Experienced Q B's Have Yielded Sun Belt Success

[greenminer]

Good read.

Makes me want to dig up DeLoach and Peterson's ties, and hope Dodge can milk them for something. We're stuck with Fouts for a while, might as well make the most of it.

[Mean Green 93-98]

So how much does the connection between these two coaches, or any other two coaches have to do with their playing each other? I'm not saying it's not a factor, but last time I checked, ADs set up the schedule, not head coaches. Not to highjack the thread, but Texas wouldn't come to Fouts to play if we hired Joe Paterno as head coach. UCF's new stadium had more to do with that game than any friendship between coaches.

[AnotherEagleFan]

So how much does the connection between these two coaches, or any other two coaches have to do with their playing each other? I'm not saying it's not a factor, but last time I checked, ADs set up the schedule, not head coaches. Not to highjack the thread, but Texas wouldn't come to Fouts to play if we hired Joe Paterno as head coach. UCF's new stadium had more to do with that game than any friendship between coaches.

More then you think... Coaches have a lot to do with scheduling yes the office of the AD actually makes the games happen.

[PHSCoach]

Texas will play on any field as long as the money is right. They could care about what the stands look like just the amount of money they can make by playing the game. They have a LARGE budget to keep full of nomey. Fouts playing surface is as good as most that the team plays on and better then most

[AnotherEagleFan]

Are they though? Because Im pretty sure I watched your Golden Eagles take a good beating at Robertson Stadium a few years ago...

Besides the obvious Texas teams, So Miss and Tulane are another reason why I'd like to be in C-USA. I don't care much about the eastern schools like Marshall and ECU, but I've always liked the Golden Eagles.

I believe that the all time record with the team in question is 7-4....

[GoMeanGreen1999]

The discussion started with a post about Middle Tennessee pulling in Maryland. None of those teams you mention have been contracted to play UNT with Dodge as the head coach. My counter to the original post was that the head coaches at Maryland and Middle Tennessee have a professional relationship dating back some two decades, then pointing out that Dodge had no such ties to get favorable scheduling.

Same thing with Texas going to UCF. Mack Brown and George O'Leary knew each other from their ACC days, for over a decade. It's a business. People in business over a long period of time do favors for each other. It's just another thing you realize we didn't get when we went with a high school coach to lead the program. We got a "high school coaching legend." Middle Tennessee and UCF got guys with long time ties to BCS conferences.

It's no big deal. But, you don't have to wonder why these other teams get better than Baylor-grade BCS teams in their stadiums and we don't. Our formula is the same now as it was before - go on the road to get pounded for cash. The only difference is, when the old regime was here, the poundings took a shorter time to complete because we weren't throwing the ball in the fourth quarter, down by 60 points with 20 second left on the play clock, then throwing interceptions or incompletions.

It's money and connections. We have neither. You can't hire money, but you can hire connections. We didn't do that either. MUTS and UCF did, and they reaped the benefit in landing home games with Maryland and Texas.

And, those people who pooh-pooh Maryland...please...are you even paying attention to any football outside of the Sun Belt? Before the Terps hired Ralph Friedgen, the program had only been to one bowl game in 15 seasons. He's taken them to five in seven years. They won 55 games in the 14 seasons prior to hiring him; they've won 56 in the seven years he's been there.

Maryland is consistently on TV, consistently ranked, they've been in the Top 10 and skinned Top 10 teams plenty under Friedgen...they bring a game and the money. Middle Tennessee is getting something much more than Baylor in having the Terps on their field. They are getting what we don't get with our high school coach - real nation exposure beyond the pie-in-the-sky "Wow! They Hired A High School Coach!" monkey piece. They're getting a legitimate BCS Name School with a Name Coach on their turf. It's real.

Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again (and again and again): I hope Dodge does well, but the odds are heavily stacked against him, and my allegiance is always to my alma mater over this coach or that. What I want is smart moves by the people in control. We don't get that. Everyone gets a piece of the pie except us. We're still like the small puppy just fighting for a spot on the hind teat. We're not making any moves to change it either.

The 2008 season cannot be a losing effort. All we have in the eyes of the national collegiate football press is a stretch of a hire. It was an interesting story last year. This year, a ton of losses will just mean that - UNT with a ton of losses again. Nothing changed.

