Leaderboard

From Footballscoop: North Texas: Our sources tell us that Dan McCarney has talked with former Colorado tight ends / special teams coach Kent Riddle about a position on his staff at North Texas. BIO: Kent Riddle is in his fifth year as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator at Colorado, as he was one of four assistants to join Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins when he accepted the Colorado position in December 2005. Riddle, 41, was Boise State's running backs and special teams coach for five seasons, all under Hawkins. Many of his special team units finished regularly in the NCAA top 25, as the kickoff return team was in the top 21 all five years and the punt return team placed in the top 18 the last four seasons. And over the course of his five years, precision reigned in the kicking game, as BSU kickers converted 96.8 percent of their PAT kicks (330-of-341) and 73.1 percent of their field goal tries (68-of-93). While his units didn't rank as high as he is accustomed to in his first season at Colorado, he coached two All-Americans: senior placekicker Mason Crosby was a repeat first-team selection, while punter Matt DiLallo was the unanimous first-team Freshman All-America performer. In 2007, however, Colorado was one of just of just six schools in the nation to rank in the top half in all five special team categories: net punting, punt returns, kickoff returns, punt return defense and kickoff return defense. In 2008, the units were affected a but by injuries in the two-deep that prevented many starters from filling roles, with CU's top unit nationally, kickoff return, finishing 38th in the NCAA with a 22.3 average; that same unit was 21st in 2009 with a 23.9 figure. Both numbers dropped near the end of the year as opponents often kicked short to limit the return distances; the Buffs were in the top 15 in both the bulk of both seasons. Also in 2009, CU was 27th in kickoff return defense, a number skewed by one return TD, otherwise it was also a top 20 unit. In 2005, Boise State ranked 12th in the nation in kickoff returns (24.2), anchored by Lee Marks, who was 10th nationally as an individual (27.9, 1 TD). The Broncos were also 18th in punt returns (12.8), with Quinton Jones second in the country with a gaudy 20.9 yards per return, including three scores. The coverage units were exceptional as well; BSU was 17th in punt return defense (5.9) and 29th in kickoff return defense (18.7). Riddle coached placekicker Tyler Jones to an All-American season and a spot as one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award in 2004. Overall, BSU's special teams proved to be as good as any unit in the country. In addition to Jones, punter Kyle Stringer was named second-team all-WAC, averaging 43.9 yards per punt. The Broncos finished third in the nation in punt returns (16.6), 21st in kickoff returns (23.0) and 29th in net punting (37.3 yards). The Broncos also blocked four kicks for the second straight season, including a possible game winning field goal by San Jose State. Following the 2004 season, he spoke at the American Football Coaches Association convention on special teams, one of his many personal highlights. In 2003, the Broncos ranked 15th in the country in both kickoff and punt returns, following up a 2002 campaign when both finished 13th in the NCAA. The Broncos also led the WAC in punt returns and kickoff coverage, allowing just 17.0 yards per return. In 2001, David Mikell was seventh in the nation in kickoff returns (28.4, 1 TD), leading the team to a 19th place national ranking. He achieved significant success as the Broncos running back coach as well. Though the perception is out there that Boise State makes its bones as a passing team, the 2005 edition under Riddle's tutelage finished 19th in the NCAA, averaging 202.5 yards per game. That followed up a 2004 effort which saw the Broncos finish 14th nationally (229.8 per game), which was good for second in the WAC, as the "tailback-by-committee" scheme that featured six different players scored a school record 49 touchdowns. In his first three seasons at Boise State, the Broncos produced a 1,000-yard rusher every year. In 2003, David Mikell earned honorable mention all-WAC honors after rushing for 1,142 yards and 13 touchdowns. In 2002, Brock Forsey was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year, as he rushed for 1,611 yards (11th in the NCAA), and led the nation in scoring with 26 touchdowns. In his first year, 2001, Forsey was a first-team all-WAC performer after gaining 1,207 yards. Riddle had moved on to Boise State after serving as an assistant coach at the United States Military Academy for six seasons. At Army, his first full-time coaching position, he coached the fullbacks for his four seasons there (1995-98), and then switched to special teams coach and recruiting coordinator for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He worked his first five years there under head coach Bob Sutton, and was retained when Todd Berry was named coach in 2000. Additionally, he worked as Army's junior varsity head coach and offensive coordinator, while also overseeing the program's summer camp. In 1996, he helped coach Army to its only 10-win season in history, as the Black Knights went 10-2, including a loss to Auburn in the Independence Bowl. Prior to joining the Army staff, Riddle began his coaching career in 1991 as a student assistant football coach at Oregon State University. In 1992, he was promoted to a graduate assistant position with the Beavers, first working one year as the video G.A. before working as the offensive grad assistant in both 1993 and 1994, helping tutor the running backs while also being in charge of preparation for the defensive scout team. He earned his bachelor's degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management from Oregon State in 1992, after completing his playing career for the Beavers, as he played quarterback for coach Dave Kragthorpe. He was born June 25, 1969 in Iowa City, Iowa, and graduated from City High School in Iowa City, where he lettered in football, basketball and track. His grandfather, Bucky O'Connor, was the legendary men's basketball coach at Iowa, where he led the Hawkeyes to a 108-54 record in seven seasons; he coached the '54-55 Hawkeye team that lost to Colorado in the national third place game. He is married to the former Camaren Matlock, and the couple has a son, Connor (10) and daughter Kayleigh (4). TOP PLAYERS COACHED-All-Americans (3): Mason Crosby, Quinton Jones, Tyler Jones (Lou Groza Award finalist). All-Big 12 Performers (1): Crosby. All-WAC Performers (6): Chris Carr, Brock Forsey, Tim Gilligan, Q.Jones, T.Jones, Kyle Stringer. NFL Players/Draft Picks (4): Carr, Crosby, Forsey, T.Jones. CFL Players/Draft Picks (1): Gilligan. RECORD-He has coached in 180 Division I-A games as a full-time coach, owning a record of 95-84-1 (16-33 at Colorado, 53-11 at Boise State, 26-40-1 at Army); he has coached in six bowl games. He also worked 44 games in his various roles at Oregon State.

