We could not beat Sam Houston State.

[Green Grenade II]

Alrighty, now! I'm fed up with Dickey and Flanigan! We could not win in the Southland Conference, and if we win the Sun Belch Conference, only the dopes will cheer. Rebuilding? No running game? No blocking on the offensive line? Is any of this alarming to anybody but me. Texas State put up big time offensive numbers at Kyle Field vs Texas A&M, finally losing to the Big 12 refs, 44-31. We dare never play Texas State.

I plan to be at the Oct 4th debacle vs Troy (on National, gag, TV). I am embarassed for the players on our team who are at least trying.

It IS time for Darrell Dickey to go, and take Ramon Flanigan with him. We could train a duck to do a better coaching job. And I'll share my thoughts with Rick V, and I'm sure he will agree.

I hope someone jumps me about this post, because I'm ready for you.

[NTEXES1]

I definitely have your back.

[greenmean]

ditto...def. in need of some sort of change

[NT91]

More points this game than last weeks.

[vpackrats]

Yep, we need to throw all we've accomplished the last four years out the window. We've gotten routed two weeks in a row. Let's fire everyone. Geez, overreaction Saturday here we come.

Fire Dickey posts happened in 2001 ... then people shut up.

Fire Dickey posts happened in 2002 ... oops, wrong again.

In 2003, let's fire Dickey & this time I'm serious ... um, well, never mind.

2004, OK, all the kidding around is pretty much over. I'm doubly serious this time -- let's get rid of Dickey.... oops, we won the conference again. Nevermind.

And, now it's 2005, same ol' "fire the coach" junk.

The guy only won Sun Belt Coach of the Year FOUR times. No one else has won the award. It was clear after the MTSU game that a lot of the other Sun Belt schools would love to have him as THEIR coach.

So on a rebuilding team w/a entire roster of QB's who have NEVER thrown a pass in college, we got routed twice. I'll give you that. And we need to can somebody for that?? I pray I never have to work for all you people ready to stick "For Sale" signs on DD's front yard. If I had two bad days at work .. hell, let's make that two weeks, I'd be outta there. "Nevermind what you've done the last 4 years you've been here Braun ... you screwed up on the Penske file. You're fired!"

Ease up Mean Green Nation .... let's wait a few weeks before going postal.

OK, fire away now ....

[BIG DAWG]

vpackrats you are fighting a fight you can't win. A lot of these guys are so two faced it is amazing.

One day they hate him, the next they love him!

Long Live DD, win or lose

[Brent]

The guy only won Sun Belt Coach of the Year FOUR times.  No one else has won the award.

←

That says more about the conference than his coaching (or lack thereof).

[ADLER]

It IS time for Darrell Dickey to go, and take Ramon Flanigan with him. We could train a duck to do a better coaching job. And I'll share my thoughts with Rick V, and I'm sure he will agree.

←

Coach Dickey will be at Hooters on Monday at 6:30 for his radio show. Rick V will also be there.

Be there, bring your questions, and bring your duck if you want.

[mad dog]

Yep... the hardest thing in the world of sports is to support your team when they're losing. I don't want to call a cow chip a rose, but I also don't want to dog pile on a loss, even as bad as these past two were.

Was today a loss? Damn straight!

Are there a few positives we can pull out of this? Probably.

Do those few positives mean that we're really doing ok? Definitely not.

Does this mean that you fire the guy who got you this far and start from scratch? Not yet.

To me, Coach Dickey has built up a little credibility with all his conference championships. I can't ignore the fact that, before Coach Dickey, we only had 3 conference championships in 35 years, and two of those were D1-AA conference championships. We have four in the past four years. I can't ask for the resignation of a guy who brought such success here that some of us feel comfortable <i>demanding</i> OOC wins.

All that Coach Dickey has done, I think, buys him AT LEAST one year of credibility. If we so 2-9 this season, then I'll start worrying. There's a lot of season left to play, and history bears out a slow start and a decent finish. Until that changes, I'm going to hope for the best.

Edited September 24, 2005 by illuvius32

[Eagle1855]

There's a lot of season left to play, and history bears out a slow start and a decent finish.  Until that changes, I'm going to hope for the best.

←

I agree.

but at some point, dont you get fed up with losing the first 4 games of the season and winning the last 7? When is it OK to expect more than winning the worst (and make no mistake about it, we are the WORST) conference in the nation and expect to compete on a higher level? I agree with the topic of this thread... we would have had our hands FULL with SHSU or Texas State. That is unacceptable to me. And its not like we are improving... we are losing by larger and larger margins.

Im going to wait it out this season, i will chalk it up to rebuilding. And my commitment to NT does not waver with Ls and Ws, but at some point, you get frustrated with getting beat THIS BAD.

