The Fake Lonnie Finch

It's not Troy's former head coach, but offensive coordinator who is available. I like this thread, but people need to jump on and name names. Off the top on my head I like Chris Ball, Steve Logan, Ruffin McNeill, Jeff Bower, Clint Bowen, Sonny Dykes and Tim Billings. Most are defensive guys. Steve Logan built the East Carolina program, but they tossed him aside the same way USM did Bower. Logan is a Tulsa grad with family still there (if I'm correct from my law school days, his sister owns a health food store there), so he's familiar with the region and would have family nearby. He's currently the offensive coordinator of Boston College: http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/m...an_steve00.html Jeff Bower...well, he's Jeff Bower. He built Southern Miss, then was booted by the idiots who run their athletic department: http://coachbower.com/ Ruffin McNeill is the Texas Tech DC and has 23 years experience on the college sideline, also coaches the LBs: http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/...l_ruffin00.html Tim Billings is the secondary coach at Wake Forest. He was DC at Marshall when they went undefeated a few years back. Has also been special teams coach. Was a head coach for a FCS team. Native Texan, filled his SEMO roster with tons of out-of-state guys: http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/m-...ings_tim00.html Chris Ball is the defensive coordinator at Washington State. He's a secondary guy, and young at 44. A guy who could make his mark at a place like UNT: http://wsucougars.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl.../010408aaa.html Sonny Dykes the offensive coordinator and QB coach at Arizona. His dad is former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes. Tons of ties all around Texas. Also runs a spread offense, so not everything on offense would have to change dramatically: http://www.arizonaathletics.com/sports/m-f...es_sonny00.html Clint Bowen is the defensive coordinator at Kansas. It goes without syaing that he's been part of the resurrection of the Jayhawk program. He already recruits Texas. In fact, when you go through their coaching profiles, you see that Mangino has six assistants with Texas recruiting responsibilites. Like Ball, this would be a good place for Bowen to rebuild as he builds his career: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footb...en_clint00.html

I'll take the over.

This thread is too long to read. Did Rick say anything about firing Todd Dodge and hiring Jeff Bower? If not, then it was a wasted post.

Many people have suggested it. Tulsa did it to their uber-crappy Skelly Stadium. Granted, they didn't have a track in the way, but.... Anything is possible. If the students are too...short-sighted...to pass this thing. Well, let's get a good Plan B together so there will at least be something. Maybe Rick V. can take a tour of refurbished crappy stadiums. I suggest Kelly and the architechural nightmare that Iowa State plays in. Lord, what a piece of junk that thing is - and they renovated it a decade or so ago! The thing is, not every school can pony up (sorry for the pun) $60+ million for a new stadium. If we can't pass the referendum, take the lemons and make lemonade. Or, something to that effect.

Dude, I asked this question last year and darn near got banned. Then, I theorized that the quick pace of the spread offense made it essential to have the defense turn around and be ready to get back on the field post haste. Therefore, to be effective the whole game through, I thought the fellas would need to work on stamina. Again, if there'd been a tree and rope near, I'd have been lynched. This year, our offense isn't moving the ball much anyway, so whatever the strength coaches want to do is fine. Give 'em all a box of Twinkies and a bag of those disgusting marshmellow surrounded chocolate things that Satan himself in hell came up with. The way our seasn is going, it won't matter. The next coach can get a new strength and conditioning guy if he wants one.

(1) Keep gap discipline (2) Take the correct pursuit angles (3) Tackle (4) When all else fails...tackle.

Good for RV! Now, if he can just find a donor to buy out the rest of Todd Dodge's contract and hire his old USM buddy Jeff Bower...well, things would be peachy. (And somehow lure Steve Logan back to these here parts to coach the offense and Tim Billings to coach the defense...please, I've been a good boy this year, Santa)

I still think Fouts can be renovated and another track facility built cheaper than building a completely new stadium... ...but, as is well documented...the athletic department doesn't seek my opinion when it comes to crunch time. (But, they should...the worms)

Excellent points...I made the same ones when Dodge was hired. And, I'll go you one further: FBS defensive coordinators had "the spread" figured out long before Dodge hit town. On the West Coast, wide open passing games have been the norm since the 1960s. The treand made its way eastward over the next couple of decades. In the 1990s, guys like Hal Mumme and Steve Spurrier were winging it around in some form of spread. Jack Pardee did it at Houston (college and por). That's why hiring experienced, college coaches counts. They've seen the stuff over and over again for years. Again, the few like me who went ahead and stated the facts back in December 2006 were scorned by the beguiled here. There's nothing wrong with having great success in high school. But, there is a reason so few high school coaches have ever been hired to jump to the highest level of college football. Despite all of their football knowledge, they really don't understand how fast and strong the competition is - even, as we've found out twice, the lowliest like FIU have it. I waver between feeling sorry for Todd Dodge and being angry with him. Sorry because he really is in over his head, more than any of us could have ever guessed. But, angry in that he bought so much of his own hype that he didn't bring on a full compliment of experienced, collegiate coaches when he made the jump. I now believe that Dodge really, honestly thought he could just install his system and take the college ranks by storm. Short-sighted. Very short-sighted. He admitted as much when he said in December that the speed of opposing defensive backs surprised him. It shouldn't have. And, it wouldn't have surprised a more experienced coach and staff. A more experienced coach and staff would have already known what lay ahead in the FBS world speed-wise. If Dodge survives this season, it will be a true test to see whether or not he cleans house and goes out and gets bona fide college coaches. I hope, for our sake, that he does. If not, bring on Steve Logan, Jeff Bower, Tim Billings, or any other coach with ties to this region who understand what's going on and how to prepare for it week in and week out.