I just ran the 26 miles home from work... towing my car from a chain in my teeth. It was in Park with the emergency brake on.

Wintka!

There is never too much football on TV. Rick

Little things like keeping your man in front of you and watching for the open shooter were absolutely not done tonight. We need to find a rhythm and quick.

These hires are great! All BCS-quality guys. Bowen part of the Kansas program that climbed all the way to the Orange Bowl in 2007. McCarney with Florida. Canales with Arizona and ties to great coaches out west. This is a serious coaching staff. If they start winning big here, the sky is the limit on where we can go. Many here nitpick about which bigger small conference to join. But, if these are the types of coaches we can now draw, and we win and fill that stadium, forget about the MWC and CUSA...go straight for the Big 12-2. They are now short a couple of teams, and we are right in their geographic wheelhouse. And Big 12 pol Donnie Duncan attending for McCarney's hiring. Somebody pinch me!

Ding Ding Ding! Were we able to magically switch the color of Knox/Holmen's skin... Would people be anticipating Knox "figuring it out" and ready to pull the scholarship of the scrawny white guy who thinks he's Peja? Maybe?

So if next year, UNT goes to whatever crappy bowl is up in Detroit, you won't watch it? That's about the most meaningless bowl game that comes to mind without looking at the list. As it is, even the New Orleans bowl is kinda' bunk to me. The Sunbelt champion against some other conference's third/fourth place team? Is that how things really match up? There are two factors keeping us from a playoff: 1) You can pry the power and the money and the monopoly out of the AQ's cold, dead hands. 2) How do you compensate the now defunct 25-30 bowl games that were once profitable for the entities hosting them? (although certainly not necessarily profitable for the schools playing in them)

You counted wrong, there are 35 bowls with 70 teams getting bids. I disagree with an 8 team playoff. If there is going to be a playoff, then every conference should get a shot which would require a 16 team playoff. Seed them however makes sense, but 8 just allows the AQs to continue to keep everyone else out.

Why so much negativity!!! Its ridiculous, i actually drove 3 hours to the game and feel totally different about this one. 1st sam houston honestly out played us the first 5 minutes and last 5 minutes thats it! The rest of the time we were a better team... 2nd they shot lights out and we didnt, this isnt going to happen every game and no the perimeter d was not as bad as your making it out to be, they stepped up and hit big shots we didnt this time... 3rd SHSU is a darn good ball club and they beat us on their court w/ a solid enviorment, it was actually quite loud and emotions were high, and lastly i still left the gym thinking we are a good team and have the potential to be great! i dont understand how everyone can just throw in the towell after this one just doesnt make sense