Some people here talk about giving five years and its just nonsense. This isn't 1997 or 1998 when we were brand new to the I-A game. We're more than 10 years into it, have had some success and need more to be taken seriously. If we go out there and show our backsides again in 2008...that's not good enough, nor will it be progress. The kids with speed and power don't care what Todd Dodge did in Southlake three, four, and five years ago. They want to win, they want to go to bowl games, they want on television. Another season of blowouts, and the "he's a high school coaching legend" won't sell to anyone outside of his own kid and a few of the Southlake kids.

2008 is the year. Troy gets BCS pelts and press, and could jump out of the Sun Belt. MTSU simply needs a conference title. They've got the coach to pull in some favors. Our athletic department and coaching staff need to turn in up ten notches pronto or we fall even further behind.

Seriously, you all.

Very, very good post. And pretty underated at that based on the responses.

[FirefightnRick]

I wonder why Rickey Bustle hasn't been able to bring Clemson or Virginia Tech to ULL? Surely it isn't their stadium as they hosted a&m back in the '90's?

Rick

[untjim1995]

I wonder why Rickey Bustle hasn't been able to bring Clemson or Virginia Tech to ULL? Surely it isn't their stadium as they hosted a&m back in the '90's?

Rick

Speaking of this, and I don't know the answer, but who has FAU scheduled at home with Schnellenberger as head coach?

[TheTastyGreek]

Speaking of this, and I don't know the answer, but who has FAU scheduled at home with Schnellenberger as head coach?

Unfortunately, everyone Schnelly coached against in his younger days is now dead.

It's tough to schedule a home-and-home with Bo Schembechler's rotting corpse.

[Eagle1855]

It's tough to schedule a home-and-home with Bo Schembechler's rotting corpse.

AND boom goes the dynamite.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

FAU hosted, and beat, Minnesota last year. They also have a future home and home series with Michigan State. To my knowledge, we're not hosting any Big Ten teams in the future. Anyone? In addition to Maryland, future MUTS home schedules including Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. Hey...wow...another ACC team going to Murfreesboro. Weird, eh?

While we're on the subject (that others won't let die), here are some other non-BCS schools who have landed at least home games against BCS schools:

Air Force (yes, this is a gimme because people want to go to the Academy just for the experience, but still): Florida State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Minnesota

Akron: home and home with Syracuse

Ball State: home and home with South Florida

Boise State: Oregon State and Oregon (gee, I wonder if we could score home dates with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma)

BYU: Washington, Florida State, Arizona State

Buffalo...Buffalo?: A 2 for 1 with Pittsburgh with Buffalo getting the two homes games! and a four game series with Connecticut, two home and two away! Buffalo!

Central Michigan: Indiana

Colorado State: They get Colorado year after year in Denver, a good game televised annually. Do we get a regional rival year after year in Dallas on television? Not even from non-BCS schools nearby (read SMU and TCU who can afford to ignore us for the most part).

East Carolina: A 2 for 1 with North Carolina State where ECU gets the two at home (SEE Buffalo/Pittsburgh), a whopping seven-game series with Virginia Tech that will give them three home games against the Hokies, a five game serieswith South Carolina where they get the Gamecocks at home twice, and North Carolina.

Florida Atlantic: already covered, Michigan State home and home

Fresno State: Cincinnati and Rutgers

Hawaii (another gimme, but we're not even getting the occassional game in Dallas with anyone anymore): Southern Cal, Wisconsin, Washington State, and a 2 for 1 with Colorado where the Buffaloes go to the island twice.

Houston: Mississippi State (Note: the Cougars just hired OU's co-offensive coordinator, a guy who had also previously coached at Washington State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Texas A&M. So, there will probably be more BCS school going to Houston in the future)

Kent State: Iowa State

Louisiana Tech: home and home with Texas A&M

Marshall: West Virginia every other year, plus a home and homes with Virginia Tech and Miami, FL...yes, the Hurricanes, not Miami, OH.

Memphis: Tennessee and Mississippi

Miami (OH): Two home games with Cincinnati

Middle Tennessee: In additional to Maryland this year, future schedules include home dates with Mississippi State, a home and home with Georgia Tech, and a four game series with Vanderbilt with each school getting two home games. Nice job, Coach Stockstill.

Navy: several home games with Notre Dame and Rutgers, and then a home game with Ohio State.

Nevada (the school Giovanni Vizza turned down to ink with us): Missouri, and a home and home with Oregon.

New Mexico: four games with Texas Tech, each getting two home games.

North Texas: Kansas State (2010)...a game set up by Wildcat alum Darrell Dickey...ever heard of him?

