Coaching Staffs

[hickoryhouse]

All this talk of our new WR coach and our new OC got me thinkin, what is the difference between our old staff and our new one...

2007 Coaches:

HC: Todd Dodge

OC: Todd Ford

High School wizard and current High School HC. Career highlight were record breaking offensive seasons for NT in 07 and 08

DC: Ron Mendoza

DC at Southlake before 1 season here and currently he is........

Special Teams: Robert Drake

HC coach for 17 seasons at Southlake before joining the Mean Green in 2007

Running Backs: Shelton Gandy

Has done a fantastic job with the runners hee at NT, helping Lance Dunbar to national acclaim in 2009

Wide Recievers: Clayton George

NT Alum and helped turn Fitz into one of the best Mean Green players of all time.

Defensive Backs: Butch LaCroix

Spent 13 seasons away from football to take over a defensive backfield that really needed help

Off. Line: Spencer Leftwich

2nd time around here at NT and a good amount of FBS experience including time at Tulsa. The offensive line is one of the Mean Green's strong points going into the 2010 season

Safeties: Chuck Peterson

One of the most experienced staff members of the originals, 17+ seasons as FBS including stints as OC at Air Force

Defensive Ends:

David Rausch

A very young coach, he spent time at Hardin Simmons and OSU before coming to the Mean Green

2010 projected coaches

HC: Todd Dodge

New Coaches ----

OC: Mike Canales

Very experienced OC with time spent in the NFL. Helped to build USF from a startup school to a BCS power quickly

DC: Gary Deloach

The architect of arguably the best defense in NT history, made great strides in overall defense since his return

Corner Backs: Carlton Buckles

3 Seasons at NMSU prior to arriving at UNT

Defensive Line: Mike Nelson

40 years as a coach including 29 as a defensive line coach at places like Virginia, Ball State, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas State, Stanford, Rutgers, Oregon State and Iowa State

Strength and Conditioning: Charr Gahagan

8 years working at USC, considered one of the up and coming strength coaches in the nation and fills a huge hole for the NT football program

Wide Recievers: Greg Peterson

Previously at KSU and other aq schools

Returning Coaches

Shelton Gandy, Chuck Peterson, Spencer Leftwich

I don't know what I am trying to prove here, but just from looking at it I would say I like the lack of high school coaches and the addition of true Div 1 talent.

[glick1980]

I threw up in my mouth a little looking at Dodge's original staff. He has done a great job of getting experienced college coaches in here to rectify that "high school" problem.

[aztecskin]

I threw up in my mouth a little looking at Dodge's original staff. He has done a great job of getting experienced college coaches in here to rectify that "high school" problem.

If only a little too late.

[Will to Win]

can't help but wonder if the fact that he was playing for the State Championship at the time hurt him in not only in recruitng but, also did not have the opportunity to interview "college experienced" coaches?

So, the circumstances dictated that he bring along his H.S. staff to UNT?????

[forevereagle]

can't help but wonder if the fact that he was playing for the State Championship at the time hurt him in not only in recruitng but, also did not have the opportunity to interview "college experienced" coaches?

So, the circumstances dictated that he bring along his H.S. staff to UNT?????

Then why keep them around so long?

[aztecskin]

can't help but wonder if the fact that he was playing for the State Championship at the time hurt him in not only in recruitng but, also did not have the opportunity to interview "college experienced" coaches?

So, the circumstances dictated that he bring along his H.S. staff to UNT?????

Then why keep them around so long?

It may have hurt him. But really, isn't that still on him? I mean, he chose to stay another year. He had to have known what that would do.

Really, it's hard to fully blame PapaDodge on this one, though. It is more on UNT. Coming off of the string of success that he had, it would have been hard for TD to say to his guys that they weren't good enough. With all that shhh he was talking about "coaching being coaching" it seems like he really believed that. Someone, and I guess that means RV, should have made him, that's right, made him compromise on some of those dudes. I would have let him bring his offensive staff because that is his baby. The defense though? No. Ronnie Mendoza had no outstanding achievements (that I know of) worthy of being a D-1 D-coordinator. I would have made Dodge-y convince me that he needed his defensive staff in its then iteration. I would have maybe accepted Mendoza on the staff but definitely not as DC.

Eh but all that is hindsight. Still though, I wonder what actually happened. Did RV even question any of that?

Edited March 5, 2010 by aztecskin

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

We've been through this topic several times on the magic portal part of the board.

I've had two consitent takes thoughout:

(1) Dodge had no idea about the competition level he was about to face

(2) Villareal should have known

As to (1), it manifested itself in several ways:

- putting off taking the helm while the high school playoffs were ongoing, which I believe hurt the initial recruiting efforts

- the inability or unwillingness to adjust to the opponent, as shown by trying to play man coverage against an OU team with three future NFL draft choices

- focusing too much on things that have nothing to do with football, like wasting game time to have the receivers coach dress down a defensive back for cursing during a game

As to (2), his background should have precluded Rick from allowing Dodge from putting together the initial staff

- Rick had been a college football coach

- Rick had been athletic administration for years

I think quite a bit of hubris developed around Todd Dodge because of his high school success, and maybe Rick bought into it. I know from talking to more than a few parents of players that they were initially swept into what they thought was a "Dodge mystique."

The problem was and always will be, given equal parts, who can make their machine run the best. Think NASCAR here. All teams have to follow the same guidelines and rules in putting together their cars for race day. We had the equivalent of the high school shop class and the shade tree mechanic neighbor we'd known for years (the DB coach from the business world) putting our car together. Meanwhile, our opponents cars were assemble and put to the test by professional mechanics.

It doesn't matter now. If everything is as it appears, Todd Dodge has traded the old, top-down, high school model of running the team for the 21st Century CEO/delegate the power model. And, I truly believe we will benefit from it.

I've said all along that the most ridiculous part of our losing so much was that we are in the Sun Belt. If Dodge had been hired by, say, Baylor and gone 5-31 in the Big 12, that wouldn't have been shocking. But, guys, two official Sun Belt conference wins in three seasons was ridiculous.

As stated a couple of days ago, I don't think one Sun Belt team blows the doors off the others in recruiting. We're all behind the big, AQ conference dogs regionally. So, the other factor comes into play, and that's coaching.

We now have a coaching staff with experience equal to or greater than every one of our Sun Belt foes. So, I think you will see not just a highly competitive team, but a championship caliber team - for this conference. There will be less missed assignments on defense, fewer dropped passes on offense, more receivers working open and also knowing what to do when a play breaks down...and the quarterback lining up behind the center on third or fourth and short and sneaking for the first down or handing off to a tailback to bang away for the first down or, dare I say, touchdown!