gangrene

Oh I agree...I wasn't necessarily questioning Hall making the 2nd team as much as I was questioning how good Hawkins may be.

I agree. We want no part of playing at the Cotton Bowl. It doesn't matter if the fair is open or not. I know a couple of TTech fans that were salivating at the proposition of playing Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl, during the fair, because they are so envious and jealous of the tradition OU and Texas have built. What they fail to understand is that an OSU/TTech game will never rival the Texas/OU game in terms of revelry or media coverage. Oh sure, it may be successful for a few years, especially right now, while both schools are playing good football, but it could never become what Texas/OU is, IMO. I'm not really sure how I feel about playing in JerryWorld right now. Given the limited number of home games we have, I understand the need to play all of them in Denton. However, I don't feel we have any real home field advantage by playing at Fouts vs. JerryWorld. If playing at JerryWorld was a deal breaker in getting a prominent opponent to visit us (rather than force us to play at their home field) and was more profitable for us vs. playing at Fouts or our yet to be built new stadium, I wouldn't oppose it.

I've got tired head from this analogy! Would I want to trade places with Baylor and get our butts kicked by Big XII teams every year? Yes, most definitely, because I think that scenario would make us better in a few years. We'd have more money and better recruits simply by our association with the Big XII. Baylor hasn't made the most of their opportunity in the Big XII but I think it's only a matter of time before that changes...they will upset a few teams this season. See Texas Tech for an example of how to maximize your opportunity within a tough conference. The Big XII is, arguably, one of the two best football conferences in the country and has had several teams consistently ranked in the top 10 over the last few years. Maybe I lack vision, but I simply can't imagine the "yeah, but we play in the Sun Belt" comment ever having as much credibility as the "yeah, but we play in the Big XII" comment. And, I hope I never see the day when we have given up all hope of ever winning the Belt again, although that thought doesn't seem too unrealistic right now. Again, I'm struggling with the choices here because it matters greatly which conference we're in before determining which is more important. It wasn't too long ago that we won four consecutive Sun Belt titles. I don't remember any of my friends or national and/or local media being very impressed by that accomplishment. And it certainly didn't seem to impress any of our potential recruits. Even if we were guaranteed an SBC invite to the conference winner, I don't see how that, alone, would change the perception of the quality of our conference. The MWC has been pretty competitive on the football field the last few years and everyone remembers Boise St. upsetting OU a few years ago, but I don't see that the reputation of the WAC or MWC has been elevated much as a whole. Most college football analysts would rank the MWC and WAC as the 5th and 6th best football conferences. So, my answer is, without a doubt...I'd have to choose being the cellar dweller in the great conference (considered great by those who matter) vs. the chance to win a crappy conference. I simply don't buy the argument that Baylor will never win the Big XII or that UNT could never win the Big XII, if we were in that position. Right now it looks pretty hopeless for Baylor but that could all change eventually. Aside from a few perennial powerhouses (USC, Texas, OU, etc) winning in major conferences tends to be very cyclical. Texas A & M is down now and Texas and OU have both had extended slumps over the last 20 years. Ask any OU fan about the John Blake days (and then run). Look at the SEC - ten years ago I would have never thought that Arkansas would be awful and South Carolina would be able to hire Steve Spurrier. Even Vanderbilt and Kentucky are capable of upsetting good conference foes on any given week. I'd definitely take a chance to win one of those conferences over a chance to win the SBC anytime.

I agree. I am excited about these two commitments. Everything I've read about Hall, and from what I've seen of his game film, is encouraging and impressive. There doesn't seem to be as much available on Hawkins, so I'd like to learn more about him. I found it interesting that he was a first-team All-District 9-5A pick while Hall was a second-team All-District 9-5A selection. Not sure what that means exactly (QB talent in the district was good?) but, it is interesting nonetheless. LOTS of potential here..and I hope they both stay committed to UNT and sign with us next February (wow, that seems like a long time away). One thing I do really like about early commitments is that it allows you the opportunity to follow committed players throughout their senior HS season. I enjoyed following Daniel Mayberry's senior year last year.

Do we get Robert Griffin and Art Briles?

Glad to see we're not the only program "losing" players. Wonder if we have a shot at getting any of these kids or if they'd even be worth our time? Under Kiffin, Vols have lost 11 players - ESPN

I'm in favor of implementing an NCAA college football draft for the FBS schools. Just imagine...we'd have at least two 5-star players on our team already. Question for everyone - if we had a legitimate chance to sign just ONE 4 or 5-star stud, which position would you choose? I'd probably have to choose DE or left T.

I'm pretty sure that description does not fit UNT right now. With this team, I think every player needs to be ready to start at any given time...given the injuries and transfers we've seen the last two years. Would I love to be able to redshirt quality freshman to "develop" for a year? No doubt about it.

Nice, welcome aboard Graylin. Glad to have you, now go hit the buffet line and the weights so you can be ready to start next year!

You forgot to mention the #1 selling point: the opportunity to get beat by a top 5 team each year.

As long as they don't ask him to sign it while he's trying to "get on down the road."

Thanks for the further confirmation OT! Welcome to the Mean Green, Javia. We're happy to have you.

And, after signing day, they can still quit the program after a year or two and go walk on at SMU or TAMU, for example! So, really, I guess we can never count on a player's commitment. Now, to make a serious comment on this thread. I've never seen Hall play, but he sounds like a good addition based on his stats and what I've read about him. If he is as athletic as promised, I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see him switching to another position as well...but that is dependent on way too many factors to know definitively right now. Not that I doubt OT, but I'm still awaiting an official report before I believe he's really committed to UNT. Rivals doesn't show him committed and I haven't seen that Vito has called him to confirm yet. I did read that he wanted to commit prior to the start of this season, but that's still 3 1/2 months away. At any rate, I will have to contain my excitement until signing day and hope he's not another Keenan Flax.

