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What an ass whippin'. Why don't you hitch your wagon to some other team if all you can do is bitch about our teams, our coaches, our athletic department, the administration, the BOR, our conference affiliation, etc..?

Too bad there were a few who tried to make in kind contributions and were turned down

Gotta give RV credit where it is due. This is the same kind of stuff we were hearing 12 years ago. The plans changed many times but the vision was there and he got it done. Baseball coming soon folks.

He's having an OK spring, but I have to tell you that his weight loss and greater determination to get better is not translating into a real noticeable change from what I've seen so far. In other words, he pretty much looks the same to me. Actually the most improved QB out there is McNulty. If he keeps developing, he could be a good bus driver-type QB. Nothing spectacular, but good speed and good percentage passing. I'm getting a bit annoyed with Bergland. Saturday he spent too much time trying to show off with his running (which is kind of back firing since this defense is noticeably faster than last year and often runs him down at the line of scrimmage) and long ball throwing and not practicing making good decisions. Trying to show off and be "wonder boy" is probably what got Mr. Bergland his hamstring injury in the first place.

While there were a few flaws, I thought that the analysis was very good for someone not connected. One misstatement was that we gave up more long rushes than we made. Per CFB, we had 57 rushes of more than 10 yards and gave up 52. But, he was right regarding pass vs. run. We had the third best pass defense (using the 14 teams that will be in 2013 CUSA and the third worst run defense. There were 26 more pass plays (420) than rushing plays (394). Our defensive line stopped less than 19% of the running plays; the vast majority of those by the defensive ends. Defensive tackle play must improve if we are to be a factor in next year's conference race. Statistically, North Texas will rank 4th in next year's CUSA. These statistics assume that the Sun Belt had a similar power-rating to CUSA; which may not be valid. Still, I'm predicting a tight fight with Tulsa for runnerup in the West. East Carolina and Marshall should be the top two teams and Rice should be #1 in the West.

I think you guys are wanting to add these two due to their familiarity. It's no secret that pretty much everyone (other than FAU & FIU administrations/fans, and the C-USA office) does not want FAU/FIU around, but that doesn't mean we need to add ASU or ULL either. Honestly, aside from us, the only schools from the Belt I'd like to see around are MT & WK, both of which joined. FAU/FIU (and ODU, UNC-C, & UTSA) can go jump off a cliff, and I'm not interested in any of the others. If we're going to add more, let's shoot for the likes of NIU (dip into the Chicago market, which apparently, is what the new-look C-USA is all about) and try to lure Army back in. Also, has anything OFFICIAL come from Tulsa saying they're moving? I love Arkstfan, but he's been a little chippy lately defending ASU's credentials to get into C-USA. I wouldn't be pissed if they joined, but I'm not going to vote for them either.

I wouldn't say all powerful but a message board can sure swing the pendulum for a recruit with options. I don't know of a single recruit, or a recruits parents, that haven't checked out a schools message board before making a decision that will impact their lives over the next 4-5 years or longer. The frequency of your negative posts do much more harm than good in my opinion. When I hear someone griping as much as you do, I pretty much write that persons opinions off as worthless but not everyone thinks that way.

Right, because just sitting back and ignoring lack of achievement, and in one of our program's case, it's dismantleing, is soooooo much better.

Just can't let a post go by without a shot at the basketball program, can you?

We need to at least the illusion that the new C-USA is not the same thing as the old Sun Belt Conference. I keep hoping that some team, a great team with a great tradition, in a big market area, that is a household name, that somehow everybody has overlooked, will come calling and ask to join. How did the University of Phoenix do last season ? GO MEAN GREEN

I sent a note to a friend in the Athletic Department today. He said that the shift of the game to Halloween evening has been discussed but is not yet a done deal. He said that like in so many other cases we are waiting for some other dominoes to fall. The Pac 12 apparently has some decision to make that affects our game. I am not sure how that works, but apparently it is the case. The Conference USA athletic directors meet soon and the hope is that a decision can be made at that time. As soon as it becomes official - if it does - the athletic department will announce it.

CUSA needs to put the brakes on and stay at 14. Thought we were moving up FROM the Sun Belt, not WITH it.

