The Fake Lonnie Finch

Yeah, he's what...27 years old? What program has he built? No way. If we go the coordinator route, get someone with at least a decade of experience. This guy hasn't so much as been part of a conference championship squad.

Then let them hire him. Alabama lost to Mississippi State and ULM in 2007 with Applewhite calling the shots. He hasn't done anything with the Texas running backs since he returned to Austin. No position coaches. Major Applewhite is a position coach. Our school isn't a stepping stone for offensive coordinators who can't put more than 14 points on ULM while coaching at Alabama. Or, who can't get a roster with 4- and 5-star running backs to perform. If he's on the list, our list is bad and should be trashed.

Doing well in his first season as head coach at Youngstown State. He's a Youngstown guy around the same age at the younger Stoops brother. Was out OL coach in 2003. If we're going to hire current head coaches, I like this guy. He's coached under Bill Snyder, Steve Spurrier, and Jim Leavitt. Was a player at Kansas State when they were making their historic climb to respectability. http://www.ysusports.com/sports/fball/coaches/Wolford_Eric By the way, Kansas State's 1994 coaching staff, when Wolford was a senior, was just ridiculous: Head Coach: Bill Snyder Offensive Coordinator: Del Miller -Hayden Fry's recruiting coordinator for 10 years -Head coach at Missouri State 1995-1998 -Offensive cooridnator on 2003 K-State staff that upset OU for Big 12 title -Currently, Offensive coordintor/QB coach at San Diego State...who is two wins from being bowl eligible for the first time since 1998. Yes, it's only take Brady Hoke two seasons to rebuilt San Diego State. Running Game Coordinator: Dana Dimel -Head coach of Wyoming (1997-1999) and Houston (2000-2002) -Currently, co-offensive coordinator/running backs coach at Kansas State. Returned in 2009 with Snyder. Tight Ends: Manny Matsakis -Head coach of Emporia State (1995-1998) and Texas State (2003) Running Backs: Mark Mangino -Head coach of Kansas (2002-2009) Offensive Line: Rod Humenuik -Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator of 1985 New England Patriots team that went to the Super Bowl; former UNT coach Rod Rust was the defensive coordintator -OL coach for national champion USC squad in 1967 -Head coach of Principia College (2000-2002) -At age of 76, still coaching OL at Hamline University Co-Defensive Coordinator: Jim Leavitt -Head Coach of South Florida (1997-2009) Co-Defensive Coordinator: Bob Stoops -Head Coach of Oklahoma (1999-Present) Defensive Line: Mo Lattimore -Still the Wildcats DL coach; longest tenured assistant in the Big 12 Defensive End: Mike Stoops -Head Coach of Arizona (2004-Present)

And, we'll keep screaming no more local heroes with no track record of winning at this level. Applewhite can't even get the Longhorn run game in order. We sure don't need him here. And, Todd Dodge was supposedly a big name in Texas as well. But, recruits didn't care. We hire a guy like Applewhite and we signal that we aren't serious about winning. This school can no longer be treated like an experiment. Applewhite and any other position coach without coordinator or head coaching experience should not even be in the mix.

I get what you are saying, but look at Stoops and Pelini: -Stoops walks onto OU's campus in 1999 and he's already got Rocky Calmus, Roy Williams, Andre Woolfolk, Ryan Fisher, Ontei Jones, an offensive line full of upperclassmen...I mean, Blake was still signing guys. He just couldn't coach them. -Pelini. He goes to Nebraska and he's got Ndamukong Suh, Roy Helu, Niles Paul, Jared Crick, Prince Amukamara...and, eerily, John Blake also had a hand in recruiting many of those to Nebraska as an assistant. But, what those guys walked into there and what our new coach will walk into here are completely different animals. Both are well known entities with multiple Heisman winners and national titles. Nebraska was 5-7 the year before Pelini was hired, and 9-5 in 2006, and 8-4 in 2005. That was "down" for Nebraska. OU was 5-6 in 1998, 4-8 in 1997, and 3-9 in 1996. I mean, even as bad as Blake was, they were inching toward betterness all along. And, OU's 1998 defense was led by Rex Ryan and was in the Top 20 nationally. The Sooner gave up 229 points in 1998 AND in Bob Stoops' first year 1999. So, it's not like Bob Stoops walked into that thing and it was completely broken the way ours is. The defense was already there. All it needed was someone with half a brain in their head (and, I'd say Bob has about half), one JUCO quarterback, and a sense of direction on offense...which they got from Mike Leach being the offensive coordinator that season. The point is, we don't really have the luxury of monkeying around with an unknown entity. Some assistants do well, as you point out. But, then you've got the Chuck Longs of the world who tank when given the keys. All I'm saying is that, at this point in time, I'd feel much better seeing a Glen Mason or Jim Leavitt-type who has already taken programs and built them.

