gangrene

I hear former SHSU head coach, Todd Whitten, is looking for an OC position (hint, hint).

I would agree, but I'd also add that "good" is a relative description. And it appears that several of our SBC opponents will also have good classes this year. The recruiting season is generally one of my favorite times of the year and I can't believe how dead this board is lately. Yep, winning cures all.

But were they competitive in those five losses?? I think that's the key question the Sooners should be asking themselves. Again, with the lack of expectations for UNT....I just don't get it. I know we're not anywhere near the caliber of program that OU is, but why is it ok for OU fans/alumni to be upset with an 8-5 record whereas UNT should be happy we were a competitive 2-10?? Kram - if you can make me understand that, I'll stop my bitching about the snail's pace of our OC interviewing process.

I guess he'll be needing an OC and, now, so will Arizona.

I read earlier this morning that the La Tech position was offered to Arizona OC, Sonny Dykes.

Lurker, I take it you work at UNT?? If so, thank you for your clarification. To everyone else - can we please put this myth of a NCAA/state government/etc. requirement of a 30-day waiting period to bed once and for all?? It's an insult to our football intelligence.

As NTO3 already asked, are we, at UNT, not capable of multi-tasking? Many other programs are coping with staff changes AND recruiting at the same time and no, they are not ALL big-time programs that already have their recruiting finalized. In fact, several programs with coaching changes are finding that the new additions are bringing more excitement to potential recruits. At the same time, several of the programs that lost coaches are having to deal with committed recruits reevaluating their decisions. When Ford announced his decision to leave, we didn't have to deal with any committed prospects having second thoughts. Why is that?? The urgency of the situation is that there are many highly qualified offensive coaches currently out of work and several other programs that have OC or assistant openings. The longer we wait the better the chance that the other programs will get the best guys. Are you familiar with the phrase "the early bird gets the worm"? Hmmm....these thoughts are all over the place....let me see where to start. Ok, if he is going to "rely on an OC" I guess the OC can't very well be considered a "figure head" and I'm not sure we necessarily need to target those who have been turned down after interviewing at higher profile programs either...not if we've done our homework and know what qualities each coach can bring to UNT. To make a thoughtful decision after careful consideration, shouldn't you have a pool of coaches you've interviewed to thoughtfully decide and carefully consider? As has been mentioned several times, most assistant coaches only have one-year contracts anyway. It's the nature of the college and NFL coaching business. Even if you have a multi-year contract, there is no guarantee that you'll be kept for the full term of the contract. We have no idea what coaches are going to accept or how they may view the UNT OC position until we ask (see Notre Dame and Tennessee for negatives or Guy Morris to Texas A&M-Commerce for a positive). And, I don't want a coach who would view UNT as a "sinking ship". Coaches are very confident individuals and while the future of UNT may seem gloomy to some of us, a coach won't likely have the same viewpoint - remember how optimistic and confident Dodge was when he took this job. As mentioned above, the pool of available coaches is shrinking daily. Two programs are still without head coaches, but rest assured, whoever is hired will quickly assemble his coaching staff. The longer we wait the better the odds that we'll get the bottom of the barrel. Wow, great TD impersonation or was that Dickey?? What skins on the wall does Dodge have at the collegiate level?? 5 wins in 3 years and a team that has shown it can play close games within the SBC after 3 years in his system? Actually, I have learned from my own hiring experience that you usually get the best applicants within the first week of posting a position and I've also learned that what a person has on his resume isn't always representative of his capabilities. Much is not learned until you actually interview the candidate. Actually, since you asked how I would want it...well, I'd surround myself with the best talent and brightest minds I could find. I would want someone that can listen to what I have to say but also offer a different perspective and help me succeed where I have failed in the past - someone whose strengths best compliment my weaknesses. A new OC by spring ball....terrific plan!! I can laugh with you on that one. Thanks for the laugh. I think we should do everything we can to emulate what Troy and MTSU are doing because those programs are what UNT should strive to become. (note, the sarcasm) Per Vito's blog, Dodge has had one interview and has one more scheduled...that's a pretty small list to narrow down. (Before someone suggests he's not being fully honest with Vito, what would Dodge have to gain by lying or withholding information?) Now, I will agree with you on the idea that Dodge may already have someone in mind for the job, but if it's another high school guy or D-II outcast, I highly question whether or not he could be considered the "right guy". I fully agree. If, at this point in the recruiting process, filling the OC position doesn't hold a greater priority, then we're severely under-utilizing the position and under-valuing its importance (which, btw, I believe we are and have been doing the last 3 years). So tell me Kram, are the other "big time" programs with coordinator vacancies interviewing one candidate per week? Are they unable to recruit and interview at the same time? When you have qualified candidates publicly express interest in the position, yet are never contacted (keeping in mind that no one else either), that's reason for concern. You can count me in the blasting away group too...I just have a bad feeling about this. While I certainly admire the devotion all of you long-time supporters have for UNT football, I am repeatedly frustrated by the apparent contentment and lack of criticism some of you show. The only way this program is ever going to get where we want it to be is by change. What worked 10 or 20 years ago doesn't work today. The college football environment is rapidly changing and we have to be able to move quickly if we want to keep up. This is not the time to put complete faith in our administration and hope and pray they make the right decisions. We all want to look at what the "big time programs" are doing and hope to achieve that status ourselves one day. Well, who do you think makes the decisions at the "big time programs"?? I'll give you a hint, it's not the AD or the president or even the BOR. We're the audience the UNT football needs to be most concerned about pleasing. If we're not happy, then we won't attend games (ok, some of you will always attend), and we won't make donations to the university (or will reduce them) and we won't buy Mean Green merchandise. When I say "we" understand that I am not talking about this hard-core group of Mean Green fanatics that visit and post on GMG.com everyday. No, I am talking about the broader Mean Green Nation - those that are embarrassed to discuss UNT football and will only follow a winning program. I know it's hard for many of you to believe, but it's human nature to appreciate winning. It makes people happy and proud to admit he/she is a UNT alumnus. Winning is the main point of the game. Most people are not going to get excited about moral victories or competitive losing....I know...sad, but true. What does all this have to do with a thread about hiring a UNT assistant coach?? Well, it's about expectations...they are far too low right now. "That guy makes too much money to consider UNT" or "That recruit has Big XII offers - no way he comes to UNT" or "Hey, I saw a UNT coozie in Albertson's the other day!!!" I know I've been guilty of it before and will be again too, but we need to make a stand sooner than later. Otherwise, we'll find ourselves back in FCS before we know what hit us. Yes, the stadium is a great and wonderful achievement but we can't stop there. We'll get a spike in attendance the first year or two, but it will drop off considerably if we continue our losing ways. We have to demand more from our university and we have to tap into the strength of our numbers/alumni base, by winning more and by increasing our endowment (insert Viagra joke here). Don't diminish your contributions by thinking you have no right in what decisions are made. WE are the alumni that buy season tickets, donate to the MGC and buy Mean Green merchandise. Without us, the football program would not exist.