Considering Tony's & Jordan's previous relationship with Benford were soothing factors after they found out coach Leonard was not the guy (and both were pissed about that) I'm betting we would have lost both of them if it were Kaspar. And if we lost both of them, CJ surely would have followed. Hindsight being 20/20, if Kaspar could have come in here and won without those 3 (which looking at the disappointment of this past season, he may have been able to get more out of the remainder of the team than what Benford did this year with everyone) maybe he would have been the better coach to hire. But RV and everyone else didn't see this season coming with the Benford hire. No one did. At the very least, we needed a bus driver for this team. Instead, we got what appeared to be a drunk driver.

Maybe it is not much better in prestige.... But, i like having a conference with local teams (Rice, UTEP?, UTSA, La Tech) and a few that have been ok in the past USM and Marshall. I have no problem having UAB, MTSU and WKU as well. We are in a better place no doubt. i wouldn't mind having ASU or ULL for their overall program... I self-ishly wouldn't mind having UL-M just for their drivability.

People need to remember that for whatever reason (probably market) we were 1 of the top three choices for the 1st move by CUSA. Maybe what happened/ is happening in the basketball program has knocked us down a level, maybe not, but we should be trying to take advantage of our market and facilities improvement to get the MWC interested. We need a partner or partners to make it happen. Get on UTEP's coattails and ride them to CUSA, if possible.

Marshall has GOT to be loving this plan...

I think most people actually agree with your post completely. For me, though, if that means Berglund didn't win this spot, then I think we all know that this upcoming season won't be very good. We have seen DT for a few years now--the coaches don't trust his arm becasue he's not accurate and his throws are very "catchable" by the defense (i.e, ducks being thrown). He's not mobile enough to make a difference against a pass rush, either. McNulty should improve after his freshman year of being thrown to the wolves and getting a RS year. But he's a bus driver, at best, so you'd have to have a team that was like the Dickey teams that Hall led. Run the ball for 3/4 of the game and ahve a defense that was way better than most of your competition's offenses. We don't have any of those advantages right now. In a perfect world, you know the exact opposite of what UNT Football exists in, we would have a healthy QB that played up to his lofty potential in Berglund. His talent is way above the others on this team. But if he cannot show that in practice or in scrimmages, I'll be the first to say that he shouldn't play. But I'll also say that it means we win about 3 games in 2013. And, as far as who takes snaps at Georgia, whoever can run the damn clock out the fastest is fine with me. That's a game that should have never bee scheduled, as far as I'm concerned. Just make sure that injuries are limited and that their check doesn't bounce. Since 2005, games against OU, UT, LSU, Alabama, and Clemson haven't told me one thing about this team--its been games against the other OOC opponents that aren't FCS that have told me all that I need to know about where we are at as a program. Games against Tulsa and La Tech in 2005 told us what we needed to know about where we were really at as a program. Eventually, so did the SBC conference drubbings we took under Dickey at the end and under the entirety of the Dodge regime. I think McCarney's teams have shown some fight in them, but they have never had the horses to beat most of the teams on their schedule. Last year, if we had not played Texas Southern and South Alabama at home, we would have probably finished at 3-9 or 2-10 because of that lack of leadership at QB and lack of talent on defense. But I think Coach Mac is getting us there, especially on the lines. Games against Ohio and Ball State here in the OOC early will tell me a whole lot on where we will be for the year. Games against Idaho and Georgia won't tell me much, just like last year's games against LSU and Texas Southern didn't tell me anything. Last year, we competed with K-State very well, but we didn't compete at all with Houston. I think trading those two teams for Ohio and Ball State should be very telling.

Yawn

Seems like some of you want Bergland to start regardless of how he looks in practice. The one that produces in practice this spring & fall should be the starter. I don't care if it's DT, BB, McNulty, Gill, or Dajon Williams.

I mean this in all seriousness. Capable of what? Is the bar so low around here we don't even know what good quarterbacking is anymore? DT was sixth in passing yards, not in the top 10 in efficiency and had 14 TDs and 14 Ints in the Sun Belt. That's our starter. And we have three capable QBs?

It's never too early to perfect your overnight tailgating setup.

