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Everything posted by gangrene
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Aggies talking about the possibility of Dodge
gangrene replied to gangrene's topic in Mean Green Football
Ahhh...the #2 son. -
Aggies talking about the possibility of Dodge
gangrene replied to gangrene's topic in Mean Green Football
The Texas Tech scenario does make me a bit nervous, but I think they feel they are now too high and mighty to hire a HS coach as their new HC, should Leach bolt for Miami. True. I guess I will have to give them some credit...even those dissing UNT called us UNT and not that other name (even though that doesn't really bother me that much). -
Aggies talking about the possibility of Dodge
gangrene replied to gangrene's topic in Mean Green Football
I'm sure you know my comment wasn't directed at anyone in particular and, in fact, it's much more than the Aggie association I dislike. It's the arrogance that's exhibited by most BCS schools. If you read some of the posts on that thread, I'm sure you'll be slightly angered as well. -
That would have been the worst thing that could have happened. Different systems (i.e. the spread that Dodge runs) require different types of players with different types of abilities. Making a new coach wait a full year to recruit his "type" of players would put us even further behind in the long run. Don't worry, we need to hurry, but we still have time. As I'm sure you know, oral commitments are non-binding and players change their commitments all the time. That being said, we need to make a decision and announce the hire before Christmas so we'll at least have the full month of January to recruit. National signing day is February 7, 2007.
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Did I mention I hate Aggies??? http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp...5717&forum_id=5
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Prior to SLC, Dodge was 24-35 in six seasons as a high school head coach (three years at 3A, District 18 Cameron -Yoe and three at another school which I couldn't find). Few remember, but TD started off his heralded SLC coaching career with three straight losses as the team struggled to adjust to his spread offense. We would most certainly experience a similar learning curve and adjustment period so it will be important to be patient with which ever coach is chosen. I think it's also important to note that, according to the second article, Todd Dodge's system is taught at the pee wee level so kids will have an excellent grasp of the system by the time they reach the high school level. Here are a couple of good articles I found: Story #1 is from 2000 http://www.trnonline.com/hsfootball00/stor...200/carroll.htm Carroll rallies from 0-3 start to I-4A final Andy Newberry Times Record News There is one thing coaches have in common with their fans. They are very results-oriented people. So Todd Dodge certainly wasn’t counting on a 0-3 start to his coaching stint at Southlake Carroll. After all, the Dragon faithful didn’t exactly try to keep Tom Rapp from resigning after a 7-3 record in 1999. Dodge had a spread-out offense with no running game and a resume that showed six non-playoff seasons. He also had a killer non-district schedule that kicked off with this week’s regional championship opponent, Wichita Falls High School, and followed with Class 5A Haltom, 4A power Highland Park and 5A playoff-bound Coppell. Almost predictable, the once-proud Dragons started 0-3 as their running game was non-existent and inexperience showed up with turnovers and key mistakes. Regardless of the schedule, the Dragon faithful aren’t any more giddy over slow starts than Vernon or Holliday fans are in the Wichita Falls area. District titles are supposed to be a given. "Early in the year, we obviously were playing some very good people, and we were inexperienced," said Dodge, who has enjoyed his most successful season in his seven-year head-coaching career. "We felt we were getting better every week." The results came in the fourth week with a 22-19 win over Coppell. The running game broke 100 yards for the first time, and quarterback Ricky Lay threw for 315 yards and a pair of touchdowns. "These kids have always won," Dodge said. "You get three weeks of telling them we got to make these corrections, and we’re making progress. They get tired of hearing it, and I was getting tired off saying it." The moral victory campaign came to a close in September, as the Dragons (9-4) have won nine of their last 10 and seven straight. The attack once described as the "most conservative one-back offense" started rolling, putting opponents – and not Dodge – on the defensive. Lay, who has passed for 2,720 yards and 27 