UNT86

I tried to work with the guy to recruit some players. He was a complete jerk. He may be a good coach, but I'm still glad he is somewhere else.

I called the ticket office today and they said it was April 23rd. It's not like this information is hard to find. And, really, do you need over 4 months notice for a glorified practice? It's the Spring Game. Those usually rate a great big "So What"

My biggest problem the last two years was the change from a zone blocking scheme and away from the power blocking that won us the bowl game. Other than that, I agree that our WR play was not good. I've agreed that our QB's were not good, but the biggest part of the problem was that we were missing a game breaker to throw to. Often, when we would take a sack, you could look and see that we didn't have ANYBODY open. And, we don't make people miss very often either. I remember Mac stating before the bowl season that our QB's had to play better but that our WR's had to start making plays. They did and a bowl championship was the result. That part won't change with a new QB. Somebody has to be reliable on the other end.

Coach Mac did something that has only been done 3 time in our entire history. That alone makes him a good hire no matter who recruited the players on that team. I don't know what happened this year, but it didn't have anything to do with lack of effort from him or his staff. I wish him luck, unless he is on the schedule.

You know, the last line of the article had nothing to do with what Vito was reporting. I'm getting a little tired of him doing that. The article was on the staff being assembled. I appreciate his coverage, but really, what did that have to do with the rest of the article? Stick to the topic.

Great, but this is missing a little information. Has he graduated? If so, he can play right away.

I'm certainly not a "band" guy. My dad told me that the score never changes while the band is on the field, so get 'em off the field (exception noted for Cal/Stanford). That being said, our band IS a football band. They don't leave just because they get a little cold or wet. But, I would like to see something like other places do where the band makes a grand entrance and it is a bigger part of the game day experience.

One we have stopped doing is when the band would play "It's All Right Now" when the game was over just like Dandy Don would do on Monday Night Football. I miss that.

Beating Houston 28-0 at Texas Stadium in '75 (they won the SWC the next year) Beating Tennessee in '75 (I told my dad we would beat them before the season started, but I was just a kid and didn't really know how big an upset I was calling) Losing to Florida State in the snow in '76 and the three guys from the band that stayed and played at halftime. Beating SMU in '77 at Texas Stadium. Watching the highlight show in '77 when we beat Southern Miss on the road and seeing their Golden Eagle mascot do a face plant after we scored to take the lead. Meeting the team at the airport in '77 after we beat Memphis State 20-19. Also beating the crap out of La Tech the same year, then not getting a bowl invitation because of it. The opening game of '78 when we hammered UTEP while we were wearing apple green and they were in road cone orange. Sitting in the parking lot of the grocery store and hearing on the radio that Coach Fry was leaving. Beating UTA to open their new stadium My first game as a student and traveling to Baylor (also Coach Nelson's first game for us) Leading Texas in '83 at the half 6-2 (we lost 26-6) Going to Texas Tech in '85 because it was my grandfathers last game to see as a Red Raider alumni Beating TCU in '86 and wishing I HAD gone to the game. The fight with SMU in '90 and beating their butts in Denton. Traveling to Nichols in '94 to watch us win the Southland after traveling to SFA and watching us tie the week before. Beating Oregon State in '95 TCU coming to Denton in '01 Playing Texas Tech at Texas Stadium after 9/11 Beating Middle Tennessee in '01 after losing to Monroe the week before. NO Bowl #1, #2, #3, and #4 Beating SMU again in '06 Scoring 62 against Navy and still getting beat by 12 Opening a new stadium (which I thought would NEVER happen) Being at Georgia and watching us tie the game in the second half. Crushing Tulsa to seal the trip to the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Crushing UNLV to win the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Crushing SMU so badly that their coach quit after the game I could probably remember more, but this is a pretty good start.

All true. It seems to me that the Tech QB's were talented, but also very good at getting pre-snap reads and knowing where the ball should go. It was hard to get to the QB because the linemen pass set so deep and the ball was out of the QB's hand because he wasn't taking second and third looks. It takes some football smarts to do that and I wonder if Smith has the tools to make this offense work. Another thing about this offense is how vertical the passing game is. Teams that get their safeties deep and make this offense check down have more success stopping it. We need backs that can catch and receivers that can make people miss. Time will tell whether we have either of these. However, I'm most worried about our LB's. Of all the problems I would solve on this team, I see them as the most crucial to our success.

I would rather see us do that and hold back offers if they can't play at CUSA level. We will just end up going after JUCOs to fill the gaps anyway. Why fill up if all they are destined to become is scout team players? I think that is what we are seeing now. McCarney's first class turned out to be pretty short on talent (understandable coming off the Dodge years). I hope we only offer if they can really help and not just to fill out 25 slots. Hold back a couple. See who falls out at Oklahoma and A&M at the last minute. Fill the rest after the season.

Either way, it is a good situation for each of them. They get to add coordinator to the resume at roughly the same salary. If they win, the next step is P5 coordinator. If not, they will always be able to go back to P5 position coach. My hope is that they win big here and in 4-5 years we are looking to replace them.