You're right, I don't know what I was thinking. Why would someone who knows all there is to know about college football offenses, and has the best offense ever created, want to hire someone that may offer a different opinion?? And, as many others have already pointed out, there's not anything wrong with our offense - it's all the defense and special teams fault that we can't win more than two games a season. Why mess with perfection?? I was just plain crazy to think we'd ever consider hiring an offensive coach with experience in a system other than Dodge's. I guess it could be worse?? We could have our head coach leave us for a high school job - Austin College head coach leaves for high school job Wait, that would be worse, right??

I demand proof of this ridiculous claim. Furthermore, I demand justification for why such a rule would be in place, considering no other university, within Texas or not, has to abide by such nonsense.

I got nothing...shame on me for thinking we could take advantage of all the current coaching staff changes and make a quick decision. The lack of news/rumors on who may be in the running for OC can mean any of the following: #1. Todd Dodge will assume the responsibilities of the OC and we're not going to fill the position, at least not with an OC. #2. The interviewing process is so secretive (or we're interviewing coaches no one has heard of - think HS here) that no rumors have surfaced. #3. Todd Dodge is too busy with recruiting to worry about finding an OC right now. #4. We're just going to wait until "the dust settles" from all of the coaching changes and take what's left. #5. We're waiting until the self-imposed, 30-day posting of the job has ended to announce our decision. #6. We've already hired an NFL assistant from the Saints, Vikings, NY Jets or Colts, and must wait until their season is over before making the announcement public. Feel free to add your own theories...