touchdowns, broke loose with five TD passes in a rout of Waxahachie. The Dragons lost a 20-19 air raid to Grapevine in their District 6-4A opener, but then found the rest of the league to their liking with four wins by a combined 151-42 margin. Carroll was back where it belonged -- in the playoffs – and the Dragons are just three wins from another state championship. Dodge said he learned a lot of his offensive philosophy from high school coach Ronnie Thompson at Port Arthur Jefferson. He was introduced to a passing offense as a high school quarterback and threw for more than 3,000 yards in a season. Many coaches might be hesitant to put so much responsibility on a quarterback, but Dodge believes in it. "Our quarterbacks go through extensive training, and so much of that (decision-making) is coached into them," Dodge said. Regardless of where they finish, Dodge’s team earned a chapter in the school’s football history book last Saturday afternoon. The Dragons fell behind Andrews, 20-0 and 28-7, but rallied with 47 points over the final 36 minutes to win 47-35. "All three phases of our game have to feed off one another," Dodge said. "That game was a perfect example. In the first half, none of the three were evident, but then everything came together. When we are playing well, we’ve had a real strong defense, the offense has had multiple guys and our special teams have been solid." Despite 279 pass attempts, Lay has thrown just nine interceptions this season. "We’ve been able to protect the football, and when you play a great team like (Wichita Falls High School), you can’t afford any mistakes," Dodge said. Kyle Brown was the known commodity for Dodge entering the season, and the star senior wideout has done everything (1,275 yards on 78 receptions) and more (184 rushing, 570 return yards). But the coach said the key was establishing some balance. Lay has really come into his own and is one of the most dangerous passers still alive in the playoffs. He has worked to get others involved like Brian Capps (42 catches, 677 yards) and Matt Terry (18 catches, 285 yards). Capps has 10 TDs on his 42 catches, just two behind Brown’s team-leading total. Senior running back Blake Walker leads the running game with 661 yards and 10 touchdowns. Lay is second with 249, after 99 in last week’s comeback over Andrews. Joe Hoffmans has 193 yards, Brown has 184 and Kody Haverkamp has 180. The Dragons average 120 yards rushing and 214 yards passing. The defense allowed 300-plus yards in four of its first six games, before running off a string of five consecutive games with less than 200 allowed. Andrews scorched Carroll for 401 total yards. The defensive leaders are weak-side linebacker John Saldi with 134 tackles, strong safety Stephen Wood (128, four turnovers), strong-side linebacker Brandon Aguiar (125) middle linebacker Drew Logan (118) and strong-side end Royal Smith (70, seven sacks). Inside tackles Cole Coan and Bryan Butler have five sacks apiece, but they will have to stop the run first against Old High. Assistant sports editor Andy Newberry may be reached after 4 p.m. weekdays by calling (940) 720-3470 or (800) 627-1646, extension 571, 447 or 470; or e-mail him at Anewberry@wf.scripps.com. Story #2 is from 2005 http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/.../D8C3IIKO0.html Southlake Carroll dominating Texas high school football again 08/20/2005 By SCHUYLER DIXON / Associated Press Todd Dodge had a losing record as a head coach when he became a candidate to take over Southlake Carroll, a program with expectations far beyond mere winning seasons. But Bob Ledbetter, the builder of the Carroll empire, liked the way Dodge carried himself. So when the program slipped under his successor, Ledbetter turned to Dodge — and his hunch has paid off with a run of success that almost rivals his own 72-game regular-season winning streak from a little more than a decade ago. Using many of the same tools as Ledbetter, Dodge has guided the Dragons to 66 wins in 77 games. Most staggering is how easily they've made the move up from Class 4A to 5A, going 47-1 with two state championships and their only loss coming by one point in another title game. Proof of their elite status came last season when they had a game televised on ESPN2, then later were crowned mythical national champions. With two more games being televised this season and another regular-season streak in the works at 30, it's safe to say Dodge has restored and even enhanced the school's reputation. "I felt an awesome responsibility, being the head football coach of this program," Dodge said. "I really enjoyed that responsibility and just really delved into the whole thing of while I'm here, we're going to try to keep the level of excellence where it's been and maybe even