The Fake Lonnie Finch

Hey, Dodge said at his first press conference, he didn't have a college football plan... The man didn't lie.

My take on Nelson is this - with the defensive line pretty much ignored in Dodge's initial recruiting class, he was working with what little he had. Still, the DL put up the most sacks since 2004, so he has them turning the corner. One of the chief criticisms some of us had about Dodge is that he seemed to ignore the fact that the game up here is won and lost in the trenches. There are no secrets at this point in college football. Teams can defend the spread. That was somehow lost of Dodge and Ford. In fact, I think the pendulum is swinging back the other way a little, not completely, but noticeably. You look at Alabama's grind it out win over Texas in the national title game a couple of seasons ago. What did they throw, five passes all game long? Also: -Auburn last year, ran 15 more times than they passed, had 250+ yards rushing, and held Oregon's "high-powered" offense to 19 points. -Florida shut down OU's record setting offense three seasons ago now on the defensive side of the ball, and throwing 14 times fewer than it ran...because they ran for 249 yards and held almost a 10 minute advantage in possessing the ball. The thing is, if your run game is working, there's no reason to throw a bunch. And, you sure don't need to throw just for the hell of throwing it: (1) You wear out the defense while resting your own when your run game in ticking, and (2) You chew up the clock while keeping the opposing offense off the field. This is all basic stuff...to coaches who are smart enough to play the percentages. The high scoring is sexy to some. But a win is a win whether it's by one point or 50. OU, Texas, and Oregon weren't handed national titles because they had sexy offenses. When it came time to battle it out in the trenches, they lost chances at those title by having their collective asses handed to them by coaches who understood basic football a little better. Nelson is doing fine. It looks as though McCarney is getting him the bodies he needs as well. I like where AK-47 is now, but let's face it, it's easier if you don't have to start out with 205 pound defensive ends and wait for them to get built up.

Agreed, barring another injury wagon in 2011, four is the minimum. I don't see how we don't break even or better in the Sun Belt this year as well. And, again, Tulsa could be 1-3 or 0-4 when we show up there on October 1. In my mind, that is the game that will show if we've grown in a month - can we take down/bury a reeling program on it's turf?

It's what Louisiana - Lafayette wants to be called. I respect that. I don't like people calling us NTSU. Louisiana - Monroe wants to be ULM. So be it.

These numbers are pretty radical. With McCarney's 34 years with BCS AQ schools and Mike Nelson's 27, we actually have the two most experienced coaches with BCS AQ school level experience in the Belt. Howard Schnellenberger is third behind them both, tied with MTSU's DL coach John Palermo. Howie put in a good decade or so in the NFL. Palermo spent 16 at Wisconsin alone, including the time McCarney was there. When I say we made the hire of the past two seasons in the Sun Belt, I mean it. Even when you look past McCarney, we took WKU's most experience coach off of their staff, Clint Bowen, who helped build Kansas into a BCS bowl team in the 2000s. It's hard not to be excited about this bunch. And, with this much more experience than all of these other coaching staffs, there can't be any excuses. We are 180 degrees in the opposite position of when Dickey was fired and Dodge was hired. It's time to get this thing rolling!

Number of years of coaching experience with BCS AQ schools: North Texas - 119 (McCarney, head coach, 34 years) Middle Tennessee State - 63 (Palermo, defensive line, 24 years) Florida Atlantic - 61 (Schnellenberger, head coach, 24 years) Louisiana - 31 (Saunders, recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks, 10 years) FIU - 25 (Orlando, defensive coordinator, 12 years) Troy - 19 (Blakeney, head coach, 14 years) Arkansas State - 15 (Wommack, defensive coordinator, 8 years) ULM - 11 (Vice, offensive line coach, 6 years) WKU - 5 (Taggert, head coach, 3)

