Mike Jackson

We probably need two different threads one to discuss retread candidates and another to discuss up and coming coaches. That being said, i think the retread list needs to be very short. 1. Mack Brown (you have to offer him 2 million per year and beg) 2. Turner Gill (a getable retread with invaluable NFL experience) 3. Houston Nutt (only because he is local) I saw Brady Hoke mentioned but unfortunately UNT is a very unique place where knowledge of the Texas football landscape is an absolute must. If Dan would have hired a Major Applewhite to help with recruiting or better yet a Todd Dodge I think things might have been different. PS: If you hire Mack you could promise to keep RV out of his way and have Mack take his job when RV contract is up.

So I wonder why local recruits never consider UNT a desirable place to come play football? Maybe it's because this mentality has most of them thinking the name is still NTSU and not UNT. Mean Green Club; I will renew my season tickets when RV is gone.

Candles because you will be able to keep him for about 500k a year. Let him go out get an OC and DC for 350k each. Sign him to a 2 million dollar 4 year contract right now, that starts January 2016. Because until UNT makes the gamble and matches the head coach salary with the size of this university the program in going no where. I think all these conversations about the future head coach are way more realistic if UNT was hiring for a 2 million dollar per year contract. You might even be able get Mack Brown interested with that amount of money and our location. I think Mack Brown would look at this as an easy job with huge growth potential. Because all he would have to do is out recruit Rice, UTSA, UTEP and La Tech. And he could get young hungry innovative under radar coordinators to come to UNT and work on the cheap for awhile. But is all just a dream because UNT isn't serious about building something special. They just want to make due.

Well said. No division 1 athletic program needs an AD so paranoid that he is responding to bloggers. As an AD you should be doing your job well enough that you have too many bloggers (passionate fans of the program) to respond to. Because when your program has always sucked for the most part very few people care.

Going to South Carolina from MSU is a bad career move. MSU is a long standing top destination in the Big Ten Conference. South Carolina has never been that in the SEC. I like South Carolina but if I were 59 year old head coach at MSU the only thing I would go to South Carolina for is to eek out maybe 6 years and retire. Because most likely you won't win enough to keep the fans happy for much more than 5 years.

All I can say is if the president needs e-mail from anyone to make the necessary move to remove an administrator who is not perform then I have bigger fears about the state of the university way beyond athletics. I look at RV failure as on par as getting a barely passable rating for sac accreditation for one of their academic programs. This is an absolute joke.

And if one of valued student athletes were tasked with contacting me this is what I would tell them. "Congratulations you are one the few that get the great opportunity to play college sports at the highest level. I am proud to have you at UNT and will be even more proud to see you as an alum with a degree. Unfortunately you chose to play sport at UNT a college that does not value athletics so it would be stupid for me to make a donation to athletic department. The performance of the athletic program diminishes the value of my degree especially outside of Texas and the bordering states. People with no connections to this area think UNT is a backwater school or worse yet a satellite campus in the University of Texas System. They still call us Texas State or NTSU when the name has been changed for well over 2 decades. Athletic failure is no where near solely responsible for this but it has greatly contributed to that incorrect perception. The powers at UNT insist on playing division 1 sports but have never demonstrated the accountability necessary to make anything but the Olympic Sports successful. So my donations go strictly to the alumni association since they decided to keep their inept joke of an AD. I am sorry they tasked you with contacting me but I hope you great academic success because if you play a revenue sport you won't see much in success in your athletic endeavors while at UNT. "

I would rather be sitting in run down Fouts Field (the independent vendors there had better food for EVERYONE at Fouts by the way since you mentioned everyone) watching the Mean Green kick some but with between 10K-15K students than sitting in an empty sport palace Apogee getting killed by a FCS team. Nice place for everyone? Facilities count more when it comes to the education process. We have great academic facilities and whatever the 17 have contributed to that, I am very grateful. However, it is very clear these 17 are more loyal to RV than they give a shit about the revenue sport performance. Call it "personal" not very nice or whatever fuck you want to call it. Have fun in your nice empty palace and be sure to kiss the ass of the 17 when you they come down from their towers. Give me a break.

UNT top level is Platinum Eagle 15k TCU top level 50k So if I were a rich but economical TCU fan I think I would opt for the private sports bar at UNT and watch TCU games from my box at Apogee. The food is pretty good and couldn't get a better view of the TCU game than the big screen TV has. My date is the end of the basketball season. I hope they call or e-mail about renewing. My question will be contact me when RV is no longer the AD. Because I am not interested in helping to offset the cost of the private sports bar for the 17 with my donation.