try to keep raising it and make sure that it keeps on going." Perhaps Ledbetter took to Dodge because he saw some of himself. Ledbetter coached the school from 1979-95. The Dragons won championships in '88, '92 and '93 and had a record of 112-5-1 in their eight Class 3A seasons from 1986 to '93. He took groups without superstars and turned them into punishingly efficient units through a relentless attention to detail. Former players remember having to run 10 consecutive perfect plays before a practice could end. "I always thought we were going to lose the game by the time the game started," said Marty Dunbar, a junior lineman on Carroll's first championship team in 1988 and now associate pastor of a Methodist church in Southlake. "We were so concerned that the other team could beat us, no matter what. Coach Ledbetter would have us so geared up." The 72-game streak ended in Carroll's second game of 4A, sparking the onset of some growing pains in the higher classification. Ledbetter coached the first two years in 4A before becoming athletic director and hiring Tom Rapp, who went 3-6-1 his first season. The transition from 3A to 4A was tough because the Dragons had outdated facilities and faced foes with bigger rosters and larger coaching staffs, said Robert Drake, who coached under Ledbetter and Rapp and is now an assistant to Dodge. Other teams were using players only on offense or defense, while Carroll still had many two-way guys. As this suburb northwest of Dallas continued to grow, Carroll got more players. The growth continued so quickly that officials knew it was a matter of time before they'd be in 5A. The facilities took a little longer to spruce up. Carroll was saddled with "2A facilities," as Dodge called them, when he took the job in 2000. Within two years — in time for the move to 5A — the Dragons had indoor and outdoor practice facilities on campus and a sparkling new Dragon Stadium with an original capacity of 7,500, more than twice that of old Dragon Stadium. Rapp led the Dragons to the semifinals in 1998, but resigned after the next season, when Carroll lost its last two games and missed the playoffs. Ledbetter already had his eye on Dodge, despite his 24-35 record over six seasons, two apiece at three schools. Ledbetter knew that at each stop — Cameron Yoe, Carrollton Newman Smith and Keller Fossil Ridge — Dodge had inherited struggling or fledgling programs and always made them better. He also remembered Dodge beating Carroll three out of four times, including one of Rapp's final games. Embracing Carroll's tradition came naturally for Dodge. He'd played at Port Arthur Jefferson, a school with a football history dating to the earliest years of the game in Texas, and in college he was the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Dodge quickly adopted "Protect the Tradition" as the only motto his Carroll program will have. He also implemented Ledbetter's "lockdown" meeting, a two-a-day ritual during which Dodge shuts himself in a room with the varsity players and they don't leave until they are "right," as Dodge puts it. "Todd brought a lot of the philosophies that we had — really caring about kids and really caring about the program. Taking ordinary kids and making them believe in each other," Ledbetter said. "We were very fortunate that Todd and these kids meshed together." The kids also took right away to his most drastic change: scrapping the run-based Wishbone offense for a four-receiver, spread offense he'd been using for years. He added a no-huddle wrinkle upon arriving at Carroll. Although the Dragons lost their first three games under Dodge, progress came quick enough. And when it was time to move up to 5A two years later, everyone was ready. "He never skipped a beat," said Chase Wasson, the quarterback on the first 5A team. "We were ready to lock and load and prepare to win again. It wasn't, 'Oh, no, we're about to be a bigger classification.' " Outsiders were skeptical when Carroll was put in a district with recent state title winners Lewisville and Flower Mound Marcus. The Dragons proved they couldn't be fazed by opening district play with a 63-7 victory over Marcus, then beating Lewisville 52-14. They finished 16-0, winning by an average score of 45-14 — precisely the result of their victory against Smithson Valley in the championship game. Carroll was the first school to win a title in its first 5A season. Dodge said Carroll sneaked up on some opponents — the very thing he, like Ledbetter before him, works so hard to avoid happening to them. He and others also believe it was simply a matter of determined seniors carrying on a winning tradition. A key advantage to keeping the program rolling is being able to implement the head coach's system all the way through the school