Northern Illinois: home and home with Wisconsin

Ohio: Connecticut

Rice: home and home with Texas, home and home with Kansas, home and home with Northwestern, home and home with Wake Forest, two for one with Baylor where the Owls get the two home games...oh, and Vanderbilt, Purdue, and UCLA. Nice. Very nice. This from a school with one of the crappiest stadiums in football and no tradition to draw upon. Oh, yes...it can be done..with the right people leading the way!

San Diego State: a home and home with Wisconsin (no shock, really...head coach Chuck Long was a Big Ten legend at Iowa where he played and coached. Badger head coach Bret Beilema is also a Hawkeye. Connections within the elite level...and those who take advantage of them).

SMU: the continuing home and home series with Texas Tech, a home and home with Missouri, and a couple of home games against Baylor, and Texas A&m thrown in for good measure. Hmmm. Phil Bennett didn't take the Ponies bowling...but he tapped his Big 8/12/SWC roots to the Mustangs advantage while he was at The Hilltop.

Southern Miss: home and home with Virginia, home and home with Kansas, one home game with Nebraska in a 2 for 1.

TCU: the home game of a two for one where they went to Oklahoma twice (skinning the Adrian Peterson-led Sooners in Norman in the lead off to the series which resumes this year), home and home with Baylor, home and home with Texas Tech, home and home with Arkansas, and a home and home with LSU. Very excellent scheduling indeed from a school many here pooh-pooh. And, why not pooh-pooh them? They pay their head coach over $1 million a year and all he does is get OU, LSU, and Arkansas on his home turf. What a waste of money, right?

Temple: arguably the worst program in the country at one point will have future home and home sets ups with the following - Penn State, Maryland (twice), and Connecticut.

Toledo: home and home with Arizona, home and home with Missouri, and a game in Cleveland with Ohio State.

Tulane: a four game series with Georgia Tech with each getting two home games, and a visit from Mississippi State.

Tulsa: a home game with Texas Tech, one game of a 2 for 1 with Oklahoma State, and a home and home with Iowa State.

UAB: Mississippi and Mississippi State...again, a regional getting a neighboring state's two BCS teams on the turf of their very crappy, old stadium that Alabama and Auburn abandoned years ago.

UCF: Boston College, North Carolina (ACC-O'Leary), and a home and home with Miami, FL (ACC-O'Leary). Yes, O'Leary may have fudged on past resumes, but...he's rapidly getting UCF prepared for an invite into a higher conference. Bygones will be bygones, I suppose.

UNLV: Oregon State, Washington State, home and home with Wisconsin, home and home with Minnesota.

Utah: Louisville, Washington State, home and home with Oregon, home and home with Iowa State, home and home with Colorado.

Western Kentucky: yes, barely past their I-AA days the Hilltoppers score home and home series with both Indiana and Iow State.

and finally...

Wyoming: home and home with Texas, home and home with Missouri, home and home with Oregon. Wow. Just...wow.

But, we're doing plenty with RV, his message board trolls, and our high school coach. Just give them more time. Many passing record will fall. And, that will count for something somewhere someday...

...yeah, sure.

Edited May 7, 2008 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[GoMeanGreen1999]

FAU hosted, and beat, Minnesota last year. They also have a future home and home series with Michigan State. To my knowledge, we're not hosting any Big Ten teams in the future. Anyone? In addition to Maryland, future MUTS home schedules including Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. Hey...wow...another ACC team going to Murfreesboro. Weird, eh?

While we're on the subject (that others won't let die), here are some other non-BCS schools who have landed at least home games against BCS schools:

Air Force (yes, this is a gimme because people want to go to the Academy just for the experience, but still): Florida State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Minnesota

Akron: home and home with Syracuse

Ball State: home and home with South Florida

Boise State: Oregon State and Oregon (gee, I wonder if we could score home dates with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma)

BYU: Washington, Florida State, Arizona State

Buffalo...Buffalo?: A 2 for 1 with Pittsburgh with Buffalo getting the two homes games! and a four game series with Connecticut, two home and two away! Buffalo!

Central Michigan: Indiana

Colorado State: They get Colorado year after year in Denver, a good game televised annually. Do we get a regional rival year after year in Dallas on television? Not even from non-BCS schools nearby (read SMU and TCU who can afford to ignore us for the most part).

East Carolina: A 2 for 1 with North Carolina State where ECU gets the two at home (SEE Buffalo/Pittsburgh), a whopping seven-game series with Virginia Tech that will give them three home games against the Hokies, a five game serieswith South Carolina where they get the Gamecocks at home twice, and North Carolina.