I disagree with UNT90 it not a "program" for 17 people. It is a private sports bar for RV and 17 closet TCU fans who don't want to pony up the dough to get the "Platinum Eagle" treatment at TCU.

RV is doing to job wonderfully. Keeping UNT program exactly where TCU wants it to be: As not a threat to snatch up players that would provide backup depth at TCU. And at this point I think the 17 are TCU fans also. They just look at Apogee and some of the other facilities as their own private sports bar. The only drawback for them is that they can't drape it in purple.

Asses the program? What is there to asses? Even Stevie Wonder can see that RV needs to go. You have an AD working for TCU while being employed and paid by UNT. REVOLT and openly pledge not to attend a Basketball game or football game in the 2016 season if RV is still the AD. Additionally pledge to donate an additional $100, when he is fired. Then you might have a shot at hiring a good coach who knows the challenges at UNT.

I am sorry people without a sense of humor or common sense. This article is absolutely sarcastically on point. The nerve of this program not beating down the doors of local media outlets to give them access it ridiculous (that includes parking passes). it shows that the athletic department does not have freaking clue. People think RV is failing as Athletic Director couldn't be more wrong. He is the perfect double agent for TCU. Don't believe me, if he has ties to TCU and a game against UNT is an easy win, why haven't we been on their schedule at least once during his tenure? "They have to play a couple of money games every year, but you don't want to play four or five," Dykes said of the "guarantee" games UNT plays against teams such as Texas or Oklahoma. "You have to find out how much control you have over the schedule. From the outside, it might be a pretty good opportunity for somebody." Dykes said he has "heard talk" about UNT wanting to ramp up its commitment to football, in addition to the recent construction of the school's $8 million athletic complex/dormitories and practice fields. "The worst things is to go somewhere and have no opportunity to win," Dykes said, speaking in generalities. "That doesn't get you anywhere. You want to make sure you have a chance to put a stamp on the program." --Sonny Dykes in 2006 (Now Coach at University of California) My question to my fellow delusional fans and alumni (not buddy-buddy with RV) what the hell has change since then except the opening of Apogee Stadium and CUSA? Between the lines in 2006 Sonny was talking about the 17 back then and how Darrell Dickey got ran off. We should be leading an open revolt against this athletic department and the 17. I think it is clear that we aren't going to get a quality coach to come here with the power structure in place now. Just like the Dallas Cowboys under Jerry Jones as a meddling undermining GM for most of his tenure after Jimmy Johnson. Get a grip UNT Alumni and revolt and stop attacking the messenger.

It was a ridiculous question but we are discussing it only because we are at UNT. A big time university with small time athletic mentality. This question is very symbolic of that mentality That, is what Darell Dickey was complaining about. It seem that many boosters what a coach to coach like Saban and get paid like a first time college head coach jumping up from the high school ranks. UNT Alumni (speaking to myself also) there is something rotten here and it not all the unsold food leftover from the Thursday night game at Apogee. Well over 90% of current students and alumni don't give a crap about the athletic department. If only 10% (25k) of North Texas Alumni living DFW and surrounding areas came games and 15% (6k) of current students came to games Apogee would be sold out every week. We debate about hiring an OC from a FCS program or hiring a big name coach that will leave as soon as he has 2 good seasons. WTF that doesn't sound like a university with the resources UNT has. TCU is a small private college and look at them. It is not just the money the alumni has because UNT alumni have just as much. Maybe not individual mega rich donors but collectively when you count 250k plus of us. So Dickey may have had a bad attitude but I don't blame him. Also Dickey lost his heir apparent QB in a tragic car accident also. But who cares about 4 straight conference championships? As long as students and alumni act like UNT is some kind of backwater school when it comes to athletics and expect them to hire Nick Saban for 500k year this program is going to be mediocre. You need to change the entire culture for UNT Sports. We started that process by getting the facilities now it time to get the personnel to match and that is NOT having RV as your AD or these FCS HCs, FBS Coordinators (that aren't at a powerhouse program like an Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida, LSU, Ohio State because I would take one of them in a heartbeat) as your new head coach. Keep Chico if you aren't serious and it is clear to me that they aren't and just want to be mediocre and win a CUSA west division every 10 years or so.

