A look at 6 potential candidates for UNT's vacancy

[10Eagle10]

Kendal Briles

-- Would run wide-open offense, Big 12 Recruiter of Year in 2013-14

Doug Meacham

-- Veteran coordinator, Texas native helps guide powerful TCU offense

Mario Cristobal

-- Turned around a terrible Florida Int'l team, has won at a mid-major

Major Applewhite

-- A celebrity across Texas who has worked at Rice, Texas, Houston

Jake Spavital

-- Worked at Oklahoma State, Houston, coached Johnny Manziel

Brad Smiley

-- 2014 Nat'l Junior College Coach of Year has Texas ties, is Baylor grad

read more:  http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20151011-a-look-at-6-potential-candidates-for-unt-s-vacancy-lone-star-state-coordinators-aplenty.ece

 

I like Cumbie, but someone made a good point. Apparently TCU people don't think too fondly of RV, and he didn't help his reputation after the handling of the Mccarney firing. I don't know that the TCU guys wouldn't take the job here, but that is a factor to consider and it probably doesn't help.

Im still pushing for my boy Smiley. I can't guarantee he'd make the big jump successfully (none of these guys are even close to sure things), but I know recruiting would be incredibly fun to follow and he'd get some really good players in here. He'd also make sure our special teams are good, and we'd put up points. 

Since Smiley is a Baylor grad, I am now on board the Smiley train - #TeamSmiley. I wrote a post last year scratching at the surface of North Texas' coaching history; I came to the conclusion that our next hire needs to be either a North Texas or Baylor alum. You can read that post here. 

For those who are afraid to click the word "here": http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/topic/101171-coaching-history/#comment-879088

#TeamSmiley #BradforUNT

[meangreente]

#TeamSmiley #BradforUNT

[cozyone]

Chris Thomsen; former head coach at Abilene Christian and current OL coach at Arizona State.  His record there was 51-21 in 7 years and 6 trips to the playoffs.  Plenty of Texas ties...HC experience...D1 assistant.  

[BillySee58]

 

 

Since Smiley is a Baylor grad, I am now on board the Smiley train - #TeamSmiley. I wrote a post last year scratching at the surface of North Texas' coaching history; I came to the conclusion that our next hire needs to be either a North Texas or Baylor alum. You can read that post here. 

For those who are afraid to click the word "here": http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/topic/101171-coaching-history/#comment-879088

#TeamSmiley #BradforUNT

I can't give any real reason outside coincidence as to why that was, but I also like that Smiley is from Louisiana. He's from Natchitoches and got his Masters at Northwestern State in Louisiana. In between Baylor, TVCC, and Louisiana there lies our biggest recruiting advantage in East Texas. Hopefully the next coach recruits locally well, which I think Smiley will, but East Texas is huge. So many good players, but very spread out. Most out of state coaches will fly to DFW, get a rental car, and drive all across DFW. Why drive an extra 2 hours out East to visit 4 kids when 2 hours driving in DFW you visit that many kid per school in DFW? That's a major reason those kids have less offers, which is to our advantage. 

[UNTcrazy727]

 

[RBP79]

The last HC NT had that went on to bigger and better things was Hayden Fry if my memory is correct. Fired from SMU, comes to NT wanting a little pay back. He's main purpose was to get into SWC and kick everyone's butt...SMU mainly I guess. Those were good days to know that you had a shot at beating anybody....ie Tennessee fell victim..Problem was small private schools south of Denton, there were three, that put the "not no but Hell No" on Hayden's Plan for glory in the SWC. So instead of fighting a losing battle he pops smoke heads north and the rest is history. So how does this relate to the problem at hand........1. different AD, one who saw opportunity and acted on it, 2. HC Hayden Fry could recruit in Texas or any where .........goes right back to what everyone has been saying since around 5:00pm Saturday afternoon......NEW AD and NEW HC who knows how to recruit.   