Nine projects that total $115 million and will serve as a blue print for the success and growth of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for decades to come, highlight the Athletics Facilities Master Plan. MASTER PLAN Here is a synopsis of the projects included in the Master Athletic Facilities Plan: Renovation of Cajun Field • Five construction phases that could ultimately raise capacity to over 65,000. • The first step of the first phase is to add 5,900 seats to south end zone, allowing for the remaining expansion to be done without losing use of Cajun Field or playing a season with a diminished capacity. • The main phase will feature the addition of a structure on the west side that will include 23,500 square feet of office space for the athletic administration, 1,200 club seats, 128 loge seats and 37 box suites. It will replace the current press box and include either changes or replacement of the current upper deck seating. • Also included in the main phase is an upper level of seating on the east sideline, adding 9,546 seats that will bring capacity to 50,000. Athletics Practice Facility Located adjacent to the Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility and on some of the space currently being used for the football practice fields, the 71,000 square foot facility will create new space for athletic training, equipment and strength and conditioning and house the offices for the football program. Football Amenities In The APF (24,000 square feet) • Includes office space for head coach, assistant coaches and administrative and support staff. • 4,800 square feet of meeting space, including a main auditorium that seats 130-150 people that can be broken down into multiple meeting rooms. • Video editing suite and storage facilities that include video distribution and viewing areas for pro scouts. • Locker room facilities for the football team, coaching staff and visitors. Athletic Training In The APF (10,000 square feet) • Includes office space for athletic training staff, doctor’s office and exam room, a hydro-therapy room along with 3,500 square feet dedicated to treatment and rehabilitation. Equipment Room In The APF (5,700 sf) Almost 6,000 square feet of space located off the loading dock and receiving area that includes work space, offices for the full-time staff, expanded laundry facility, issue bins and equipment storage. Strength and Conditioning In The APF (18,800 sf) • Multiple weight room facilities that will allow more student-athletes to work out at the same time along with a common nutrition station. • Primary facility covers 12,000 square feet which will handle student-athletes simultaneously, including space for agility, plyometrics and warm-ups. • Current basketball court attached to indoor facility will be re-purposed into a 5,000 square foot secondary weight room. • Cardio mezzanine connects the two facilities, sharing space with athletic training for use rehabbing and evaluation of injuries. Track & Soccer Facility • The current complex that serves as the home of the Cajuns men’s and women’s track teams and the women’s soccer squad will get a face lift. • Individual office space for each coaching staff. • Individual locker rooms for each team will be either renovated or built. Student-Athlete Academic Center Covering 10,700 square feet of space, the space will provide a centralized location for all academic support. The center includes office space for the academic support staff, computer lab, classroom with theatre-style seating for 50, a primary study lounge with 12 private tutoring labs and a pair of medium-size tutor labs. M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field The home of Ragin’ Cajuns baseball since 1978 will get a major renovation, increasing capacity to approximately 4,500 with at least 1,200 chair back seats. Additional improvements include: • Nine luxury suites capable of holding 10 fans each. • 1,500 square foot press box that includes two radio booths, a television booth and increased space for game management. • Renovated baseball offices and locker rooms, adding a player’s lounge and meeting rooms. Basketball Practice Facility Currently slated to be built on the southwest corner of Cajundome Blvd & Reinhardt, the 32,000 square foot structure will house the Louisiana men’s and women’s basketball teams. It will include: • Basketball practice area that includes a regulation basketball court and several side baskets. • Locker rooms for the team and coaching staff. • Satellite Athletic Training room (1,200). • Shared film room and video editing space. Earl K. Long Gym Opened in 1939, currently serving as the home of women’s basketball and volleyball, historic Earl K. Long Gym will get a face lift. Renovating the existing space will project a more modern look. Culotta Tennis Center One of the newest athletic facilities, Culotta Tennis Center will get an update, building expanded locker room and office space, increasing outdoor lighting and creating a four-court indoor facility added to allow year-round practice and playing. Golf Practice Facility At a site to be determined in the near future, office and locker room facilities will be built to allow the Ragin’ Cajuns a place to call home throughout the year. Sports Plaza Once the structure is finished on the west side of Cajun Field is completed, plans call for the Cox Communications Athletic Center to be demolished, opening up nearly four acres of space for the Sports Plaza. The plaza will be a gathering point for activities in Cajun Field, the Culotta Tennis Center, M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field and Lamson Park, providing space where fans can gather and share the immense culture that Ragin’ Cajuns athletics enjoys.