So for whoever disliked my earlier post check out what a Roadrunner said? If we at the 300 to 400k a year job I see hiring the guys he mentioned as lateral move. Keeping Canales (if the team responds to him and they win at least 2 games) pay him 500k a year and let Canales bring in a hot DC at 350k a year. No offense to anyone mentioned in this thread UNT can go big time but the apathy of the alumni is just too much for that to happen right now without offering a P5 Conference type contract to big name coach. Just think about this year if you were a recruit? UNT hires one these college coordinators or head coaches from the FCS level are you really going to select UNT and ignore being a laughing stock for most of your life? This year's recruits and next years recruits were in 1st grade and below in 2002 (the last time we won a bowl game before the HOD Bowl). Yes a coach should be able to overcome that and at least out recruit the rest of CUSA West division outside of UTSA maybe. But that has not happen and upstart UTSA (starting their program after our 2002 New Orleans bowl win) has lapped us. So forgive my skepticism or bringing anyone that doesn't break the UNT mold. I want a big time AD to bring in a big time coach and pay that coach at least 1 million dollars a year that scales up to incrementally towards 1.7 million dollars with every win over 6 in a season. In the currently college football championship format getting a program like UNT could get into a playoff 8 years from now. Marshall wasn't far from it a couple of season ago. I say aim for the moon and if you miss you will hit the stars. So after 8 years of strong season ticket support, I am on fence and on my way out. i only have 2 tickets in a great location and most game days I am not able to give that ticket away. I am sick of that.

UNT is at a real cross roads and none of the "getable" names are going to be able to do the job here. The apathy and disgust with this team is at an all time high. UNT needs throw a hail Mary and hire a coach with national credibility or connection to a successful run with the Dallas Cowboys. For all the positives at UNT the disgust, apathy and recent history of losing make it not that attractive place to play. You need a coach whose name will grab a recruits attention over come their reflex to ignore anything he has to say after telling the recruit he is the head coach at UNT. If we keep RV and don't keep Canales (Chico) as head coach with a very economical contract the program is walking backwards. Unless the new is a true genius and can put together back to back winning seasons with inferior talent this program in going no where. By hiring one these attractive "getable" coaches all program is going to do is be mediocre, they will lose more fans and be forced into firing the coach and shelling out another buyout. I don't know what the rules are but it would be very reveling to do some market research to what your average freshman DFW athlete thinks of UNT. A survey of top 5 reasons they wouldn't go to UNT. I think the results would be amazing and eye opening for alumni and maybe force the UNT community to make some hard decisions. We have to hire a coach with a name bigger that UNT in it's own right. We need the Spurriers, Holtzs, or some other nationally known coaching family to take over more that just the head coaching position. Maybe a NFL legend like Mike Singletary. But you have to sell one these coaches on the notion of creating a dynasty at UNT. You can't do that with an older retread like Dan was (and I loved Dan) but realistically with his health even if he was just a little more successful how long would he have been able to maintain it? Then they would have handed to program to one of his assistants like Canales. So fast forward to 2020. Chico is in his second year after Dan's retired after posting a .500 record and another minor bowl win. Under that scenario Apogee still has yet to sellout. Is that what we want? So unless RV is gone and they surprise me by hiring a coach that I don't have to explain to casual football fans who he is, I am out. I will wear my green my pop up at a game once in awhile but the days of season tickets and letting UNT blow smoke my ass are done. Look at our school compared to the other western division CUSA schools and it should make you mad that we don't dominate them. And I stress dominate. Why do you think SMU never wanted to schedule us or have us in their conference? Here is a hint; it isn't because they thought they would be easy cheap profitable conference games.

Lot's of excuses here and a poor question to ask your average fan to know all the coaches available now let alone when Mac was hired. If UNT was going to go "Big Dawg Paycheck" then it was stupid to make the financial commitment that they made to Dan when the team at the time responded to Mike Canales. But at North Texas is a chicken and egg circle of BS excuses. We can't hire a big name coach to win in recruiting because we don't have the money, and we don't have money cause alumni don't support it. So the original mistake of the BOR and President was not to hire a "BiG DAWG" AD. A big dawg AD with football name recognition and FBS head coaching experience knows or has connections that know the best young coaching talent in America. A savvy AD grabs Harbaugh before he goes to University of San Diego so we aren't competing with Stanford for his services when he wants to make a step up. But let get out of the past and talk about right now. You want to fix UNT Football and by extension athletics. It is a long shot I know but bare with me. The powers that be need to reach out through back channels to see if Steve Spurier would be interested in being the AD and hiring one his sons as head coach. A name that generates excitement is an absolute must here else the coach has to be an absolute genius to win with inferior talent for at least 2 years straight. The main problem at UNT is alumni and student apathy. That is the ugly truth.

