administration doesn't ever look down on an opponent or a team. These guys are taught to respect every opponent, and hopefully every person. The reason it's the end of the world for them is because they fundamentally view us, and many other schools as beneath them. So being faced with the reality that you aren't any better than us in fact, last night you were substantially worse, disrupts the illusion. SMU has the same sleeping giant potential we do, but you have to accept where you are in order to move forward. So many of the their comments were "man, glad I didn't go to that gave", "so glad we went to the park instead". These are statements from their HARDCORE fans. Because they can't accept they aren't good, they can't move forward and get better. It's not worth their time. But based on their fan boards, attendance and misguided expectations it's entrenched in the culture of their school. Everyone here recognizes how bad we've been, and accepting it and then changing it has paid dividends for both UNT and anyone associated with the athletic department.