SI's Pete Thamel: McCarney has possible shot at Illinois job

[meangreener]

Yikes. I didn't realize it was that bad.

The dude lights his house bright green. He bleeds green. Never underestimate guys of the old guard and loyalty. We took a second chance on Mac and I think he'll be forever grateful.

We've got to fix attendance, though. If we can, I think he's here until he retires.

Edited November 21, 2013 by meangreener

[TheColonyEagle]

Excellent point. If folks want to help keep Mac around, filling up Apogee might just be a key ingredient.

I don't think he's going to leave this soon. Any time a non AQ coach has a good year, he's going to get mentioned for bigger programs.

And as for leaving because of attendance....all I'm going to say is he will need to use the same patience with attendance as he preached on us regarding the product on the field.

This is year 3 and he's winning. Is he going to give the fans 3 years?

[Mean Green 93-98]

For one, those are the end zone seats, the last to fill up. You can tell that the stands are filled where the photographer is standing. For another, that's for a terrible team against an opponent that everyone knew they were going to be blown out by. Also, looking at the way the people are dressed and the way the flags are blowing, it looks like a cold and windy (and rainy?) day.

Coach Mac would know that if he goes there and brings winning football there, they will have 55-60k in the stands every time.

By the way, you can find examples of empty stands for pretty much any team.

Would Illinois have something to offer Coach Mac that we couldn't match? I'd have to say yes.

That said, I don't know what Coach Mac is thinking. He seems like a fiercely loyal guy. I'm sure he had better opportunities when he was riding high at Iowa State, but he never left of his own accord.

If he were to leave for Illinois, I wouldn't blame him, but I'd be disappointed.

[ColoradoEagle]

If he left over attendance, that would be petty since 1) he has only been winning games consistently since a little over a month ago, and 2) this is a mid-major and he knew that when he signed on. One day attendance could be crazy enough to add another tier on the student side, and we may be a member of the Big XII or SEC*, but that's not today and we're nowhere even close to that. Same as TCU, that would take 10+ years of 0-2 losses per season, consistent top 25 rankings, and a Rose Bowl or equivalent victory. Today we're an improving program with pretty decent attendance after everything we've gone through.

[FirefightnRick]

Allowing Coach Mac to get away would be a Biblically epic blunder.

Could say the same for Skladany as well. Lots of Aggies are talking Mean Green defense and the fact their defense sucks many recall that he also coached for Sumlin at U of H at one point.

Rick

[Mean Green 93-98]

Could say the same for Skladany as well. Lots of Aggies are talking Mean Green defense and the fact their defense sucks many recall that he also coached for Sumlin at U of H at one point.

Rick

I don't know if that could be called a "blunder," though. If the Aggies come calling and he wants to go, what do we do? We could offer an increased salary and let him know we want him to stay, but that's about it.

[Green Mean]

Could say the same for Skladany as well. Lots of Aggies are talking Mean Green defense and the fact their defense sucks many recall that he also coached for Sumlin at U of H at one point.

Rick

If Aggies get Skladany it would suck but I trust in Mac and his ability to hire a good or comparable DC.

[houstonmeangreen]

Yikes. I didn't realize it was that bad.

The dude lights his house bright green. He bleeds green. Never underestimate guys of the old guard and loyalty. We took a second chance on Mac and I think he'll be forever grateful.

We've got to fix attendance, though. If we can, I think he's here until he retires.

I agree...at his age and with his medical issues, he was almost among the departed...so things other than money take on new or more profound meaning....I guessing he wants to stay MEAN GREEN to the bone...be the HC for a few more years and see how far he can take us, see if he can put us in a position to need to add a deck on the student side...see if an AQ conference comes calling....lots of cool things for him to do right here in Denton Town. He has friends here, Skladany is here, Fry coached here....I'm just not sure he would want to pick up and start over again at this time...I hope not, but coaching changes are the nature of college football and if he wants to play that game, then we just have to find a new coach...now we have some cards to play, unlike years past.

[TheColonyEagle]

Plus.....he's not an overnight turnaround guy.

Don't know if a big program wants to wait.

This turnaround is much faster than what he had at Iowa St.

[PlummMeanGreen]

We probably should not speculate on Coach Mac's behalf based on his health or age. He may be healthier than a horse--stroke or no stroke; by pass or no by pass. Age 60 with many is still considered young enough. Young enough with us, right?

The model many of us will probably always defer to if we find ourselves looking for a HFC is our former conference-mate, ie, Boise State.

In a little over a decade, Boise had about 3 or 4 HFC's hired away from their emerging program yet the Broncos didn't lose a beat with each of those new hires and continued as a Top 25 ranked program throughout. It was an amazing feat to watch this all materialize in Bronco Country, too.

GMG!

