The Fake Lonnie Finch

I've thought about that as well. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Denton area is already called "The Golden Triangle." Why not have us each play the other every season for such golden triangle? Tie-breaker would be fewest points allowed or some such: Year One UNT at SMU TCU at SMU TCU at UNT Year Two UNT at TCU SMU at TCU SMU at UNT Year Three TCU at UNT SMU at UNT TCU at SMU The only problem is see is that two give each school two home games every three years, someone would have to go on the road twice in a row every third year. That may not be a big road block. The answer might be to have the third year, odd game at JerryWorld in Arlington or at the old Cotton Bowl. TCU and SMU would never go for it, but I like the idea as well. I always have.

Of course, the other option is for one of us to win the lottery and give a goodly portion of the winnings to our cherished alma mater Many offices do those lottery ticket pools. Maybe we should all commit to pitching in one buck a week to a lottery pool. Someone we really trust could and our dollars and buy the tickets (probably someone like FFR...sorry to volunteer you, dude...but, you've got the respect of almost everyone in here). The thing is, I don't even play the lottery. But, I'd chip in a buck a week to a UNT Fan/Stadium Fund Lottery Pool. As the dude Chris Arnold used to say when he was on The Ticket, "Ya nevah know...."

As lame as the SMU-TCU Frying pan is, it's a thing. We should pursue something similar with a school that is either in-state or borders Texas. The Big Ten has so many of these, it's not even funny. You've got the Little Brown Jug (Minnesota/Michigan), The Paul Bunyan's Ax (Minnesota/Wisconsin), Floyd of Rosedale (Minnesota/Iowa), Governor's Victory Bell (Minnesota/Penn State), Paul Bunyon Trophy (Michigan/Michigan State), Land Grant Trophy (Penn State/Michigan State), Heartland Trophy (Iowa/Wisconsin), Cy-Hawk Trophy (Iowa/Iowa State). Texas and OU have the Golden Hat. We've got...nunca. Nothing. Suggestions: We're 8-9 all-time against Arkansas State, we share a border with them. Get some kind of trophy there. We're 7-5 all-time against Houston, lets get a long-term thing going with them with a trophy to top it off - a true North Texas versus South Texas thing could be had here. We're 12-12 all-time against Louisiana-Monroe. They border us, get something going. Texas State is the team we've played the most all-time with 39 contest between us and them. At the I-A level, we've played New Mexico State more than anyone else, 33 times (SMU also has 33 games with us...but they don't like to play us). The point is, let's do something. Get a rivalry thing going for real. A contracted number of home and homes for an out of conference foe, and a little extra bragging right thing to carry home at the end of the game. Marketing. Selling the program. Thinking outside of the box... ...thinking at all.... There's plenty of Texas history and lore, as well as cross border shenanigans with our neighbors such that we ought to be able to get something going in this direction. It'd be a good opportunity for the athletic department to invite in the History and Art department to help build school spirit...and all that goes with it.

A good "Build The Program" schedule would look like this to me: August 30 - HOME GAME: Texas State/San Houston/Stephen F. Austin Why - Local interest, putting butts in the seat - many SWT, SHS, and SFA alumni in the DFW area) September 6 - HOME GAME: Tulsa/New Mexico/New Mexico State/UTEP/Any of the Louisiana or Missouri I-AAs Why - Building interest off a season opening win, opportunity to market win #1 to an audience and invite them to another winnable game. These are schools from states that border Texas and who may give us a home and home...and fans travelling to Denton. If no I-As are available, get another I-AA...why not? Kansas State and Kansas do it. And, they're winning and getting press and excellent recruits. The Jayhawks had a first round draft pick in the NFL this year. September 13 - BYE or ROAD GAME: Memphis/Alabama-Birmingham/Southern Mississippi/Tulane/Louisiana Tech/SMU/TCU/Rice/Houston Why - If a bye week, a chance for the players and coaches to see what is going right and what is going wrong so that corrections can be made for the meat of the season. If a road game, a winnable opponent at a locale where our fans could reasonably travel. September 20 - Ditto September 13 September 27 - HOME GAME: Any WAC/MAC/CUSA/MWC/Army/Navy Why - Again, it's likely we'd be at least 2-1, possibly 3-0, and certainly no worse than 1-2. We'd still be fresh enough in people's minds that they would come see another good, winnable game. The bottom line is this - college football is now, more than ever, a business. And, the trend doesn't look to be changing, but instead speeding headlong further in that direction. Our athletic department has got to view the football operations as it's main product to sell to the public since football gets more TV money and play than any other sport. Once they have that veiwpoint, they need a viable, successful product to sell. In college football, that's a winning program. It's not gimmicky offenses and other tricked up nonsense. Win and give people nearby several chances to see you win early and often. In marketing, you often have to give something away up front to get customers in. For our athletic department, it would be giving up the "pound us for cash" money and trading it for sure wins in week one, and possibly two, versus I-AAs from Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri. Whether it is our fans filling the stand or theirs, it shouldn't matter. People watching us win is what's important. Currently, our athletic department is like General Motors. They want us to buy on faith that their product is as good as they others, or will someday be as good as the others. They want us to ignore the fact that, as a business, they are faltering now. But, that's just not a good model. Addendum: Also, in those very winnable games versus I-AA teams, you'd get more second teamers, and possibly third teamers into the game. Experience is experience. Give your young players the experience of participating in winning early in their careers so they can build on it. Seriously. Currently, that's what the big boys do to us - whip us for a couple of quarters, then send in the back-ups...who then continue to score on us...all to the delight of the home crowds - and that's the subject here, ultimately, right? Pleasing the home crowds so they want to come back? Yep.