system. Even in the elementary schools, there are no Lions or Tigers or Bears. They're all Dragons, a philosophy Ledbetter started and Dodge embraced. "Once you got into the system and once you got up into the middle-school level, you were pretty much taught the same scheme, the same system," said Kris Brown, who ran Ledbetter's offense for Carroll in 1993-94 and now kicks for the NFL's Houston Texans. "When you do something enough, it just becomes ingrained into what you are doing." The support system extends beyond family and friends. Casual fans abound. Just before Dodge was hired, the school formed the Dragon Council, a group of fans without children in the school system. The original six has grown to 10. As for families with kids in the school system, that support is the fuel that feeds everything. "I can't wait until that first (home) game, coming out here and that whole thing right there is full of first- through sixth-graders that are screaming at certain players, just because they're Dragons," Drake said. He was looking toward a section of the stands at Dragon Stadium, which has since expanded to a capacity of nearly 10,000 thanks to expansion from a one-year stay by Dallas' professional soccer team. "It won't be long before those (kids) there are going to be out here. There's just a love for (Carroll) green." Dodge keeps the program humming through the offseason with an intense quarterback training program. It's hard to argue with the results: Wasson is on scholarship at Texas State, and Chase Daniel, the two-time Associated Press Sports Editors Class 5A player of the year, is a freshman at Missouri. Ricky Lay, Dodge's first quarterback at Carroll, is now a running back at Army. This season's QB, senior Greg McElroy, has the size (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) and arm strength to make it four straight college signees. McElroy has said he has Division I offers. It almost works like pitchers in a successful baseball farm system — put as many out there as you can, and you'll end up with some good ones. Dodge said there are 12 quarterbacks in seventh grade, and the selection process ends with two on the varsity. Dodge tells aspiring Dragons that many of them will be quarterbacks. "They may help out at other positions throughout their career, but they're going to train quarterback," Dodge said. "It's a position that we think we should never rebuild at. We just should reload." Sounds like the Carroll program as a whole is headed in the same direction again.
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ll.2f5489b.html Carroll's got spirit, and it sells Football breathes cash into booster club's coffers and district's bottom line 11:10 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 By TIM MacMAHON / The Dallas Morning News SOUTHLAKE – Phil Barber, a 72-year-old member of the Dragon Council, estimates that he owns about 200 Southlake Carroll T-shirts and just as many matching caps. Barber said it hasn't been too long since people would give him puzzled looks and ask about the origin of his apparel. "They'd say, 'Where in the world is Southlake, Texas?' " said Barber, one of the six original members of the volunteer fan group. "Well, they dang sure know where Southlake is now. Any kind of sports nut knows." That's because coach Todd Dodge's football program generates priceless publicity. Fox Sports Net's broadcast of Thursday's home game against Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian will be the third Carroll game in three seasons televised nationally. (The game will be shown on Ch. 21 in Dallas-Fort Worth because of a conflict with a Rangers game.) Five other Carroll games have been televised live regionally since 2002, when Carroll became a Class 5A school. Carroll had a devoted fan base long before it became a blip on the national radar screen, dating to the days when coach Bob Ledbetter built the Dragons into a 3A powerhouse in the 1980s. And that fan base is located in an affluent, one-high school town. The combination of pride, publicity and prosperity has created a profit-making storm. A football program that was named the mythical national champion the last two seasons is the centerpiece of the Carroll ISD's marketing strategy. "I don't think we could create a better marketing scenario for selling, if you will, a product," said Julie Thannum, the district's director of communication and marketing. "I don't consider our kids a product. I consider the reputation and traditions of the district a product." The trademarked Dragon logo, made famous as Carroll's helmet decal, is sold on everything from trailer hitches to toilet-seat covers. Most of the district's schools, which all have the Dragon mascot, have spirit shops on campus. The Dragon Den, run