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And how many would have stayed if Littrell would have stayed? There is no way to know, but he did get players to stay previously because he had a good relationship with them. Coach Morris has no relationship with them. And some transferred after Spring ball. Isn't that Morris' fault for not retaining them? Littrell clearly went a different route his last year in recruiting. No way to know if it would have worked out long term, but we did play for the conference championship last year.

Eric Morris was officially named as the 20th head coach of UNT football on December 13, 2023. That is 29 weeks or two hundred days ago. He has yet to coach a game but that will change in a couple of months. And yet there has still been a fair amount of analysis on how Morris has fared in terms of his short tenure, with a primary focus on recruiting. While many UNT football recruiting fan heads have been spinning with the advent of NIL and the Portal, Morris has put together a solid recruiting team that has had its share of success along with a normal amount of disappointment that was to be expected this early. The real tell on how good a recruiting class can be occurs years after the class is finalized. The recruiting databases, and school offers are typically the only data points we have. The recruiting services have never invested a lot of resources into analyzing borderline 3-star recruits and so you could argue that offer lists may be even more important. One aspect that could differentiate Morris from his predecessor in Seth Littrell could be how many of these classes and players inside these classes stick and stay with the program or leave, commonly referred to in the business world as attrition. Under Littrell, it was pretty bad. Just eyeing 2022, UNT showed twelve signees and nine transfers for a total of twenty-one. Of that total, six have already headed to the exits or 30 percent. Not to mention existing players who also have exited the portal, like Jyaire Shorter and Larry Nixon That 30% seems like a lot, but in this era of portal and NIL it will become a lot more commonplace. If Morris can keep that attrition down and lower the number of players entering the portal due to NIL, it could make a big difference for the program, but UNT will need to ramp up NIL funds to aid him in that regard. GMG

I just don’t think recruiting is going to change +- 20% under Morris in the near future which means he’ll have to be successful in the areas that good G5s are- developing quarterbacks, winning close games, effective defense, good special teams and getting the most out of the back end of recruiting classes. Reducing coaching turnover wouldn’t hurt either. Any coach has to be flexible but I would hit high schools on the offensive side and transfers on defense. I’m not expecting miracles from Morris this year but it’s going to be interesting if he sticks to his “play offense to help the defense” take he mentioned earlier in the year. If we’re flinging it around against teams like FIU and La Tech, teams we should run against, not the greatest of signs.

Why is this referred to as "under Littrell"? He was gone long before most, if not all, of these departures happened.

What sucks about this is that it wouldn't be that hard to do it correctly. So boosters want to pay the athletes to visit a local hospital or put on a clinic for kids or something like that. Set up a charitable collective to do that. The problem is that too many of them had a very narrow scope and weren't/aren't really spending their money on the charitable work and instead all the money is going to the players to maybe show up at an event once or twice a year. That's not really a charitable organization. It COULD and SHOULD work, but your focus should be on the charitable work, with the bonus of using NIL to pay the athletes to be taking part in the charitable work. But of course, that's not what these wealthy d-bags are doing. But you'd have to get boosters on board with some of their money being used for administrative and overhead costs of ACTUALLY running a charity, not just them rubbing elbows with athletes on social media.

It seems like signing junior college and community college players may be a good strategy.

It will tough for any G5 coach to keep players from P5 offers! We need to attract Transfers at the qb and dl positions and this is wear the NIL monies should be spent.

Hodge basically said so in multiple interviews.

Yes, what it should be is donors paying to fund a charitable situation for the athletes to participate in and earn some extra funds to help pay for their college life... What it actually is at many large programs are greedy donors who want to buy players (wins), and mercenary players that will play for anyone that bids high enough for them. Charity is not even a consideration.