Good point. I did mention that the administrators need to be on point, too. I think that's what you are talking about here. But, oeverall, you don't get the same kind of vibe for UNT driving into Denton the way you do when you go onto other campuses. We all do because we graduated from here. There is a hill to climb here that is completely different than Boise State - both inside the school and outside. Since we can't be in an incubator, the way Boise could be for decades, we have to work harder. Many people here talk about Dodge's dedication, but I mean, really? He never lived here. He always went home to Southlake where he still walks on water. He was, maybe, kind of insulated from the community in that way. Not that he didn't get out, just...he never became part of it. The new guy has to be here and on it 365 days a year. There's too much other competition in the Metroplex to believe otherwise.

Those guys were all coordinators taking over positions at schools who had more money to risk than we did. None of those situations listed were as dire as ours is. Sumlin took over a winning program and a new stadium Patterson took over a winning program with plans for facility improvements already in the can Bob Stoops took over one of the highest profile schools in college football - it recruits itself and simply needs a non-idiot to guide it (SEE ALSO Texas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama, etc.) Bo Pelini - Ditto Bob Stoops. Anyone respectable coach ought to be able to win at Nebraska. Even Bill Callahan had them in the Big 12 championship game. Leach took over a program that had been winning under Spike Dykes. The only outlier is Mike Stoops, and Arizona had much more resources than we do...I mean, money. Being in a BCS conference means getting millions in bowl money whether you qualify for a bowl or not. We don't have money or history. This is a job for a proven workhorse. After it gets off the ground, fine, go after an up and comer. But, it needs to be built first. None of those guys you mention really built what they have now.

Because Boise supports Boise State. Denton does not support North Texas. Because there are no other outlets for entertainment in Boise. UNT must compete with the following regional entities for entertainment attention and dollars: Dallas Cowboys Dallas Mavericks Dallas Stars Texas Rangers TCU SMU Big 12 Schools Frisco Roughriders Grand Prarie Airhogs FC Dallas The American Airlines Center The Verizon Theatre Six Flags JerryWorld Lone Star Park Winstar Casino Bass Hall The Meyerson The Winspear Texas State Fair There are so many outlets competing for the discretionary income of the people in and around DFW, you can't compare it to Boise. That's not to say we can't be successful. But, it is to say this - get real about what we are competing for. We must win. We must have a coach who is more than nice. We need someone who understands this thing has competition on and off the field - all year long. It's the same way with our basketball program or any other sport. We are one of dozens and dozens of things to do in one of the biggest metropolitian areas in the country. We've got to make ourselves stand out more. Boise isn't saddled with competition for discretionary income. It just mean our administrators and coaches have to understand the big picture and be willing to work 110% everyday to build this thing. Boise could do it out of sight of everyone. We are drowned out, literally, by our own surroundings.

If we hire a ding-dong, no. No position coaches, or otherwise risky gambles. As far behind as we've been since coming back to I-A/FBS, this is a critical juncture. Super conferences are looming the not so distant future. We have to be more serious about ourselves. Nothing less than a bona fide head coaching choice will do. Someone with more than a decade at this level, preferable two. We've danced around long enough. Turn every coaching stone upside down and find someone to finally make this a successful program. To do otherwise is to keep wasting everyone's time, money, and effort. And, energy. This thing is tiring mentally if you really care about it.

If he wins, he can cry all he wants. In fact, if he wins, he can dress up in a Mean Green diaper and prance around the sidelines for all I care.

No, no, no. A thousand times no! Major Applewhite is a position coach at UT. He's the running backs coach. And, how has the Longhorn run game looked the past few seasons? Awful. Also, OU bangers, no to Josh Heupel. No, to any position coach. Applewhite and Heupel aren't even coordinators yet. Look, we've got to stop thinking of ourselves as some bush league "try out" school for unknowns and assistants. If we want to be big and win consistently, we've got to hire someone who has already proven they know how to do it at this level. Applewhite and Heupel were handed jobs by their alma maters because neither of them were good enough to even so much as hold a clipboard in the NFL. Neither one has been given even partial coordinator responsibilites - and both have been coaching at their respective schools for about a decade! Okay, no! No to position coaches. No to hometown and regional heroes. Go out and get a real football coach who has real skins on the wall from programs that he built. Not some free-riding position coach that a few in that fanbase think about with some twisted nostalgia from their long gone playing days.