Texas isn't going to go anywhere (nor were they going anywhere). They have everything they want now. The new Big 12 TV deal will NOT prevent individual schools from creating their own tv networks. That is what Texas wanted from the beginning. The existing Big 12 tv deal doesn't allow this, so the re-negotiated contract (yet to be put forth) supposedly allows each school to distribute athletic events as the school sees fit. This is of course only allowed if the game ISN'T being televised by the network. Texas wanted to be able to do this AND KEEP the money they will generate by showing their own games. They didn't want to spit this revenue with the rest of the conference, nor should they have to. Florida has this same type of deal in the SEC. The tv money (coming from the network) will be spit up between all of the Big 12 schools. The money generated by each school's own networks will stay with each school. THAT is why there is such a money imbalance. The UT network will dwarf all of the others - so the income figures estimated for this all show Texas at the top of the heap. This isn't at any cost to the other schools. There is misconception out there that Texas screwed the Big 12, and that couldn't be more wrong. ALL of the schools benefited by flushing Nebraska, upping the shared tv money (about 10 million more per school) and gaining the ability to create their own networks. The Pac-10 thing was never going to happen because the Pac-10 won't let individual schools have their own tv distribution networks. Texas bluffed Nebraska out of the conference. Now they have an easier path to the BCS, only have to split the money 10 ways and not 12, can form their own network, AND get to keep the Big 12 conference under their thumb. They'd be stupid to leave, and they were never going to leave anyway. For the record, I'd love to see the Big 12 get back to 12 teams. Twelve teams is optimal. I'd vote for BYU and Notre Dame, but the Irish won't do it. In that case, I'd go with UNT and Houston. Then OU and Okie State could move to the north division. I-State K-State Kansas Mizzou Oklahoma O-State Texas Tech A&M Baylor Houston North Texas That'd work for me...

Interesting fact: In Mandarin, "Wintrich" translates to: "100 pound dumbell curls". Go look it up if you don't believe me. Use Babelfish.

I don't follow the NFL, but lets assume for the sake of argument that year after year, top to bottom, the NFC East is light years ahead of the NFC West. Should the West division champion, at 9-7, then be denied a spot in the playoffs because the East has three teams at 11-5 or better? If so, then there should only be one division of 32 teams in the entire NFL with the top 2 playing in the Super Bowl, and one giant mega-conference of 120 teams in college with God knows who playing for whatever.

You guys ever seen those foam pads that go in front of your keyboard while typing? Wish I had one a moment ago...my head really hurts right now.

Leaning Tower of Vizza?

Under Dodge the assistants were just excited to get out of having to teach home room.

I have never thought NT was great this year despite their record. No depth and poor defense is played for too often. Thompson has carried them early, he disappeared tonight. Hopefully, the team will gel late and make a run, but as weak as the Belt has shown thus far: I think most could play with NT now. NT has played awful away and the lack of depth will continue to haunt them unless someone miraculously becomes a player. Maybe this game will be a wake up call, for a veteran squad to be blown out by anyone in the Southland is pitiful.

I bet coach Wintrich's glare could bench 225, no problem.

It is like UNT is playing 4 against 5 when they are on offense because Knox is so bad they won't even pass him the ball. This is a pitiful effort.

I just stopped eating my ice cream.

I think that there is 0 chance for Leavitt or Leach. I think that Mullen would be a good choice, but after the Zook experience, some Bull Gators may gripe about his limited head coaching experience. My dream candidate would be Gary Patterson, but I don't think that he will leave TCU.

That glare motivates me to pick up a dumbell

I love this guy. A true professional with class. I am glad he did it all with one Jersey. Jere Lehtinen officially announces retirement

I think you need to take your foot off the gas and tap the breaks...

please (1999).

lack of leadership especially long term stable leadership using the resources of the Denton campus to squander on failed dallas economic development projects lack of concern on the Denton campus for science and engineering programs and lack of proper funding for them lack of any attempts to ever raise outside funds knee jerk, poorly planned, "hey lets give this a shot", uncoordinated, and wasteful allocation of available resources

If Clint is indeed your DC, then you guys are getting a very good young DC. There is a strong amount of KU fans that would love to see Clint come back as head coach someday. He is very personable, hard worker, very good recruiter, and he only is getting better. Clint has has some very good moments and he has had some rough moments while he was at KU. Sadly some of his rough moments at KU were due to multiple reasons. First off he was basically thrown into the fire as DC after Bill Young left for Miami. Secondly he was having to adjust the same time the BIG XII was seeing the greatest offensive passing offenses in leagues history. Lastly he was being hamstrung by Coach Mangino on many personnel matters... it helped attributed to Mangino's downfall as well. Is Clint perfect? By no means is he, but most KU fans still love the guy to death. I know Clint has known Big Mac for years. Btw, on the recruiting front while at KU, Bowen mostly recruited Kansas, Kansas City itself, Kansas Juco's, and Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Heres my sign

The one thing that I was worried about is our lack of players on the bench. We have 3 guys out Spencer, Williams, and Mcghee. I know hes not on the team but he was in August, because if they knew he wouldnt make his grades then Im pretty sure JJ would of gotten another guard. After Dom and Josh we have 2 walk ons. Thats what I think hurts us the most right now.