Will this continue to be a 2 bid league or will it be 3 or dare I say 4?????

its going to be a really fun basketball conference

https://www.jucorecruiting.com/2023-juco-top-100 He got two of the top 10 JuCo players in the country. They graduate a lot, but a lot of their key role players return like Gaines and Toney

I believe that Rice will invest perhaps a similar amount of money as they did in their SWC days. I can see why they didn't want to invest big dollars into CUSA; it just wasn't worth it. Now, is different. They are competing with "private" schools on the same level. I believe that the AAC has more private universities than any other FBS Conference with SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, and Navy, with Rice making the fifth. All have been at the lower level except for SMU. Rice needs to find a Jess Neely type coach and let him build a contender. I expect Rice to bend their academic requirements only slightly at the most with only Navy in contention for extremely high grades.

What were they spending? Seems it would be pretty minimal. Here are the old threads: In the second link you will find the email I received from Andie Jackson, Coordinator for Campus-Wide Events. I called b.s. on the lack of community interest as I would also come to town and bring my boys. When they got older, we still all came but started bringing my nieces and nephews. There was always a crowd.

https://riceowls.com/news/2023/6/23/general-rice-student-athletes-shine-bright-with-academic-success-in-conference-usa "Rice University's student-athletes have achieved remarkable academic success throughout their membership in Conference USA since 2005. Their outstanding achievements exemplify Rice's commitment to excellence both on and off the field. Rice Athletics has been honored with 14 out of 18 C-USA Institutional Excellence Awards, underscoring their consistent dedication to academic excellence within Conference USA. This remarkable milestone is a testament to the fact that Rice student-athletes have demonstrated unparalleled success not only in their athletic endeavors but also in securing rewarding careers, with a remarkable 100% career placement rate. Among all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions, the Rice Owls proudly hold the fifth overall ranking in the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR), a testament to their commitment to fostering well-rounded student-athletes. Additionally, the Owls have consistently surpassed expectations, achieving an impressive 83% FGR (2012-2015 Cohorts) compared to the national FBS average of 69%. In its final year in C-USA, a record-high 89 Rice student-athletes were awarded the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal after compiling a GPA of 3.75 or better, with 49 of them posting a perfect 4.0 GPA this year. Additionally, Rice student-athletes maintained an impressive cumulative GPA of 3.44, and 298 were named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. Since 2005, Rice student-athletes have been honored over 4,000 times as members of the honor roll reflecting their commitment to achieving academic success alongside their athletic pursuits. Rice University's student-athletes have consistently set the standard for academic success in Conference USA over the past 18 years. Their exceptional achievements are a testament to Rice University's commitment to nurturing well-rounded individuals who excel both athletically and academically."

While I can sympathize with instinct to lob insults at SMU, how about y’all keep it contained to threads that mention the whiny express?

Don't get me wrong, I love the planet, but I dont always agree with sustainability guidelines. But, I do see the need for them as time goes on, so I'm always willing to accept the challenge... That being said...Can they NOT show/illustrate what "said Guidelines" are? I work in architecture and we constantly deal with jurisdictions that have different guidelines/requirements on minimum and maximum types of sustanable material and methods of construction. So, we review those requirements, then apply them to the proposed design to the client. In short, we're basically telling the client "ok, we have some rules we have to go by, so here's what we CAN do.... But UNT just seems to put out the Optics of "well, no use even trying....lets forget the whole damn thing, just not worth it..." REALLY UNT? It's a PARADE....It's not a "Green-Building/LEED certified 100 million dollar addition to the Tokyo International Airport. It's 3 hours of a marching band and people pulling flatbed trailers with kids throwing terrible candy to spectators... I'm sure I might be over-simplifying the issue, because I don't have all the details....But for the love of GAWD, give us the details. It my experience, there is ALWAYS a work-around... Every College has a Homecoming...(yes, even those without football programs) But I'd dare to say ALL of them with football programs are having a parade.. My question is, how many colleges/universities, in the State of Texas, are deciding to forgo a Homecoming Parade this year? My guess UNT will be the ONLY school to just skip this tradition, because it's easier.... This is one of those "little things" that UNT does, that doesnt seem like much, but adds up to us not looking like a legit program, or getting student body involved, or connecting with the community. May not seem like a big deal, but alot of little things, add up to big things eventually. Do better, UNT...