Edited November 21, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[MeanGreenTexan]

If Aggies get Skladany it would suck but I trust in Mac and his ability to hire a good or comparable DC.

As great as Skladany is, do you know the magnitude of the fanbase meltdown that would occur if A&M were to hire Skladany? Anyone short of Dick LeBeau would be viewed as a step down for those guys.

[TheColonyEagle]

We probably should not speculate on Coach Mac's behalf based on his health or age. He may be healthier than a horse--stroke or no stroke; by pass or no by pass. Age 60 with many is still considered young enough. Young enough with us, right?

The model many of us will probably always defer to if we find ourselves looking for a HFC is our former conference-mate, ie, Boise State.

In a little over a decade, Boise had about 3 or 4 HFC's hired away from their emerging program yet the Broncos didn't lose a beat with each of those new hires and continued as a Top 25 ranked program throughout. It was an amazing feat to watch this all materialize in Bronco Country, too.

GMG!

Good point Plumm.

[untjim1995]

I've said this for a while, but Mac's energy and attitude make him feel younger than he really is. He would be an excellent candidate for the AQ teams that are down on their luck in the Midwest. Illinois could get Coach Mac for what they are currently paying and get experience and a winner in him. Plus, he is known as a turnaround artist, which can easily be sold to your fanbase, even in Illinois. He can EASILY get a compensation package of over $2 million in Champaign, Illinois. I'm not sure he can get to $1 million in compensation here in Denton anytime soon.

The attendance thing matters, but not nearly as much as many think. We were the absolute dreg of FBS--along with Western Kentucky--when McCarney took over here. We've never had good attendance, so it was going to take time to get people back into the fold, which is just now happening. The biggest differences are simply money and conference affiliation. Think about this--if he gets Illinois to 6-6, he will be GUARANTEED to go to at least the Heart of Dallas Bowl. If he gets UNT to 8-4, you MIGHT get to the Heart of Dallas Bowl. If you can get double your pay for being able to go to the same bowl in the Big Ten that takes a great season in CUSA, you'd be a fool not to at least listen. And Coach Mac is not a fool...

[ColoradoEagle]

If you can get double your pay for being able to go to the same bowl in the Big Ten that takes a great season in CUSA, you'd be a fool not to at least listen. And Coach Mac is not a fool...

He'd be a fool for listening when the Illini might be firing their coach after just his second season. Mac might be able to do better at that school, I don't know, but here he can pretty much coach into retirement here so long as he goes to a bowl game every 2-3 years. If he continues the upward trajectory of the program, there's gonna be a lot more attractive options than Illinois in coming years.

[Mean Green 93-98]

He'd be a fool for listening when the Illini might be firing their coach after just his second season. Mac might be able to do better at that school, I don't know, but here he can pretty much coach into retirement here so long as he goes to a bowl game every 2-3 years. If he continues the upward trajectory of the program, there's gonna be a lot more attractive options than Illinois in coming years.

At his age, I'm not sure. If Illinois comes calling now, it would probably be his last real shot at a Big 10/Big XII HC gig. You just don't see the big schools hiring head coaches in their sixties. Yes, K-State brought back Bill Snyder, but that was a major exception to the rule. So if Coach Mac's goal is to coach in the Big 10 and he gets the opportunity, he would probably have to jump on it now.

That said, I'm not sure that's his goal. There were rumors that Indiana was very interested in him--we know they were interested in Coach Bowen--but both chose UNT over Indiana, which is a very comparable situation to Illinois. If Iowa were to come calling, that might be another story.

[meangreener]

At his age, I'm not sure. If Illinois comes calling now, it would probably be his last real shot at a Big 10/Big XII HC gig. You just don't see the big schools hiring head coaches in their sixties. Yes, K-State brought back Bill Snyder, but that was a major exception to the rule. So if Coach Mac's goal is to coach in the Big 10 and he gets the opportunity, he would probably have to jump on it now.

That said, I'm not sure that's his goal. There were rumors that Indiana was very interested in him--we know they were interested in Coach Bowen--but both chose UNT over Indiana, which is a very comparable situation to Illinois. If Iowa were to come calling, that might be another story.

Iowa is his LSU. That's the only way we lose Mac.

[Green Mean]

He'd be a fool for listening when the Illini might be firing their coach after just his second season. Mac might be able to do better at that school, I don't know, but here he can pretty much coach into retirement here so long as he goes to a bowl game every 2-3 years. If he continues the upward trajectory of the program, there's gonna be a lot more attractive options than Illinois in coming years.

To be a coach and successful coach you have to have an ego and coaches have the biggest ego's. They hardly a job is ever to big for them where they think they can't turn it around quickly. And frankly money talks. A bottom feeder AQ school can start at tripling his current salary at NT. Given his age and health problems his thinking might be, I can make one last run at a nice contract that adds plenty of more cushion to his retirement funds.

