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That 33,500 capacity in Boise is killing their recruiting.

Name: Dean Martinez Age: at the start of the slow crawl to midlife crisis Why I'd be a great head coach: I can show the kids with some fancy Mexican freestyle wrestling moves I can wow las senoritas with some fancy Mexican freestyle wrestling moves I make a mean margarita for the post game press conference Mariachi Half time I can recruit Northside, Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove, Rio Grand Valley, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosi Fresh tortillas! Why I'd be a terrible head coach: fancy Mexican freestyle wrestling moves may not go over to well in Denton My ongoing feud with Jerry Luis may be considered a distraction too great to overcome Immigration issues with recruits Mariachi Half time Expected compensation: 75k, Chevy Pickup, amnesty, and fajitas

Let's make sure Santiago stays clear of it.

High expectations for a new coach, that will have to rebuild; have you looked at what is coming back? Recruiting this year is a disaster, a new coach and staff is not going to be able to salvage it. NT will lose a bunch of players and has little in depth. QB, offensive line and, defensive tackles are major concerns next year. Assuming Thompson fully recovers that gives you one solid QB, the offensive line must be almost completely rebuild, the wrs lose Lott, Jackson but hopefully have healthy Bynes, Strafford joining Carey, Taylor and Lewis. The defense loses it's best players Atkinsson, Jackson and Robertson. There is little depth at any position as NT pays the price of a heavy reliance of jucos. NT will have a few good players returning in Dunbar, Carey, Chancellor, and Phillips. But once again they will have no experience at QB other than Baine and maybe Dodge if he stays which is questionable. Runnning back will be a strong position, WR should be alright but the offensive line will lose three starters off what has turned out to be a weak unit. All the defensive ends will return but that unfortunately can't be considered a strong point. Linebacker should be ok with Orr, Phillips, Johnson and Herron but there is no depth. The secondary should actually be better assuming Ford and Cook return with McCord, Hill, Downing and Shorter. Next year is going to depend on players such as Cantly, Abbe, and McCoy developing and the injured players all returning. Unfortunely, I don't see much chance for good season next year no matter who the coach is. I am afraid Dodge inherited a better team than he is leaving.

I figured out these seeds mostly because of my own OCD about knowing how things are shaping up, but figured I would share my findings. As usual, the "official" SBC standings are incorrect, and do not incorporate the tiebreakers. These seeds are as if the SBC Soccer Tournament started today, with all tiebreakers taken into account. Each team has 3 games remaining. The number in subscript is the UNT result vs. that team this season. Qualified Teams #1. Denver (NP)........................................8-0 SBC #2. Middle Tennessee (OT Loss 2-1, Away).....6-2 SBC #3. Western Kentucky (Loss 1-0, Away).........6-2 SBC #4. North Texas......................................6-2 SBC #5. Florida International (Win 2-1, Home).......5-3 SBC #6. Troy (Win 3-1, Away)..............................4-4 SBC #7. Florida Atlantic (Win 5-0, Home)..............3-5 SBC #8. Louisiana-Lafayette (Win 4-0, Home)........3-5 SBC Eliminated: #9. Arkansas State (NP)...........................3-5 SBC #10. Arkansas Little-Rock (NP).................2-6 SBC #11. South Alabama (Win 2-0, Away)............2-6 SBC #12. Louisiana-Monroe (Win 4-0, Home)........0-8 SBC Points of Interest: UNT is in a three-way tie for second place with WKU and MTSU, but loses any tiebreaker with either, or any combination of those two teams. WKU and MTSU still must play each other, so one of those teams will end with at least 3 losses. UNT should finish at 9-3 worst case scenario if it loses away to #21 Denver in the last game of the year. If UNT can beat Denver, the Mean Green are guaranteed no less than the #3 seed in the tournament. I'll update these seeds after the next round of games on Thursday.

If he was a great football mind he wouldn't be 6-37 with being in the worst football conference in FBS. He is just a failure in all levels of being a college football coach.