[BillySee58]

#TeamSmiley #BradforUNT

I was looking at Smiley's resume, and I noticed some interesting things. For one, he's been in charge of recruiting DFW since the late 90's. Second, very interesting professional reference list. That list includes Scott Conley, UNT director of football operations.

http://www2.tvcc.edu/SACS/files/Documents/Standard/CS 3.2.8/CS 3.2.8 (81) Brad Smiley Resume.pdf

 

[eoj221]

I don't get the Briles thing at all. He's not even 33 years old yet! He's only been a coordinator since last December, and he's only worked for his dad. We have no idea if he can run an entire program. Seems way too risky. 

Thank you! Ask South Florida how hiring a guy because his dad was a good coach worked out for them. 

Edited October 17, 2015 by eoj221

[Harry]

Thank you! Ask South Florida how hiring a guy because his dad was a good coach worked out for them. They went from 

Willie Taggert scares the mess out of me.  He was a great recruiter at WKU.  Seemed like a young rising star.  Has been a complete bust at USF?? How is that?  He's in Florida for goodness sakes.  It shows you that no brainer hires sometimes don't work out.

[oldguystudent]

Derrick Thompson.  He seems to be the coach who actually won the bowl game in 2013.

 

[eoj221]

Willie Taggert scares the mess out of me.  He was a great recruiter at WKU.  Seemed like a young rising star.  Has been a complete bust at USF?? How is that?  He's in Florida for goodness sakes.  It shows you that no brainer hires sometimes don't work out.

I was referring to Skip Holtz......

[mgfan]

I like the idea of going after Briles/ Cumbie as HC and Smiley as OC/ Recruiter. That would be great at UNT. 2 great coaches that are names  that can bring in recruits, even it is only for a year. "He's been in charge of recruiting DFW since the late 90's." Talk about a guy with HS tie-ins.

Cumbie or Briles is that name coach that can take this offense and UNT to the next level.

A combo like that would be an amazing get for UNT and should be seriously considered. 

Edited October 17, 2015 by mgfan

[SigmaGreen]

I agree with mgfan!! This could be a young interesting dynamic

[oldguystudent]

Some serious thought (or at least the random mental ramblings of a middle aged man).  Let's consider Todd Dodge.  He didn't win at Cameron Yoe.  He didn't win at Carrollton Newman Smith.  He didn't win at Keller Fossil Ridge.  He didn't even win at Marble Falls.  He won at two places -- Southlake, and now Austin Westlake.  Both of these are high schools with damn near unlimited resources who win year after year really, regardless of who's on the sidelines with the big coaching headphones.

I've started considering people who come from big time programs.  We have one right now in the athletic department.  He's in charge of growing the mean green club.  He comes from a large athletic program where everything was on automatic autopilot for decades.  He comes here, finds it isn't so, and mean green club membership drops 25%, he tries to fix the problem by guilting the remaining fan base into selling $25 stickers to their friends and families captioned with some aviary moniker that nobody has ever heard of.

Pattern -- people who come from unlimited resources to here can't do it.

We need somebody who has shown that they can do more with less.  That they understand budget limitations, perception problems, decades of futility.  Who understand that to succeed here, they've got to grind it out, they've got to get their fat ass into their contractually provided car, and drive to every freaking high school in a 300 hundred mile radius.  And they have to do it more than once.  They got to do it all...the...freaking...time.  Again and again and again.

We've got to get a coach who understands schemes that make 2 star players shine.  We're not Alabama.  We can't just line up the next generation of NFL players, wind them up, and let them go.  We've got to understand the limitations and liabilities of the players on our roster.  Exploit the former, protect the latter.

I think I'd be looking to FCS or the Sun Belt for my candidate, not the Big Ten, not the Big XII, and sure as f***ing s*It hell not the Florida Gators.

Who is that person?  I've no idea.  I'm not an athletic director, I'm not on any committees, and I have never stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

[MeanGreenHoops]

Some serious thought (or at least the random mental ramblings of a middle aged man).  Let's consider Todd Dodge.  He didn't win at Cameron Yoe.  He didn't win at Carrollton Newman Smith.  He didn't win at Keller Fossil Ridge.  He didn't even win at Marble Falls.  He won at two places -- Southlake, and now Austin Westlake.  Both of these are high schools with damn near unlimited resources who win year after year really, regardless of who's on the sidelines with the big coaching headphones.

