North Texas Football will hit a Milestone

[Harry]

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Dan McCarney knew when he arrived at North Texas to take over the school’s football program that nothing would come easy.

UNT had been down for too long, suffered too many disheartening losses and seen too many seasons with far too few wins.

UNT’s game against the Hoosiers at Apogee Stadium will be its first ever against a Big Ten program and its 75th since the 2004 New Orleans Bowl, the cap to the last season the Mean Green won more than three games.

“Everything that is worth accomplishing in life, you are going to go through some difficult times to get there,” McCarney said. “I have never been more optimistic, not pessimistic, that we can build this thing. Why? The administration, the leadership on campus, the staff that I have surrounded myself with, the response of the students and the fans, the response financially and from a loyalty and generosity standpoint that helped us build [Apogee Stadium]. Are we going to sit around and keep patting ourselves on the back and say that we have everything we need at North Texas now? No. We are so far behind in the big picture with the football program that it will take us a while to catch up.”

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[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

"We are so far behind in the big picture with the football program that it will take us a while to catch up.”

Cue the Darrell Dickey haters!

[meangreendork]

The best thing was the comment about how firing Dickey was a mistake.

Anyone could've seen that Dickey wasn't able to keep the talent gap that he had in 2003 and keep it going. The rest of the SBC got better and his players didn't. That got reflected on the scoreboard, and that was reflected when Dickey was cut.

[GrayEagle]

I am fed up hearing how great things were during the Dickey years and how horrible they have been during the Dodge regime. He keeps overstating the obvious.

How about writing about current conditions and our aspirations? We don't need to be reminded daily about how bad things have been for the last six years. We've lived through it and we're trying to get past it, not relive it.

One more of these trips through memory lane and I'm done with reading about us in either the Denton Record-Chronicle or the Dallas Morning News. I'll eventually get my information from the athletic website or this board. It may not be as timely but I'll enjoy it more.

[greenminer]

I am fed up hearing how great things were during the Dickey years and how horrible they have been during the Dodge regime. He keeps overstating the obvious.

How about writing about current conditions and our aspirations? We don't need to be reminded daily about how bad things have been for the last six years. We've lived through it and we're trying to get past it, not relive it.

One more of these trips through memory lane and I'm done with reading about us in either the Denton Record-Chronicle or the Dallas Morning News. I'll eventually get my information from the athletic website or this board. It may not be as timely but I'll enjoy it more.

I think for the same reasons the Dickey monster never goes away on this board, it will not go away in the DRC.

The response to me (by an admin) when I vented similar frustrations about a year ago: until someone else comes in and wins, he [DD] will be there as the coach that led us through our last winning era.

[untjim1995]

The best thing was the comment about how firing Dickey was a mistake.

Anyone could've seen that Dickey wasn't able to keep the talent gap that he had in 2003 and keep it going. The rest of the SBC got better and his players didn't. That got reflected on the scoreboard, and that was reflected when Dickey was cut.

OK, lets' just imagine for a moment if Coach Mac was our coach back in 2003. Is their anyone who doesn't believe we would have made huge strides as a program with someone in charge that actually liked being here? My simple guess is that we would already be in CUSA or MWC right now if we had a coach like McCarney here that has enthusiasm. On the flip side, if I was Dickey and knew that I was always going to recruit people to Fouts, maybe I would have lost a lot of enthusiasm, too. No matter what, Dickey, nor Dodge after him, were anywhere close to what this university needs as its head coach. Time will tell if McCarney is the right guy, but at least his pedigree, his mentor, and his enthusiasm suggest he will be.

[MeanGreenTexan]

I think for the same reasons the Dickey monster never goes away on this board, it will not go away in the DRC.

The response to me (by an admin) when I vented similar frustrations about a year ago: until someone else comes in and wins, he [DD] will be there as the coach that led us through our last winning era.

Also, if you think about it, Coach McCarney and staff have only coached 3 games here. Less than a month ago, they had coached 0 games here.

Coach Dickey did some great things while here. Coach Dickey did some bone-headed things while here as well. Same goes for Dodge (although the bone-headed things certainly outnumbered the great things for him). So it's fine to hear about those things... in moderation.

What content do you expect from a beat reporter's BLOG (not newspaper stories, I've noticed the Dickey love/Dodge vitrol is truncated in the paper stories) if there is nothing to write about but the past? He probably had a million newspaper stories and blog entries about the new stadium over the past few months (because that's all that was going on), but I don't see anyone venting about going over the same old stadium news.

Our history is our history. Vito was not here for the MVC glory years, or even the great 1-AA dominant years. So we can't expect him to have an opinion, in a blog, or in print on those days.

The opinions we will see are ones from the years he's been covering UNT football. That includes DD years, TD years, & DM months. If coach McCarney is a winner like we all percieve him to be, then the stories will turn from "The Great Dickey" to, "The Great McCarney". If he is a failure, I'm sure we'll hear about the "The McCarney Fiasco". And, the more games we play, the further away coach Dodge's regime falls in the rearview mirror and the less we have to hear about it.

At least, I hope so...

Brett, you would move on from Dodge bashing/Dickey love if coach McCarney gives you something to write about... right?

[oldguystudent]

I don't find this article quite as glaringly bitter as usual. He actually doesn't name Dickey as the greatest thing since the birth of Jesus, nor does he explicitly compare Todd Dodge to sub-Saharan genocide. I do sometimes wonder if anyone ever writes the DRC regarding Brett's obvious chip that he shoulders like it's as weighty as Atlas' globe.