by the booster club and located just inside the home entrance of the stadium, sells all kinds of Carroll apparel and trinkets. It does brisk business during the three hours it is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on game days. Fans who attend games at Dragon Stadium are bombarded with advertisements from the moment they park. Light pole banners in the parking lot are among the dozens of spaces available for ads at the venue. "I don't like all the commercialization and so many people trying to get a piece of pie, so to speak," said Ledbetter, adding that he became tired of arguing the issue before retiring as athletic director in 2002. "I just never thought the game was supposed to be a fundraiser for the district." Companies can set up kiosks in the parking lot for a fee of $500 per game. The businesses pass out fliers and sell their wares to the thousands of fans who tailgate before games. The district sells another 39 advertising spaces at the stadium, beginning with banners above the main entrance on the home side. That doesn't include the ads on the cups sold at the concession stands. Companies can also buy public-address announcements and digital mentions on the scoreboard. "Do I think it's a little much? Absolutely," said booster club president Jack Luna, whose son, Aaron, starred at running back for Carroll from 2002 to 2004. "It seems that some people just want to make a buck off our kids. That irritates me, but it's a necessary evil." The naming rights for the stadium, as well as the school's indoor practice facility and aquatics center, are also for sale. TITUS Sports Marketing, a firm that helped the district negotiate the national TV deals, is trying to find corporations to sign contracts with the district. Thannum said the district hopes to get a 10-year, $1 million deal for the naming rights to Dragon Stadium. District officials cite the Robin Hood system, in which wealthy school districts give money to the state to help fund poor districts, for creating a need to maximize revenue streams. The district formed a Revenue Enhancement Committee, comprised of Southlake residents with marketing and business backgrounds, in 2002. Tax dollars are subject to the Robin Hood system. Funds from sponsors and other money generated by athletics are not. "Our district gives millions of dollars to the state each year," said Dodge, whose team has won 64 of its last 65 games and three of the last four 5A Division II titles. "We've got to find ways to make money. The best opportunities to make money in our school district surround the football program." Carroll football is a lucrative business, even without corporate dollars. Athletic director Ronnie Tipps estimated that the profits from ticket sales and concessions for a home football game, often packed with standing-room-only crowds of 11,000, are between $40,000 and $45,000. Carroll also gets a cut of the gate receipts for playoff games, which often draw crowds of 30,000 or more. Metro Sports Communications pays Carroll $15,000 for regular-season radio broadcast rights and an additional $1,000 per playoff game. Carroll and Denton Ryan each received $2,000 in rights fees for their 2004 game televised on ESPN2. Carroll was not paid for Fox Sports Net's national telecast of the 2005 Denton Ryan game or Thursday night's game, although a 30-second Carroll ISD commercial is part of the deal. Tipps and Thannum said the district, which has agreed to play Concord (Calf.) De La Salle on national TV next season, will be more aggressive in seeking financial benefits in future negotiations with networks. Fox Sports Net Southwest general manager Jon Heidtke said he could see high schools making revenue off of televised games if sponsor support continues to grow. Funds raised by the booster club, including profits from the Dragon Den and an annual golf tournament, are poured back into the athletic department. Luna said the booster club fulfilled a $41,000 coaches' wish list last year. Everything else goes into the district's general operating fund, and the district is constantly looking for ways to increase that revenue stream. "It's just a school district that doesn't want to miss out on any opportunities," Thannum said. "We're in a community where those dollars are available. Why shouldn't it go to the kids?" E-mail tmacmahon@dallasnews.com FOR SALE AT DRAGON STADIUM Some of the sponsorship opportunities at Dragon Stadium: Item Cost Light pole banner $1,000 3 x 9 sideline signature fixture $2,500 (season), $750 (game) 3 x 4 sign $675 4 x 5 sign $1,250 5 x 4 sign $1,250 3 x 5'6" sign $1,000 3 x 9'10" sign $1,500 3'10" x 12 sign $2,000 4 x 18 sign $3,000 2'4" x 15'1" sign $2,500 2'4" x 16'9" $2,500 Scoreboard sign $7,500 PA announcement or $1,000 (per