With all that said my dream new head coach is Rod Marinelli. I know people want an offensive guy but I don't think that is a requirement. We need to be different at UNT. If we can bring back our reputation for playing dominate defense (something lacking in the entire state of Texas) we could really build something special. The nickname Mean Green was earned by our defense in the 1970s. If UNT could put together two winning seasons and get a bowl game win against a P5 conference school the program could turn the corner permanently. And with a Rod Marinelli or coach with similar stature it could happen here. UTSA has surpassed us mainly because they were serious from day one and hired Larry Coker. A coach the if his name was offered up here when Mac was hired would have been dismissed as out of our league. Just simply ask any fellow alumni you know the hypothetical question: If UNT issued a money back guarantee that they would hire Rod Marinelli as head coach would you donate $1,000? Well I think if we asked enough of them we could get 30k (of the 100,000+ local alumni) to buy into that. Guess what that $30 million. Not only could we hire the coach of our dreams, you basically can guarantee expansion of Apogee Stadium and renovate the Super Pit. But this only a dream until the UNT higher ups start talking this way.

Doesn't it bother you that people are leaving? Maybe everyone else isn't wrong about RV. I seriously don't even think you can protect him at this point. It has to be done in order for this university to prove to people who aren't close, personal friends with the AD that the university cares even a little about athletics. Just a smidge. -UNT90 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Anyone reading I want you to divert your energy to doing anything and everything you can to pressure UNT to fire RV. He has set the program back at least 5 years. Dan Mac was absolutely the wrong hire for the money they paid him. If we had hired a cheaper coach that had just a little more success recruiting UNT could be in the position now to hire a top notch coach with the name recognition to help in recruiting. At this point, to get UNT where it should be we need a NFL coordinator or highly coveted FBS P5 conference school assistant coach. But with this buyout (thanks to RV) UNT does not have the money for it. But if we had a good AD this is what could happen. 1. The AD reaches out to the UNT alumni community and states his intention to break the mold and go all in to change the course of the program. Breaking the mold in this case means hiring the coach no one thinks we can get. He puts forth a financial vision; we need to raise $10 million to hire the coaching staff that can recruit and coach us to the next level. This would require a public campaign before the coaches are brought in for official interviews. 2. Once the big name coach is hired the AD campaigns heavily for additional money based on the hire of a head coach that excites the fanbase. This could have happened with a good AD something we don't have.

I hope you are right. If they do that I am back in 100% and do even more on the academic side. UNT is not longer just a university it is the flagship university of a University System.

An earlier post beat me to the punch by mentioning is Dan's obvious cronyism in starting a fifth year senior that demonstrated zero ability to play to a level that would at least get the rest of the team to win a game against decent competition. Anyone outside this program knows that RV absolutely needs to go. He had done some positive things for the program but if you look at his body of work it is a net failure. There are too many resources here and alumni living in close proximity to Denton for the program to be so bad at this juncture. And those failures go way beyond just football. Not even the most delusional UNT fans demand that we get bowl victories every other year or that our other programs get in the NCAA playoffs every year but there is no excuse for not being competitive every year with chance for post season play hanging in the balance for the last portion of the regular season. I can't stress enough the size of the university, the wealth of athletic talent near campus, and the attractiveness of many of our academic programs. But all those things mean little when the university consistently makes decision that demonstrate they aren't demanding the same excellence from their athletic department as they are the other departments of the university. Keep RV around to select another coach would be another one of those poor decisions that scream "we are only interested in appeasing a certain group of supporter" and by extension distancing themselves from potential supporters who demand excellence.

I will have to think about the association meeting over night. Getting to Plano by 6:30 would require me take off work or leave 2 hours early at the least. What is the address I can send a physical letter too? I will definitely do that.

I have done my part; e-mailed the president of the university. The next question is if you are reading this is; have you done your part. So if you have e-mail the president of the school what is next? Well that depends. Are you currently a student or a member of the alumni association? If yes what is next? If you have a position on campus or member of a student organization make it known that (in the view of your organization) the athletic department has become an embarrassment and something has to change. What is next, well do you have money to contribute to taking out an add in the Denton Record Chronicle or Dallas Morning News? Maybe we can organize getting a fire the AD banner over the next home game after homecoming. Can we get money together to hand out leaflets about the statue of our university compared to Big 12 schools? What do you want done? I can lead or follow but I need to know what we are prepared to do to bring about change.

ouch

Dropping down would hurt this University and not just the athletic department. UNT struggles to get the respect as an academic program that it deserves now. And logical or not athletics has an effect on that perception. The university has committed infrastructure to the athletic department and it can't just drop down now. Before Apogee and the other facilities dropping down might have been an option in my mind but not now. The are too many resources to work here with to drop down. What we need a tier 1 coach and AD (if we are trying to be recognized as tier 1 school). And tier 1 status means you can hold your own in a weak conference like CUSA consistently. Mac had a decent resume and is a great speaker. (too bad it doesn't translate to recruiting). We need to dream big and find an AD with clout in this region.