Interesting...it is a quickly changing environment for college assistants right now. I'm glad we're content just sitting on the sidelines watching. While the official U of Houston release states University of Houston head football coach Kevin Sumlin did not have to look very far to find a replacement for assistant coach Dana Holgorsen who departed the Cougars on Friday, promoting offensive quality control assistant Kliff Kingsbury to full-time assistant coach. It also says this - Specific duties and responsibilities for Kingsbury and the rest of the UH offensive staff will be made after the February 3 National Letter of Intent signing date. Holgorsen was the OC and QB coach. It doesn't sound like Kingsbury will have that same title or responsibilities. It would be pretty surprising if they named a part-time guy their OC. Meanwhile, the Troy forum has gotten wind of the Lincoln Riley to Troy OC rumor and are having very similar discussions to the ones we've had on this board.

As did I...their fragile egos just couldn't handle the idea that a highly-regarded prospect would actually choose UNT over their precious SMU, especially on the heels of their glorious Hawai'i Bowl win. As a relevant side note, the family and I were out viewing the HP area Christmas lights back in December. The damn GPS took me the wrong way, but it was soooo worth it when the GPS voice told me to take a left on "Smoo" Blvd!!! Everyone in the car just busted out laughing.

With national signing day quickly approaching, I was curious to see how our conference mates are doing in 2010 recruiting. It looks like the SBC is gaining some respectability within the high school recruiting circles. Some of these guys look like they might warrant a last-minute call by the UNT coaching staff?? I'm just sayin' Brion Carnes, 4-star, #7 ranked dual-threat QB by Rivals, had previously committed to South Florida but is now reconsidering amid the coaching changes. He's scheduled to visit Nebraska on 1/22 and Western Kentucky on 1//29. Rajaan Bennett, 4-star, #16 ranked RB by Rivals, is uncommitted and scheduled to visit Vanderbilt on 1/22 and Western Kentucky on 1/29. His top four are Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee (no offer) and Western Kentucky. Tarean Austin, 3-star, #20 ranked dual-threat QB by Rivals, currently lists his top 3 as FIU, New Mexico and Western Kentucky. He visited FIU on 1/15 and will visit Western Kentucky on 1/22. He also holds offers from Iowa State, Purdue, Richmond, South Florida, Towson and UCF. David Piland, QB Southlake Carroll, a Rivals 3-star 33 ranked pro-style QB, previously committed to Houston in August. However, his primary recruiter, Dana Holgorsen, has taken the OC position at Oklahoma State. Piland has not publicly said he is reconsidering. His only other offers are from Towson, Portland State and Western Kentucky. Qudral Forte, #73 ranked athlete and Rivals 3-star prospect, has offers from East Carolina, Georgia Tech, Mississippi and North Carolina. But, he has listed his top 5 as MTSU, UAB, West Virginia and Toledo (from all of which he holds offers). He has visits scheduled with MTSU on 1/22, Western Kentucky on 1/25 (has yet to receive an offer from WK) and UAB on 1/29. Khari Burke, #78 ranked CB and Rivals 3-star, has narrowed his top 3 list to Bowling Green, Central Michigan and MTSU (visited on 1/15). He also had offers from FAU and Western Kentucky, among others, but no longer appears to be interested. Justen Davis, Rivals #83 ranked WR and 3-star rating, has offers from Delaware, FIU, Louisville, Toledo and Towson, listing "medium" interest in each. He also lists interest in Western Kentucky but does show a scheduled visit or offer. Bernard Reedy, #87 ranked athlete and 3-star Rivals prospect, lists his top 5 as Indiana, Iowa State, Mississippi State (no offer), North Carolina (no offer) and Western Kentucky. The only visits Rivals shows Reedy has made/scheduled are to Toledo on 10/24 and WK on 1/29. Matt Faulkner, un-ranked 3-star Rivals pro-style QB (5.6 rating), visited WK on 1/15 and has offers from WK (visited on 1/15), McNeese St., San Jose St. and Towson. Mark Gooch, nationally un-ranked but #15 in Tennessee, 3-star Rivals WR (5.6 rating), has offers from Arkansas State, MTSU and Syracuse with "medium" interest in all. Rodney Davis, nationally un-ranked but #34 in Alabama, 3-star WR (5.6 rating) has offers from Arkansas State, Southern Miss, Stanford, Troy and WK, with "medium" interest in all. Jawan Jamison, #20 ranked all-purpose back and rivals 3-star prospect (5.6 rating) lists Clemson, Rutgers and South Carolina (no offer) as his top choices. However, he has offers from Troy and FAU (visisted on 1/8) Michael Carlisle, 29 ranked ILB and Rivals 3-star prospect (5.6 rating) has offers from Hampton, MTSU, Miss. State, Southern Miss and Toledo, with "medium" interest in each. Claude Johnson, #32 ranked dual-threat QB and 3-star Rivals prospect (5.6 rating), has offers from Central Arkansas and La-Monroe. Kendall Montgomery, #31 ranked TE and 3-star Rivals prospect (5.6 rating) has offers from FIU and Purdue. Sybrhrain Berry, #53 ranked CB and Rivals 3-star prospect (5.7 rating), visited Arkansas State on 12/15 and lists them as his top choice, although he only has an offer from Arkansas-Pine Bluff Tevin Drake, un-ranked, 3-star Rivals RB prospect (5.6 rating) - has offers from FIU, FAU, Memphis and Miami, FL with "medium" interest in each. Jamaal Bass, #52 ranked OLB, 3-star Rivals prospect (5.6 rating) lists FIU and Ole Miss as his only two offers. Glenn Coleman, #81 ranked WR, 3-star Rivals prospect (5.6 rating) shows "medium" interest and offers from FIU, La-Tech, La-Lafayette, La-Monroe, Southern Miss and Tulsa. He's also interested in LSU but has no offer. Eric Watson, #68 ranked RB, 3-star Rivals prospect (5.6 rating) - offers from MTSU and Arkansas State Robert Boswell, #76 ranked RB, 3-star Rivals RB (5.6 rating) - offers from FIU, Toledo and Towson. Leon Francois, #81 ranked CB, 3-star Rivals prospect (5.6 rating) - has offers from Arkansas and La-La with "medium" interest in each Matt Jones, unranked DE, but 3-star Rivals prospect (5.6 rating) shows his only offer is from FIU Dezmond Johnson, un-ranked 3-star Rivals DE prospect (5.6 rating) - has offers from Arkansas State, Duke, MTSU (visited 1/15), Mississippi and Purdue with "medium" interest in each. I ONLY listed those prospects that SBC schools appear to have a reasonable possibility of signing and only those that have a minimum Rivals rating of 5.6 as of today, 1/18/10. Honestly, when I started this post, I didn't think it would be anywhere near this long or I would have organized the prospects better (i.e. position, ranking, etc).