I would say the shellacking at OU started it, and it began to spiral when Meager was pulled after the 600+ yard game at SMU. Dodge had some nice, experienced players on the roster when he arrived. He chose to give more playing time to younger players. He chose it, and he's reaped it ever since. I only feel bad for Vizza in that he was part of two QB controversies. He bailed out on the second one. He should have been redshirting the 2007 season and playing his junior year now. He never should have had to worry about Riley Dodge even sniffing the field at QB...because he never would have at the other 119 FBS schools. Vizza got out of the way so that the Dodge's could live their poorly imagined fantasy of father coaching son at QB in college. It was a disaster from many standpoints - our won-loss record, QB recruiting, and Riley's own health. Dodge just didn't understand the game at this level. Neither did his assistants. Football isn't football at all levels, as he supposed and tried to convince us (...and...some here believed him!). Dodge will be gone soon. We hope RV will do the correct thing and have a guy hired by December 1. We need a head coach in the houses of JUCO QBs, OLs, and DLs before the mid-December JUCO signing date. We need more experienced players to go through spring practice. We're going to be thin enough with graduations to simply hope JUCO guys qualify during the summer and can actually play once they are on campus in August. Time is of the essence for us. The 2011 season can be as big as the Tulsa turnaround from 1-11 in 2002 to 8-5 and a bowl in 2003 if RV makes the right hire and makes it fast!

He can't coach worth a damn. He's taken enough money from this school as it is.

Yeah, what are a few on-campus rapes compared to winning some games?

There is a big difference between being able to identify talent and the ability to sign those athletes. NT by virtue of it's history, conference, and current performance is just not going to sign many identified primo athletes. There are two elements in the recruiting wars, beating out similar and sightly better competition for athletes and the ability to identify borderline prospects that there is little competition for that have fb talent. Dodge's first year recruiting was horrible in hind sight, but he signed a great number of All everything type athletes. The problem though they were good high school athletes, they didn't have college level ability. I thought Dodge second year was one of the best recruiting years NT has had, he actually signed a number of athletes that had other opportunities. The last two years, Dodge and staff have basically had to fight over the leftovers of recruits, being basically non-competitive against Texas fb competition. Note, the relatively large number of out of state players. Yes, there are a few exceptions but in general, Dodge and staff got borderline athletics and took too many chances on the academically challenged. I still do wonder why many of you continue to pound on Riley. A player that gives everything and has had a fair measure of success. He may not be strong enough to stay away from injury but the kid has a hell of a heart. Every coach makes recruiting mistakes and the lower the team is on the food chain, the more risks are usually taken. One thing that has surprised me about Dodge is his failure to recruit a number of QBs. This recruit one a year may be alright for a team with an established QB rotation, but makes no sense when the team has no established hierarchy of QB's. He has also failed more often than not, with high school receivers; a position that should be easy for him to recruit. Discussing Dodge's recruiting now is probably totally counter productive. Hopefully, NT hires a coach that can create enough excitement to quickly upgrade recruiting. You have to give Dodge and staff some credit, I think they have really worked hard at recruiting; but it hard to out recruit your record and conference. There is no reason that NT should not out recruit the other Belt teams and be able to compete with the bottom half of the Texas teams, but it is not going to be easy. You generally have to win to recruit well, and to win you have to have talent. The new coach because of the lack of depth is probably going to have to continue to hit the jucos hard and slowing reduce the reliance on transfers.

I don't think he needs to be reassigned until the season is over. Make the announcement, let him finish the season and then reassign him at the end if the season. I enjoyed reading this. Thank you Coach Dodge. Keep the positive attitude, and keep up the fight until it is over!

I heard we lead the nation in excuses too.

Yes, it would make sense. If Todge stays...we will lose more games, and badly. If he goes, we will probably lose more games. The difference? We can FINALLY show that this is not the same 'ol NT. That mediocrity (boy, wouldn't that be nice at this point ) is not just taken as part of the way things are done and that we can't help but expect it. It's not like we couldn't just tape record any one of his postgame interviews and play them in his stead for the rest of the season.

UNT should make the move now for several reasons; 1) The most important- The new stadium and trying to sell suites and club seating. Right now, there is zero hope for the future of this team. Reassigning Dodge and replacing him with an interm coach (it doesn't matter who it is) would at least show future investers in the stadium that changes are coming and give them a reason to spend their money. 2) This is the perfect time to make a move. A bye week upcoming, allowing 2 weeks for the interm coach to get settled in. 3) The coaching search can get under way in full public view. No backroom contacts need to be made. It's like removing a bandaid. If you know you are going to do it, just grab it and rip it off. Trying to peal it back slowly just prolongs the pain.