I will respond to each statement: 1. Yes, it is important with an 18 year old. He likes to see his name written up, check with the school's website or fanboard to get reaction from his visit, etc... He's 18. I think the AD staff keeps an eye on the board, but it is not near as important to them as it is to an 18 year old hoping to go somewhere he is wanted. 2. Not even close to being a conflicting statement. I would consider the question inane at best. 3. So you "don't believe in taking up their valuable time" but have no problem taking up our's with the constant bombardment of negativety? Interesting train of thought considering they are the one's that have the ability to facilitate change. UNTnewbie hits the nail on the head.

A CHL class with 700 students tweeting their questions.... stupid.

So one police officer leading a CHL class demonstrates that most police officers want more concealed handguns in public venues?

Cajun fans would tell you they have been The University of Louisiana since they ceased being South Western Louisiana (?). I've never been to a game there but I've always heard good things about their game day festivities. GO MEAN GREEN

While that was more of a shot at the administration, I'm with you. He's like a poison ivy rash, the more you scratch at it the more it spreads. I'm willing to pay skiver/Andrew good money to continue to say crazy shit on the basketball forum, just to keep him off of the football forum.

I am assuming that Louisiana finally moved away from state supported money for intercollegiate athletics, like Texas does. Louisiana used to give tax money for athletics, which always hurt us in the old Southland Conference.

So both of the links in my first post point towards what I will be needing, which is both broad strokes (general program history), and some specifics (greatest plays ever, greatest plays last season).

You know how Mac said we had to fabricate competition in the past - same thing is going on here. BB will be the guy come fall. (Injuries not withstanding.)

If we lose to utsa..............................that's when the sky falls.

He's having a good spring, but Vito is making it sound like we won't be able to recognize the guy this year. Maybe he has improved, but I just don't know how we can win with a qb that our coaches don't have confidence in.

Happy Birthday!

Fall camp is about 3 1/2 weeks long. Perhaps that is enough time for Brock to get ready for the season but it would have been nice if he would have showed some of the things he can do in the spring. Call me chicken little if you want, but if we don't get above average quarterbacking against Idaho, we could lose that game.

Have a great Birthday VE! Naturally if you do anything outrageous or entertaining on you Birthday, the Mean Green nation expects "film at ten".

People forget that these guys will report for fall camp about 2 months before we play Idaho. We only have one more week left of spring football, but the qb competition will not be shut down. I've said this before, but if DT is the starter don't be surprised to see he and Berglund both get chances to lead the offense against Idaho in the first half. These coaches have too much invested in Berglund and too little confidence in DT (see last year) to anoint him the undisputed starter. Also, Berglund has looked good this spring when he was healthy. Who's to say he'll be fully healthy by fall, but the point is the coaches aren't going to label him a bust based on this spring. Maybe DT starts, but he will have a much shorter leash this year than last year.

I think DT will be the starter thru first 4 games of season. Any signs of struggle or record worse than 2-2 & there will probably be a change. I'd also feel much more comfortable w/DT under center @ UGA than BB. He has the experience. & wouldn't be rattled one bit. One thing is for sure , stiff competition battles do nothing but benefit the team. Both QB's will come out better because of it