Who called UNT's offensive plays the last three years? Was it Todd Ford or Todd Dodge? Like Texas Tech (under Leach) I don't believe Appalachian State utilizes an OC (I'm starting to fear we may go in that same direction). LR may not have called the plays at TTech but he was Leach's closest offensive consultant. I was hoping he could take on a similar role here by offering Dodge a perspective on the spread that differs from the one he's had for the last 10 years or so. Todd Ford was not capable of such because he was only experienced in Dodge's spread philosophy. I would also argue that LR is the exact definition of one of those guys "who is going to move up the coaching ranks". My heart is obviously set on LR but I'm certainly open to other candidates that may have as much or more to offer as LR. IMHO, former SHSU coach, Todd Whitten, doesn't fit that profile. MTSU OC, Tony Franklin, (and his patented system) does fit that profile but I fear he and Todd Dodge may have too many philosophical disagreements about the spread to have any success here. Another possibility would be Houston co-Offensive Coordinator/WR coach, Jason Phillips. (Houston OC, Dana Holgorsen, has already left Houston for Oklahoma State, taking former TTech QB and Houston Offensive Quality Control Coach, Kliff Kingsbury, with him.) Philips also holds the title of Recruiting Coordinator at Houston. But Louisiana Tech will probably beat us to the punch on Jason Phillips. As I said, I'm certainly open to the idea of other candidates but I'd prefer we get a coach with BCS school experience, extensive knowledge of the spread (or a variation thereof) and a successful, proven history of recruiting in the state of Texas. Lincoln Riley, Tony Franklin and Jason Phillips all meet that criteria.