I feel like we are 1 player short of having a pretty good team. We need someone to replace Knox for the minutes he is playing. He just can't do it now, and it is not likely that he will be able to in the future. I am still, and will always pull for him, we just can't afford to have him on the court right now. On top of that, he is taking up a scholaship.

I just sat on the couch and played Call Of Duty Black Ops...... and felt bad every minute of it. Thanks Coach Wintrich!

Knox lobs up a Howerton style free three throw....

Only behind by single digits... good sign for us that they can get that hot with their shooting, particularly the 3 ball, and us only be 8 behind... moreover, our shooters haven't gotten hot yet, especially Triston... hopefully, we light it up in the second half.

Why is Knox in the game? He has given up at least 7 already...

WESTERN KENTUCKY'S, that's who. 2009 Total Defense= 118th, 478.25 Total Yards Per Game. 2010 Total Defense= 68th, 380.17 Total Yards Per Game. 2009 Pass Defense= 81st, 233.42 Yards Per Game 2010 Pass Defense= 37th, 202.92 Yards Per Game. 2009 Rushing Defense= 118th, 244.83 Yards Per Game. 2010 Rushing Defense= 86th, 177.92 Yards Per Game. That's a pretty solid turnaround for 9 months of work. Rick

I think I just got a Mean Green boner..

If the Big XII-II lost its southern teams down the road, which I think will happen in the next 3-5 years, we could possibly move there. I think Texas will either go independent or will join the Pac-12 down the road. If they go west, Tech, OU, and OSU will follow, while A&M goes to the SEC. If they don't go west and go independent, I believe that the SEC will take A&M and OU. Either way, it would be good for us. The Big XII-II without any of the Southern teams, except Baylor, would provide an instant need for Texas teams. Since Baylor hates TCU and won't play in a conference with them, that would probably help our cause. At worst, at least CUSA and MWC would have even more interest in us, assuming we give them something to be interested about!!

So, is this considered an upgrade from Coach Mendoza? Sarcasm intended!

It looked like Canales called the first two games (Clemson & Rice) without interference. And it looked like the first part of the Army game was his, right up until when D. Thompson went down with the leg injury; and you know who was put in at QB. Dodge definitely had an emphasis on the offense against Army. And I'm not certain if the reigns weren't fully off of Canales until Todd was gone; because things certainly picked up then.

Their rushing defense would have been even better if they hadn't had to play against Lance Dunbar.

No this proves that Dodge unfortunately was still running the offense and misused Dunbar much like he misused Jamario when he first arrived.

Dunbar had a rough patch in the middle of the season with FIU and also earlier against Army otherwise he would have been the winner. There was some misuse by Dodge and Company through first 6 games or so.

All we know about this guy si that hes just big. Varsity team went 3-7 against JV teams. I hope this guy turns into a stud, we can all just hope he doesnt turn into a ben knox I wouldnt call 24 on the act excelling in academics, I got a 24 and I was still drunk when I took it.

I don't follow professional basketball that much, so will probably miss seeing this classic.

If true, it's a good hire. I was at Kansas when Clint and his brother played there. He played under Glen Mason (who had success at Kansas and Minnesota). While at Kansas he worked under Bill Young most of the time (even when was listed as Co-Defensive Coordinator it was really Bill Young running the defense). Young has been a DC at several schools (Kansas, OU, Miami, Ohio St and now Okie St). Special teams were really good when he was there. The last two years at Kansas he was the man running the defense (Young left to take job at Miami). The KU defenses weren't that good during those two years but the Big 12 had awesome offenses and KU didn't have a lot of talent. Some thought he might have been over his head a little but he didn't have a lot of support (staff wasn't overly experienced on defensive side of ball and Mangino was offensive coach). He ended up at WKU because he got screwed in Mangino mess. He was one of three coaches kept by KU to keep things running while they looked for a new coach. Most people assumed he'd get a spot on the new staff. When Gill was hired, none of the old KU coaches were kept so he had to scramble to find a job. Looking over stats, WKU defense did a pretty good job this year. I know recruiting isn't the main function of a coordinator, but Clint was a solid recruiter at Kansas. He has real good connections with the Juco coaches in Kansas (surprisingly good talent in Jayhawk Conference). Since he spent over a decade in Big 12 country he should help open some doors up. Most people I know consider Clint a good guy and I know the players at Kansas loved him.