I completely understand how you can see that. It's not like he would come out and say, "Eff these losers, I can't wait to get out of this dump! Thanks for the cash suckers! Peace!" He has never demonstrated that attitude. EVER. Then there's the coach speak... I do think there's some of that in there simply because he probably shouldn't be completely candid with how he is feeling right now. However, I really do think he MEANS what he is saying, and that's why he has all kinds of respect from people (myself included), and well wishes for his future. Nice guy? Absolutely. Good coach? Not yet. I really do think he'll be a good coach one day. Probably division 1 caliber, but that time is not now. The University of North Texas paid a steep price for his learning curve. So I would expect no bitterness from him at all. I think he recognizes the situation just like we do. I bet if he had it to do over again, he would have this coaching staff assembled in 2007.

I'm a fan of Kragthorpe. Although, some here harbor some resentment toward him because of things he said about UNT after he left. I could care less. Darrell Dickey said some things as well - and, they were all true. I'm not for painting over crap with sunshine. If Kragthorpe won't blow sunshine up my a*s, I'm fine with that. As long as he wins. We're in a lot better position facility-wise now than when he was briefly here in 1994. He's proven his stuff isn't BCS worthy. But, I can speak firsthand that he took a very crappy Tulsa program on the verge of dropping down to I-AA and turned them into a winner in year one. He can do it with a mid-major: Tulsa during my law school years, 2000-2002, coached by Keith Burns: 2000: 5-7 2001: 1-10 (sole victory over I-AA Indiana State) 2002: 1-11 (sole victory over 2-10 UTEP) Burns' 2000 Tulsa squad began the season 3-2, then reeled off a Dodge-esque 4-26 record to finish off his three seasons. Kragthorpe was the Buffalo Bills QB coach, but had family in Tulsa, so the AD called him and he agreed to give it a shot: 2003: 8-5, Humanitarian Bowl 2004: 4-8 2005: 9-4, Conference USA Champions, Liberty Bowl winners 2006: 8-5, Armed Forces Bowl Kragthorpe is living it Tulsa, so the move isn't that far. I stand unopposed to 8- and 9-win seasons and bowl games. I think he could do it here. The Tulsa program was in as bad a shape as ours is now when he took over. Plus, they had no new stadium waiting for Kragthorpe. They simply began renovations on their oversized high school stadium that my mom cheered at when she was in high school back in the 1960s. Pathetic. In my opinion, Kragthorpe along with other proven Mid-Major builders John L. Smith, Dennis Franchione, Steve Logan, and Jeff Bower should already have had their phone rung by Rick Villareal...like in the fourth quarter of last week's game already.

He's not gone, though. RV could still decide to keep him despite the seven-win ultimatum.

OK, what happened? The guy gave up one walk...what the heck was he doing? Are we seeing the end of the greatness that is Cliff Lee??? Man, that guy is amazing. He is the one guy that I really believe can carry this team to the Series, and is the guy who makes me want to actually watch some baseball. Ever since Nolan Ryan and Bob Gibson retired I really have not seen a pitcher with the command Lee has over his pitches and every corner of the plate. To date in the playoffs I think the guy has 33 strike outs and ONE walk! Amazing...simply amazing. OK, here is a question for all the real baseball guys on this board...the announcers at one point last night indicated that Lee will be wearing Yankee pinstripes next season after mowing down the Yankee hitters like they were Little Leaguers. Really? Will the Rangers new ownership let this guy get away and would he rather pitch that far away from Arkansas than Texas for a few more bucks that the Yankees surly could throw his way over Texas? Really, how much is enough to keep Lee? One of the best things about Lee is that he works fast and makes the games fun to watch. I almost wish the Rangers hadn't gotten those 6 runs in the 8th so I could have watched Lee set a strikeout playoff record in the 9th! Man, this guy is greatness!

Mark it. KRAM made his call for the new coach.