Florida Atlantic: already covered, Michigan State home and home

Fresno State: Cincinnati and Rutgers

Hawaii (another gimme, but we're not even getting the occassional game in Dallas with anyone anymore): Southern Cal, Wisconsin, Washington State, and a 2 for 1 with Colorado where the Buffaloes go to the island twice.

Houston: Mississippi State (Note: the Cougars just hired OU's co-offensive coordinator, a guy who had also previously coached at Washington State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Texas A&M. So, there will probably be more BCS school going to Houston in the future)

Kent State: Iowa State

Louisiana Tech: home and home with Texas A&M

Marshall: West Virginia every other year, plus a home and homes with Virginia Tech and Miami, FL...yes, the Hurricanes, not Miami, OH.

Memphis: Tennessee and Mississippi

Miami (OH): Two home games with Cincinnati

Middle Tennessee: In additional to Maryland this year, future schedules include home dates with Mississippi State, a home and home with Georgia Tech, and a four game series with Vanderbilt with each school getting two home games. Nice job, Coach Stockstill.

Navy: several home games with Notre Dame and Rutgers, and then a home game with Ohio State.

Nevada (the school Giovanni Vizza turned down to ink with us): Missouri, and a home and home with Oregon.

New Mexico: four games with Texas Tech, each getting two home games.

North Texas: Kansas State (2010)...a game set up by Wildcat alum Darrell Dickey...ever heard of him?

Northern Illinois: home and home with Wisconsin

Ohio: Connecticut

Rice: home and home with Texas, home and home with Kansas, home and home with Northwestern, home and home with Wake Forest, two for one with Baylor where the Owls get the two home games...oh, and Vanderbilt, Purdue, and UCLA. Nice. Very nice. This from a school with one of the crappiest stadiums in football and no tradition to draw upon. Oh, yes...it can be done..with the right people leading the way!

San Diego State: a home and home with Wisconsin (no shock, really...head coach Chuck Long was a Big Ten legend at Iowa where he played and coached. Badger head coach Bret Beilema is also a Hawkeye. Connections within the elite level...and those who take advantage of them).

SMU: the continuing home and home series with Texas Tech, a home and home with Missouri, and a couple of home games against Baylor, and Texas A&m thrown in for good measure. Hmmm. Phil Bennett didn't take the Ponies bowling...but he tapped his Big 8/12/SWC roots to the Mustangs advantage while he was at The Hilltop.

Southern Miss: home and home with Virginia, home and home with Kansas, one home game with Nebraska in a 2 for 1.

TCU: the home game of a two for one where they went to Oklahoma twice (skinning the Adrian Peterson-led Sooners in Norman in the lead off to the series which resumes this year), home and home with Baylor, home and home with Texas Tech, home and home with Arkansas, and a home and home with LSU. Very excellent scheduling indeed from a school many here pooh-pooh. And, why not pooh-pooh them? They pay their head coach over $1 million a year and all he does is get OU, LSU, and Arkansas on his home turf. What a waste of money, right?

Temple: arguably the worst program in the country at one point will have future home and home sets ups with the following - Penn State, Maryland (twice), and Connecticut.

Toledo: home and home with Arizona, home and home with Missouri, and a game in Cleveland with Ohio State.

Tulane: a four game series with Georgia Tech with each getting two home games, and a visit from Mississippi State.

Tulsa: a home game with Texas Tech, one game of a 2 for 1 with Oklahoma State, and a home and home with Iowa State.

UAB: Mississippi and Mississippi State...again, a regional getting a neighboring state's two BCS teams on the turf of their very crappy, old stadium that Alabama and Auburn abandoned years ago.

UCF: Boston College, North Carolina (ACC-O'Leary), and a home and home with Miami, FL (ACC-O'Leary). Yes, O'Leary may have fudged on past resumes, but...he's rapidly getting UCF prepared for an invite into a higher conference. Bygones will be bygones, I suppose.

UNLV: Oregon State, Washington State, home and home with Wisconsin, home and home with Minnesota.

Utah: Louisville, Washington State, home and home with Oregon, home and home with Iowa State, home and home with Colorado.

Western Kentucky: yes, barely past their I-AA days the Hilltoppers score home and home series with both Indiana and Iow State.

and finally...

Wyoming: home and home with Texas, home and home with Missouri, home and home with Oregon. Wow. Just...wow.

But, we're doing plenty with RV, his message board trolls, and our high school coach. Just give them more time. Many passing record will fall. And, that will count for something somewhere someday...

...yeah, sure.