Gonzaga has a great basketball program.

My wife takes issue on whether or not the playbook is in my pants at game time...although, we're not televised?

Amen. Besides, who would want their son to go play football for a coach who makes excuses for poor preparation? Many of us have said, and we stick to it - for Dodge, it's time to put up or shut up. It's insulting to those of us who graduated from UNT to be told by the Dodge-bangers that if Dodge fails the program will go down the tubes. That's non-sense. There are hundreds of coaches out there with tons of FBS coaching experience who could be hired. This isn't a one shot or it's all gone to hell deal. In fact, if Dodge is canned, it's probably better from the long term growth of the program because then someone who knows something about coaching at the FBS level can be hired and actually field a competitive team for our school again. Finally, it bears repeating that this isn't The University of Todd and Riley Dodge. This is the University of North Texas. We were Mean Green before they got here...and we will be Mean Green long after they are gone.

How much patience Dodge would have? Give me a break. I'm so tired of the Dodge pedestal. He needs to come down off of it and coach! And, if not, do the right thing and step aside. This isn't his university. It's not a kingdom where he can "run out of patience" with his subjects. The very idea that Todd Dodge would lose pateince after the crap he's put out on the field would be the height of arrogance if true.

Hopefully, someone with a brain will in their head (Bataille or Villareal, this is your chance to show you have some football I.Q.) will fire Dodge now and replace him with DeLoach for the remainder of the season. But, seriously...I just can't resist...maybe DeLoach was just trying to "re-direct Dodge" and from here on out everything will be fine.

This isn't a question for people wiht longtime college football ties. For example, Darrell Dickey used his ties in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri to get player their. Again, when we hired a high school football coach with no extended time, even as an assistant, recruiting for the FBS college game, we gave up the opportunity to have ties beyond Texas. Besides, when Dodge was hired, everyone here spouted off that he'd "own DFW" in recruiting and that's all we'd need since there was so much talent here. Funny how that bunch of garbage is quickly being thrown out.

Man, ULM use to have cool uniforms. Is it mandated by the NCAA that when you are forced to change your Indian-themed mascot that you also have to trade in your decent uniforms for crappy ones. They may as well put Foghorn Leghorn on that awful white helmet. Just terrible.

I don't know whether or not to feel pity for or just be amused by people who continue to sunshine pump Todd Dodge. He doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't understand how football games are won and lost beyond the high school level. He isn't going to get the job done. We are wasting time and money keeping him here and trying to fool...well, no one really. Also, Rick Villareal needs to go if he isn't man enough to pull the plug before things get worse. I doubt Bataille has the wherewithall to understand they both need to go, and that is a bad thing for UNT athletics. We need an athletic director who understands what it takes to compete at this level of football. We need someone who can rally donors to (pardon the pun) pony up money for a real college football coach and coaching staff. We need someone who really does know, not only how to raise money, but to keep the money flowing in on a consistent basis. We have none of that. I know it's a painful reality for those of you who feel personally connect to Villareal, but you have to look at what happens on the field to the biggest product in the department. If Pepsi fell behind Dr. Pepper in soft drink sales, they wouldn't comfort themselves by pointing out that Diet Pepsi Max was outperforming Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper; so, don't give me any garbage about soccer and softball and other nonsense. Football is the flagship driver at FBS colleges. It's the only one that stands a chance of breaking even and occassionally making a buck. If it's not going well, it doesn't really matter what happens with the sports no one shows up to watch - but we pay for through the nose thanks to Title IX. This school's president needs to get a real athletic director. And, in turn, that real athletic director needs to get real donors to pony up real cash to get a real college football coach. Really.

I've had several memebers of my family play various sports in college. Some stuck it out, some quit. It's alot for a kid to juggle - especially, if that kid is really hitting it academically. The other thing is coming to terms with reality, i.e., is continuing simply a time-waste in the kid's mind? We sit here and demand this or that, but the players are the ones who know what is going on behind the scenes. I suspect Sammy Dibrell is much like any other kid, he wants to win and was led to believe he could do so at North Texas. Maybe his leaving does signal part of a locker room in disarray. Last year, it was easy to lay the blame of those who left on personal agendas and not agreeing with the new coaching staff. This year, though, it's Dodge's own guys leaving - even a couple from SLC. Something's happening here. But, what it is ain't exactly clear. Or, for those of us with a literary bent: Horatio: He waxes desperate with imagination. Marcellus: Let's follow. 'Tis not fit thus to obey him. Horatio: Have after. To what issue will this come? Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark...er, I mean, Denton. Horatio: Heaven will direct it. Marcellus: Nay, let's follow him. [Exeunt.]