Look, hiring Dodge as head coach was wrong to begin with. I just wasn't smart. But, guys like Guz Malzhan and Todd Graham were plucked right off high school sidelines to be college assistants. Okay? Those guys climbed the ladder. Malzhan is still climbing it, and has gone from Tulsa to Arkansas to Auburn. That's the way things should have evolved for Todd Dodge - and still can. He's got something in the tank. The problem is, again, not only was he inexperienced at this level, but he brought on a coaching staff that was even less experienced than he, and he stayed loyal to them. It was a mistake. But, I don't think it in any way diminishes his reputation for having a good mind for the game. As a quarterbacks coach, in charge of a group of half a dozen kids, he'd be fine. Being a pass game coordinator or co-offensive coordinator, same thing. I think he can more than handle doing a chunk of game planning. You also have to factor in that college football coaches may be dumb, but they aren't stupid. They recognize how hard it has been to win here. There's no money here. There's no real community support here. I think whoever hires him will just say, "Well, it was North Texas." We may not like that; but, that's reality. What it should do is make people appreciate just a little more what Darrell Dickey was able to do for a short span here. The man had his flaws, but he caught lightning in a bottle here for awhile. The new stadium is hope. It's hope that the next coach finally has legitimate FBS-level facilities to work in and use to recruit. I wish Darrell Dickey had it. I wish Todd Dodge had it. They did what they could do. And, although Dickey was more direct about the lack of facilities than Dodge, it still is a factor. Dodge may never say it publicly, but lack of facilities has always been a factor here.

Uh...you can keep Stan Brock. Green Mean, I've got no problem with Hawkins. The list is simply former head coaches. I think Hawkins will be employed for at least another couple of weeks. If he's available, I say give him a shot along with Dirk Koetter.

Todd Dodge won't be in the stands because he'll be on the sideline or in the press box of another school next year.

If Leavitt is here - which, I hope, but think is a long shot - the players will not get a moment's rest. There are youtube clips of him grabbing facemasks, following players down the sideline cussing them...being a football coach. Is this a team that can be football-coached? He's very old school. I don't know how that will play out with the new age - and, the new age players' parents. This team does need some sort of kick in the pants. But, Leavitt is pretty over the top.

It's big because of the way this level is developing. The big keep getting bigger. Texas and OU were willing to split up the Big 12 even though both are making upwards of $100 million.

Going to look to not just former head coach and current assistants but "head coaches who might see North Texas as a place they'd like to be." I like it.

Uh...it's generic and hastily throw together fo' free, Eagle. And, Censored...if I were to included every coach who had as few as one winning season, the list would have no meaning.

http://saveuntfootball.webs.com/apps/links/ I didn't intend to post it until after the WKU or Troy games. I've included former college head coaches with some track record of winning. The list is in no particular order, and I have no favorites. I'm simply in the school of thought that believe an experienced driver needs to be at the wheel of this thing. In compiling the list, I was surprised by the number of guys I'd forgotten about. Among them Ty Willingham, Karl Dorrell, Jeff Jagodzinski...guys who didn't necessarily lose, but who were at bigger place and had much more expected of them. Other were dumped because of unrealistic, unappreciative fanbases/administrators/boards of directors - Paul Pasqualoni, Philip Fulmer, Rocky Long, Gary Gibbs, etc. The one odd guy I've included in there is former New York Giants head coach Jim Fassell. The guy's coaching in the UFL, for crying out loud! He wants to coach somewhere. Why not here? This guy would be confused by his Sun Belt colleagues? Nah. Give him a call just for the hell of it, RV. Anyway, have fun with the list.