I think the Tulsa deal with Arkansas is a 2 for 1. They go to LR this year I believe, then back in Tulsa, and then back to LR.

That Wyoming and Buffalo is shocking to me. I can't believe Wyoming is getting UT up there. I guess I am little shocked that FAU is getting Michigan State at home. I have said this before, and most will disagree, but when you have an AD that has time to post on a fan's message board, he needs more to do.

Edited May 7, 2008 by GoMeanGreen1999

[Quoner]

I wish TFLF would stop taking a crap on everyone's ignorance.

We have tailgating now!

[Eagle1855]

I wish TFLF would stop taking a crap on everyone's ignorance.

yeah, he pretty much owns this thread.

[AnotherEagleFan]

but when you have an AD that has time to post on a fan's message board, he needs more to do.

What handle does he post under? How often does he post???

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I'm shocking by Buffalo, Wyoming, and East Carolina...until I look and see that they have coaches with long histories in the college business.

Look, we need to get serious. We talk here about some future stadium that we can't now sit in. It's like me talking about sitting in a Maserati...it's nothing more than fiction.

We say, "order season tickets! join the booster club!" Etc., etc., etc. Based on our history with this athletic department, to what end are we buying tickets and joining booster clubs? To see other schools in our same predicament? Gee, why can't I tear my neighbors with degrees from Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC conferences on their walls away from their allegiances to go up to Denton?

Look at what many of these schools have done. They've taken advantage of coaches' ties. They've taken advantage of nearby cities and attractions. They've gotten alumni with big money to give them big money. They've gotten their communities behind them. They've gotten their staff and students behind them.

What have we done? What are we doing? Other than some ongoing, distant promise of a new stadium? What is happening?

Our coach is has ton of high school connections. Quick. Someone name me one of Todd Dodge's former UT teammates who are coaching somewhere in Division I football? Where? Where? Anyone? I can't think of one.

Okay...let's get some games in Dallas. Sorry, Jerry is moving the stage to Arlington and filling it with Big 12/SEC match-ups and Big 12 rivalries. The City of Irving is razing Texas Stadium and replacing it with yet another DFW shopping center.

We've squeezed the Mattress King a million or so before we angered him, and gotten another million from some other couple for...plans? So, the development wing of our athletic department has basically gotten us a new practice field and some blueprints over the 10 or so years since we've returned to I-A status. Great job, athletic department! Keep on keepin' on!

Denton, a city with a population of 109k according to 2006 census estimates. Denton, the county seat of Denton County, which has over 530k population according to 2006 census estimates. And, to get thousands of these people to buy into the program, what do we do...we laugh and make fun of SMU for at least making an effort last year. What a genius of a plan. Do nothing, then laugh at others for trying. Great work.

The staff and students? Shouldn't this be like shooting fish in a barrel. I mean, they're already on campus!

Guys, 2008 should be a no excuses year. Unfortunately, I fear it won't be. With what we have and who we have leading, it'll will likely be more of the same.

Oh...and, have a nice day!

Edited May 7, 2008 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[Mean Green 93-98]

To be honest, TFLF, I'm having a little trouble following your point. I thought your point was initially that the fact we hired a high-school coach is keeping us from bringing the big boys to Fouts. But in these different schools you cite, there is usually no mention of how their head coach was involved in bringing teams to play them. And I really don't see that much of a drop off (if any) in the quality of opponents being brought to Fouts since Todd Dodge replaced the "college-connected" Darrell Dickey.1

If your point is that these other schools bring in much better teams to play there, many of your examples are true. But why mention Temple? They have longstanding rivalries with Penn State and Maryland. Several of the schools you cite (though certainly not all) have programs at least as respectable as ours, and yet are bringing in opponents no better than we are.

Again, I'm just not sure what your point is--I would appreciate it if you could state it more clearly so I can follow you.

1 I might add that Todd Dodge is fairly well-respected in the coaching community. He holds clinics throughout the nation. Mack Brown called him "the best quarterback coach in the state." Bill Parcells said, "What Todd Dodge is, he's a football guy. He understands the game and the culture that surrounds it." He may not be as well connected as a Hayden Fry/Joe Paterno, but I fail to see the drop off in that regard from Dickey to Dodge.

[untjim1995]

FAU hosted, and beat, Minnesota last year. They also have a future home and home series with Michigan State. To my knowledge, we're not hosting any Big Ten teams in the future. Anyone? In addition to Maryland, future MUTS home schedules including Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. Hey...wow...another ACC team going to Murfreesboro. Weird, eh?