Again none of us know what Mac is thinking but I'm not going to treat him any different than other coaches because more times than not, if better opportunity comes to go to a better job with significantly more pay, they will usually bolt and rightfully so.

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

Or Mac could be a Chris Petersen or Gary Patterson type of guy.

[UNTMike81]

Texas doesn't have State income tax and I'm sure Illinois does. Hopefully Coach Mac will stay. Just hope RV ponies but the $$$'s to at least keep Coach Mac if it comes to that. I wasn't a big fan of hiring coach Mac after Dodge era, but I was wrong!!!! I'll be eating crow for a long time over that. So, great hire RV. Here's hoping Coach Mac likes UNT and Denton, TX. enough to stay here a long time and talks RV out of some of the $$$'s UNT is bringing into the AD.

[untjim1995]

He'd be a fool for listening when the Illini might be firing their coach after just his second season. Mac might be able to do better at that school, I don't know, but here he can pretty much coach into retirement here so long as he goes to a bowl game every 2-3 years. If he continues the upward trajectory of the program, there's gonna be a lot more attractive options than Illinois in coming years.

I hear you on what he can deal with here, but most coaches worth their salt--and that definitely includes McCarney--aren't folks that are known to be "settlers". Sure, Peterson and Patterson are examples of coaches who have stayed put, but their universities have heavily compensated them to stay and moved their programs into higher profile conferences along the way. Maybe UNT does the same thing to reward Coach Mac, if needed.

But the clear majority of coaches, no matter their age, are always looking to move upward and get the raise in pay and stature while they can get it. This is especially true between non-AQ and AQ conferences. Illinois will get more money from bowls and their Big Ten membership, while not winning a game, than any non-AQ team , except for the one who makes a BCS Bowl. IN other words, Illinois can easily dump a guy who has been Dodge-esque in his tenure there, for a true re-builder with strong Midwestern roots and in a league where his run-first offense would play very well. All the while, he gets double his pay. And the longer he waits, the more his age does come into play as a factor against him, notwithstanding his energy and attitude. If he leaves UNT for another place, it will be after this season or next. Illinois would fit just about every characteristic of a job that McCarney has excelled at in the last 15 years.

I'd love for him to say no, if offered. But I'd be shocked if he said no to this hypothetical offer. Remember, Hayden Fry left here for moribund Iowa in 1978, where he hired Coach Mac. The rest was history--and Illinois is an easier place to recruit to than Iowa. Maybe Illinois won't consider even talking to him, much less making an offer his way. But if I were the AD up there, I'd be putting out feelers to see if Coach Mac would be interested.

[Travis]

As for crowds, and given our last 9 years, you can't expect packed out large crowds after just 7 wins. It took time to get us where we are. It will take a little while for the area to catch the fever. I certainly don't blame them.

[ColoradoEagle]

But the clear majority of coaches, no matter their age, are always looking to move upward and get the raise in pay and stature while they can get it. This is especially true between non-AQ and AQ conferences. Illinois will get more money from bowls and their Big Ten membership, while not winning a game, than any non-AQ team , except for the one who makes a BCS Bowl. IN other words, Illinois can easily dump a guy who has been Dodge-esque in his tenure there, for a true re-builder with strong Midwestern roots and in a league where his run-first offense would play very well.

Yeah, but Beckman is 5-17 through his first 22 games where Mac was 9-13 here and 3-19 at Iowa State. Not too different. I don't know how he thinks, but I would hesitate to drop something I'm in the middle of building for a whole new project where it's nearly guaranteed I'll be out on my ass in a couple years.

Honestly I don't think Illinois contacts him in the first place given his age and the fact that his turnarounds are not immediate. Maybe there's another reason they want to get rid of Beckman that isn't apparent by looking at his record.

[TheFranchise]

Or Mac could be a Chris Petersen or Gary Patterson type of guy.

THIS!

GP had his name mentioned every single time one of the big AQ schools started coach hunting, when TCU was not an AQ school. And every time, when asked in interviews he'd always say, "I'm not leaving yet. I have a job I promised to do here, and I haven't done it yet." That goal? To win TCU an NC.

I could easily see Mac having this same mentality with us. At least, I hope he does.

**Not proclaiming that we're going to win an NC soon, but I want that kind of high aspiration from our HC**

Edited November 22, 2013 by TheFranchise

[UNTLifer]

Just stay Mac!

[Mean Green Matt]

If he leaves, he leaves. Very few of us, if any know him personally enough to know what kind of money it would take to get him to leave. The thought that we could match a BCS offer at this point is delusional. We will have been left in a better place if he leaves. What's important is continuing to make hires that move the program forward. Any one have any reason to doubt we can't do that?