gangrene

I agree that this decision should not be rushed unless the guy we want/need to rebuild this program (ahem...cough...Jim Leavitt) is being seriously considered for another job. At that point, it may be too late for UNT. Head Coach in Waiting??? LOL, at UNT?? Now, that's funny. The HCIW is a relatively new phenomenon that's intended to keep a top assistant from looking elsewhere to become a HC. I know Jimbo Fisher was hired as HCIW at FSU, but he was basically interviewed as a HC when he was hired. Bobby Bowden had been the HC for what? 40+ years? Another HCIW is Will Muschamp at Texas. He's been considered for HC vacancies at several BCS programs over the last several years so the HCIW status was given to placate him at UT. Now, those are the only HCIW situations I can think of right now, but I'd imagine Penn State and a few others have them too. The point is none of the aforementioned situations even remotely resembles UNT right now. Why would we even consider naming a Head Coach in Waiting when we don't even have a Head Coach and our potential Head Coach in Waiting hasn't even had a HC interview at an FBS program?? Funny stuff!!!

Meh...the thought of Fran does nothing to excite this UNT alumn.

USF Bulls hire top 'headhunter' in search for new football coach Interesting. I'd love the irony if Neinas were to recommend Leavitt for UNT.

Mack's feeling some pressure. The fan base isn't too happy with Greg Davis. You can even buy a "Fire Greg Davis" or a "Greg Davis Ate My Baby" t-shirt at firegregdavis.com

Better get Iowa State's and Auburn's response on that too.

Just found this article from around the same time period. Jim Leavitt reflects on life after USF OK, now if anyone EVER questioned if we'd have a real chance at hiring Leavitt, the fact that he's contemplated taking a HS job should tell you all you need to know. I REALLY, REALLY hope Leavitt is, at the very least, interviewed for this job.

I think the list of coaches we shouldn't consider may actually be shorter than this one from the Coaches Hot Seat blog. I think I'll bet the field.

Pressure Builds on Bustle at ULL

I'm convinced many on this board would find something wrong with Bear Bryant, Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry, even if they had applied for the UNT HC position while they were in their coaching prime.

Well, the majority of the U.S. population bought the "magic bullet" theory, so why not this one? Yes, I understand it's unlikely and I'm just poking fun at the over analysis this board is performing on Leavitt's situation at USF. I don't have a problem hiring the guy, regardless of what he may or may not have done. What's not in dispute is how he built the USF program from nothing to a #2 BCS ranking. That's enough for me to give him a second chance - I think I've made that clear over the last week or so. I think he's learned an important lesson from what's unfolded and understands how quickly he can lose everything he's worked so hard to achieve. I think he has something to prove and would be as motivated as any coach out there. I've always liked the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." I think that statement is appropriate in this case.

Just speculation here, but why would you hire a "top" lawyer if you just wanted a public apology? More speculation; maybe all Miller really wanted out of it was a scholarship? Mission accomplished. He got Leavitt fired in a manner that got USF out of their contractual obligations and he got his scholarship (which has a monetary equivalent). Why wouldn't he want to put the matter behind him and move on?? Nothing's really changed for Miller - he's still attending classes and playing football for the same school...only now his expenses are paid are fully. Leavitt, on the other hand, lost his job, his large salary and, most importantly, his respect and value as a BCS HC. Leavitt lost everything he valued, everything that defined his life. His reputation is so tarnished now that even the fan base of one of the worst college football teams in the FBS is reluctant to give him a second chance to prove himself. If someone accused you of something that ripped your career out from under your feet, wouldn't you do the same as Leavitt?

Without getting into the argument of whether or the not the incident was an assault, by definition, I find it interesting that, on January 15, 2010, Joel Miller and his attorney threatened Jim Leavitt with a civil and/or criminal lawsuit if he did not meet their demands of making a public apology. Barry Cohen, lawyer for USF Bulls football player, demands apology from former coach Jim Leavitt Yet, on March 4, 2010, Joel Miller announced, through his lawyer, Barry Cohen, "I am not filing a lawsuit." USF's Joel Miller: 'I am not filing a lawsuit' Also of note - One might make the argument that Leavitt called Miller's, and Cohen's bluff??

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but I thought it was worth noting to some of the Hayden Fry worshipers that Jim Leavitt actually worked as Graduate Assistant on Hayden Fry's staff at Iowa in 1989. http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Hayden_Fry And because some of you don't trust wikipedia (and with good reason), that information can been cross-referenced with Jim Leavitt's USF bio.