I agree, GrandGreen. Look, we have a BCS AQ quality coaching staff in the Sun Belt now. Who else in the Belt has this kind of coaching staff? McCarney 12 years HC Iowa State (Big 8/Big 12) 13 years assistant under Hayden Fry at Iowa (Big Ten) 5 as an assistant at Wisconsin (Big Ten) 3 at Florida (SEC) 1 at South Florida (Big East) That's coaching in every BCS AQ conference except the ACC and Pac-10 Bowen 12 years at Kansas (Big 12) 1 at Minnesota (Big Ten) Riddle 6 years at Colorado (Big 12) 4 at Oregon State (Pac-10) (5 at Boise State, who are bucking to get into a BCS AQ league) Canales 3 years at Arizona (Pac-10) 3 at South Florida (Big East) 2 at North Carolina State (ACC) Grant 9 years at Iowa State (Big 12) 4 at Nebraska (Big 12) Nelson 10 years at Iowa State (Big 12) 5 at Wisconsin (Big Ten) 3 at Stanford (Pac-10) 3 at Missouri (Big 8) 2 at Virginia (ACC) 2 at Rutgers (Big East) 1 at Kansas State (Big 8) 1 at Oregon State (Pac-10) Quartaro 5 years at Kansas (Big 12) 5 at Kansas State (Big 8) 4 at Iowa State (Big 12) 5 at Northwestern (Big Ten) Simmonds 4 seasons at South Florida (Big East) 4 seasons with Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a player (1987-1990) Weaver 1 season at Florida (SEC) 7 seasons with Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans as a player (2002-2008) Justin Gaines is the odd man out with all of his coaching experience coming at the FCS level or lower. But, he was getting kids from Texas to go to Montana State! Look, we have an unreal amount of experience. When you look at where we've been since we emerged from I-AA, you can't help but be excited. Player and their experience, yes it means something. But, having the right guys in place who have been to dozens on bowl games and played the best of the best for decades...we just haven't had that here since Hayden Fry. We haven't. I don't think many of us understand what a value it will be for our coaches to not be confused by the opposing coaching staff. These guys have learned from and coached against the best in the business. And, they are going to be on our sideline! Fellas, it's going to be good. With this much experience - the very things for which we've clamored for the better part of a decade - there can be no good excuses. Not in the Belt. Our coaching staff has 119 years total experience at schools now in BCS AQ conferences. That's freaking unreal.

My other thought was echoed above somewhere - we went with the cheapest thing Nike had to offer. On the one hand, we've sunk a lot of money into facilities and, finally, advertising (billboards). On the other hand, we have fish sandwich for uniforms, but at least the helmets are green. Someday...someday, Alice...POW, right in the kisser! Our boys will run through that tunnel onto the field in shiny green helmets with UNT or NT on the side. Then, our journey to College Football Big Boydom will be complete.

Iowa State's 1995 Unis in action, McCarney's first season. They look like Kansas City Chief knockoffs. But, that's fine with me. I like the Chiefs look. I also like the New York Jets look. I'd like some sort of classic, striped sleeves with clean front and back, triple striped pants... ...and UNT or NT on the helmet! :-D My link

All kidding aside, because Dan McCarney is much more experienced than either Darrell Dickey or Todd Dodge were, I don't think he should be given the same latitude those two were to lose. Again, if we claim coaching makes a difference, we can't also give excuses. This is a very experienced staff McCarney has put together, and they've been given the keys to a great new facilities in one of the three top football recruiting hotbed states in the country. I'm not saying the man should take us to a league title in year one (or, wait, I did predict that already :-D ), but if we have three wins or less this year, that isn't a good sign. The Sun Belt just isn't that strong. We picked up three Belt wins with an injury-depleted team in a season with its coach fired mid-season in 2010. The experience of McCarney and his coaches alone should be enough for one or two more Belt wins...and possibly the upset of Tulsa.

Anyway, back to football talk... ...saw this weekend that Houston had only 1 O-lineman returning, plus another who will be moved to a new position. So, they'll have, essentially, three brand new linemen playing in their first road game, and one starting his second career game at a new position. All of that makes me feel better about our young D-line. Also, their secondary has only one returning starter. Both CBs are new including former UNT commit Chevy Bennett. He and his other JUCO teammate are expected to nail down the corner spots - that's how thin UH is at CB. Let's give Chevy and his mate a nice welcome to the stadium he should have been playing in, eh? Many people may see this game as an automatic loss. But, Houston is young in many areas as well. We could win this game ugly if things fall into place. It's still a stretch based on their continuity under Kevin Sumlin. But, inexperience is inexperience...especially early in the season. No ill will towards the Cougar fans, hoping for the best for us.