quarter), $600 (per half), digital scoreboard mention $350 (per game) Promotional night $750 (per game) Kiosk $2,000 (season), $500 (game) Naming rights $1 million for 10 years (negotiable) Evangel Christian Academy of Shreveport, La. (0-1) at Southlake Carroll (1-0), 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Ch. 21 in D-FW, FSN nationally; KKGM-AM 1630) SOUTHLAKE CARROLL FOOTBALL ON TELEVISION 2002: Def. Smithson Valley, 45-14 (FSNSW) 2003: Lost to Katy, 16-15 (FSNSW) 2004: Def. Denton Ryan*, 52-27 (ESPN2) 2004: Def. Smithson Valley, 27-24 (FSNSW) 2005: Def. Midland Lee, 48-25 (Ch. 21) 2005: Def. Denton Ryan*, 41-0 (FSN) 2005: Def. Katy, 34-20 (FSNSW) THURSDAY: vs. Evangel Christian Academy* (Ch. 21,FSN)** *National broadcast **A show on Carroll's dynasty starts at 7 p.m. Thursday on Ch. 21 in D-FW and FSN nationally
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I saw this same story on the Miami Herald's web site. Personally, I'm pulling for Leach because I think Miami and Leach are a perfect match...they're both classless and I can't stand either of them.
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SL Carroll vs. Euless Trinity: Worth about 400K
gangrene replied to GreenBat's topic in Mean Green Football
So you're suggesting that we play our last game of next season as part of the high school playoffs triple-header, so we can get our share of that $400K??? -
Go back and read the first paragraph of my post...I was pointing out that it appears Harbaugh is searching high and low for a new job. He didn't get the ISU job but that doesn't change the fact that he interviewed for it and, just because he's interviewing with UNT doesn't mean that he won't possibly still want to interview for Stanford, Tulane or any other school that has yet to consider him.
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I think it's hilarious how eveyone keeps comparing DD to their past volatile relationships. Someone call the cops - I think we've got a case of domestic abuse. But...I agree...let's just leave well enough alone. DD's gone, and that's what most of us wanted. Let's just forgive and forget and move on to better things. We don't have any kids so there's no need to stay in touch or keep tabs on what DD's doing now.
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Tom Izzo, current Michigan St basketball head coach, was rumored to want the same position with MSU's football team!! How's that for out of the box?? Updated: Nov. 21, 2006, 10:00 AM ET Izzo shoots down idea of coaching Mich. St. football Associated Press EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo is helping the school search for a new football coach. But don't expect him to be on the list of candidates. Izzo, the subject of Internet and media speculation involving the replacement for fired football coach John L. Smith, dismissed the idea when asked if he was being considered for the job. "I think it was far-fetched when it started," he said. Izzo acknowledged he has always had an interest in football. "I've been honored that my name would even be brought up," he said. "Anybody who knows me knows that for longer than I have been here, football has been a love of mine beyond most normal human beings." Izzo said he once turned down a chance to become the defensive backs coach at Cal State-Fullerton in the early 1980s, where Steve Mariucci -- his longtime pal -- was coaching. But Izzo added he already has his hands full with the basketball program. "I've got some business I want to finish," he said. Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
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Here's another Harbaugh story I found on espn: COLLEG FB PACKAGE: Ole! _ Harbaugh's Toreros brimming with confidence and I-AA ranking Associated Press College Football News Wire SAN DIEGO -- Jim Harbaugh was musing about ways to pump up the atmosphere at University of San Diego football games and really, after turning the program into a Division I-AA powerhouse in just three seasons, his wish seems pretty simple. "Three thousand fans and a band more," Harbaugh said with a laugh. Yeah, a capacity crowd in their cozy, 7,000-seat stadium and a marching band would nicely round out autumn Saturdays for the Toreros, who have been so good at doing everything else to get themselves noticed. The Toreros (6-0) take a 14-game winning streak into a pivotal game Saturday at Drake that will likely decide the Pioneer Football League title. They're also ranked for the third straight week in the Division I-AA poll, a major accomplishment for a school that averages 4,000 fans for home games and doesn't give football scholarships. That means players have to make it on loans and need-based financial aid just like other students do, and an