Sun Belt call notes

Are you asking if it's true that he's expressed interest in UNT or if he's really interested in the job? It's been reported in two different places (Vito's blog and footballscoop.com) that reliable "sources" have confirmed that Leavitt has expressed interest in the UNT HC position. What's still unknown is if contact has been made between Leavitt and a person representing UNT. As for his level of interest, I don't see how anyone can really know the answer to that until the two parties have had a chance to discuss specifics.

Oregon football: Former coach Mike Bellotti says he would listen to overtures Yeah, he's probably a long shot, but no more so than some of the other names being mentioned. Besides, any coach willing to consider the Minnesota job is almost assuredly willing to consider the North Texas job, right? I don't know what his idea of the "right job" is but he did spend five years at Chico State back in the 80s.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid35214809001?bctid=61291033001 Leavitt wants to be reinstated to job at South Florida - USA Today January 11, 2010 For those of you questioning Leavitt's relationship with his team/players or how this incident may impact his future recruiting efforts, please read the story and watch the video.

One more before I sign off: mulliganslist.com

That's a pretty good theory there Rick. In fact, I think it has some merit to it. Here's what the USF forum has to say about Brett McMurphy....not exactly a smoking gun but seems to indicate the idea is not far-fetched. It's late now, but I'll definitely look into this angle a bit more tomorrow.

Oh, I was suggesting we compare nor pattern our program after Baylor's. I was just pointing out that we have a recruit that chose UNT over Baylor and, to me, that's far more impressive than choosing us over SMU or TCU.

I think the private, regional school we should be monitoring for basketball is Baylor. They're putting together a VERY nice class - national top 10 caliber. It's just too bad they had to recruit girlfriend-beating thugs and violate NCAA recruiting regulations to get there.

Hey Plumm - glad to see you being so active on the board again these last few weeks. I've seen you post statements similar to the one I highlighted above a couple of times now. I think you're on board with hiring a "name" coach and I know you want someone to get us back to the glory days of the 70s. But, I'm curious, aside from Hayden Fry, who would you recommend as the next head coach of UNT football? Specific names and qualifications please.

Right, I'm agreeing with you. That last paragraph was really the only part that was in response to your quoted post. The first part was just me venting, really. To me, a hit and a slap are two totally different things and should be differentiated as such. It's something that's been bothering me the more I read about Leavitt's lawsuit. Every story about I read about the lawsuit had numerous reader comments about how horrible it was for him to "hit" a player and "grab" him by the throat. Obviously, I wasn't there so I can only speculate, but it certainly doesn't sound like Leavitt had a choke hold on the kid, nor does it sound like he threw a punch in the manner most think of when they hear the word "hit."

I think I'd like to take the chance. "Kids" and their parents want to play for a winning team. Right now that's not us. Dodge couldn't even talk many of his own SLC players into playing for UNT. However, June Jones has at least 5 former SLC players on his team. I'm hoping Leavitt, along with Canales and former USF staff would be able to pull a few Florida players to UNT. Canales has been trying but so far we've had no success in getting any Florida players to commit to UNT. As a side not, the SMU-Houston game was interesting to watch from a UNT perspective. The game featured two former SLC QBs, Kyle Padron for SMU and David Piland for Houston, facing off against each other. By my count, that's six former SLC QBs that Dodge had a hand in coaching (Piland may be excluded from that number) that have played or are playing QB at the BCS level. In addition, one of the broadcasters was Mike Leach.

You know...that's something I have an issue with too. When I heard about the Leavitt situation last year I didn't really pay it much attention. Just like most people, I heard he was accused of "hitting" a player - which I interpreted as a closed-fist punch. I'm sure many others have that same thought but I don't really consider a slap as a punch, which is what Leavitt was officially accused of doing to Joel Miller. A slap is a far cry from a punch and is generally meant to serve as an "attention getter" rather than to inflict pain in the manner a closed-fist punch would. I've been slapped by women on more than one occasion and I'm willing to bet they applied a great deal more force than Leavitt did. Now, I'm certainly not condoning that behavior, but football is a contact sport. Anyone who's ever been piled on while trying to recover a fumble has had far worse happen to them. But, you're right, that's exactly what other coaches will tell potential recruits and their parents. Bobby Knight didn't seem to have a problem with recruiting post-incident. I'd hope any prospective UNT recruit would at least let Leavitt tell his side of the story, and that's all you can really expect.