So, The Startlegram arrives to protect their boy's backside. Laughable. I would blame Dodge alone for the mess, except that I have a long history of posting where the real blame lies - with the administration and the athletic department. Dodge is a mere symptom of the overall disease - poor and, often, indifferent leadership. Dear President Bataille: If you care anything about the UNT athletic department, make cahnges. Love, The Fake Lonnie Finch...and Bongo the Monkey Drummer.

29 Baine, Chase WR 5-11 202 Fr. 81 Barrett, Kenny WR 6-2 193 Fr. 1 Brigham, Desmond WR 6-1 176 Fr. 84 Brown, Greg WR 6-0 190 Fr. 80 Dickerson, Kevin WR 5-10 190 Jr. 87 Fitzgerald, Casey WR 5-11 191 Sr. 38 Jackson, Jamel WR 5-9 167 Jr. Injury 17 Johnson, Breece WR 6-0 172 So. 88 Johnson, Roderick WR 6-2 196 Sr. 9 Lewis, B.J. WR 6-1 195 So. 86 Lockhart, Bryan WR 6-2 195 Jr. 2 Lott, Alex WR 5-9 165 So. 8 Roberson, Sam WR 6-4 217 Fr. 89 Rucker, Forrest WR 6-6 220 Fr. Injury 27 Schutza, Casey WR 5-10 170 Fr. 82 Stickler, Brock WR 6-2 225 Sr. 3 Taylor, Willie WR 5-10 165 Fr. 14 Walker, Evan WR 5-10 192 Fr. Suspended I choose Casey Schutza. Just imagine the possibilities for Jub-Jub in the booth: "Schutza-nother catch for Casey!" "Schutza-nother first down for the Mean Green!" "If Dodge had known Casey was Schutza good player, he'd have put him on the field before Dibrell head off to greener pastures. "Have we ever seen Schutza turn around from an 0-4 start...wow, do you believe in the Mean Green's Casey Schutza!"

So, growing up in a household where there was OU stuff all over the place, going to games and meeting his dad's former teammates and coaches, should have meant nothing? The minute he enrolled at TCU he should have just chucked all of his OU stuff and ignored forever and ever amen two decades of suppport? Nevermind.

Why couldn't Pavlov and Skinner have been alive to witness sporting events in the U.S.?

You have my full permission to plagiarize...and Joe Biden's....

No, I don't see it. His dad played football at OU, not TCU. Therefore, he grew up a Sooner fan. Because his family lived in the metroplex, Arlington, he went to a university in Fort Worth. It's no big deal and not surprising. Here's the thing Texas people still don't realize - many people who live in Texas have family roots elsewhere. This normally comes out in recruiting discussions. You know, the mindnumbing, "Why would a Texas kid go to (insert non-Texas school here)? Well, because, they might have the majority of their family living in another state. One of my old law school classmates went to undergrad at TCU. His dad and grandfather went to LSU. Most of their family is in Louisiana and have season tickets for LSU football. He grew up going to Baton Rouge. His mom went to Missouri. Now, although he stayed in state and went to TCU, he's still an LSU fan when it comes to choosing between the two. He supports the Frogs, but his number one will always be the number one he grew up with, LSU. It's really not complicated. Not everyone hits college campus without some background in whom to support. Family, geography, and money all play a role in it. Besides, not everyone is as short-sighted as the Texas douche.

I think you miss the crux of the problem - competitiveness. Many here, including me, knew full well we'd be 0-4 without a miracle. However, what we didn't expect is the complete disappearance of the offense, no noticable change in results for the defense, and an even further regression of the special teams. What Todd Dodge has not done is make this team more competitive. Of all the things that should be going right, the offense is as horrible as the defense. We were told, ad nauseum, that Dodge was some sort of offensive genius when he was hired. Well, where's the genius? The time for trying to pump the Todd Dodge Sunshine up our backsides is over. It's time for the man and his coaching staff to do what they were hired and paid to do - coach this team to a competitive level. And, don't give us this, "We just played Murderer's Row" bull. Kansas State had to hold off ULL last week in Manhattan, while we weren't even in the game with the Wildcats. Tulsa is good, but their defense is terrible. We couldn't exploit it. LSU is LSU. They could have named their score against us, but we couldn't even move against their substitutes. Rice was thrashed by Texas the week before and also has a suspect defense. They shut us down in the second half. This isn't the SEC or Big 12. If Todd Dodge and his coaches cannot be competitive in Year Two in the Sun Belt, we are wasting what little money we pay them anyway. Currently, they are doing nothing but making amockery of our alma mater. And, believe me, I've got more loyalty to North Texas as the place I earned a degree than I do to Darrell Dickey or Todd Dodge or any football coach they might hire. Quit screwing around and coach tackling. Quit making excuses about the facilities and find someone to field punts. Stop the whining and excuses and put a competitive football team on the field. That's what the man is paid to do.