StealthEagle84

I agree he is having some growing pains but there is no doubt he could be a star coach in the making. I have talked to several high school coaches who have spoken very highly of him. While we didn't throw up great numbers last season, keep in mind it was the first season with limited talent in a brand new system. But Harrell has been around the game long enough at all levels to truly understand the game. I have no doubt he will become a solid coach.

Good write up on Coach Harrell. I hope we can keep him as long as possible. But if / when he leaves Denton, its a good sign of success. http://247sports.com/Article/Graham-Harrell-is-living-his-coaching-dream-at-UNT-as-offensive--52871798

While I agree with the concerns regarding Fine's overall talent and ceiling level, you can't disregard the intangibles he brings to the table. He may not be the most talented (there's a reason we were the only D-1 school to offer him) but he is a leader who understands the game of football. From listening to him speak, he has an insanely square head on his shoulders and is focused one thing and one thing only, winning football games. There was a certain #11 that played quarterback here a few years back that wasn't the most talented either but possessed the right leadership skills for the position. Fine might not be the most talented but he is by far better than what we've had in many years.

Not good news out of Lafayette. "Louisiana-Lafayette has suspended 13 players for a violation of team rules. According to the school’s police department, that violation of team rules is because the players allegedly robbed a dorm room. Per a release from the department, the players allegedly took $2,400 worth of items from a person’s dorm room April 5. The players were identified via video surveillance, according to the Daily Advertiser. All are charged with conspiracy to commit felony theft and turned themselves in to the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center. The suspended players are tight end Matthew Barnes, defensive end Joe Dillon, defensive back Robert Hunt, offensive lineman Denarius Howard, defensive end Jarvis Jeffries, defensive end LaDarrius Kidd, linebacker Terik Miller, defensive back Damar’ren Mitchell, running back Trey Ragas, defensive back Simeon Thomas, defensive back Levarious Varnado, offensive lineman D’Aquin Withrow and running back Jordan Wright. Wright was the team’s fourth-leading rusher with 192 yards in 2016. Mitchell had 52 tackles while Dillon had 51 tackles and led the team with seven sacks. Thomas had 40 tackles and Howard had 32. The football team’s release said it wouldn’t discuss the incident out of respect “for the judicial process.” https://sports.yahoo.com/news/13-louisiana-lafayette-players-suspended-conspiracy-commit-theft-charges-151119903.html

Looks like he was committed to Arkansas St. and GMac brought him along. And according to 247Sports, he had an offer from Iowa State. I'll take it. http://247sports.com/Recruitment/Mark-Tikhonenko-98997/RecruitInterests

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/collegesports/2017/03/20/unt-coach-seth-littrell-transformed-moment-truth-bowl-eligible-mean-green-team

This strategy works for lower levels of football but works less and less as you move up the 'talent' ladder. In other words, the math works when your punter can only hang one 25-30 yards from scrimmage or your kicker can only boot one downfield 40 yards. Furthermore, as players get bigger and faster (older), they can cover more ground at a faster and faster rate. So yes, this works when your kicker has a small leg and your cover guys can't get downfield quickly. But at higher levels, this works less and less as kickers progressively get stronger legs and players can cover downfield at a faster rate. As the kicking game gets more specialized, teams can flip the field more easily, making this model obsolete.

I just saw that several scouts have Trubisky as the #1 QB on the board for the NFL draft. I was curious if Littrell was the one who recruited him to UNC? Either way, it is encouraging that Littrell tutored such a highly rated quarterback.

I have to tip my hat this man. He had every reason in the world to check out once he lost the starting job in week 2. He was the anointed starter the moment he said he was coming to Denton and naturally didn't look sharp in his first game in nearly 4 years. He knows he won't be playing football ever again after this season. It would have been easy for him to put his dauber in the dirt and not give a damn. There a lot of other kids out there that would have done just that, quit. But Alec stuck with it, stayed in tune, and led us to one of our biggest victories in many years. When we needed him most, after squandering the lead and going down 23-20, he looked sharp and decisive, leading us on the go ahead drive. Given his situation, it shows a lot of character to stick it through. Now I hope he can do it two more times this season (UTEP + bowl game).

"Are you saying Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?"

UNT - 31 USM - 27 We'll generate a few scores off of turnovers and make one or two big stops inside the red zone (i.e. Army game). At the end of the day, our defense will have to find a way to win the game.

Dallas News article. http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/smumustangs/2016/10/26/smu-unt-pull-pair-college-footballs-biggest-upsets-common-denominator

I feel like we're on the right side of ledger in regards to being in the best division, at least historically. I know Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky have been solid the last several years but outside of Marshall, there isn't a whole lot of history in the East. Southern Miss, LaTech, and Rice (going further back) have had successful programs for extended periods of time with UTEP and UAB having a few solid stretches here and there. We are set up better than ever before in terms of bringing regional rivals and teams with good name recognition to Denton year in and year out.

Looks like its going to be cold and windy Saturday. High of 54 degrees with winds of 20-30 mph (according to The Weather Channel). I'm afraid the elements will not be in our favor. I don't care what you say, going into that when you've practiced in weather right 90 degrees all week will be tough. No excuses though. Go Mean Green!