I found that being from Texas didn't matter that much for Texas high school coaches. They pretty much welcomed anyone they thought would be interested in their players. Relationships between college recruiters and high school coaches come very, very easily. Many of them recruit the same areas even when they change schools (we had a guy that recruited for the Longhorns one day and then came in a few days later with a Colorado Buffalos shirt). I also found that high school coaches have little influence on where a kid goes. The students already have a short list of who they like and mostly make up their minds without input from the coaches they played for.. After a kid took a visit, I usually asked 1) Did you like the coaches? 2) Did you like the school? 3) Did you think you will get a good education there? If the answer was yes to all 3 questions, then tell them you accept and don't look back.

Answer: that was the last time. Coach Mitchell, after two losing seasons, then put together another 5 winning seasons in a row. Best since then are Hayden Fry with 4, Rod Rust with 3, Corky Nelson with 3, and Daryl Dickey with 3. Also don't want to leave out the 8 in a row that Coach Sisco had before WWII.

Twice put in charge of bad situations. Twice got the team to rally and play hard with nothing to play for. I thank him for his time here and wish him nothing but the best (unless he is playing us).

I went to Birmingham last year. I was over him when he was removed from the game, put a towel over his head, and pouted on the bench. He made zero effort to be part of the team after he was replaced. He had a lot of growing up to do and, just like Jim Jim, came across as selfish. He would not have made any difference this year.

I don't think our current situation is nearly as bad as it has been at other times in the past. For one, I can remember how disappointing it was coming off seasons of 10-1 and 9-2 in 1979. Our coach left and the best we could hire was the freshman coach at Nebraska? He promptly took the best talent we have ever had and went 11-11 over the next two seasons. I was glad when he left. Maybe I shouldn't have been. We hired Bob Tyler and wen 2-9 (sadly, it made 11-11 look a lot better). So, I think we were much worse off then. I think we were worse off in 1984 when we had one of the best I-AA teams in the nation. But, our AD wanted a free trip to Nevada and turned in a low estimation of attendance so that Nevada-Reno got the home game instead of us. We lost 17-20 in the snow. I think we were worse off in 1985 when during a game in Lubbock, one of our players attacked a coach on the sideline during the game. I think we were worse off in 1991 when we hired our first high school coach. We went 12-20-1 over the next three years. I think we were worse off when we were in the Big West conference. Nobody cared when Utah State or Idaho or came to town. Were the Dodge teams bad? Of course they were. But, all things considered, we are in a much better position than we have been at other times. I want to win too, but the sky isn't falling. It's just a few guys that have a limited perspective making a lot of noise.

I don't agree that McCarney was a bad hire. He did some very good things here. He did not accept that playing Alabama close was acceptable. He said that if we are beating SFA for a recruit, it doesn't really matter if we get him. We need to start beating Colorado State and Iowa State for recruits, and a few times we have. I think he raised the expectations that got him fired. RV has done some incredible things for NT. I NEVER thought we would have a new stadium. Our facilities are better than they ever have been. Our conference is better since we are out of the Sun Belt. We have 5 bowl games under his leadership (with 2 wins). Yes, I know he didn't hire Dickey, but if you want to say Dickey had a losing record and blame that on RV, you have to give him credit for the bowls too. That being said, I'm ready for us to stop the 1 step forward 3 steps back. I think this thing is a lot closer than many think. But I also agree that this hire cannot miss. I wish some here wouldn't be so negative, but at the same time I'm thankful for an end to the apathy.

Vito is right and wrong. Our MLB has been one of the biggest problems we fought all year. Wallace may be a great kid and a leader, but he cannot play at this level. He is almost always a step behind. Same with Smith and Whitfield. Smith drops in the most critical situations and Whitfield was benched before (see Ball State 2013). He is a senior and a role player. I'm glad he came back, but he will not be missed for his play. And I won't miss the Jimmy show either. Canales is doing exactly what he did last time he took over a dismal situation. He gets the kids to play hard. He has things in the game plan each week that are new. He has a good sense of timing on when to pull them out of the bag. But, I'm afraid he will be connected with all the struggles and not given a real chance to stay here. And, after the display on the sidelines last week between one of our coaches and players that cost us a timeout, I'm okay if he goes. He has done everything he can every time he has been given a chance and will make a good head coach someday... but somewhere else. And I don't agree with those that think this will be a long, slow rebuild. This team is closer than many think.

I would agree with you, but then we would both be wrong. It was $1 million.

"We paid them (Portland St) 400k+ ... and yes, it is outrageous RV can't get an SEC team to pay us 1+ million...one of the MANY reason he needs to leave UNT." Answer: Georgia paid us 1 million two years ago.

So, he just quit as far as I'm concerned. I hope they tell him to hit the road and have a nice life. Character issues abound with this guy. Maybe he can get a job at Walmart?

This is completely in poor taste. You can rant all you want, but this crosses the line. Please don't.

The facemask color depended on the year. The one I have is grey, but they were also white. They wore grey from 73-78 and white from 79-82.