Also quite obvious in the renderings after Fouts Field becomes a parking lot is a new pedestrian bridge connecting the former Fouts concessions area(?) across to the Mean Green Villge & our new football stadium. Projecting to that day when that pedestrian bridge becomes reality over Interstate 35-E, UNT still may want to invest in those 6 Flag Over Texas train-looking shuttles to get our fans from that part of campus both pre-game and post game. Senior or "mature" fans would especially appreciate that ride to and fro'. GMG!

If I'm the MWC, I take UH and UNT, grab two of the largest TV markets in the nation (with two of the better mid-major basketball programs). You then gamble on UNT getting back to winning in Football and being committed to continuing to to do so based on the investments made in facilities and the coaching staff in place.

Dr. Seuss, I am just curious. What is your major? I really hope it is not English or NT is in BIG trouble Just playing around... seriously, glad to have you as a new fan. The best way out of the Belt is a combination of winning and our potential. The WAC has now invited us 3 times. 1 of those invites was made when Fresno, Hawaii, and Nevada were still in the league. Another invite came while Boise was still committed to the WAC. We are an attractive school with lots of "potential" - with wins and full stands, we will be unstoppable. It all comes in Baby Steps. The Belt was actually a step down from the Big West in terms of competitive football. Those BW teams were salty and rarely lost their bowl. The Belt is always going to be held back by some of the poor schools. As long as the Belt has member schools like ULM, with their run down stadium, $8 million dollar budget, and $160K coach - the Belt will always be perceived as a Southern MAC. North Texas, FAU, FIU, MTSU - we are all upping the ante and those dollars will eventually pay off. I keep seeing comments about NT finally making the commitment that it should have years ago (with a big hire like Coach Mac) - well, the student fee will be paying for our new Coach. RV has tried several times to get the fee in place. It's not like we haven't tried - the interest has just been low. I really wish that I could take you back to 1996-2000.. heck, even into the first couple of bowl years of 2001 and 2002... we have come a LONG way. Tailgating did not exist, it was actually illegal to drink in the parking lot before games before RV got here. There was a small group from this very message board that actually brought BACK the Mean Green Club. The fund raising arm of the Athletic Department was called the Mean Green Club in the 70's but like most things at NT - some jackhole came along and wanted to change it and make it more "current"... That lack of tradition has really hurt the school over the years. Our program had the NT Foundation as a fundraising arm but the school would not share alumni names with the program because they didn't want anyone to divert funding to the athletic department (from the academic side). We were the Eagles, then the Mean Green, then the Mean Green Eagles, then we went back to Mean Green. We have changed our school name three times in my lifetime - I am sure that there are posters on this board that have seen the school name change a 4th time. All that being said - you are in the right place at the right time. I can remember standing in the rain during a Big West game with about 30 fans and the band. We were lucky to get a couple thousand to a game. There was one year where a couple of the fans/donors and I stood on the Mean Green Club Deck and looked out over a crowd of less than 1,000. We actually counted the people and I am too embarrased to post the amount. The deck was about 1/5th the size back then - I think that the capacity was about 150. It was like a deck that you would build onto the back of your house. Ben E Keith has renovated and expanded it over the years but it started out as a donor deck with free beer. I was able to be on it because I was a radio sponsor for my bar during those years - it was the best deal in the world. I think that I paid about $1200 bucks a year and was treated like royalty. Not only did I have a radio commercial during every sporting event (played over and over) - the department threw in tickets to various events, deck time, press box passes, field passes, and I even got to travel with the team for some road games. THAT is where we were a decade ago. We have come a LONG way. We have a long way to go; but to understand how proud some of us are (re: the crowds, tailgating, and current fan support) - and not confuse that pride with being content - you just had to be there. Hopefully you will have your own stories someday. I hope that you are still cheering for the Mean Green and I sincerely hope that you will be explaining to some new Freshman or Sophomore how things were SOOOO much different when you were in college. And they will give you a reply - very similar to the one that you will post after you read this - with their recipe for the next level. Just smile and encourage them to "keep it up" - we need all the fans that we can get, now and 10 years from now