Name(s): Eagle1855, Dan Diego, Wayward Texan, The Funniest Guy at the Office, Brant Lee Coaching Experience: I'm engaged to a girl that used to be a softball coach so I guess you could say I've been "in" the business for a little while now. Age: Backside of twenty with no will to climb. Why I'd be a great hire: I have great hair and I'm tall. I understand people. I'm a people person. People like me. I can verb nouns with ease. I believe in John Wayne, Johnny Cash, and Mike Ditka. Defense makes my pants go crazy. I have a PhD in Keeping It Real I can shotgun a beer faster than you. Why I'm better left to real estate-ing, free lancing, day-laboring, bartending, and songwriting: My football career started and ended playing Safety in fourth grade, which as far as I can tell is the "right field" of youth football. As with most things in my mind, I'm probably better in theory than in reality. My standalone mustache-growing ability leaves much to be desired. I can shotgun a beer faster than you. Expected compensation: A handle of Jack following each win Unlimited guacamole A Gibson J-45 1972 Chevy C-10 (2) lifetime passes to UNT Women's Soccer games.

This place is starting to suck because of all of the back and forth about Dodge. For those who oppose Dodge: Isn't it good enough that he's gone? Who cares what he says now? Nobody. We already know that. For those who support Dodge: Just accept the fact that he couldn't do it at this level and move on. No one cares how nice he is. Most coaches are nice. Everyone just move along. The thing I do resent about RV hiring Dodge is that it never healed the fanbase. It stayed fractured for the entire four year tenure. Please, RV, for peace and brotherhood among the fanbase, please hire someone who the fanbase can fully support...or, at least someone who has the credentials that should warrant full support.

I think Texas will be playing hardball with the Yanks and I hope his desire is to be in Texas but I will believe when I see it. People just love and get caught up on the Yankee allure and not to mention if NY just absolutely money whips him then expect him to be in pin stripes next year. Although one factor that should come into place is the huge upside Texas has with the young core and still a top minor league farm system. The ceiling may be a lot higher than NY but sometimes that stupid NY hypes takes over people.

Ever seen them in the same place?

It doesn't change the fact that it is pretty generic coaching talk. I am not saying that he is totally not sincere in his talk but he is still under contract and getting a pretty nice salary with a year left after this one. Not to mention his kid is still here for another 1 or 2 years so he knows better than to even slightly bash this program because he has no room to bash. All he has to do is look at his coaching record and his games and that all speaks for itself. Our standards are so low and the culture of losing is so prevalent that our fan base will find any and every excuse not to justify a complete torching to arguably the worst college football coach in history.

I like this one, you can turn injuries off on a playstation....

Coach speak or not, classy or not, keeping TD as HC puts a tremendous burden on recruiting for next year. That stadium will be cool at first, but crowds will dwindle if we can't put a quality team in it and win some games. Keeping TD is not fair to the fans or the kids playing football at UNT.

We have many injuries, sure, but we didn't lose a heisman candidate at quarterback, UH did.

Name: oldguystudent Age: Too old to get serious interviews at public accounting firms, too young to rub shoulders with the truly elite Why I'd be a great head coach: I have never played football or attended a school at any level that fielded a team. I therefore am not stuck in a rut of strategy and totally open to suggestions from the fine folk in Section E. While kids love me, it makes parents really nervous to see me around them. This keeps the kids focused, the parents out of the mix, and the Denton Chuck E. Cheese empty. I'm an accountant. I can count the seconds on the game clock really well. In the same vein, I know that a field goal does not erase a 4 point deficit. I can keep the Pour House in business when it's not game day or radio show day. I taught college ESL for like nine years. I'm totally a groovy communicator. Four school sweaters, a bunch of pennants, some of those beer mugs, a few of these fuzz balls you cheer with and...Hey, folks! It's on me! Pie for everyone! Why I'd be a terrible head coach: I like to take at least every other Saturday off. Instead of saying the players graded out well, I would state that the balance sheet was off. I would probably miss kickoff because I'd be in the parking lot stealing John Denver's home brew and bacon explosion. I have absolutely no connections in Texas and probably never will. I am severely colorblind, and would likely be unable to see the players in green jerseys on green grass. I would lobby year after year for a home and home with UC Irvine in hopes of ensuring my space in the hall of fame. Expected compensation: Immediate forgiveness of student loans, a new set of tires, and a gift card to the Pizza Inn.

