Side.Show.Joe

Now that the season is officially over, I will state my opinion about Caponi's defense......

We averaged over 190 yards rushing per game, and a conference leading 5.1 yards per carry. And we threw for over 300 yards per game... best in the AAC. Sure, Rogers & backs did some of that with pure athleticism, but we have to give the O-Line credit too. My biggest knock on the O-Line is the number of sacks they gave up this season.

His offense is amazing. And, his ability to find outstanding QB's is unquestionable. But at the end of the day, we are staying home for bowl season. This team played for the conference title last season, and was picked to be a bowl team this year. In school you need a 70 to pass. I'd have given him a passing grade if we had just won 50% of our games. Defense matters. He still needs to learn that. The fact that he's content to bring Caponi back next season doesn't help his grade either. We are what our record says we are... a team that won about 42% of our games. I can't give him anything but an F for that.

In this assessment, I tried to be fair and base the results on the results, and numbers put up. I did include my personal takes too. I have some strong feeling about some of this stuff. OFFENSE QB's: A Would have been an A+ had Rogers started from day one. Rogers is among the best QB's in the entire AAC, and the numbers prove. Rogers led the conference in touchdowns thrown, and was a 3,000 yard passer with only 5 INT's on the season. Those numbers are even better than the legendary Mason Fine. Let that sink in. The only knock on Rogers is that he did fumble some balls, but some of those were on the protection. Hard to blame a guy when the bind side pressure gets to him early. Tulane and Memphis don't have better QB's, but the AAC will probably still place them above Rogers in the All-Conference Teams. RB's: A Once again Cobbs' crew delivers. Even though injuries knocked out Ragsdale and Johnson for the season, Adeyi and Adaway keep the Mean Green rushing attach as the second best in the AAC, only behind Navy, which rarely ever passes. Just incredible production from those two. They were with best 1-2 backfield punch in the AAC. Adeyi led the AAC in yards per carry and finished as 1,000 yard back. Despite multiple season of injuries, Adaway finished the season 4th in the AAC with around 6 yards per carry. Would have been an A+ except for Adeyi's habit of missing key blocks at important times this season which led to turnovers. But aside from that, the unit was outstanding. Adeyi should be a 1st team All-Conference selection. WR's & TE's: A+ UNT finished 2nd in the AAC in passing yards per game, because any of these guys could step up and make plays. Maclin was special posting a 1000 yard season, while leading all WR's in Touchdowns. He was also among the conference leaders in yards per game. Maclin should make the 1st team All-Conference Team. Burns and Ward were also big contributors this season and clutch when the ball was thrown their way. As a receiving corp, the unit dropped very few passes and made several tough catches at key moments in games. Landon Side grew up over the course of the season and was a major contributor by the end of the year (Going to brag a little here and remind everyone that I picked this kid to be special back before the season even started). Sides is a lock to be on the All-Freshman team.... Maybe Freshman All-American Team too. O-Line: B- Like other units, injuries took their toll on the line. But, the O-Line was still productive, Allowing UNT to feature a very successful rushing attack. Overall, their run blocking was very solid. UNT also threw the ball well, so the line did a fair job in pass protection. But, despite our deadly passing attack, the O-Line did allow over 30 sack on our QB's, which is among the worst in the AAC. Offensive Coaching: A+ Insane offensive success for a first year staff. This offensive coaching staff produced a 3,000 yard QB, a 1,000 yard rusher, and a 1,000 yard receiver. This was not a rebuilding year for UNT. The Mean Green finished the season among the Top 10 offenses in the entire FBS. Those are a lot of offensive first for UNT. It would have been nice to score more points compared to the yards we rolled up. That's not a knock, just a goal for next season. DEFENSE DL's & LB's: F UNT's front 6ish were statistically the worst in the entire FBS in multiple categories, and dead last in most AAC categories. In addition to our world-renowned inability to stop the run, our defensive front only recorded 17 sacks on the season. For comparison, SMU & UTSA both finished their seasons with around 40 sacks each. Before the season began, I questioned the DL hire. I'm sticking with my initial concerns. Secondary: B- UNT featured a respectable secondary, which finished 4th in the AAC in yards allowed. UNT's secondary also finished 3rd in INT's, which is impressive considering many teams spent most of their time running on our defensive front. My biggest knock on our secondary was that they were prone to give up big plays down field late in games when we needed stops. Defensive Coaching: F This year wasn't a rebuild, despite what some around here want to push now that we failed to post a winning record. Our DC just didn't put the work in a build us a real defense. He failed to access the talent and fill gaps through the portal, and he failed to teach of defensive players the basic fundamentals of playing defense. Even in our 12th game, we still had major problems with basic tackling. Just sad. There really is nothing more to say, other than he shouldn't be allowed back next season. Special Teams: B+ Rauschenberg's strong leg was great on kickoffs and a weapon on field goals, hitting on over 81% of attempts. Sawyer averaged over 42 yards per punt. Horton was among the conference leaders in kick returns and hit on some long returns. Punt returns could have been better, but that about it. Head Coach Morris: F Such a hard grade to assign. The offense was unbelievable, but the defense negated all of their hard work. In the end this was a team that could and should have been a winner. It should have earned a bowl appearance. And it should have contended for the AAC title. But, our defense held us back... all season long. Ultimately, Morris didn't place the same level of importance on the defense that he did the offense, and it showed on the field and on the scoreboard. 5-7 is sub .500, and doesn't equal a passing grade. The fact that Morris publicly stated in his last press conference that he still believed in Caponi's leadership on defense also raises serious concerns about our prospects for next season. Right now I see too much Littrell in Morris (all offense and no clue about how or why we need a defense). That's my take on this season.

