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This is how it goes EVERY year.... December to beginning of February...Everyone talks about how great our recruits look on film, how ratings services are overhyped and how our coaching staff will do amazing things for their strength and potential. February...Commitments come in and we dedicate no less than ten threads to where these freshmen and JUCO's will slide right into the two deep. March to August...Every time a group of players steps into a weight room or tweets how good they feel in off-season workouts we label them as being "a beast next year" or comment on how they look so much bigger/faster than last year. We herald the coming of a bowl team all the way through spring ball and then sing praises about either our offense or defense during the spring game...whichever happens to win that particular day. In fall practice we'll complain about how we're not allowed to watch practice but we'll also act as if football was just recently invented at North Texas if a youtube video of them lifting weights or hitting eachother is leaked. August...the season record predictions will really take off. The usual suspects will rationalize just how we can stay on the field with...insert body bag game here...and how we should be able to win at least 6-8 games because of...insert new player/improved player or coach here. September...A large crowd will show up to watch the home opener and, if tradition holds, we'll lay an egg. Those people will spend the rest of the season drinking on the hill. We'll muddle through our OOC games and at least one of them will result in a loss that we'll lament for the rest of the season. October through November...Everyone will predict that "none of our opponents could be as tough as...insert BCS school here...so we'll have a better feel for where we stand". After playing .500 ball or slightly below we'll whimper to the finish line and the rallying cries of "next year" will ring from the mountain tops. And then the process begins anew...

...

And if Thompson were a little more accurate, we'd be 8-4.

It would be the football equivalent of Benford'd

I am related to one of the players and yes they have been practicing on game days. Not shooting around,full practice. From what I've been told that is going to cease. They will just shoot around. Alzee and Tony did not start because they were late to practice. Its not Benford the team is just having issues within themselves. They are having to readjust to a whole new coaching staff who are trying to put structure and discipline into them that was not there before. This team was overhyped. I am dissappointed with this season as well but I am a true fan and things will turn around but just not fast enough for some. #"growingpains"

Who is dr. Rawlings? A baseball glove maker?

You'd think after the last decade the fanbase would quit predicting 8-9 wins...

Looking forward to your boy contributing next year sir, but you're directing this exhortation at the wrong group of people. Look at it this way: Everyone on GMG.com is on the 'wagon'. We've just been here long enough to remember the smooth, expeditious rides this wagon used to provide us. Now that the wheels are out of alignment, and have been for the past 8 years, we're developing hemorrhoids and we're all cranky, but, by golly, it's OUR wagon and we will ride 'til we die. Let's not even consider the other wagon we ride during basketball season. Our thoroughbred horse pulling that wagon was purchased away by a bigger wagon owner, and we had to replace him with a 3-legged horse with a concussion and explosive diarrhea. Every few nights, we get sprayed. I'm sure you understand.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8771286/boise-state-broncos-discussing-staying-mountain-west-snubbing-big-east

With all due respect... You're not going to get an overwhelmingly positive response by telling a group of fans who've been around long enough to get their nuts kicked up into ther stomachs by telling them to jump onto a wagon you've been riding since your son was recruited. We all want what you're selling.... But at some point pessimism becomes a nut shielding maneuver.

Geez, so upbeat! That is a ton of what ifs... Conference USA will be fine. Even if it changes. Oh well if it does. Every situation possible is a moot point if we aren't winning. If we win games we will be fine. If we continue to suck then it will go badly. Pretty simple.

That's a clown question bro

I doubt Benford is doing anything different than what he has seen first hand from other successful coaches. His interpretation may leave a little to be desired, but I put a little faith in his assistant coaches to help keep him between the lines. A battle of wills goes on any time a new coach/boss comes in and starts changing the rules. The star employees tend to convince themselves that they don't need to change be amuse they have been successful in the past. Funny thing though, sometimes when you open your mind to new ideas, you learn something. Hopefully the coaches and players are both learning from the past few weeks and are ready to start working together instead pulling in opposite directions. It takes a little give and take from both sides sometimes.

He emmitt, as much as you spew on this board you think you can send Harry 10 bucks so he can keep it operational? I notice that it does not say "contributor" by your name. Heck, it's easier to donate to this than to say A FREAKIN JUMBOTRON AND BASKETBALL PRACTICE FACILITY

Tulane ... the school that destroyed the Big East.