I've started considering people who come from big time programs.  We have one right now in the athletic department.  He's in charge of growing the mean green club.  He comes from a large athletic program where everything was on automatic autopilot for decades.  He comes here, finds it isn't so, and mean green club membership drops 25%, he tries to fix the problem by guilting the remaining fan base into selling $25 stickers to their friends and families captioned with some aviary moniker that nobody has ever heard of.

Pattern -- people who come from unlimited resources to here can't do it.

We need somebody who has shown that they can do more with less.  That they understand budget limitations, perception problems, decades of futility.  Who understand that to succeed here, they've got to grind it out, they've got to get their fat ass into their contractually provided car, and drive to every freaking high school in a 300 hundred mile radius.  And they have to do it more than once.  They got to do it all...the...freaking...time.  Again and again and again.

We've got to get a coach who understands schemes that make 2 star players shine.  We're not Alabama.  We can't just line up the next generation of NFL players, wind them up, and let them go.  We've got to understand the limitations and liabilities of the players on our roster.  Exploit the former, protect the latter.

I think I'd be looking to FCS or the Sun Belt for my candidate, not the Big Ten, not the Big XII, and sure as f***ing s*It hell not the Florida Gators.

Who is that person?  I've no idea.  I'm not an athletic director, I'm not on any committees, and I have never stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

Bravo sir. One of the best posts I've ever read on this board. I've experienced the con man from Penn St. you referred too in this post and that was exactly my experience. He came by the first game last year at our tailgate. He talked about how he did things at Penn State and couldn't believe how no one here new who the big donors and tailgaters were in the lot.

So I asked for a small favor and have never talked to him since. Even though I am always in the exact same tailgate spot. I guess doing what he did at Penn State was easier there?

I think this is why @BillySee58 nomination of Brad Smiley or @Quoner or was it @TheTastyGreek nomination of a guy like Prunty at UCinn are interesting ideas. Those guys have had to succeed without having everything work in their favor.

I hope guys like @flyonthewall read this post and recognize these exact same things.

It's why I'm less enamored with Cumbie and Briles but of course that's without even knowing their personality. Maybe they are smart and hard workers but that's up to the committee to decide.

Last thing, your post reminded me of Jim Harbaugh. There was a guy, who at the time had been taking no name programs like San Diego and turning them into powerhouses. Once he got to Stanford then it was even easier.

Actually, I have hope that the 3rd time is the charm assuming this AD makes the hire. A young guy like Dodge who can excite the fan base and recruits, combined with a guy who succeeded somewhere where it's difficulty like McCarney, that combo is what we need.

[EagleMBA]

Pattern -- people who come from unlimited resources to here can't do it.

We need somebody who has shown that they can do more with less.  That they understand budget limitations, perception problems, decades of futility.  Who understand that to succeed here, they've got to grind it out, they've got to get their fat ass into their contractually provided car, and drive to every freaking high school in a 300 hundred mile radius.  And they have to do it more than once.  They got to do it all...the...freaking...time.  Again and again and again.

We've got to get a coach who understands schemes that make 2 star players shine.  We're not Alabama.  We can't just line up the next generation of NFL players, wind them up, and let them go.  We've got to understand the limitations and liabilities of the players on our roster.  Exploit the former, protect the latter. 

I think I'd be looking to FCS or the Sun Belt for my candidate, not the Big Ten, not the Big XII, and sure as f***ing s*It hell not the Florida Gators.

Who is that person?  I've no idea.  I'm not an athletic director, I'm not on any committees, and I have never stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

A real-time example illustrating your post is Bruce Barnum, the Head Coach at Portland State. I didn't know anything about them until a couple of weeks ago. There is a coach who does more with less than any coach I can remember. He doesn't care as much about the money and facilities as he does about football, his coaches and his players.

Barnum is probably an anomaly but his characteristics and performance are what I think are at the heart of your post.

[Cerebus]

How do you feel about the triple option?

[EagleMBA]

How do you feel about the triple option?