Well, my point is these are two separate things. You want to pay players for NIL. Fine. But don't try and create a non-profit and act like you're running a charity when you're running a payer-playing scheme. Run a legit charity or pay players for "NIL" and pay taxes on it, you greedy c*nts.

Glass half full? Seth’s season were the definition of trending at mediocrity. They improved by 1 additional conference win. There is no reason to think he was going to do better in stronger new conference this year.

Thanks for re-posting the link to Andie Jackson's letter. It does clear up their "stance", but I'm GRAVELY disappointed in my school. I apologize in advance to be suspicious and my tone, but how much of this decision is really "lack of student participation" vs. a committee just not wanting the challenge that's been around for what, maybe 75 years? I'm sure there's guilt on both sides, but i find it hard to believe its for lack of interest. a Greek Organizations live for this kinda stuff. Many Frats/Sororities require members to volunteer for activities to accrue a certain amount of points. A parade is an easy no-brainer. Can't have ALL of them on the floats? Worried about the extra "waste" generated by a parade? Fine, assign surplus members volunteer for clean-up duty. b. The Green Brigade, by default adds 500'+ to the length of the parade, just by showing up.... c. What business, in Denton, does not WANT to drive SLOWLY in front of hundreds spectators, with their name on the side of a vehicle, handing out SWAG, at the price of the most affordable marketing you could possibly get? d. There are now FOUR large High Schools in Denton ISD. ALL with great marching bands. You mean to tell me, if UNT extends an invite to their bands, to march in the homecoming parade, ALL of them will decline? I'm a director at my company, and have been doing it for 30+ years.....I can smell when someone just doesnt want to try... Do better, UNT.

I believe they are only allowed one transfer without penalty.

I think they could win it all!

They will be in the top 3.

I think 3 is very realistic.

If a player transfers to UNT do they have tp stay for a period of time or can they immediately leave? I am not clear on the latest for this.

This would help as much as retention of players on the roster. Excellent point.

While I get that the Mountain West is annoyed at SDSU, I think acting fast and negotiating fairly benevolently instead of playing hard ball is actually its best buisness decision. Because if they insist SDSU left, then there is zero chance at getting 34 million in case they need to leave late, because then SDSU can rightfully say: you insisted we told you we are leaving in June, so we get to go for the lower prize. So i would hurry and tell SDSU they can come back in for 2 million or so. You can still play hard ball when they try to make their move official (provided it ever happens, which at this point I don't think is a given anymore). But actually losing SDSU for only 17 million is not good buisnes for the MWC in the long run.

That is huge, if correct. The PAC schools wanted the upcoming Pac12 Media Days (July 21) to focus on the upcoming football season, with head coaches and players, and questions about them. They did not want the event to turn into a rumor-fest about the-now-unannounced media deal and expansion or contraction.

This whole Colorado thing is so silly. It's not happening for many reasons. Most of all logic. Big12 Mouthpieces: PAC is so worthless their deal will be less than Big12 Also Big12 Mouthpieces: But we are going to add one of their worst, lowest value programs, Colorado, and it'll get us more money. Those two things are direct contradictions