Thanks for posting this information. I have combed through the data, and it appears Caponi is actually the highest paid assistant among the entire Group of 5. In my opinion, that only makes our defensive performance this season that much more depressing. In light of this information and the production we have all witnessed this season.... Do you still think Caponi deserves to be at UNT for another season?

In the past 20 years UNT has caught up to Boise in every possible category (athletic budget, salaries, conference affiliation,...), except expectations. This is why Boise never suffers real down periods. Anytime they sense their program is on the verge of falling off, they do what is necessary and go get a better coach. Boise understands that the cost of losing is far greater than what it cost to ensure winning. I'm on the fence with Morris, I'm not quite ready to get rid of Morris. I think he has a really good offensive mind, and I want him to be a success. But, if he can't do what is best for UNT and get us a winning defense, then Morris is probably no better than any of the other Air Raid head coaches, that can't field real defenses. No head coach should retain a DC whose defense ranks dead last in the FBS. If Caponi stays, I will have serious doubts about Morris' ability to be a head coach at this level. Right now, Morris reminds me too much of Littrell, and that is a major red flag.

Caponi is what he is. Though 10 games this season, Caponi's defense has allowed a 100-yard rusher in every game (last night against SMU we allowed 2). I'm dumbfounded that some people around here are actually serious about wanting him back next season. We have the worst defense in the FBS, and that's good enough for some of our fans. Unbelievable.

3 straight sacks??????????? Can we not try a roll out?

Lots of fight in our guys tonight and it's showing on the scoreboard. Seems like quite a few names out there on defense that weren't seeing the field early in the year. If we can keep playing well on both sides of the ball. we certainly have a shot to win this.

I don't have high hopes for tonight, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

Last night I watched Kehres' Toledo defense hold EMU to 255 yards of total offense, and I was green with envy.

Be careful posting true facts around here. Some people don't want reality interfering with our program.

His defenses were good enough to post winning records in every season he has been their DC. I haven't looked up their rankings for every season. But, whatever they were ranked, It was never dead last in the FBS.

I apologize. There is so much irrational defense of our failures, I'm having trouble identifying those that actually believe the BS they are typing.