education at USD isn't cheap. Tuition, room and board, and books runs about $43,000 a year. So when the Toreros find themselves ranked No. 21, "that's monumental," Harbaugh said. And so is the job that Harbaugh has done since being hired to his first head coaching job by a school where football was, at the very best, an afterthought on a spectacular hilltop campus known primarily for its academics. "If you win enough games, you're going to attract enough attention," said Harbaugh, an NFL quarterback for 15 seasons whose father, Jack, was a successful Division I-AA coach. "Last year going 11-1 focused people's eyes, although we never were ranked. But 22 out of 23, I think, is tough to ignore." The Toreros have lost only one time since midway through the 2004 season, Harbaugh's first at USD. That defeat was by three points at Princeton on Sept. 24, 2005. They rebounded to finish a school-best record and their first PFL title. While a repeat league championship is the main goal, earning a ranking has raised the intriguing possibility of an at-large berth in the 16-team I-AA playoffs if the Toreros -- it's Spanish for "bullfighters" -- can remain undefeated. "I think we have a shot," said Harbaugh, who is 24-5 overall. "I think we're definitely good enough and deserving." While San Diego State is floundering at 0-5 under first-year coach Chuck Long, confidence at USD couldn't be higher. "Just looking at the Top 25, which includes all the I-AA scholarship schools, I believe we beat most of them," Harbaugh said. With junior quarterback Josh Johnson putting up dazzling numbers and the defense doing its part, the Toreros have attracted attention by putting up scores like 68-7 against Valparaiso, 56-3 over Butler and 50-21 against Davidson in their last three games. "It's well-deserved for our team and our program," said Johnson, who's thrown for 1,607 yards and 19 touchdowns, with only three interceptions. He's completed nearly 70 percent of his passes, going 123-of-178. Johnson is the prototypical Harbaugh recruit. "I didn't even know this school existed until Coach Harbaugh started recruiting me and I looked into it more and I found out about the good academics," said Johnson, who's from Oakland. "It ended up being a good situation." Of course, it comes with sticker shock. "I'm going into debt, but there's a lot of people who come out of college in debt," said Johnson, who's majoring in communications with a minor in business administration. Harbaugh sees more than just a good student in Johnson, who last year threw for 3,256 yards, 36 TDs and only eight pickoffs. "He's the best junior quarterback in college football, in my opinion," Harbaugh said. "He'll be a day one draft pick, when it's his time. I've had pro scouts tell me that as well." Harbaugh knows a bit about that, having gone from Michigan to the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1987 NFL draft. He also played for Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Diego and Carolina. Most of Harbaugh's players will have to be content simply to be able to play college ball. The average Torero player is "the kind of kid who values a good education, who knows what that can do for him for the next 60 years of his life," Harbaugh said. "Just because we're denied scholarships doesn't mean we can't be great," he added. Most of Harbaugh's assistants have either NFL or Division I-A coaching experience. "A kid who's a hard worker, who loves football, we've got a spot for them here," Harbaugh said. Jack Harbaugh is pleased for his son and everyone else associated with the USD program. He coached at Western Kentucky for 14 years, winning the Division I-AA national championship in 2002. "I know how difficult it is to get a ranking in the Top 25 for programs like Western Kentucky, and we had 63 full scholarships," said Jack Harbaugh, now an associate athletic director at Marquette, where his son-in-law, Tom Crean, is the basketball coach. "USD doesn't have the opportunity to have scholarships, so I think it is just a fantastic accomplishment." There's more to be done at San Diego, for sure, on and off the field. "I want to accomplish the atmosphere of big-time college football, where every seat is filled," Jim Harbaugh said. Harbaugh couldn't help but chuckle, perhaps because he played at Michigan Stadium, which has a whopping 100,000 more seats than bucolic Torero Stadium. "It shouldn't be that hard," he said. "We should have a band. I had a board of trustee member who told me the other day that he's going to have a band for us here next year. We're constantly pushing to make it better -- with what we can." This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index
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Dickey is "stealth" interviewing!