I'm going to take a bit of a weird direction here (big surprise, right?). If we do play Arizona State this coming season, a win or at least a close game would help tremendously in bringing some remote alumni back into the fold. If we could get even a couple dozen retired UNT alums in AZ connected to UNT again, that's a moderate boost. If we continue to do so everywhere we go, support in terms of spirit, finances, and every other area could lead to the "slow burn" necessary to finally get us where we need to be. Sometimes, taking a step back to remember that the aggregate (in this case, overall wins/season performance) is built from individual days, moments, and events. Such is the same with our personal involvement...we may have greater heights yet to be achieved, but as we bring excitement back to those who may have forgotten it, each person who develops a renewed sense of commitment will strengthen our capacity to yield these results. I'm freaking excited. No matter what happens with Benford, no matter how far out of our control it may be or seem, there are still things we can do; work can yet be done in those areas we can control. Wins and a great coach certainly make it easier to elicit a response, but creative team-building can accomplish just as much in the short term, with greater sense of loyalty and belonging in the long-term. To a point, this hearkens back to the "What Can You Do For The Mean Green" thread from a couple of days ago. As much as we all want wins and good coaching, what can we do in the interim to strengthen our program regardless of that which we can't control? Even if we could benefit from more transparency from the admin and the AD (and I agree with Emmitt, we certainly could), let's find new ways to re-create our own intertwined destinies as much as possible. Whether your feelings are optimistic or not, try a checklist with sub-parameters. Think of as many areas as possible where change, advancement, etc. are necessary, as well as types of responses that could be useful. Think of as many as possible before ruling anything out. Then, when your ideas are momentarily exhausted, go over everything and circle the areas where you don't need "administrative approval" to get something done. For every circled idea, consider any way you can organize - alone, or with others - to accomplish portions of each goal. Then, talk to friends and start a thread on here relative to each method of goal-attainment you've thought of. Some may leave you trying on your own, others may garner considerable support, but any of them may give a bit of a boost necessary to push things forward a little bit. With just a few ideas working out, we could change...well, everything.

Why is Berglund getting used to the college game? He has practiced at Kansas, JC and UNT. That is plenty of college experience. It is not like he just graduated early, skipped his prom and reported for spring practice. We are in big trouble if this kid is not what we need him to be. Where is the kid who was allegedly wowing on the scout team all fall? For us to get to a bowl our QB play needs to be MUCH better than what DT has accomplished.

Not going to happen. For example, women do not have the same levels of testosterone as men.

That is done for every team... the adjustment is a statistical adjustment for whomever it is your playing that week, to show basically if the score you got agianst that team would have been good enough to beat an average fbs football team. It's a try to correct for schedule strength. If you do that with last years ohio or ball state teams, you'll be surprised how close their record is to ours. I am pretty sure he swhowed the past records "adjusted" too.

Yep. I have a loaded M1 carbine next to my nightstand in the bedroom and a Walther P38 in my desk in my office at home. Oh, many years ago I accidentally fired a 7.92mm Mauser through the ceiling of my bedroom at home. Stupid thing to do but accidents happen. I'm glad that accident didn't happen in a classroom. I'm not sure I want some kid with 10 hours of CHL classes to be defending my class from a bad guy.

No, I'm unlikely to carry a gun into a classroom & if I did I would be unlikely to have an irrestible urge to shoot someone. I don't have the same confidence in the behavior of other people carrying guns in the classroom. No, but even the best trained sometimes have accidents. My cousin, on his second tour in VN, managed to shoot himself in the leg. He was well trained but he did something stupid. People tend to do stupid things. When they do stupid things with guns....

I'm counting your woe-is-UNT posts. I think your point will come across after 30 more. Another 100 and the AD might take action. You need to keep spreading them out, too. Kind of like leave-no-child-behind, but with GMG.com threads instead of kids.

It might work out better to DM me your ideas and thoughts, and closer to the posting date, I'll run this article again.

So, do you think that if you carried one of these guns into a classroom, you would suddenly have the urge to shoot someone? Do you think that what you know about gun safety would suddenly disappear? Do you keep any loaded guns at home? If so, don't you spend a lot more time at home than in a classroom, and wouldn't that mean that you were far more likely to have a gun accident at home? And we have to be talking about gun accidents, right? Because anyone who WANTS to intentionally commit gun violence (shoot people) isn't going to say "wow, I can't carry my gun in there, it's against the law." And if that person shows up in your classroom and shoots you before you can get to your weapon, wouldn't you want one of your students (assuming we are talking college here) to be arm so that he could protect him/herself and the rest of the class? Again, this should be left up to the individual universities at the college level and to the individual school districts, not the state or federal government. Government is always better practiced at the local level.

Actually, "the poster" probably has more guns than you do. Some of my guns would probably be classified as 'assault weapons'. My guns belong in my home - not in a classroom.

The more you post, the more scared I am of this hire. Just sayin...

Thoughts: No.

I hope not.