The Big East plane is crashing. SMU and Houston are too busy playing tummy sticks in the bathroom to notice. SDSU and BSU are going to parachute out. UCOnn and Cincy are looking for an escape. Meanwhile ECU is trying to figure out how to board this death trap.

Short answer...yes. But, some of the BS folks are laying at Benford's feet is simply inane. Let me ask you...is anything the player's fault? This is as fair a question as your's...right?

Hopefully we can appreciate that Derek's numbers were down last year . . . 2012 214 Comp 372 Att 57.5% 2649 Yds 14 TD 14 Int 2011 157 Comp 276 Att 57.7% 1759 Yds 11 TD 6 Int 2010 11 Comp 18 Att 61.1% 83 Yds 0 TD 1 Int 2009 3 Comp 3 Att 100% 60 Yds 1 TD 0 Int Yes, he had a bad season. And while he will never be our Doug Flutie, he can certainly be a serviceable D1 QB. If he can stay healthy like he did last year but return to the form he had the previous year (maybe even with a little improvement?), he could potentially help the team get to 6 or 7 wins.

This. Much as I want to bag on Benford, I'm pretty sure we're the worst shooting team in all of D1....definitely the worst I've ever seen.

So after reading all of this, I actually think both Andrew and UNT90 are right. Weird I know. But, UNT90 and others often questioned JJ and his system how we would struggle during the season often losing to lesser teams that were seemingly better coached see Bob Marlin et al. We'd finish in the middle of the pack in the SunBelt. I mean we were never a team that went 14-2 in conference. We got to 20 wins by beating 8-10 terrible teams in non-conference, winning half or slightly better of our games in conference and have 20 some odd wins with a few wins in the conference tourney. We never had a season like MTSU last year is my point and many people questioned the JJ scheme. It's maybe possible that the Benford system is requiring a lot more discipline and effort, so maybe Andrew is onto something But the problem is and where Andrew and others defending Benford are wrong is, a better coach wouldn't have lost this team and that has clearly happened. And by better I just mean more experienced. Look every coach has problems and strengths. But you have to have the players on board. If they aren't you're sunk regardless of talent, system or any other factor. And no one is on board at this point.

Sad to say but the attitude part probably cost Mitchell some SERIOUS $$$. You'd think he'd be an animal out there last night given what was at stake. Attitude matters. I mean, would you act that way for an interview? That said - we should all HOPE that Tony still goes in the high 1st round. It is what's best for both Tony (obviously) and the MG BB program.

I am smelling 3 wins next year. I still am not sure how we got to four in 2012. If we do better fantastic, but i am hoping for at least three. Beat Idaho! GMG

Now, maybe you could point this to Benford's offense but I feel a major issue we have right now is a lack of shooters. I'm not talking about a spot up shooter hanging outside. I'm talking about CJ/JW being able to knock down the mid-range stuff that there for them to take.

This is why I suggested in my first post that our only other option would be to pay him his salary and reassign him.....then HOPE he gets another job elsewhere. We have done this before with Matt Simon. Coaches want to coach, not be Asst Athletic Director of Facilities. Rick

Big East won't die, even if the more recent noise of MWC contacting at least one other Big East other than Boise and SDSU is true. I'd be surprised if Houston/SMU opted to go that direction even though a division of Houston, SMU, New Mexico, Air Force, Colorado State, Wyoming, USU would have some appeal. Assuming only Boise and SDSU bail the Big East still has UConn, Cincy, Temple, UCF, USF, ECU, Memphis, Tulane, SMU, Houston, and Navy. They can pick up one and they are OK with the likely targets being Buffalo, UMass, Charlotte, ODU, USM, Tulsa. There is some thought Navy might back out but the target list looks pretty much the same. Worst case for CUSA is lose two and is still at 12.