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This list is exciting to see. I would be happy with any of the three. Each candidate possesses a great deal of potential with minimal risks. All three are former college QBs and proven winners at coaching. I think Harbaugh or Dodge might have the most immediate success at UNT because they are already accustomed to stretching the abilities of their athletes to the level of overachievement, while Fisher may experience a little bit of culture shock at the talent level of mid-major athletes vs. a top 10 program. However, Fisher may be the best of the three at recruiting. Dodge and Harbaugh are also more likely to garner media attention in the DFW area because of their name recognition. Again, I would be very happy with any of these three.
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Good to hear that he's interviewing with UNT, but I am hearing from my reliable source that both Harbaugh and Jimbo Fisher are interviewing for several D-1A HC jobs. Harbaugh has already interviewed for the Iowa State job and is supposedly being considered for Stanford and Tulane as well. Of course, that doesn't make me want him any less. I would much rather hire someone that everyone else wants than to hire someone that no one even considered.
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Interesting info. He's listed as considering Clemson, Ga. Tech, Oklahoma and TCU. He's also listed as 5'10", 169 lbs, and a 40 time of 4.59 and 30.5" vertical... very different info than was listed in the SI story.
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The 2006 Dave Campbell's doesn't rank the prospects but it does list the top Juniors and Sophomores for 2007. Riley Dodge is listed, as is fellow SLC Junior RB, Trey Newton.
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Take for what it's worth, but according to rivals.com, Todd Dodge is our leading candidate: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content....1144&CID=606251 The latest: (12:07 p.m. ET, 12/4/06) Sources say Dodge has emerged as the top candidate for the position. His team remains in the Texas state playoffs.
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QUOTE(Like father like son (cont.)Posted: Tuesday November 28 @ 2006 9:48AM; Updated: Tuesday November 28, 2006 4:01PM) History is his (Riley Dodge) favorite subject, but when asked what he would like to do in the future, he quickly said, "Believe it or not, I'll probably be coaching. I just love to go in on weekends and break down film." ← Ahhh...there it is. If we hire Todd Dodge, hopefully we'd get Riley for four years. Then, if he didn't make it to the next level, we'd have him as an assistant coach too!
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We could also view this as good news for us on the recruiting front. I recall seeing several recruits listing La. Tech as considerations.
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I don't believe anything I read on this site. Here's an example of how little they know: Two days later the announcement was made that ISU had hired Gene Chizik. Footballscoop.com didn't even have him listed as a possible candidate.
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I was just reviewing this schedule myself, when it occurred to me that there are a LOT of bowl games this season. With the addition of several new bowls for the 2006-07 season, a total of 64 teams receive bowl bids this year. That's over HALF of the 119 D-1A schools. Is it asking too much for us to expect UNT to be bowl eligible every year and to be disappointed if we're not in the top half of D-1A schools at season's end? I think not.
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No. This makes NO sense. Even if Dodge is the #1 contender for the HC position, we should be interviewing an applicant of this quality.
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Do you want a one-night stand or a "keeper"??