I hope this is a case of a new team getting used to playing together more than a glimpse of what is to come.

Edited September 24, 2005 by Eagle1855

[Rudy]

Tom Laundry coached the Cowboys to become "America's Team" and won a couple of Super Bowls along the way, but was eventually fired.

Johnny Oates won the only 3 division championships in Rangers history, but could never beat the evil empire. He was fired.

Ken Hitchcock had the Stars to a perinneal powerhouse year in and year out, took the Stars to back to back Stanley Cups, and won one of them, but was fired after a down year.

I will support this team and be there for EVERY home game, but just because someone is the best coach a school has ever hard, has won 4 straight conference championships, taken us to four straight bowl games (blown out in 3), doesnt mean at some point we dont try to make an improvement.

Its not the losing some OOC games, its losing damn near all of them, even the teams we should beat, and getting our asses kicked in the process.

You have to, at some point, ask what is this doing to the psyche, heart, and emotional dedication of the players.

[meangreendork]

It's simple-

We can't get rid of Dickey. If he pulls another conference championship, he'll probably stay. Even if he doesn't, there's probably not enough money to buy him out and find a better replacement. Deal with it.

As for replacing Flannigan, that may be more feasible, but...

[vpackrats]

Johnny Oates won the only 3 division championships in Rangers history, but could never beat the evil empire.  He was fired.

Ken Hitchcock had the Stars to a perinneal powerhouse year in and year out, took the Stars to back to back Stanley Cups, and won one of them, but was fired after a down year.

←

... and what have the Rangers done after Johnny Oates? (besides numerous last place finishes)

... and what have the Stars done after Ken Hitchcock (besides first round flameouts).

The list could go on:

Sonics fired George Karl to take them past just getting to the NBA Finals (they haven't sniffed getting to NBA Finals ever since)

Nebraska fired Solich since they weren't winning national championships anymore -- sure they were winning 9-10 games a year but that wasn't good enough anymore (that move's worked out real well for them, hasn't it?)

These are just a few examples that I'm coming up w/off the top of my head.

Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

[Rudy]

I hear you, but you have to strive to make improvements at some point, its a chance you have to take. The Stars situation, Dave is only in his 2ne or 3rd year. He had some bad contracts that they just got rid of. So they took a year to rebuild.

The Rangers, well, lets just say John Hart.

it should not be hard to find a coach that can compete and win in the SBC. I just don't feel the conference has made the strides we had hoped for so far. That is due to the individual coaches, not WW. If we find someone who will have us competing hard and even upsetting teams in OOC, then I think we would be fine in SBC.

[Cerebus]

it should not be hard to find a coach that can compete and win in the SBC.

←

There are a few teams in the SBC who disagree with you.

[Rudy]

Yeah, let me rephrase that: With our talent, it should not be that hard to find a coach to compete and win in the SBC. I think we have enough talent to buy a new coach some time to start bringing in his own recruits and molding them.

[ADLER]

It IS time for Darrell Dickey to go, and take Ramon Flanigan with him. We could train a duck to do a better coaching job. And I'll share my thoughts ...

I hope someone jumps me about this post, because I'm ready for you.

←

So Rick, are you gonna bring that duck to Hooters tonight?

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

The fire Dickey stuff is crazy talk. I can't think of another coach since Hayden Fry who has done more with this program. This coaching job is a fight on and off the field.

The university executives don't care, most of the students don't care, the professors and staff don't care, the city doesn't care. Proof is the terrible stadium we play in and the inability to fill it to capacity even occassionally.

The reality is simply that the UNT football job is not attractive. It's not high paying. It's not high profile. It's an uphill battle everyday. To think anyone would put up with the constant obstacles that Dickey has and produce the same results is absurd.

Until this year, our athletic directors basically set up our seasons with whip-our-butts-for-money road games. This year, we finally get Tulsa in here. If not for Hurricane Katrina, we'd have had two sure butt kickings for cash - LSU and KSU.

I have hope with the type of schedule we play this year. Plus, I'm not unrealistic. We don't get a constant flow of blue chip players year in and year out. So, when we enter a new season with only two returning starters on defense, I'm not buying into pie-in-the-sky predictions.

We are what we are until the school and moneyed alumni step forward consistently enough to give our football program - and all our athletic programs - the facilities to compete at the highest levels. You can dream all you want that Dickey is somehow miscoaching the team. The truth is, if Dickey were never here, we'd still be floundering around with 2-9 records every year with no hope in sight and nothing to be proud of.

I wish we'd had a coach like Dickey from 90-95 when I was at UNT. We were awful and knew every year we'd be awful. We caught lightning in a bottle in 1994 as subsequent seasons proved.

At this point in the program, I'm backing Dickey until we post back-to-back losing seasons.