This whole situation remains malodorous. It would not surprise me that Boise State rescinds its Big East membership. If it does, it could all but destroy CUSA. If Boise State and San Diego State remain in the Mountain West that will make their number 12 next year and they'll likely be content with that number. That will shrink the Big East to nine members, and six of those just defected from CUSA. Two of the three holdovers, Connecticut and Cincinnati, will bolt at first chance leaving only South Florida from the semi-original Big East. Navy is scheduled to join in 2014 but that would only give them ten temporarily. They need at least two more, and unless they raid the MAC (doubtful) those teams will come from CUSA. Then when UConn and Cincy leave they'll need two more teams. From CUSA, natch. The next time they'll know that they won't be able to sell large markets so they go for quality. Goodbye Southern Miss and Tulsa. My fear is that they'll go merrily along. If they stood their ground, the defectors would likely come back when Connecticut and Cincinnati leave, and bring South Florida with them if they hadn't found a home. One problem with that is there are now seven more members of CUSA resulting from replacing the defectors. Whatever would be left of CUSA would be lower than the Sun Belt unless we raided them for Louisiana, Arkansas State and Troy. We could be back to square one. The late Erma Bombeck had the perfect title for this fiasco..."The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank"(read Big East).

Oh well, not really our problem...

I like manufacturing outrage as much as the next guy.... I don't see it.

How does a coach unt a guy to shoot?

Yep. And Tulane.................

Look I know you want to be sure not to lose your chance to tailgate with Emmitt, so you overlook the words "Sandy Hook". Emmitt could have a picked a hostage situation at say a fictional department store. His post is way off base and is insensitive.

So RV is responsible for getting the stadium built? He's the one to thank for Apogee's donation? RV went out and solicited the funds for the basketball improvements? I hope you have first hand confirmation that your buddy deserves all the kudos he's getting.

Tuurrrrrble.

I hope they do go back and help the Big East to die ... but I'm not really expecting it.

Agree Kram...didn't read it after sandy hook...poor taste

This is good to hear, because the "act" as you call it by some sure seems close to jumping ship....ummm...wagon! The old saying that with friends like this you don't need any enemies comes to mind. But, I'll take this as it is written and just hope it is, in fact, true for the vast majority. Appreciate the thought here bowler.

Kudos the the NRA for being the adult in the situation and holding their comments until after a majority of the funerals were conducted. Too bad some felt the need to try to make political hay out of this tragedy by running up to Newtown and, in an ever so clever way, calling for gun control. Completely disgusting. This debate happens after every single one of these shootings, and what people finally come to realize is that if a person really wants to do this, there is little that can be done to stop him, unless someone else who is armed is able to stop the shooter before he takes lives. Even that is a crap shoot, because the shooter will have the upper hand with his preparation and the element of surprise. I heard an interesting fact about mass shootings. There has been something like 48 since 1948 (numbers may be a little off here), with 26 coming since 2006. Can anyone figure out what happened in 2006??? That was basically the explosion of social media. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame/infamy. The mentally disturbed will take it any way they can get it. What would curtail these instances is if the news media STOPPED TREATING THE MURDERS LIKE CELEBRITIES!!! Don't tell us their name. This HAS to come from the media. There is no way the police can or should withhold the suspect's name. The media can. They do it all the time with victims of sexual abuse. Also, call them what they are. Not "suspect" but "mass murderer" every time in place of using their name. Right now, these kids, in their warped sense of self-awareness, see being a mass murderer as something that will make their life meaningful and historic. Thanks to the media, the historic part is absolutley correct. How many of you can name the UT Rifleman, the Columbine mass murderers, the Wedgewood church mass murderer??? Now, how many of you can name one of their victims? That's an embarassing commentary on our culture.

"They weren’t out-hustling our guys. They just executed better. When you know where to go and make decisive moves it looks quick. It looks fast. It looks like desire and hunger. It really is just a better coached team doing what they do." And bingo was his name-o.

I was at NTSU in back half of the sixties when the school was in the Missouri Valley Conference and played before 4,000 fans in the bleachers of the gym ("snake pit"). NTSU dominated football '66 thru '68, but basketball was much tougher in the MVC. Still, the Eagles were competitive, and the gym was packed nearly every game. Living in Dallas and later back in hometown of Richardson after graduation, I had season tickets for the Cowboys for 19 years (until JJ bought the club), and the Mavericks for ten years. Pro sports ticket prices were already getting ridiculous by the time we moved to Flower Mound seven years ago, and the move made it easy to get reattached to UNT athletics. We have been football season ticket holders for several years now, and my recent retirement makes it easier to attend most basketball games. Was this last football season frustrating? Sure. Is this basketball season a major letdown? Sure. Do I keep my loyalty to my alma mater and hope for better days ahead? ABSOLUTELY!

