Harry

Yes I saw the same article. That said, they have positioned themselves very well for the next realignment which is important too.

DENTON – North Texas head football coach Seth Littrell announced Tuesday that former Dallas Cowboys running back Tashard Choice has been named to the Mean Green’s coaching staff in a quality control role, working with the offense. Choice most recently was a part of the Cowboys coaching staff ahead of the 2016 National Football League season, working with the running backs during organized team activities and minicamp. The Jonesboro, Georgia, native was a fourth round pick of the Cowboys in 2008 out of Georgia Tech, and played for Dallas from 2008-11. He also played for the Washington Redskins, Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts during his playing career, which carried through 2013. Throughout his NFL career, Choice rushed for 1,579 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also posting 574 yards receiving. Additionally, Kenny Buyers, who played for the Mean Green from 2012-16 is also joining the North Texas staff in a graduate assistant role with the defense. Buyers joins newcomers J.D. Perkins (offense) and Herschel Sims (offense) as well as Tim Burmeister (defense), who is in his second season in Denton.

Under Jackson’s leadership, the UNT System: Raised UNT’s 4-year graduation rate from 13% in 2001 to 29.1% in 2015*, an increase of 124%. UNT’s 5-year graduation rate rose from 29.5% to 46% in that same period, a 56% increase; Grew the number of System-wide degrees awarded from 4,968 in 2001 to 9,200 in 2015*; Raised System-wide annual research investment from $28,476,235 in 2001 to $68,421,831 in 2015*; Created new programs in engineering, law, pharmacy, and medicine; Established a new public university at UNT Dallas; Achieved recognition for UNT as one of Texas’ Emerging Research Universities and achieved the highest designation of research-intensive universities from the Carnegie Endowment; Started a new teaching center, UNT New College in Frisco; Elevated standards for attractive building designs and visionary campus master plans; Acquired property in downtown Dallas to house UNT System Administration, the UNT Dallas College of Law, UNT Art on Main, and other teaching programs; and Recruited top higher education professionals for a talented leadership team that provides many of the non-academic and planning services to all three UNT System campuses. read more: https://news.unt.edu/news-releases/chancellor-lee-f-jackson-announces-retirement-plans-after-guiding-unt-system-through-p

I thought so too. There are so many academic departments who could partner up with the AD in a mutually beneficial way.

Sounds like a good concept. Students get valuable experience while helping the AD promote athletics to the community.

This is disappointing. I sure hope they will try to find a comparable candidate even if it takes more time.

They are struggling a LOT with declining enrollment and closing down dorms etc. that said they still get to eat at the B12 revenue table so they will eventually get back some of their mojo. What's interesting is they have probably lost more than any other program who has faced a scandal. Penn State won the B10 last year and the Sandusky deal has been forgotten. Baylor is still landing top recruits. Missouri seems to be hurting badly and it will take many years for them to recover if ever.

Not discounting him or UTSA at all, because he is a 3-star recruit, but if you look at the timeline on 247 it sure looks like perhaps those OU/Arkansas offers were earlier in the game. Right now he does not show offers from those schools. http://247sports.com/player/corey-mayfield-jr-94023 Again, he appears to be a good player and UTSA certainly has done a good job landing the 3-star variety. My bigger concern is why have we not shown any interest in a guy right in our own backyard?

I sort of like this one.

http://m.gazette.com/air-force-football-2017-recruiting-class-r.j.-reynolds-of-grapevine-texas-faith-christian/article/1595748 Here is Air Forces entire 2017 signing class with bios: http://coloradosprings.com/highlights-and-bios-for-each-member-of-air-forces-2017-football-recruiting-class/article/1595816

To follow on @outoftown post, I really like that they have built a bench so when WB does move to greener pastures we aren't left holding the bag. Mosely is most likely the heir apparent and that motivates him to get some wins now. Frankly - if you look at the best G 5 programs the coaches and AD's move up the food chain, maybe not every year i.e. Ark State but like at Houston where you had three VERY strong hires with Briles, Sumlin and Herman. The one consistent thing UH had was a very supportive leader in Rene Khator who they had to pay big bucks to keep. My hope is that Dr. Smatty will be similar. Also hope so much that we will land a Chancellor that is more proactive than Judge Jackson. My hope would be to land someone similar to John Sharp at A&M. Speaking of which we should be hearing about this soon, certainly prior to the football season no?

Welcome Jordan!

That's pretty impressive. I'm sure their new stadium project doesn't hurt.

Sounds like reorg is coming.

Yeah I do get that but goodness he was a stones throw away from Denton. This one may haunt us.

Sure wish we would have offered him. My recollection is we had not many spots to give from a lot of earlier commits. I remember a lot on inside and outside questioning the strategy at the time. Oh well - lesson learned. Guy will play in the NFL most likely.

Don't shed too many tears for Freeze. He already is very wealthy compared to most people. All he needs to do is have one of those Jerry Fallwell, " I Have Sinned!" moments and ask for forgiveness and next thing you know he will be an assistant making 1 million at a major power school as an OC. Not to sound cynical or get political but with the Bill Clinton Art Briles and Denny Hastert world we live in today, these sexual offenses just don't stick like they used to. Plus, I am guessing that part of Freeze's agreement to walk away was Ole Miss agreeing to keep the details of his indiscretions under wraps. Reverend Freeze will do just fine!

Two important notes from the Vito article: "All of UNT's high school players have qualified. The team's transfers are also on track to be ready for the start of camp." "Littrell said UNT is waiting on a couple of potential late additions."

“I felt like as a team we were able to overcome adversity fairly quick because there was no finger pointing. I think we had good chemistry. We talk a lot about that. That’s why I think chemistry’s so important.” That’s a lesson he learned at Oklahoma, where he played and coached under now-former Sooners head coach Bob Stoops, who recently retired after a long and distinguished tenure in Norman, a departure Littrell sees with mixed emotions. “Well, it’s two-way. I’m very happy for him. This is something he didn’t want to do up until his 60s or 70s,” Littrell said. “He wanted to have a great career and when it was time to go, go, so he got to do it under his own terms, which I’m really excited for him. But I’m also sad for Oklahoma and college football because he’s an unbelievable head coach. I have a lot of respect for him not only as a coach, but the man he is, the way he treats his staff, his players.” Stoops was known for how well he treated everyone tied to OU football like family, but also for the enthusiasm and energy he brought every single day, two qualities Littrell, a member of Oklahoma’s 2000 national championship team, is also not short on. read more: http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/sports/lessons-went-with-muskogee-native-turned-north-texas-head-coach/article_3a919920-6cf7-11e7-b364-0fddb8e23445.html

That's a damn shame. RIP Silo.

I hear you and this was a very well thought out post, thank you for sharing your observations. Lookit, these things take time. Many feel their loyalty to the program has been manipulated. So sure, WB is going to have to shrug off some of these sentiments initially. UNT Athletics has been down the rebuilding road before and so a healthy dose of skepticism is probably natural. I agree with you on the points you made though. There are tangible signs that we are taking the proper steps necessary to build winning programs. And I say this from someone who has been around this thing for awhile. All of this is extremely encouraging. Now we just need to see some results to move folks off the fence. GMG

Subject Line said 6-15-17.