Vegas has us down at -17, the same as the Middle Tennessee game. My biggest concern is their defense, which ranks second in the nation in rushing yards per game and this is against similar competition to us. We have to establish the run or else we become one dimensional and we saw how that looked vs. MTSU.

So Golic lost a bet and he paid up this morning by having to eat some Hell Burgers from Roosters Roadhouse. Good to see Denton getting some national pub. I've never eaten there before but it looks like I may to try it out this weekend when I'm up for the game.

I read this article and couldn't help but think about our program. For too long, we had this same mentality, this same kind of stigma. To quote Coach Koetter: "I feel like sometimes we find too many ways to lose a game instead of creating ways to win a game," Koetter said, emphasizing that the change starts at the top with him. "Until we change that, we’re going to have nights like [Sunday]. We’re just missing something, I feel like -- and as my title suggests, it’s my job to speak up...... The best teams that I’ve been on beat with one heart and they count on the guy next to them to do their job every time and they win and lose together," Koetter said. "And maybe our fans have cheered for a team like that at one point; hopefully all of our players have played on a team [like that]. I know when I’ve been on teams like that, you can feel it and, man, you want to grab it and hold onto its tail because it’s elusive." For too long, this was us, coming up with excuses and finding ways not win football games. I can confidently say that we have that one man that is convicted to win. This was evident from our win this past Saturday. I couldn't help think, "here we go again" when we gave up the tying touchdown and two point conversion. Hell, I was even gut-wrenchingly nervous when we scored our first TD in overtime, worried that we'd miss the tying extra point to lose the game because well, that's we do. Or should I say, that's what we did. But Coach Littrell has brought of sense of competitiveness, drive, and determination to win that has been missing for far too long. He knows no other way than to go balls to the wall and win. He bet his entire coaching career on this job. If isn't successful here, he most likely will never get a chance to be an FBS head coach again. But I am confident to say he will turn this program around. Not only because he is determined to win but because he has made these players believe that they can. http://www.espn.com/blog/tampa-bay-buccaneers/post/_/id/14384/dirk-koetter-bucs-finding-too-many-ways-to-lose-a-game

It's nice to hear him say #NewDenton. To me, it confirms that the kids have really bought into to this coaching staff and into ushering in a new era of football at UNT. This kid has a good head on his shoulders. He's hungry, wants to compete, and wants to win football games. I have no doubt we will get a lot out of this kid.

You can slice it and dice it however you want, all day long, but at the end of the day turnovers are what did us in Saturday. That and giving up a freakin' touchdown on 3rd down and forever. Make note that we scored a TD on the next possession. Had we held them there and went on to score like we did, it would have been 17-14 at halftime with the momentum in our corner. That makes for a completely different story in the second half. And maybe we can blame Morris' turnovers on the fact that he hasn't played a real game in roughly four years. Who knows? Only time will tell. But now to my point........ Coming into this season, we all knew this year was setting up to be another rough go. While there were some positives from Saturday's game, it's obvious we have a lot work on. With that said, now we know where we're at. We have our starting block on which we stand. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not worried so much about where we're at right now but more so on the trajectory from here on out. I will base the success of this season on how we play the next chunk of games and especially how we play the final three or four games. I want to see us get better from one week to the next. So now we know where we stand and we can sit back and watch how we improve from here.

It has been a painfully long 327 days since we suffered what could be the most embarrassing loss in program history vs. Portland St. last year. Through the storm of this offseason, we have replaced both our head coach and the athletic director. My question is, do the new hires and the changes we've made bring a different sense of confidence in the direction of our program than previous hires, i.e. Dickey, Dodge, and McCarney(man)? As the season is about to begin, it's always easy to be optimistic, but will it be different this time? Did we finally get it right? And most importantly, will this hire finally bring about the success on the field that we've thirsted for for the past decade?

What I see is a disciplined football player that not only knows his assignment but executes it. He's not always looking to make the play (i.e. make the tackle) but knows his what his role is on the play and makes it happen so someone else can make the play.

Bet the over all day and again tomorrow. We gave up over 500 ypg last year and over 41 pts per game while SMU gave up the same amount of yards and nearly 46 pts per game. With our new uptempo offense and lack of quality depth on defense, I see a lot of points on the board. I think we'll have to score at least 5 touchdowns to have a shot at winning.

Meanwhile,the Sun Belt has the following games available on ESPN3 for week one. Its very concerning if the Sun Belt has better TV exposure than CUSA. Montana St. @ Idaho Ball St. @ Georgia St. Boise St. @ La-La Savannah St. @ Georgia Southern Austin Peay @ Troy Southern @ La-Monroe

Here is C-USA Week 1 line up. Most games not being televised are C-USA teams vs. FCS schools. But of course our game is one not being televised.

Is "Mean Green Stadium" the preferred nomenclature? If I paid $20M, I would want my name plastered everywhere, not just on the side of the stadium. "Across this line, you do not......"