While we're on the subject (that others won't let die), here are some other non-BCS schools who have landed at least home games against BCS schools:

Air Force (yes, this is a gimme because people want to go to the Academy just for the experience, but still): Florida State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Minnesota

Akron: home and home with Syracuse

Ball State: home and home with South Florida

Boise State: Oregon State and Oregon (gee, I wonder if we could score home dates with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma)

BYU: Washington, Florida State, Arizona State

Buffalo...Buffalo?: A 2 for 1 with Pittsburgh with Buffalo getting the two homes games! and a four game series with Connecticut, two home and two away! Buffalo!

Central Michigan: Indiana

Colorado State: They get Colorado year after year in Denver, a good game televised annually. Do we get a regional rival year after year in Dallas on television? Not even from non-BCS schools nearby (read SMU and TCU who can afford to ignore us for the most part).

East Carolina: A 2 for 1 with North Carolina State where ECU gets the two at home (SEE Buffalo/Pittsburgh), a whopping seven-game series with Virginia Tech that will give them three home games against the Hokies, a five game serieswith South Carolina where they get the Gamecocks at home twice, and North Carolina.

Florida Atlantic: already covered, Michigan State home and home

Fresno State: Cincinnati and Rutgers

Hawaii (another gimme, but we're not even getting the occassional game in Dallas with anyone anymore): Southern Cal, Wisconsin, Washington State, and a 2 for 1 with Colorado where the Buffaloes go to the island twice.

Houston: Mississippi State (Note: the Cougars just hired OU's co-offensive coordinator, a guy who had also previously coached at Washington State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Texas A&M. So, there will probably be more BCS school going to Houston in the future)

Kent State: Iowa State

Louisiana Tech: home and home with Texas A&M

Marshall: West Virginia every other year, plus a home and homes with Virginia Tech and Miami, FL...yes, the Hurricanes, not Miami, OH.

Memphis: Tennessee and Mississippi

Miami (OH): Two home games with Cincinnati

Middle Tennessee: In additional to Maryland this year, future schedules include home dates with Mississippi State, a home and home with Georgia Tech, and a four game series with Vanderbilt with each school getting two home games. Nice job, Coach Stockstill.

Navy: several home games with Notre Dame and Rutgers, and then a home game with Ohio State.

Nevada (the school Giovanni Vizza turned down to ink with us): Missouri, and a home and home with Oregon.

New Mexico: four games with Texas Tech, each getting two home games.

North Texas: Kansas State (2010)...a game set up by Wildcat alum Darrell Dickey...ever heard of him?

Northern Illinois: home and home with Wisconsin

Ohio: Connecticut

Rice: home and home with Texas, home and home with Kansas, home and home with Northwestern, home and home with Wake Forest, two for one with Baylor where the Owls get the two home games...oh, and Vanderbilt, Purdue, and UCLA. Nice. Very nice. This from a school with one of the crappiest stadiums in football and no tradition to draw upon. Oh, yes...it can be done..with the right people leading the way!

San Diego State: a home and home with Wisconsin (no shock, really...head coach Chuck Long was a Big Ten legend at Iowa where he played and coached. Badger head coach Bret Beilema is also a Hawkeye. Connections within the elite level...and those who take advantage of them).

SMU: the continuing home and home series with Texas Tech, a home and home with Missouri, and a couple of home games against Baylor, and Texas A&m thrown in for good measure. Hmmm. Phil Bennett didn't take the Ponies bowling...but he tapped his Big 8/12/SWC roots to the Mustangs advantage while he was at The Hilltop.

Southern Miss: home and home with Virginia, home and home with Kansas, one home game with Nebraska in a 2 for 1.

TCU: the home game of a two for one where they went to Oklahoma twice (skinning the Adrian Peterson-led Sooners in Norman in the lead off to the series which resumes this year), home and home with Baylor, home and home with Texas Tech, home and home with Arkansas, and a home and home with LSU. Very excellent scheduling indeed from a school many here pooh-pooh. And, why not pooh-pooh them? They pay their head coach over $1 million a year and all he does is get OU, LSU, and Arkansas on his home turf. What a waste of money, right?

Temple: arguably the worst program in the country at one point will have future home and home sets ups with the following - Penn State, Maryland (twice), and Connecticut.

Toledo: home and home with Arizona, home and home with Missouri, and a game in Cleveland with Ohio State.

Tulane: a four game series with Georgia Tech with each getting two home games, and a visit from Mississippi State.

Tulsa: a home game with Texas Tech, one game of a 2 for 1 with Oklahoma State, and a home and home with Iowa State.

