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I grew up there one night.

We almost made it two weeks without a post about SMU. I'd call that progress.

Seriously? Who's in charge of that account? Why are they replying to political tweets on it? I didn't love the announcement of RV being in charge of NIL, I appreciate that he still cares about UNT and I don't wish any ill will on the guy, but he wasn't some great salesman or fundraiser in his time here. At a time where every move is crucial especially NIL related why do we bring back someone we fired to be a part of it?

And again it's mind blowing that whoever's in charge of that account is another American so consumed with politics that they got their panties in a wad over a tweet and couldn't dare take the time to see which account they were logged in to before replying.

While I would agree that the "shiny" has worn off with Wren Baker, I will address each one of your points.... 1. Apogee is not falling apart, the bones are beautiful. However, the "technology" that was state of the art when it was built needs a serious upgrade. Just like the fact that I am fighting buying a new computer because it works for me even though "Windows whatever number i have" is not supported. We need new computers "etal" at apogee. 2. Fundraising non existent. This is an area that needs work for sure. Not only in just work, but accurately conveying to donor base what we need money for and aligning everyone to work for that goal. 3. game day presentation, see above 4. Falling behind in NIL. THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT CANT DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!!!! and also I assure you, we are no longer "behind" in NIL, and I would argue in 2 months we have jumped ahead of many in our new conference. Just because light the tower doesn't boast or go public with what they are doing doesn't mean its not happening. Sidenote, and this is my opinion, in cases of schools like us, NIL does tend to cannabalize money that could of gone to other things, but it needed to be addressed now. 5. Coddling Seth.....this is laughable. Lovelace would fire his grandmother if she wasn't performing. I have been to every facility in CUSA, and every facility of ours peers moving with us to AAC. I spent 1 full week in Wichita in July moving in and out of their practice facility and arena. Our stuff may not be brand new, but we are not behind in facilities in the AAC. We have a beautiful stadium, we have a beautiful IPF, we have a new track and soccer facility, our womens softball stadium is very well maintained. The only discussion may be the pit, but it is way better than most arenas in CUSA, and certainly is on par in the aac. Wren has moved the needle in many directions. He like anyone, has weaknesses. Shoot, I just rambled with no point...

SL doesn’t misspeak. You misheard. Did you know a cobra once bit SL on the leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died. ETA: off week makes way more sense. Good point.

…just scored for the 49ers. 32 yard TD run. A thing of beauty.

And if this post jinx’s everything, I’m sorry in advance.

This NIL Collective Political SuperPAC will dry up, because no one will trust it's leadership, why would they when this is what they are putting out. Maybe when I'm richer, and UNT adds baseball, I'll start my own NIL Collective, with black jack and hookers, the way it should be.

But, is it indicative of the level of attention that should be paid to it? If we're going to be as serious about NIL as we have been with Apogee, IPF, coaches salaries, etc..., we need to be very selective on what information goes out. And it certainly can't be stupid stuff like that. That's the kind of small-time, clown show stuff that got him dismissed by Smatresk a long time ago.

Here, I fixed the article. “North Texas has been historically bad in football. The school also had comically bad facilities, financial support, and expectations. Seth Littrell has experienced previously unseen success while enjoying previously unheard of resources and advantages that prior coaches never had. This season, and his tenure, should be judged on how much he got out of the new tools at his disposal”

SMU has players who won't play for you EVEN WHEN YOU PAY THEM.

Signs point to a "Rick V."?

Completely agree...wtf is the person in charge of that account doing?? How hard is it to keep that account about football? That's embarrassing... I won't be giving any money to that PAC BS...

Lol. Joke’s on you. It’s a PAC.

UTSA is going to be a problem in the next 5 years

Okay fine. I will sign UNT up for the PAC-12 and take the lowly $16 million per year.

This is not what Vito's original report said. "We decided after we visited with the athletic department that we needed to get this going," Lovelace said. "We needed someone to manage it. The Athletic Department recommended Rick Villarreal because of his history, knowledge and camaraderie with UNT athletes over the years."

I believe the people you're angry with are the very people who are contributing 95+% of the NIL funding. There still seems to be a lot of confusion around NIL collectives. None of them, not a single one, are an actual University-sanctioned organization. They are all, every single one, independent organizations that are not under any kind of direction from the University they represent. So when the completely independent organizations decide on leadership, they choose the person they like. Wren Baker & Neal Smatresk have zero say.

"Technically" UNT athletics should have nothing to do with it, nor any say 😇 😉

If anyone is in the area of College Inn when they start demolition, could you be on the lookout for something for me. I lost my innocence there at one time and have been unable to locate it.

I know it’s unpopular here, but I agree with you about Littrell. He has certainly raised the bar on a program that was considered a laughing stock nationally. He’s a victim of his own success. To be frank, a lot of this is politics. If you lose the fanbase, you feel the heat. And I think he should be on the hot seat because the last three years haven’t met the standard he set in the first three. I’ve said it before, but there is some merit to the idea stability should be the most important factor when considering how to best hit the ground running in the AAC. But at the end of the day, it’s about putting butts in seats and creating fan support that bleeds into recruiting. Littrell has not done enough of that, and my bet is he’s gone at the end of the year.