Edited September 26, 2005 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[gangrene]

The fire Dickey stuff is crazy talk.  I can't think of another coach since Hayden Fry who has done more with this program.  This coaching job is a fight on and off the field. 

←

I agree with most of what you posted, but I do believe that we could get another coach in here. Whether it be a former high profile coach trying to resurrect his career (Mike Price, Frank Solich Rick Neuheissel, etc) or a D-II coach or someone like Todd Dodge trying to take the next step. Whatever the situation may be, I don't believe that UNT is anyone's "dream job" and any coach that would replace DD would only be temporary until he could find a better gig. That's basically how Matt Simon used UNT.

Even the great Hayden Fry fits the scenario outlined above.

All those in favor of firing DD need to decide if the uncertainty and instability are worth the risk. With DD we know we're going to lose our OOC games, but win the SBC...would we have that same outlook every year with a different coach every couple of years? Maybe.

[medpilot21]

The fire Dickey stuff is crazy talk.  I can't think of another coach since Hayden Fry who has done more with this program.  This coaching job is a fight on and off the field.... 

At this point in the program, I'm backing Dickey until we post back-to-back losing seasons.

←

Thank You!!!! You dont fire the coach for one bad year? Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno, etc... all had similar down years and all made it back. Do I think Darrell Dickey is on the same level with those guys?......YES. FOUR conference Championships, FOUR TIME Conference Coach of the Year. Jeesh guys, what does he have to do to get some faith around here? EVERY team has down years, and this could very well be ours. After 4 straight winning seasons, you guys are a bit spoiled. If Florida State, Notre Dame, and Penn State can deal with a losing season or two...I think we should be able to.

Dickey stays because he is a winner. We have a young team and a greener QB than the new jerseys. We have to deal with the fact that every team has down seasons... I would just assume this one is ours and let DD do his job! He has already shown you he knows how. So we dont go to a bowl this season...it had been fifty years since we saw a bowl BEFORE Dickey got here? Now after a couple of OOC losses you want to cut him loose?

I love you guys, you know that...but some of you picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue...

GMG!!!

[untbowler]

I think it is more than just a couple of losses, most everyone here is pissed off at what seems like a total lack of preparation and then no sign of adjustments to defenses that are run week after week after week. The constant 0-5, 1-4 starts are grating to everyone.

DD maybe a winner in our eyes, but he is doing what 110 other D-1a coaches can do and that is beat a Sun Belt team, all this means is that the other Sun Belt coaches are not that good.

As for putting DD in the same sentence as Paterno or Bowden is a stretch at best, except for the lack of discipline for off field issues.

Everyone just wants improvement and right now we are stuck in neutral and going nowhere, lets hope the Troy game turns us around. Going 8-3 would be a great season right now.

Edited September 26, 2005 by untbowler

[El Paso Eagle]

WE ARE 7-40 IN OOC GAMES

And 2 of those wins are against 1-AA teams.

Why are your expectations so low? It could be debated whether DD has helped to bring this program to a higher level or we have been the benefactors of playing in the worst 1-A conference in the history of the NCAA.

As far as the UNT job not being attractive, I’m sure there are those who know better but I believe we had quite a few people apply the last time around.

I’m not calling for DD’s ouster but if the success of the program is only going to be measured by our Sun Belt success then we should never expect better things.

[ADLER]

I just wanted to see ol' Grenade walk into a bar carrying a duck.

Just think of the punchlines.

[adman]

Alrighty, now! I'm fed up with Dickey and Flanigan! We could not win in the Southland Conference, and if we win the Sun Belch Conference, only the dopes will cheer. Rebuilding? No running game? No blocking on the offensive line? Is any of this alarming to anybody but me. Texas State put up big time offensive numbers at Kyle Field vs Texas A&M, finally losing to the Big 12 refs, 44-31. We dare never play Texas State.

I plan to be at the Oct 4th debacle vs Troy (on National, gag, TV). I am embarassed for the players on our team who are at least trying.

It IS time for Darrell Dickey to go, and take Ramon Flanigan with him. We could train a duck to do a better coaching job. And I'll share my thoughts with Rick V, and I'm sure he will agree.

I hope someone jumps me about this post, because I'm ready for you.

←

You are a cancer. It is you who needs to go.

[adman]

WE ARE 7-40 IN OOC GAMES

So since everyone is so hyped on the 7-40 OOC record under DD how about you give us the OOC records of EVERY football coach at NT. I'd be curious to see how he compares.

The beat down from Tulsa was unexpected and hurt(s) but I wager to bet they win C-USA this year. K-State, did anyone think honestly that this would be our year with them? We're 1-2, battered and bruised, but don't give up the ship just yet.