UAB: Mississippi and Mississippi State...again, a regional getting a neighboring state's two BCS teams on the turf of their very crappy, old stadium that Alabama and Auburn abandoned years ago.

UCF: Boston College, North Carolina (ACC-O'Leary), and a home and home with Miami, FL (ACC-O'Leary). Yes, O'Leary may have fudged on past resumes, but...he's rapidly getting UCF prepared for an invite into a higher conference. Bygones will be bygones, I suppose.

UNLV: Oregon State, Washington State, home and home with Wisconsin, home and home with Minnesota.

Utah: Louisville, Washington State, home and home with Oregon, home and home with Iowa State, home and home with Colorado.

Western Kentucky: yes, barely past their I-AA days the Hilltoppers score home and home series with both Indiana and Iow State.

and finally...

Wyoming: home and home with Texas, home and home with Missouri, home and home with Oregon. Wow. Just...wow.

But, we're doing plenty with RV, his message board trolls, and our high school coach. Just give them more time. Many passing record will fall. And, that will count for something somewhere someday...

...yeah, sure.

Thanks for your answers and your research. I truly didn't know who Howie had scheduled, but I figured that it would be a decent team to come there. Trust me, I agree with much of what you have posted regarding UNT's program.

[Guest 97and03]

I am somewhat ignorant of the scheduling process, but as pointed out previously, doesn't the Athletic Director usually do the scheduling? I am pretty sure that is how it works here. I would imagine that coaching ties could have a positive impact, but I am not sure that the credit/blame for any school's schedule should reside with the coach or his staff.

[greenminer]

yeah, he pretty much owns this thread.

That's putting it lightly. You may not like his tone, but it's hard to argue with his points. Put down the green koolaid every now and then and try to share in the "What have you really done for me lately" perspective. It has value in this We'll-have-a-stadium-in-5-years world we've been forced into the last, well, seemingly 5 years.

RV has made progress. The new athletic fields/facilities are fantastic. The Fouts "renovations" were necessary, but maybe an effort to make us happy because something else isn't happening?

Just throwing that out there. I want to see a stadium as much of the rest of us, but I think some of you rely on what is fed us from the athletic department way too much. And then I'm actually impressed by how many ways it is spun. Honestly, what has happened since the "plans" were put into place? This escapes me: was the architect ever even picked? Weren't there some big announcements scheduled that they never followed through with?

What have we really done to reach out to the Denton community? Think about that, and then compare it to what we've seen other schools in the Metro do. How do we stand up?

For what it's worth, I think our current setup on the field has much better long-term implications than the 2001 setup. We have the same defensive coordinator that is now getting to work with a much better caliber recruit. No disrespect to the greatness of BK and Co, but these classes look to be much deeper (thanks to a coach with great high school connections). On the other side of the ball we have a coach that is much more appealing to the fan: much more approachable than, say, telling them they are mofos?

But where would we draw the line? We can't keep telling ourselves after another 2-win season that Parcells and Mack Brown think he's so great. At some point it is going to come down to whether this guy can coach college kids or not, and it will reflect in the win-loss columns. How many 2-win seasons would you put up with? Hopefully we wont ever come to that bridge and have to cross it.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

To be honest, TFLF, I'm having a little trouble following your point. I thought your point was initially that the fact we hired a high-school coach is keeping us from bringing the big boys to Fouts. But in these different schools you cite, there is usually no mention of how their head coach was involved in bringing teams to play them. And I really don't see that much of a drop off (if any) in the quality of opponents being brought to Fouts since Todd Dodge replaced the "college-connected" Darrell Dickey.1

If your point is that these other schools bring in much better teams to play there, many of your examples are true. But why mention Temple? They have longstanding rivalries with Penn State and Maryland. Several of the schools you cite (though certainly not all) have programs at least as respectable as ours, and yet are bringing in opponents no better than we are.

Again, I'm just not sure what your point is--I would appreciate it if you could state it more clearly so I can follow you.

1 I might add that Todd Dodge is fairly well-respected in the coaching community. He holds clinics throughout the nation. Mack Brown called him "the best quarterback coach in the state." Bill Parcells said, "What Todd Dodge is, he's a football guy. He understands the game and the culture that surrounds it." He may not be as well connected as a Hayden Fry/Joe Paterno, but I fail to see the drop off in that regard from Dickey to Dodge.