Then again, if there were no Brett Vito searching for any crack in the wall that he can find, there would probably be no UNT coverage at all, and there's no such thing as bad publicity, right? Right?

[UNT90]

I am fed up hearing how great things were during the Dickey years and how horrible they have been during the Dodge regime. He keeps overstating the obvious.

How about writing about current conditions and our aspirations? We don't need to be reminded daily about how bad things have been for the last six years. We've lived through it and we're trying to get past it, not relive it.

One more of these trips through memory lane and I'm done with reading about us in either the Denton Record-Chronicle or the Dallas Morning News. I'll eventually get my information from the athletic website or this board. It may not be as timely but I'll enjoy it more.

Or how about beating the bushes and finding out some information on the many stories that have just been glossed over with the "well, they won't tell me anything" B.S. (See: Terrell Brooks).

Losing a lot of respect and haven't looked at the mean green blog in a while, which says a lot because that is about the only place you can get information on this program from an authorized media source (no offense, Harry).

[UNTMike81]

Man, I hear all sorts of negatives about Coach Dickey. I was a Dickey homer back in the day and still am to a degree. Coach Dickey did win here and still has at least one of his players in the NFL IE. Patrick Cobb. Coach Dickey is the only coach in recent memory that had to re-load his coaching staff because his assistance were wanted by other school's. Did Dickey have good assistant coach salary structure to re-load his staff with...NO!!! Not near the extent that our current coach has and our current coach hasn't won a game.

Resources are hard to come by and Coach Dickey did the best he could with the resources he was provided. Did the assistance coaches that were hired by other BCS conference school's turn out to be bust's or less than adequate coaches once they arrived at their new jobs...NO!!! If you can't pay competitive salary with other companies or in our case institutions how in the world to expect your company or in our case FB program to compete and excel...you can't realistically. If you think coach Dicky's a bust of a FB coach how is it that he's been able to stay employed after a hart attack, diabetes (sp), and I believe gallbladder removal? I know coach Dickey's performance in positions after UNT can be questioned, but do you really believe Dennis Franchione with Texas State would hire a backwards, negative, stupid, stealth recruiting coach to recruit directly against UNT in Texas? I don't think so!!! Coach Dickey co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Coach. Looks like the other co-offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach Mike Schultz at Texas State is a "Stiff" also.

[wardly]

Man, I hear all sorts of negatives about Coach Dickey. I was a Dickey homer back in the day and still am to a degree. Coach Dickey did win here and still has at least one of his players in the NFL IE. Patrick Cobb. Coach Dickey is the only coach in recent memory that had to re-load his coaching staff because his assistance were wanted by other school's. Did Dickey have good assistant coach salary structure to re-load his staff with...NO!!! Not near the extent that our current coach has and our current coach hasn't won a game.

Resources are hard to come by and Coach Dickey did the best he could with the resources he was provided. Did the assistance coaches that were hired by other BCS conference school's turn out to be bust's or less than adequate coaches once they arrived at their new jobs...NO!!! If you can't pay competitive salary with other companies or in our case institutions how in the world to expect your company or in our case FB program to compete and excel...you can't realistically. If you think coach Dicky's a bust of a FB coach how is it that he's been able to stay employed after a hart attack, diabetes (sp), and I believe gallbladder removal? I know coach Dickey's performance in positions after UNT can be questioned, but do you really believe Dennis Franchione with Texas State would hire a backwards, negative, stupid, stealth recruiting coach to recruit directly against UNT in Texas? I don't think so!!! Coach Dickey co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Coach. Looks like the other co-offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach Mike Schultz at Texas State is a "Stiff" also.

i was and am a supporter of dickey, and had a great relationship with him. however, it was time for a change. lets give him his due, and move forward with coach mac.

[Green Mean]

i was and am a supporter of dickey, and had a great relationship with him. however, it was time for a change. lets give him his due, and move forward with coach mac.

[rcade]

UNT fans should appreciate Dickey's accomplishments and move beyond the way things ended for him at our school. His conference winning streak and first bowl victory for UNT in 40 years should be enough to put him alongside Hayden Fry as coaches who had great runs in Denton.

[UNTLifer]

Why is game 75 after the last bowl game a milestone?

[greenminer]

Why is game 75 after the last bowl game a milestone?

I guess 50th just wasn't that big of a deal.

[GangGreen]

Why is game 75 after the last bowl game a milestone?

When you win 5 games in the last seven years, it's hard to find significant stuff to write about.

[GrandGreen]

You can tell how bad the Dodge experiment was, by the number of people that still support Dickey. Dickey couldn't recruit and had more than run out his welcome at NT. Yes, give him credit for the magnificent conference run he had 2001 to 2004. Dickey certainly had heath issues but instead of recruiting, he was more interested in finding a better job than coaching in the self proclaimed worst situation in the nation. I wonder when Dickey made that statement, if he was aware that ULM was in the Belt. Bad mouthing the University and fans plus a recruiting style that really didn't start till December for February recruits was no longer good enough for NT or the Belt. Not to mention one of the most juvenile exits a HC could make.

Just because Dodge was a monumental coaching mistake does not make Dickey a better coach than he was. It was in retrospect past time for both to move on. Yes, McCarney has much much more to work with, but NT was never among the poor relative to Belt standards.

[VideoEagle]

This that a milestone or a millstone?

[Mean Green Matt]

Dickey certainly had heath issues but instead of recruiting, he was more interested in finding a better job than coaching in the self proclaimed worst situation in the nation.

?