I've been scratching my head, wondering what the expletive you were talking about ever since you made that post. Alas, I just read the comments on the Quad story and everything made sense. For someone that likes to consistently trash our program and university, he sure does seem to follow all things green very closely.

It looks like we were in a 4-way tie for the fewest number of punt returns with Washington (10 returns for 55 yards), Eastern Michigan (10 for 65) and Buffalo (10 for 125). Eight teams had a lower punt return average with Hawaii's being the worst at 31 punt returns for 62 yards - a miserable 2.0 average yards per punt return.

I've posted these before, but we've already been passed by some high schools, and even our new stadium may not be as nice as what the Cy Fair ISD can offer:

I hope you're right...and I am very cautiously optimistic about this season. It sure can't get much worse than last year. Or, can it???

The Mean Green returned only 10 punts all season, compared to 44 for the opposition. Wow, that's a telling stat. At first, I incorrectly assumed that the number included any punts our opposition had for touchbacks, fair catches or out of bounds. That just didn't seem accurate to me so I looked it up. And, after checking the stats on meangreensports, I see that our opponents actually punted 46 times. So that means we had 36 punts that we couldn't return. Now, either we were playing against some really good punters or we absolutely failed to get any pressure on the punter last season. My guess is that it is a combination of the two (with more emphasis on the latter), coupled with the opponents close proximity to our goal line (which resulted in more touchbacks). The stats don't break down how many punts were fair caught, touchbacks etc. and my memory isn't good enough to remember. But, if we needed any further evidence to show that our special teams weren't that special, this and the 4.6 yard punt return average certainly do it. We need to find a Tim Dwight for our punt returns. Someone with blazing speed that can break off a couple of returns for a TD each season.

Who would have ever thought hiring Todd Dodge at UNT would equate to an SLC pipeline for SMU? I'm going to try to bite my lip once again and not say anything negative, but I will say that my (realistic) expectations for this program have sunk to a new low these last two years. I've never seen a program lose so many key players....starters....for no apparent reason. It's really hard to (publicly) have school pride these days.

UNO students defeat fee hike for athletics (from NOLA.com) Some excerpts from a long, but good article: The loss could mean an end to Privateers athletics, unless the Legislature reduces proposed budget cuts to the university, UNO Chancellor Tim Ryan said. Facing a $1.4 million shortfall for next year, UNO athletics will depend on pending cuts by the university for the 2009-2010 fiscal year in order to survive. Under a proposal by Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ryan said, the university has to cut $15.3 million, including $1.4 million that the university gave the athletic department last year from its general fund. "Unless we figure out some (way), in which we will work very hard on, the prospects aren't great, " Ryan said of the future of UNO athletics. If UNO is forced to drop athletics as a cost-cutting measure, it would be the first NCAA Division I school to do so since Northeastern Illinois in 1998. I'm so glad we had enough students vote to approve our athletic fee, even though it appears the original intent of that fee will be changed by our state legislature.

Ok, this one's for you Goose!! (Where's Quoner when you need him?)

Charlie, I have always loved your enthusiasm and optimism for the program but, if you believe we're "not missing out the advertised top recruits" (I assume you are speaking Rivals and/or Scout rankings), then you truly are living in a green-colored fantasy land. As has been stated numerous times, on this thread alone, we won't attract top talent until we start winning. Our best hope for a good 2010 recruiting class is a successful 2009 football season. Each of us has our own expectations of what constitutes a success in 2009, but I think the consensus is a vast improvement in margin of victory (loss) and 4-5 wins. Anything more than 5 wins in 2009 will, IMHO, net us the best recruiting class of Todd Dodge's collegiate head coaching career. Anything less than 3-4 wins translates to uncertainty in Todd Dodge's future at UNT, not to mention, his ability to succeed at the FBS level.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that news. RIP Coach Gansz.

Were you a Top Gun fan??

I actually consider the bolded statement a good thing for UNT. If UT and A & M have already fulfilled their respective allotments of scholarships, that leaves fewer options for those "dreamers" (kids that love UT but don't quite have the talent to play football there) to face reality, which is the fact they may have to consider other schools if they choose to continue their football careers. It also leaves those schools with few ships left to offer lesser known HS senior athletes who excel on the field this fall (due to injury to starters or just less playing time thus far). The fact that we have zero 2010 commitments on April 27, 2009, should really come as a surprise to no one that has followed this program the last two years. We've won THREE games...not exactly the kind of success that elite athletes want to associate themselves with for the next four years. Now you might say SMU is in the same position we are, yet they already have four commits? SMU's coach has just a bit more credibility on the collegiate level than does our coach, at this point. The news of a new stadium is great for recruits, but it's still just that right now....news. When ground is actually broken and the construction progresses into the shape of a real stadium, I suspect we'll get a few more recruits from that angle. Still, some kids will have to wonder if it's going to be that much better getting your arse kicked in a new stadium than it will be riding the pine for a successful program. Winning cures all ailments. If we win, we will see more early commitments, and the quality of those commitments will most definitely improve. But, we can't (or shouldn't) expect to go out and have a stellar early commitment class when we've only won three games in two years. We should appreciate the fact that our coaching staff is still recruiting top caliber talent and not keeping it a secret from us.