I get the Dodge and Stephens comparisons, but I don't think they're entirely accurate here. The football program was floundering when Dodge took over...both in terms of performance and marketability...so RV took a chance on a splash hire that commanded both local and national attention and put a more entertaining product on the field. The major mis-fire here was allowing Dodge to bring a high school staff...had that not happened I think Dodge would've at least cracked double figures in wins... The logic behind the Stephens hire was actually sound as well...again, you have a struggling program in need of re-vitalization...there is a case history for well-thought-of assistants coming in and jump starting something with their energy and dedication in their first head coaching job. RV just clearly picked the wrong assistant. When you have a program that has already established a level of success, though, and you need a new coach because your program builder has moved on to greener pastures...that is not the time to take a chance...there are three logical routes to take...the preferred is you nab the hot coach at the perceived next rung down (Scott Cross for example), you grab an experienced head coach who has shown some success in difficult situations (Doc Sadler) or if you go the assistant route, its because you know you have a gem in-house (see Mark Few, Brad Stevens). I like RV. I like the work he's done here...the stadium, right or wrong, will stand as his crowning achievement and he has done a fantastic job in building facilities and the periphery sports. But if this hire ruins the one major sport that has given this AD any shred of credibility over the past decade...RV needs to be held accountable for his catastrophic mistake.

Watching this (mainly the body language of all 3, since all 3 spit coach-speak), I'm sensing alot of cover-up... Things they want to say, but they know they shouldn't to the media. I'll agree with some of you, to a degree, in regards to Mitchell. He's definitely not doing himself any favors by sulking like that in front of the media. I know he's got the fortitude, it's just, does he want to portray confidence? Right now, he's definitely letting his emotions dominate his sleeve.

I don't see huge any reasons to think this class makes a 4 game impact in the won/loss record. I'm keeping my expectations low this year, that way I won't be disappointed. 3 wins. Any more is gravy

Does he look good in a suit?

I cannot understand just how completely loyal this Andrew character is to Benford. He has to be a relative or family friend or works for him in the AD. I know that Dodge had his loyal supporters, too, even to the end. Guys, there is nothing we can do but bite down hard on the pillow. Literally, there is nothing we can do about this but watch it crash and burn for the this year, next year, and the year after. There is no way the university will buy out that much of a contract--if they couldn't afford to buy out Todd Dodge's last two years, they won't be able to do that for a sport that brings in far less $$ than football. If we are REALLY lucky, we won't have to endure a 4th year, although I suspect that the financial situation of the AD will probably make the a probability, too. Love RV's passion for the Mean Green, but you just cannot accept the hirings of Todd Dodge, Shanice Stephens, and Tony Benford. Just terrible...

Now I understand why the Greeks got removed from the hill. A win over Georgia is impossible. Ball State, Ohio, and Tulsa are iffy but only BSU is at home. The rest are tossups to very winnable. Maybe you'll get to see more football inside the stadium this year.

Like I said, the one sitting next to me commented that this wasn't the same Tony Mitchell that he saw at the Lebron Camp. That Tony Mitchell was a beast against FAR better competition. Let's see... What is the one common denominator? Tony Benford. I'm telling you, this thing is headed toward a crash of epic porportions, one that will make Todd Dodge's reign look like the second coming of Vince Lombardi. Another quote "Does he just sub in at random in every game?" If you wanted to see how a head coach SHOULD act with his team on game day, all you had to do is look down to the other bench at the Lehigh head coach, who wasn't insulting his team loud enough for fans 20 rows back to hear it, who wasn't substituting at random, who was ACTING LIKE A FAN ON THE BENCH. Trust me, the players see this. They know. Please, Lord, let something, anything happen to stop the disaster that is headed for this basketball program.

Suggest you try Afrin. It will clear that nose right up.

Oh please.......there aren't that many diamonds in the rough.

Quit with the negative vibes, bro. 14-0 next year. Bank on it.