No. The entire idea of being content to be an "on the job learning university" is why we continue to fail. Caponi needs to go.

Looks can be very deceiving.... Caponi's UNT defense #133 Kehres' Toledo defense #32 Apparently, Kehres actually knows how to run the 3-3-5, and Caponi doesn't. The numbers don't lie.

1. The same people that want to give Caponi more time, are the same people that didn't want to fire Littrell during the season. Keeping Littrell until the end of the season put UNT behind the eight ball in early signing period recruiting. I see no reason to continue that flawed logic. 2.. Caponi had the opportunity to raid the portal and get the players needed. Either he chose to ride with what he had, or Morris wouldn't let him get players. Either way, someone screwed up, and we don't need that kind of incompetence on the staff. He's the DC the failure falls at his feet. If I come across as unyielding, it's because I'm tired of underperformance. A lot of our fan base is sick of excuses. Personally, I'm tired of the "We're working to fix it.... We got to get a week better.... We're improving.... We in a rebuild.... excuses". At this point, I have lost all faith in Caponi's ability to lead our defense. Nothing you can write in a few paragraphs will change the fact that we have the worst defense in the entire FBS. That is a total embarrassment that no UNT fan should be expected to overlook or excuse. Our team deserves a coach that can evaluate our defensive roster and go get the players we need. Not someone that needs a few seasons to hopefully get his guys. The portal has changed everything. And, what we should tolerate and demand at UNT needs to change too. Fire Caponi.

I disagree. Skladany had a very good defense, and we won the HOD with that strong defense. Air Raid coaches, which Morris is, have along track records of failing to field respectable defenses. Leach never won a conference title. His coaching tree is flawed when it comes to defense. Those are just the facts. If you can show me an Air Raid coach that is good at defense, I'll be shocked. Less than an hour ago, Lincoln Riley (Leach Air Raid coach) fired his DC. It is what it is.

This comment stuck out to me. It tells me Morris no longer trusts Caponi can figure it out and run the defense. What I don't know, is if Morris has the stones to fire Caponi with just 3 games left in the season. If Morris wants to win back the fan base that is not showing up to games, he needs to do what is best for the program and get rid of Caponi.

USC fired their Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch, even though there are only a few weeks left in the season. This is what real programs do when a coach is a total failure. Wake up Morris. USC Football Officially Fires DC Alex Grinch, Per Head Coach Lincoln Riley - Sports Illustrated USC Trojans News, Analysis and More

Morris has no clue how to fix our team (defense). It's very similar to Littrell. Scary.

I wouldn't say we're with the big boys, but we are with a better collection of programs. The AAC has the inside track on access to the new 12 team playoff. As a fan base, we need to be united in demanding higher standards and not accept piss poor results. Beginning next season, we actually have a shot to make the FBS Playoffs (wow, I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth), if our leadership gets serious and forces the changes necessary for us to have a real chance to win the AAC. Everyone being honest with themselves knows this defense gives us no chance, and Caponi isn't the answer.

Ha! I got down-voted for posting actual facts. Not that I care, but it says a lot about how much some in our fan base need to open their eyes to reality and embrace higher expectations for our program. It amazes me that someone got riled up just because I posted actual facts.

Based on our performance over the last 3 weeks, I say we finish with one less score than SMU. 😥

Every rational person can see that Caponi isn't the answer. If Morris fires Caponi after the UAB game, who should we get? My pick...... Vince Kehres, the DC at 9-1 Toledo. No Texas ties that I can find, but the dude knows defense and wins wherever he goes. I don't care about Texas ties. I care about good defense that allows us to win games. Being at Toledo, he should be affordable. Vince Kehres’ Coaching Experience 2020-23 Toledo – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers (28-14) 2013-19 Mount Union – Head Coach (95-6) 2005-12 Mount Union – Defensive Coordinator 2004 Mount Union - Offensive Line 2000-03 Mount Union - Defensive Line We need a guy like this. https://utrockets.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/vince-kehres/1125