That's a fullback lead blocking on the sideline. Anyway, he must have blocked well enough because he ended up here after college: http://www.nfl.com/player/owenschmitt/312/profile

What Barry Switzer used to say about option: "If it's blocked perfectly, the man with the ball only has the Monster Man (safety or inside lb, depending on the defense) to beat on the way to the end zone." But, you could probably say that about any play. A good run game is fun to watch, though. OU got a taste of it from West Virginia in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl: What can a fullback do for you? Fullback Owen Schmitt scores What can a fullback do for you? Fullback Owen Schmitt blocks

1997, in Austin: UCLA 66, Texas 3

Foreshadowing quote by DD in the article regarding the offense: "This may not sell a lot of tickets, but if we can't run the ball we can't win." Hey, he called it from Game 1 - he lived with the run, and died with the run.

Couple of thoughts- We went to this game. OU's new defensive coordinator that year was Rex Ryan, who earned a Super Bowl ring with the Baltimore Ravens a couple of years after that, and now coaches the New York Jets. This wasn't the greatest OU team, but we played them tough. Both teams were starting new QBs with new offensive coordinators. Still, a couple of years later, most of those OU starters were taking Bob Stoops to a national championship. We were prepared...a lot more prepared than Todd Dodge and his 2007 team were up in Norman. In 2007, OU and UNT were also breaking in new QBs. Granted, OU's two starting receivers that night, the QB, and the starting TE ended up in the NFL, but.... Finally, I know it's no newsflash that I like that darker shade of green we were sporting back then.

We're going to find out in a hurry what kind of coaching staff we have. Do we have one that will make excuses? Or, do we have one that takes lemons and makes lemonade? Personally, if the offense is ticking along, I don't see how Carey's 37 or so catches from a year ago aren't replaced. The 3-star tight end, and the 6-5ish receiver signed in February should be able to help make up. With or without Carey, though, the truth about the 2011 offense remains the same as before - will the OL coach be able to get his young charges to create enough holes to make Dunbar the constant threat that will force defenses to commit a safety to play up to stop the run, thereby opening up the pass game a little more? You've got to look back and see how McCarney did it at Iowa State. He had 2,000+ yard rushers. This is a coach who will let a tailback take the ball 30-40 times a game and win ugly. I really don't give a flying fark how it's done, as long as we start winning. A team isn't made of one player. These are a different breed of coaches than we've seen at anytime since Hayden Fry was here. And, I still say this is the Belt, and the climb from the bottom isn't steep. As Howard Schnellenberger has famously said, "The only variable now is time." Damn right, Howard! Sun Belt...get ready for your beatings! Uglyball is back in Denton to wear your asses out one rush at a time on offense, one hard hit after another on defense, and a vicious, relentless, and efficient special teams to knock your dicks fully in the dirt when the clock hits four zeroes! Adios, Carey. One player does not a team make. KA-TANGA!

Hey...we do have that former 3-star tight end now, Andrew Powers. Looks like it'll be go time for him from Game 1! Tight ends...in courting, marriage, and football, they're important. Another note: Doesn't it seem crazy that with all the hoopla surround Todd Dodge after his hire that the positions we're now thin at are QB and WR? Crazy, man. Well, all kidding aside, it's good to see legitimate tight ends on the roster. The kid from Mansfield who switched his commitment from Tulsa to us just a few days before signing day, Chaz Sampson, will have a chance to show his stuff early. He was listed at 6-5 on recruiting site, so he's probably 6-3. Good size. Let's hope he can really catch. According to online roster, our other choices of receiver in 2011: 84 Brown, Greg 6-1 232 Sr. Grand Prairie, TX (Grand Prairie HS) 81 Bynes, Christopher 6-1 220 RJr. Lauderdale Lakes, FL (Coffeyville CC) 80 Chancellor, Brelan 5-9 168 So. Copperas Cove, TX (Copperas Cove HS) 17 Johnson, Breece 6-1 187 Sr. Colleyville, TX (Heritage HS) 23 Marshall, Mike 6-0 195 Fr. Grand Prairie, TX (South Grand Prairie HS) 27 Schutza, Casey 5-10 170 Jr. Euless, TX (Trinity HS) 14 Stradford, Tyler 6-2 185 Sr. New Orleans, LA (Oklahoma) 3 Taylor, Willie 5-10 181 Jr. Dallas, TX (Hillcrest)