I just posted something in the MTSU/Stockstill thread about this. From what I've read, it looks like TF could be headed back to Troy regardless of what Stockstill does. Troy definitely seems to want him back.

It looks like Stockstill has been offered the ECU HC job. Report: MTSU's Rick Stockstill is offered ECU job However, I'm hearing rumors that the job offer comes with the stipulation that he retain most of the current staff at ECU. I'm also hearing that Tony Franklin, former Troy OC and current MTSU OC, may be headed back to Troy for their vacant OC position...and that move may not be dependent on the ECU move.

I saw that...should we be worried that another UNT coach will bolt for the high profile HS HC position at Lake Travis?? I also saw that Lincoln Riley is now rumored to be a candidate for Troy's vacant OC position.

Ok, here's another confirmation that we've still not contacted Lincoln Riley from football scoop: North Texas: Former Texas Tech assistant Lincoln Riley has not been contacted at this point regarding the offensive coordinator position. We wonder if Riley will end up at Houston, where Dana Holgorsen has left to join the staff at Oklahoma State. BTW - For those that don't know, Dana Holgorson was the OC at Houston last season, so the above is suggesting LR may be a candidate for OC at Houston - a team that was ranked as high as #12 last season. Also of note: Lamar University: Ray Woodard has talked with former Sam Houston State head coach Todd Whitten regarding the offensive coordinator position. Wow, that's awesome that we're competing against Lamar for coaches! Way to set that bar up high. At this point, it appears RV and Dodge are convinced that the current coaching staff has what it takes to turn this program around next season. That's about the only logical explanation for not going after one of the many experienced offensive coaches that now find their careers in a place of transition.

Better luck next time - Terry Joseph and Eric Russell join Tennessee staff

I love how you just talk in circles to try to validate your point. As I said in the other thread, do your own damn research I'm tired of talking to a wall, especially since I could care less if you think it's a good idea or not anyway.

Please feel free to do your own research since you're not buying anything we're saying anyway. Yes, I had definitely heard of Lincoln Riley prior to the bowl. Leach didn't have an OC so LR was the closest thing to an OC that Tech had under Leach. My brother and several of my friends went to Tech and all were big supporters of LR. The majority of the Tech fan base was livid when Riley was released because they know how instrumental he's been to Tech's recent success. But, again, don't take my word for it, visit Tech's forum and see what they have to say. Read a few articles on what the four-star players he was recruiting thought about him. The guy's only been "available" for less than a week now. Yet, he's already had a couple of interviews (I believe one was with Southern Miss). I'm not sure what position he's interviewed for but I wouldn't be surprised if he lands an OC job. But that's ok, let's just be typical North Texas and make excuses like we always do...

That would be one more game of OC experience (at the college level) than Todd Ford had when he was hired.

Hello, you must be Lincoln Riley?? I'm sorry you lost your job at Texas Tech be let's view this as a change that will turn out for the best for you. I'm sure you have many other opportunities in the works for WR coach and maybe even a few for OC. If you're mind is made up on the salary and you will absolutely not take a penny less than you were making at Tech, we may not be able to afford you. However, if you'd like to discuss what we have to offer for our OC position and come to our campus for an interview and to view our facilities, we may find that we have a mutual interest that could be very beneficial for all parties involved.

I would say most people don't have the means to give $100K per year. However, we have one thing SMU doesn't have and that's an alumni base that is much larger than that of SMU. Every single person on this board could manage to contribute somewhere between $750-2,000K per year - $750 per year equals about $62.50 per month, which is probably less than most of us spend on beer. But we have too many people that just want to complain and complain about what's wrong without wanting to do anything to solve the problem i.e. give more money. I don't think we need to come up with $2 million - I just used SMU as an example because we are all familiar with it. But, when one of the newest teams in the FBS, Western Kentucky, is able to lure away 4 coaches from the Stanford staff (their salaries aren't reported) I get a bit upset when I hear we can't afford $150-200K for an OC. Come on people, wake up!! Where are your priorities?? Beer or Mean Green football?

Uh oh, the streak I mentioned in another thread...well, that's over now. While he may be of questionable character, we'd be crazy not to take him. One would have to hope he's learned from this mistake and would be happy to have a second chance. However, the question isn't would we take him, the question is would he come here? The answer is - unlikely.