I wonder if he misspoke when he said "offseason" and meant the "off week"

Not rewarding that garbage with a click.

I'll believe it when I see the rubble on the ground. College Inn has been rumored for demolition for decades.

MeThinks UNT can (& will), but winning seasons & bowl game wins is essential & is the minimal expectation. I agree with the SMU poster who said no reason UNT can’t annually win 8 games per season. One has told me Wren Baker is the kind of AD who can get the money. (I believed him, but most likely it won’t be next week or next month). I applaud what SMU & Gary Webber are doing at G. Ford because they have set a new AAC standard for stadium expansion. We can whine all we want on this forum (& we will), but UNT now has no choice to do similar if we want to leave the OldDenton stuck in mud mode behind & compete in the American upper echelon. Below is what some in one of the poorest spots in America has admirably done with their stadium. Really bothers me to hear Texans on GMG continually say what we cannot do. UTSA fans don’t seem to do much of that & look (short & long range) where they are headed? (Some of us also like who the RR’s play for their OOC home games the last few years). _____________________________ •••The family portrait pic below the App. State stadium pics has nothing to do with this thread whatsoever, but it just warms my soul to see a smiling & happy family at the Apogee Stadium complex. TV’s Pioneer Woman Gang really look like a fun bunch. Here is App.States Athletic Center & End Zone facility combo.

The only innocence I personally lost there was sharing a joined bathroom with this absolute bear of a russian man. As a youthful 20 year old taking summer music courses I never knew so much hair could come off of one man or so much toilet paper consumed. Cheers to you. You absolute Russian unit. You showed me what a man was truly capable of and I will forever cherish those god forsaken memories, you hairy TP devouring judgment from god. /wipes a tear

Seriously, whoever thought it was a good idea to bring Rick back in and put him in charge of something important, like the NIL, should probably also be let go. Let's clean house until we get the results we want. UNT athletics shouldn't be the Rick Villareal retirement fund so he can go watch Garth Brooks for free, and act like he was raising money for our student athletes, gtfoh with that... would love to see if we achieved anything with that night out on the funds checkbook.

It was probably Rick V's burner/personal twitter account, that out of sheer laziness/ignorance, he decided to change the name to the Light the Tower Collective instead of creating a brand new account all together.

Dickey had more sustained success than Littrell. From 2000-2004 UNT won four straight conference championships, reached four bowls (and won one) and had three seasons in a row with winning records. The reason to consider moving on from Littrell is that a six-win season where you don't win the conference and get stomped in a bowl game is the lowest possible definition of success.

The people who tolerate you on a daily basis are the real heroes.

Littrell might not be a great coach but hes not terrible either... I do not understand why so many people are ready to fire him with out knowing who the next coach will be, or even what direction the AD would like to pursue in the search for one.

For yall

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/34721239

Unless I'm missing something as a paying CL ticket holder, we don't need more premium seating. I'm convinced we're giving away tickets to half the people in the CL every week anyways. Not sure if the Letterman's Association can get any ex players free tickets on demand, but there's about 150-200 regular people and then a rotating group of ex players, Athletic Dept family friends, and the occasional player's families up there. My CL section I sit in has absolutely lost people YOY

I can't really fault anyone for ever doing what's best for them, but it has really waned my interest in college sports, or at least my ability to keep up.

Wren is the best AD since I’ve been around and that goes back to 1976. He hired GRant, but more importantly how he hired him. When Wren arrived he looked at the available bb coaches and decided the right coach wasn’t available at the time so he stuck it out for one more year to get a home run coach rather than just settle for anyone different. Wren was patient and thus hit a home run as a result. Wren developed a plan to be ready when the next conference shake up happened. By being patient and executing his plan, NT was so well positioned that the President of SMU said we were the most ready to moved up to the AAC! Instead of being the last one in, the AAC was “who do we add besides NT.” Again, patience in executing a plan made a huge difference in the outcome. Bill Byrne, a former AD at Texas A&M, said the difference between a good AD and a great AD was having patience when the fan base had none. Fans are too fickle to be trusted with making real decisions. That is why universities hire someone with patience to be an AD. Wren is the best AD in at least 45 years. We’re not getting rid of him because some fans with incomplete knowledge of the real alternatives want “change.”

Oh please. Simply having a .500 record in any conference gets you a bowl game these days. That's such a weak argument.

The school isn’t the party paying them NIL money

District 5 6A

I’m what sport?

Right there with you I had to reread it multiple times. Also I didn't know he was this effing stupid to post that shit on Twitter through our NIL account

Does anyone else besides me have difficulty with RV's sentax?

"You North Texas State fans should be thrilled for all those bowl appearances and 6 win seasons... Remember you historically suck!" - Texas football sportswriters

I sure don't--he's light years better than anyone we have had as an AD in many decades.

Why does everyone seem to want Wren Baker gone? I think he's been the best AD at UNT since I can remember. Please enlighten me on your displeasure. Was it a "one-time" parking lot issue? The fact that he gave Littrell a big contract extension and now we want to get rid of Littrell (on this I agree) but can't afford the buyout price? Yes, Littrell is a problem. He could do no wrong when we had a QB(Fine). And here we are. Unable to buy-out the head coach's contract. Just remember, we are not UT or TAMU, etc.