I can introduce you to several parents and fans that have a different view then this, they tell me that Dodge has totally lost the team, and they can't wait for TD to go. If you saw the players walk to the stadium you would know this is true. Second why does anyone think letting Dodge coach out the season is Classy? He is struggling horribly, he has lost the team, the fan base is choking, man oh man RV we need some Damage Control. Please stop the bleeding, we need a sign some reason to believe the AD is worried about what is going on. Please let Todd Dodge move on to the next chapter of his life, reassign him or cut him loose for all that is good in the world. Tomorrow can't be too soon.

Dodge has been an outstanding ambassador for North Texas, but the right thing to do is reassign him or cut him loose. Let Dodge start his next chapter of his life.

Class act to the end. Very refreshing.

Dodge says all the right things in his/UNT's predicament. Selling UNT to the team and recruits above all else, including himself.

FAU roster archive only went back to '03, huh?

Since we're just a few weeks away now. Highlight Video produced by the Athletic Department last year.

Name: Play Station Age: 12 Why I'd be a great Head Coach: I'm pre-loaded with simple three options plays the players are experienced with Experience: On NCAA 2004 I was able to get UNT into the Big 12 in dynasty mode Price: Every member of the team already as one

I'd have some great half time Texas history tales or vignettes to talk to my team about. And then after the traditional prayer for God to suddenly become a Mean Green fan we'd head out the tunnel back for the 2'nd half thundering and tripping all over the place like blundering idiots & spastics! I think that scene alone would scare some teams enough to forfeit the rest of the game to give us the easy win. Pay? Buy me annual dues to Billboard Magazine, Texas Music and a lifetime membership to sweet Norah Jones fan club. I'd be real happy and obliged for that. Rick V & hiring committee, I would request we have our interview on top of Commanche Peak (not the nuclear one) near Granbury if that's OK with you and the rest. I'll show you all how I can find arrowheads in a most uncanny sorta' way. This would also serve as a hint as to how I'd find those Texas HS recruiting nuggetts out there that no one else would be able to detect. We'd be on our way. Offense: A mix between the Wishbone and Houston Veer. I need just the right kind of QB to run it, too. Yes, I want this job. GMG!

More entertaining than Courtney Lee?

Not worth rehashing this stuff again, beyond saying that if Todd Dodge wants the coaching equivalent of a Medical Redshirt so that he can get a 5th year, we ought to handle it exactly the same way he handled the same request from Joe Miller. You know... The classy way. It'll make Dodge an even better husband and father.

Does RV have the stones to follow thru on his demand of 7 wins or does he give pass to Dodge due to injuries? If he was going to make a move it should have been done on Sunday.

It's not about winning games this year. That is probably not going to happen no matter who is at the helm, and, in my mind at least, there is no difference between 1-11 and 3-9. What is important is that we give ourselves enough time to find a quality coach, and once that happens, give him enough time to hit the recruiting trail hard, and with success. I think the sooner the change is made the better, that way an official coaching search can start.

Am I missing the thread on you guys worrying about WKU's class? What a weekend that school had in hoops recruiting

The fireworks were about the most half assed thing I've ever seen at a North Texas game(on field play excluded.) I didn't even notice they were crowning a Homecoming couple until the grand finale finally sputtered to an end.

I don't agree with this headline or the premise of the article.... at least not as it relates to next year. Three or four years down the line? Maybe so. But next year is very much an "if you build it they will come" situation. Additionally, I think with a healthy team and a new coach, there's going to be buzz aplenty surrounding UNT next year. That makes the next hire all the more important. We have a chance now to put UNT football on the map for a long time to come.

WOW you brought that up as something to joke about?

Did you hear about the guy whose house caught fire and he...

Hire UMass' coach. In averting my eyes from the disaster at West Point, I flipped over to UMass-Michigan. Though not spectacular, the Minutemen are very disciplined, focused and they play hard all game long.

I say make Gary Deloach the Head Coach and DC. Allow him to bring in the biggest bunch of head-knocking thugs (I don't care if they steal your backpack) he can find and let the W's return to North Texas.

Craig T. Nelson