Hey...we do have that former 3-star tight end now, Andrew Powers. Looks like it'll be go time for him from Game 1! Tight ends...in courting, marriage, and football, they're important. Another note: Doesn't it seem crazy that with all the hoopla surround Todd Dodge after his hire that the positions we're now thin at are QB and WR? Crazy, man. Well, all kidding aside, it's good to see legitimate tight ends on the roster. The kid from Mansfield who switched his commitment from Tulsa to us just a few days before signing day, Chaz Sampson, will have a chance to show his stuff early According to online roster, our other choices of receiver in 2011: 84 Brown, Greg WR 6-1 232 Sr. Grand Prairie, TX (Grand Prairie HS) 81 Bynes, Christopher WR 6-1 220 RJr. Lauderdale Lakes, FL (Coffeyville CC) 4 Carey, Darius WR 5-10 188 Jr. New Orleans, La (Helen Cox HS) 80 Chancellor, Brelan WR 5-9 168 So. Copperas Cove, TX (Copperas Cove HS) 17 Johnson, Breece WR 6-1 187 Sr. Colleyville, TX (Heritage HS) 23 Marshall, Mike WR 6-0 195 Fr. Grand Prairie, TX (South Grand Prairie HS) 27 Schutza, Casey WR 5-10 170 Jr. Euless, TX (Trinity HS) 14 Stradford, Tyler WR 6-2 185 Sr. New Orleans, LA (Oklahoma) 3 Taylor, Willie WR 5-10 181 Jr.

Anyone know if this might be grade-related? At the Plano Caravan, McCarney mentioned that there were 40 when he arrived with GPAs of less than 2.0, but that 37 had pulled there grades up in the spring. He said the other three were awaiting grades. Maybe this is one of the other three. Look, we didn't lose a scholarship this year in the ADP, AARP, APR or whatever it is...but, at 925, we were mighty close. If anything, Todd Dodge was not a bad character guy. But, I think maybe morale got pretty low on the team last year and that probably carried over into the classrooms. Personally, I hope it's grades because I'd hate for it to be legal thing that could hurt him down the road. He's young enough to still make up for grade things. Also, grade things aren't nearly as much of a hit on a program as legal things. Yes, grade things are bad. But, I'd bet you today that Southern Cal and Ohio State in a heartbeat would trade their current situations brought on by outside the classroom things for grade things.

Sally Struthers

Look, we went to school at North Texas. Some of us to NTSU, some to UNT; but, still, North Texas. Now, the arguments for and against Darrell Dickey are stupid and pointless. He did a better job than anyone post-Return To D-IA Era. That cannot be questioned. The problem with us is that our administration cared so little about athletics that it shuttled us down to I-AA right after some very successful years with Mitchell and Fry. They just didn't give a damn about it. Once we rehatched, the D-IA college football world was completely difference. The OU/Georgia lawsuit giving schools the rights to pursue television deals outside the NCAA's reach had occurred. The conferences followed suit. Soon, it became a money-making proposition to the bigger schools. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we were playing Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, ans Southwest Texas State - nowhere close to the reality of what was happening in college football. So, Matt Simon get dumped right in the middle of it in 1995, one year after replacing a high school coach. Program all over the land were already in the midst of multimillion dollar expansions of their football programs. Us? We were playing in a glorified high school stadium. Simon is tossed in favor of Dickey. Dickey had the same lack of resources Simon did. Somehow, he scratched together a set of teams in the early 2000s that succeeded in spite of it. But, it couldn't last forever. There just wasn't anything to offer. People talk Boise, South Florida, Connecticut, etc., etc. Well, the got multimillion dollar commitments for their programs with school administrators on board working in tandem with the private sector grads and their athletic departments. We just didn't have it. Simon didn't have it. Dickey didn't have it. I respect Darrell Dickey for what he gave us, working with what he had. It doesn't matter to me that no one else made him a head coach. He's been employed ever since he was booted from here. Todd Dodge was completely unprepared. It wasn't totally his fault. We just didn't have the scratch at the time to go out and get a real coach. He was Fool's Gold to many...and, he's in a better place now for him. What we have now is an opportunity. We now have the better facilities that everyone else was making 20 years ago. We are paying assistants more than ever. We have great athletic facilities and an administration that is more sympathetic to the cause than any in the past. The only thing left to do is win. We have no more excuses. I won't excuse it. We've been given what we asked for - what Simon, Dickey, and Dodge lacked when UNT returned to Big Boy Play: A real stadium, real coaches, and real support. There are no more excuses. We have now all the things in place we groused about - even green helmets. The only thing, really, that prevents this battle station from being fully operational now is the "UNT logo on the green helmets. But, we can still blow up Princess Leia's planet anyway without it. KA-POW!