People think its "old school" and not sexy like spread offenses. I just point to the scoreboard and say that I don't care what caused those digits to be displayed. Actually, I get a thrill out of seeing a well-executed triple option offense (is that somehow perverse?) in action. Given our current personnel, I have thought the triple option fit our talent pretty well.

JMHO.

Edited October 18, 2015 by EagleMBA

[BillySee58]

People think its "old school" and not sexy like spread offenses. I just point to the scoreboard and say that I don't care what caused those digits to be displayed. Actually, I get a thrill out of seeing a well-executed triple option offense (is that somehow perverse?) in action. Given our current personnel, I have thought the triple option fit our talent pretty well.

JMHO.

I'm not concerned that it's old school or not sexy. What I'm concerned about is that during the modern era of college football, the G5/non-AQ schools that have made the big splashes nationally (undefeated, BCS games, etc) had spread offenses. I think we're capable of that, and going the spread offense route is our best option, IMO.

It's like college basketball. The mid major teams that win can almost always move the ball around well and knock down 3s. They don't have the size advantage, so they can't just dump it down low and ask their bigs to go for 20 and 10 against powerhouse programs.

In college football the G5 teams aren't going to have an offensive line that can physically impose themselves on P5 d-lines. So instead they use the spread to create mismatches and hit passes, rather than try and pound the ball. Make that 5-star 315 lb d-tackle chase guys around without a breather, rather than let him stuff the run. There's a lot more to it than that, but that's a reason why it has happened that way.

Willie Taggert scares the mess out of me.  He was a great recruiter at WKU.  Seemed like a young rising star.  Has been a complete bust at USF?? How is that?  He's in Florida for goodness sakes.  It shows you that no brainer hires sometimes don't work out.

It shows you that translatability is more important than a good resume. 

[Got5onIt]

How do you feel about the triple option?

Se if Bryan Cook from Georgia Tech is interested in bringing it to UNT?

 

 

[BillySee58]

Bravo sir. One of the best posts I've ever read on this board. I've experienced the con man from Penn St. you referred too in this post and that was exactly my experience. He came by the first game last year at our tailgate. He talked about how he did things at Penn State and couldn't believe how no one here new who the big donors and tailgaters were in the lot.

So I asked for a small favor and have never talked to him since. Even though I am always in the exact same tailgate spot. I guess doing what he did at Penn State was easier there?

I think this is why @BillySee58 nomination of Brad Smiley or @Quoner or was it @TheTastyGreek nomination of a guy like Prunty at UCinn are interesting ideas. Those guys have had to succeed without having everything work in their favor.

I hope guys like @flyonthewall read this post and recognize these exact same things.

It's why I'm less enamored with Cumbie and Briles but of course that's without even knowing their personality. Maybe they are smart and hard workers but that's up to the committee to decide.

Last thing, your post reminded me of Jim Harbaugh. There was a guy, who at the time had been taking no name programs like San Diego and turning them into powerhouses. Once he got to Stanford then it was even easier.

Actually, I have hope that the 3rd time is the charm assuming this AD makes the hire. A young guy like Dodge who can excite the fan base and recruits, combined with a guy who succeeded somewhere where it's difficulty like McCarney, that combo is what we need.

Yes, that has to be a huge consideration. A big-school hire at UNT is not a guaranteed fail, but they have to have shown ability on their own, ceteris paribus.

[BillySee58]

I like the idea of going after Briles/ Cumbie as HC and Smiley as OC/ Recruiter. That would be great at UNT. 2 great coaches that are names  that can bring in recruits, even it is only for a year. "He's been in charge of recruiting DFW since the late 90's." Talk about a guy with HS tie-ins.

Cumbie or Briles is that name coach that can take this offense and UNT to the next level.

A combo like that would be an amazing get for UNT and should be seriously considered. 

I don't think any of those other new hires would bring Smiley in as OC. They'd bring their own guy in.

[man-up UNT]

No! Briles is our guy, forget Smiley for god sake! What we want a small timer here to learn how to be a big timer, no thank you!, no! Briles has been under the direction his father and knows the offense and where to and who to recruit!!!

[mgfan]

1.cumbie

2 meacham

3.briles

 

That order

[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.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Mike Jackson