What's not to follow? Which other school on the list hired a high school coach? Look at the other colleges' coaches and their schedules. For example, when East Carolina needed a new coach, they tapped South Carolina OC Skip Holtz. They now have a five game series with the Gamecocks, with two home games. There are several examples of that. My point is simple - we don't have that. Our head coach has no long time coaching ties at the college level to pull in favors.

Temple is a great example of what can happen with a crappy program if you have someone with a brain in their head running the operation. The discussion expanded to include the athletic directors. Somehow, several schools have gotten regional rivals to schedule home and homes. Ours hasn't. That's the point.

Finally, it doesn't matter what Mack Brown or Bill Parcells say about a high school coach. It still doesn't give him years of contacts. Texas traveled halfway across the country to open a non-BCS schools' stadium...a school coached by one of Brown's old ACC buddies. That was detailed in the Orlando article posted two days ago. Dodge has no contact that he can call for that kind of favor.

It's no big deal. The overarching point is to not be surprised by the original topic - MUTS getting a top level BCS opponent in its stadium. We've discussed the overall philosophies of this athletic department before - it's not serious. If it were serious, it would make series hires.

This is a cash-for-thrash school to this athletic department. He hasn't so much as gotten a game here or there even with his old Mississippi contacts. Look at the other places Mississippi State and Mississippi are travelling. Heck, we haven't even gotten a game from Southern Miss - probably RV's only real connection!

It's a farce. Don't question it. Just accept the reality until we get the opportunity to get someone in here who can make things happen. That's what I do. This athletic department produces nothing, so that's exactly what I expect of it. Todd Dodge's hire is just another blatant example of the huge blindspot in the current director's view of the big picture - scheduling.

Edited May 8, 2008 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[UNTLifer]

What's not to follow? Which other school on the list hired a high school coach? Look at the other colleges' coaches and their schedules. For example, when East Carolina needed a new coach, they tapped South Carolina OC Skip Holtz. They now have a five game series with the Gamecocks, with two home games. There are several examples of that. My point is simple - we don't have that. Our head coach has no long time coaching ties at the college level to pull in favors.

Temple is a great example of what can happen with a crappy program if you have someone with a brain in their head running the operation. The discussion expanded to include the athletic directors. Somehow, several schools have gotten regional rivals to schedule home and homes. Ours hasn't. That's the point.

Finally, it doesn't matter what Mack Brown or Bill Parcells say about a high school coach. It still doesn't give him years of contacts. Texas traveled halfway across the country to open a non-BCS schools' stadium...a school coached by one of Brown's old ACC buddies. That was detailed in the Orlando article posted two days ago. Dodge has no contact that he can call for that kind of favor.

It's no big deal. The overarching point is to not be surprised by the original topic - MUTS getting a top level BCS opponent in its stadium. We've discussed the overall philosophies of this athletic department before - it's not serious. If it were serious, it would make series hires.

This is a cash-for-thrash school to this athletic department. He hasn't so much as gotten a game here or there even with his old Mississippi contacts. Look at the other places Mississippi State and Mississippi are travelling. Heck, we haven't even gotten a game from Southern Miss - probably RV's only real connection!

It's a farce. Don't question it. Just accept the reality until we get the opportunity to get someone in here who can make things happen. That's what I do. This athletic department produces nothing, so that's exactly what I expect of it. Todd Dodge's hire is just another blatant example of the huge blindspot in the current director's view of the big picture - scheduling.

So you issue isn't Dodge, but the athletic director! Nice job of pointing that out in your original post in this thread. What's not to follow? Your point, since it changes slightly with every post. You should join the primary currently being fought over by a female lawyer/NY Senator and the man that runs from his pastor, not to name poitical parties, with all the flip flopping you are doing.

Edited May 8, 2008 by UNTLifer

[Quoner]

So you issue isn't Dodge, but the athletic director! Nice job of pointing that out in your original post in this thread. What's not to follow? Your point, since it changes slightly with every post. You should join the primary currently being fought over by a female lawyer/NY Senator and the man that runs from his pastor, not to name poitical parties, with all the flip flopping you are doing.

I thought he was blaming both of them with the ultimate finger at the top decision makers.

Oh, and finally! It took a few pages, but we got politics in a scheduling thread! Speaking of which, I can't believe Nancy Pelosi wants the fight to continue!? There's a gift to knowing when to step back and walk away. Lolz!!111!!!

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Heck, we haven't even gotten a game from Southern Miss - probably RV's only real connection!

But for some reason "we" think he can get a stadium built.

[DeepGreen]

This is a damn good, thought provoking thread. Swooooooooosh! Oh, never mind.