The facts (not opinions) SDSU sent a letter stating it was intending to leave the MWC and asked for a couple of caveats. The MWC responded hell no and that they considered the letter an official withdrawal notice. As we sit today, the MWC's official stance is that SDSU submitted their withdrawal notice. The president of SDSU was promptly removed from her position on the conference leadership council, they aren't paying SDSU their yearly conference payment and are withholding SDSU bball tournament credits. All of this normal for a departing team. SDSU has argued for weeks that the letter intending to leave the conference was not a formal statement of withdrawal and the latest letter stating SDSU will remain in the MWC doesn't change anything in the factual department although we'll get to that in a minute. MWC disagrees. This where we stand on the facts. Conjecture: SDSU made a very shrewd decision in their recent actions. At minimum, they laid the groundwork for a legal fight if they indeed are forced to stay in the MWC. At best, they bought time. Time for the Pac 12 to finish their sheet. The Pac-12 knows they need to handle their business in the next couple of weeks before their conference on July 21st. That has always been the "unofficial" deadline. I strongly suspect they will. Will it be enough to keep the conference together? We will see. I have some ideas about the delays but I would ask intrepid ponyfans to look at the ESPN fiasco with their recent layoffs and the mobs targeting them over the money they gave to Pat McAfee. Optics bad for announcing a PAC 12 deal? Thoughts for another day and I've digressed. Prediction: The PAC 12 announces their deal after getting buy in and GOR rights signed in the next two weeks. I'll guess 7/13-14. Invites promptly go out to SDSU and SMU. Accepted. SDSU smiles at MWC and says "you were right all along and we agree." MWC counters that SDSU claimed it wasnt a withdrawal letter and they want the double fee. Both parties do a 180 degree turn on their previous positions. Hilarity ensues.

If there's an expert on downvotes, it would be you.

Jones is THE leader of this team. He is going to start and I think he will finally get to stretch out and show what he can do. His AAU running mate has been in the NBA for a couple years and he didn't look out of place with his skill set.

What do you mean travel? They've all moved to Frisco from what I can tell

It's all part of the AD's "production" of a football game. It's atmosphere and noise = crowd participation = home field advantage = winning. Everyone should have a piece of the pie.

I got ya. But isn't the real problem the lack of interest from the people that should be interested?

Winning is the most important recruiting tool

The ability to show off a nice locker room is insignificant next to the power of the NIL

when we are competing with other G5 peers? Not so much UTSA had a great day yesterday, getting verbals from a few we had offered. Plus the 4 star (don’t know if we offered him). the Dome is old and off campus, but it’s obviously not old or bad enough that Apogee is convincing them to come to Denton instead. The facility arms race is real, but it’s not going to work 100% across the board. The best facilities in the AAC are not going to sign 100% of the AAC recruiting pool.

Yes. It's still 8 figures of additional media income every year, it still comes with much more visibility in the media, better opponents that people have heard of and have credibility, this easier recruiting and better attendance, and associates SMU with some premier national universities. There are almost no downsides, despite having to deal with California idiots and dysfunction. Plus, think about Cal fans showing up at SMU and realizing the Bush II presidential library is there! Perfect.

We need one more big 6-7 to 7-0 for depths in the front court . Guards have good size. One more F or P.

Considering recent history, why on earth would anyone doubt we can compete. Memphis will have a talented roster. They will have to overcome less than great coaching. FAU should be the early favorite. Memphis, based on talent alone, will be expected to either win or be runner up to FAU. I would expect most preseason predictions to put us somewhere near the middle just due to uncertainty around how our coaching staff will respond to the promotions and how the talented new guards will fit in with our historically grind it out style. Personally, I expect us to compete for a top 3 finish. Barring a slower than expected start, I'd still look for us to make some noise in the conference tournament. With the shooters we've just brought in, we're going to be everyone's nightmare matchup in a tournament bracket.

I don't know when the deal will be done, but this guy 100% just makes up stuff. Scroll through his history

They need to sign a current KC star and refresh this commercial. 🤣

How do you know who the leader of the team is? I am not sure I even know what that is. Murray was IMO a leader of the team but the team did not depend on his play. With little to go on, I just think others have as much on court experience as Jones and project to be better. I don't think Jones will be the starting pg and is more likely to play off the ball. The faster NT plays IMO the more likely Jones is on the floor. Overall, this should be a very deep team and multiple guards will get significant minutes.

Thanks, I was wondering the same thing.

I actually think he did not look very good running the point in the tournament and was much better off the ball. In general, it seemed like he struggled a lot last season to come back from injury so we will see when/if he is fully healthy.

Happy 4th, everybody! 🇺🇸