Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to former UNT QB Jason Bean…
So, after a long hot day in Denton, on my drive back home I felt pretty good, but I certainly didn’t feel great. Sure, North Texas had in fact won their second straight ballgame 45-31, against a decent Abilene Christian program who despite being FBS had a good QB (McIvor 217 yds 4 TD’s 1 INT), RB Jay’ Veon Sunday (21 carries 140 yards) and seemed to have pretty good size on both sides of the ball.
But in retrospect, this was not a game that should have been even close. UNT was 31-14 with 1:40 left in the 1st half, and then allowed ACU to outscore them 41-7 in the 3rd quarter which was just unfortunate. Especially for the defense and defensive coordinator Matt Caponi.
Which is basically what Coach Morris said in his post-game interview. This team just does not put people away; it becomes complacent whenever they taste success. So again, while I don’t like that we have these types of problems, I do like that our HC sees it and is transparent about it and how they intend to fix it.
That does not directly address the elephant in the room, defensive coordinator Matt Caponi. So far, 4-games into a 12-game regular season, basically a 3rd of the season and we still are struggling defensively in tackling, and just gutting up and making key plays on 3rd downs. Is there some issue with personnel, of course, but to have them be this exposed against an FCS program is truly a concern for Morris and things will not get any easier in Annapolis, I can assure you….
…Had a great gameday on Saturday with Tony, Vic, Amanda, Lauren, Terry C and Mike rolling out the red carpet for everyone at the tailgate. I want to thank everyone who helped us welcome the returning NIT Champions who also braved the heat and signed autographs, took pictures, and visited with the fans. Rubin Jones, Robert Allen, Aaron Scott, Moulaye Sissoko, CJ Noland, Jason Edwards and Matthew Stone were all there and gave everyone a good time. I cannot emphasize enough that besides being great talents on the floor, they also are great people and represent our university in a first-class manner.
So, Saturday was a special day for me and several other Mean Green fans who have formed a brand-new Name Image and Likeness (NIL) Collective officially called Mean Green Collective (MGC). Through the efforts of the founding MGC members, we were able to write a $100,000 check to both Mean Green Men’s and Women’s basketball scholarship players. The founding members of the MGC are Ernie Kuehne, Diann Huber, Curtis Clinesmith, Denny Kalk, Harry Miers and First State Bank of Denton. I give a handshake and virtual hug to all of them and thank them so much for their support. We did it! Thank you. 
A specific need was identified in terms of basketball and the MGC met and significantly exceeded that need in a very short period. It was time to make a move and instead of commitment, it was a time that required action and I am proud that we were able to get that done. But there is so much more to do, and we will need your help to get it done.
This request gave us the opportunity to go beyond a one-time solution and instead build something that could last and go on to help UNT excel in athletics for many years to come. Whether you love or hate the NIL, I assure you that it is not going anywhere. UNT’s blessing is that it has so many successful alums in the DFW area and State of Texas. Our strength always has and will be in our numbers. So, we wanted to form an NIL that was not just a small group of big donors (who we greatly appreciate BTW) but a wider net that included more of the common man fan who cares and wants to help support the program but just could not find a good way to do it.
Forming the MGC gives us a vehicle to support our student athletes in a direct way that has not been available before. I know that there are a lot of questions out there about our NIL and we will be working on addressing many of those in the coming days.
I have a couple of key points that I would like to share on the Mean Green Collective:
• We are a UNT athletics NIL (not just basketball or football but all scholarship sports). We will support all sports that are in need and make good business sense. We have an obligation to be good stewards of your gifts to the players and we intend to do that. If you want to give to a particular sport or even a player our intent is to help you do that with as little hassle as possible.
• We have zero admin costs and are self-funding the costs either through our wallets or from sweat equity to start this up on our own and run it as well. Our goal is to be as transparent as possible about everything that we do. We are all UNT alums, and we have all invested in this NIL. We believe GoMeanGreen.com gives our Collective a unique opportunity to connect and engage with Mean Green fans who want to support athletics.
• We need money. We need your help, and remember our strength is in numbers. There is no number too small or too large to help aid our cause. We need to get as many people as possible invested in this athletic program to actively participate. We are working on ways to make this easy to do through online tools that are secure and simple to use.
• We have 300,000 alums in the Metroplex. We need your help to connect with them and get as many people as possible engaged in this program. And we don’t just mean writing checks. We need you to help us get others engaged as well.
• If a donor or player chooses to disclose the amount of money they have paid for or received, that is their choice and by the way the player is responsible for paying taxes on any money he oir she has received. Any UNT player receiving money will receive a 1099 at the end of the year and will be solely responsible for paying his or her taxes.
That is all for now! Very excited to be traveling to Annapolis for the big game against Navy. I will be sending updates from there and hope to visit with others who make the trip as well. More to Come! Go Mean Green!
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