I always wonder why people even still care. It's petty. Look, the United States beat the Confederacy the same way it beat the Nazis on the battle field and the Soviets off of it. To me, people who fly the Confederate Flag are simply flying one of the loser flags of history. They're saying, "Hooray, for the losers!" If they want to be losers, let them be losers. Everyone knows the final score. Morons still get Nazi tatooes and buy Nazi and Hammer and Sickle flags. In America, you are free to be stupid - our Supreme Court has interpreted the U.S. Constitution in such a manner. So...buy up Sons of the Confederacy, or whatever your name is. Until such time as stupidity is outlawed, you are well within your right. (By the way, the opinion above puts me at odds with probably every relative in my family, some of whom have made a lifetime out of studying the Civil War. But, someone has to break the cycle of redneck in our family...and, I'm not above doing it.)

This is true as well. Texas, OU, and I'm sure most other "traditional" power schools hit in practice. I agree with the "you play like you practice" mindset because the game on the field isn't theoretical or a contest to see which side is more technically correct in their interpretations of practice on game day. No one really knows or cares except the coaches. Once you start taking live hits, you should be so accustomed to it that it doesn't rattle you brain off of the game plan. So, you've got to practice like it's game time every time. I think the other broader point about drug testing and whatnot goes to the issue controlling the locker room. There's got to be a time and place for everything. A top to bottom drug testing was over the top, I think. Dodge could have just as easily smoked out drug-users with the announcement of a random drug-testing policy. In the middle of a season probably wasn't the best time to implement it. You want to run off the "bad guys" before practices for the new season; I'd argue, before spring ball. Otherwise, you are putting players on the defensive in the middle of the year while at the same time you are trying to get them on board with executing your game plan. And, you risk losing guys you spent spring and fall building into key roles. I think the mid-season drug-testing also probably intensified any finger-pointing that was already going on behind closed doors among coaches and players. Again, why do it in the middle of the season? Ride out the season, announce in December that on the first day of the spring semester a random testing policy will be instituted. Overall, I think this is where Dodge may have "learned" when he now speaks of what he learned as our head coach. There must be discipline, that much is sure. NCAA and conference rules, for sure, have to be followed rigorously. But, you can't go overboard on ticky-tacky things. There were times early in Dodge's tenure where you wondered what he and his coaches were thinking. I always think of the "redirection" of the cussing defensive back during a game...by an offensive position coach. What was really the point? Players have to be able to have the safety to vent a little. Even during the GMG.com Bowl some "blue" words were heard after missed passes and whatnot. And, although I don't condone a Sam Kinison-like cavalier attitude toward curse words, you really do have to consider time and place to crack down. At the time, I said that if this was going to be the policy, it should be enforced after games and off the field. Run bleachers, run gassers, or whatever during the next practice as punishment. But, to waste time stopping down in the middle of the game, I think, showed a tremendous lack of understanding about what is and isn't really important on the sideline during a football game. Now, if the player in question had gone up to the coach in question during the game and dropped f-bombs all over him, that's a different story. But, here, the guy came off the field after the opposing team had scored and let out a curse word out of frustration, aimed at no one in particular...and, my guess is most the team was thinking what he was saying anyway. I wondered about all of that anew during the Plano Caravan talk by Dan McCarney as he peppered us with "hells" and "damns." I may not personally "hell" and "damn" as much as McCarney or Barry Switzer, but it's something I think you kind of have to live with if you are going to be around football ball.

Logic: Some college students smoke weed. College football players are college students. Therefore, some college football players smoke weed. I personally think weed is a waste of time and money...but, I'm a 42-year old man with a wife, kids, mortgage, and career. There's a lot of time to kill in college between classes, practices, and sex. I'm just sayin'....