I don't consider Dodge a money whore. But, let's face facts. He could make more as an assistant at BCS-level schools like Texas or Oklahoma than he ever could at Southlake. Plus, with a few seasons under his belt at a BCS-level program, he'd likely be head coach material again. During the 2007 to 2009 seasons, no one was a bigger critic of the Dodge hire than me. But, look, the guy played soldier to stay on a fourth year under a stricter set of terms from Rick Villareal. If he'd really had an ego problem, or a problem with facing reality, he'd have quit then. He didn't quit. He gave it a shot with someone else in control. There's no shame in that. Many head coaches do it that way. The game is too complicated these days to run it top down. I think Dodge learned to delegate. I also think he's learned alot about the different in speed and athletic ability at this level. Consider, except for two seasons at our I-AA North Texas, he'd seen nothing but high school stuff for a couple of decades. The game at this level has changed immensely since he strapped in on for Texas. He's now seen Oklahoma speed and power. LSU. Kansas State. Clemson. He's aslo gotten a heavy dose of what ahtletes are at the mid-major level. The guy's not dumb. He's loyal. And, I think he's proved he's willing to learn. Most of us, we're the same way. If things aren't going well at work and someone pulls you aside and says, "You're failing, things are going to be different" it'd be hard to take. Hey...I've worked for big America corporations and one multinational. I've had my butt called into offices and been given notice that a different set of circumstances will apply to get things going right again. It pissed me off because I believed no one else around me knew what the hell they were doing. But, the problem is always the same - those wearing different shoes can be more objective. It didn't matter that I poured my heart into the work. I couldn't see the big picture because I was trying to make failing methods work. Like Todd Dodge, I never quit when called upon to change. You grow. I think he's grown. I don't think you stop growing until the day you die. He'll be fine; we'll be fine. It didn't work out and there's no shame in that. It's a hard job.

Glen Mason or Jim Leavitt.

I wonder if Mack Brown and Greg Davis would ever go the "co-offensive coordinator" route. Many schools do these days.

Agreed, Dylan. And, again...for those of us who went to North Texas...can we really disagree with Kragthorpe, Simon, or Dickey about the problems they faced in coaching here? Did we want them to lie to save our feelings? Look, me and my then girlfriend went up to OU for the 1991 game there. What an eye-opener that was! A big stadium, full of people. The band, the schooner. I walked away from that game with a much clearer picture of the difference between a I-A and a I-AA program. Vast.

All this talk about him going back to high school is ridiculous. You've got guys out there who climbed the ladder from high school to college - Art Briles, Gus Malzahn, Todd Graham, Chad Morris.... Dodge, if he choses to do so, will be on a college coaching staff next season; and, probably a BCS staff. I guarantee you he'll have calls today. It's not that Dodge wasn't smart or didn't have something. His problem was he brought along too many other people who didn't have as much in their tank as him. Then, he was too loyal to the for too long. Is that a bad thing? In life generally - no. But, college football is different. If you have a group of guys who collectively don't know what they are doing, they are going to be exploited. Dodge's coaching staffs were exploited by the like of Bob Stoops, Les Miles, Howard Schnellenberger, Larry Blakeney, David Bailiff, Rick Stockstill, Ricky Bustle...and on and on and on. Coaches with decades of college experience standing across the sideline from him, Ford, and the cuss-patrolling wide receivers coach. You think back to game one in Oklahoma. Todd Ford calling the shots against Bob Stoops and Brent Venables? Come on. Ron Mendoza trying to scheme against Kevin Wilson and Kevin Sumlin...and with a secondary coach who had been out of the profession for 13 years? It was a joke. Dodge's main sins were: (1) hanging onto outclassed assistants for too long, (2) misplaying the quarterback position. The learning curve was steep for Dodge. But, he's not done by a long shot. He can be a position coach, a pass game coordinator, an offensive coordinator, a quarterbacks coach. Heck, John L. Smith is the outside linebacker/special teams coach at Arkansas, for crying out loud! He's got something. He made some mistakes here. But, he isn't done by a long shot. As alumni and a fan base, it wasn't fun to be part of the "experiment." But, we've got a new stadium on the way, and the hope of RV getting us a coach with experience in building mid-majors like ours. In the end, Dodge will be fine, we'll be fine. In fact, we're both better off. Dodge can relax and choose among offers. We can began to have hope for the future in our new stadium.

If not UMass head coach Kevin Morris, at least hire his DL/Special Teams coach to coach our special teams. The Minutemen blocked punts at Kansas State during a 21-17 loss in 2009 and at Michigan during a 42-37 loss this year. UMass came close to upending two BCS schools with the help of blocked punts. http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tirrell_steve00.html - DL/Special Teams http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/morris_kevin00.html - Head Coach