I've posted this before, but...we've has this discussion several times before. My answer is the same as always: (1) Winning builds interest, no matter who you are beating (SEE Kansas State, Kansas, etc.). (2) Therefore, schedule winnable home games instead of going out on the road to be pounded for cash. T We do what whores do - we get pounded for cash. We are the whores of college football. Who will use us next? Kansas State...a team who built their program up by scheduling winnable home games. The week after that, they will host Montana State. Then, they go on the road to play Louisville. Then, they return home for a very winnable game versus Louisiana-Lafayette. Kansas State, August 30 to September 27: -Five weeks, three home games, one bye week, on game in Wednesday (Lousiville) that will be on ESPN2. This is their out of conference schedule. By dumb luck, they then open Big 12 play the following weekend, October 4th, at home against Texas Tech. So, that's six weeks, four home games - two back-to-back weekends of football. Nice. Very nice. Given Louisville's level of disappointment last season, K-State could enter Big 12 play 4-0...2/3rd of the way to a bowl bid. Not us. We'll be whoring away, getting pounded on the road, and trying to get enough wins in the Sun Belt to salvage the season. <sigh> All I want for Christmas is a new athletic department mindset.

The difference between us and Boise State is that they've only had two or three losing seasons since 1968, so they were winners no matter which division they were in. Also, they played in a conference that, until three years ago, allowed them to sign as many nonqualifiers as they wanted (SEE ALSO Fresno State). We're nothing like Boise State. Not now. Not when we were both I-AA. To say so is an insult to them. They were building it 40 years ago - when they were still in the "Small College Division/I-AA" and we were I-A. Leadership is surely the key thing. They've had that - plus a winning football product - for four decades. We've had less than a half a dozen winning season over two+ decades and virtually no leadership. The bottom line, though, is the different between us and Boise State is vast. In a private e-mail a few months back, another poster and I discussed the program's state. Then, I told him I believed that if this thing turned around, it would be the greatest college football turn around story ever...bigger than Kansas State. The thing is, we have no winning tradition. We jumped down to I-AA. We have no big money donors. And our leadership in and out of the athletic department has been almost nil. In other words, if this thing does ever become like Kansas State, it would be like catching lightning in a bottle three times! Kansas State had some winning in the 60s. They were already in a power conference, The Big 8, even before the super conference mergers of the 1990s; and before, the BCS era. And, they had a big donor throw millions of dollars at them (a lottery winner). There's really no other program to compare what we've been through and endured...and continue to go through and endure.

Who were the Mean Green Dollies of which coach Fry speaks?

The bottom line is, the coaches coach football. All athletic departments have people to oversee the academics, advising, etc. To blame a coach for the academic progress is stupid. It's like saying that because Todd Dodge recruited Kevin Ealey he's responsible for his criminal activity. With as much help as schools provide athletes these days, it's absurd for any of them not to graduate. But, you can't force a kid to study if he doesn't want to study, no matter how many programs you have in place.

You are correct, sir!

From the Tulsa website: "Graham and his Kinne's father, Gary Joe, played prep football together at North Mesquite High School. "Gary Joe and I have been friends for a long time, and I actually gave him his first coaching job at Allen High School in 1995," added Graham.

What saddens me is that we used to be in a conference with Louisville, Tulsa, Memphis, Cincinnati...Houston! Now, all of those schools have better deals. You know what? We all have various complaints about what is or isn't being done and who is or isn't responsible. But, I think we can all agree that the decision to go down the I-AA level set us back so far that we are still playing catch up. As a note, here's a neat All-MVC thing they did back in 2006. Some pretty good football players - and coaches were in the MVC: THE 1950s Name School Pos. Yrs.~ Notable Honors Johnny Bright Drake RB 1951 College Football Hall of Fame; 1951 - 5th in Heisman voting; MVC Hall of Fame Paul Carr Houston LB 1953 2-time all-MVC; 4-year NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers Jack Conway Wichita State QB 1955 two-time all-MVC; helped Wichita State to back-to-back titles Abner Haynes North Texas State RB 1959 all-American in 1959; No. 28 retired by NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs Jack Lee Cincinnati QB 1959 2-time all-MVC; 11-year AFL career with Kansas City, Houston and Denver Marvin Matuszak Tulsa G 1952 2-time all-MVC; two-time All-American; 11-year career in the AFL and NFL Ted Marchibroda Detroit QB 1952 All-MVC in 1952; 4-year NFL player; 12-year NFL head coach - Baltimore, Indianapolis Dale Meinert Oklahoma A&M DT 1954 2-time all-MVC; St. Louis Cardinals (1960-67) Ronnie Morris Tulsa QB 1952 3-time all-MVC; Tulsa Hall of Fame Joe Morrison Cincinnati RB 1957 14-year playing career with the New York Giants Lee Riley Detroit DB 1954 2-time all-MVC; 7-year NFL playing career Bob St. Clair Tulsa E 1952 one of three Tulsa players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame; five-time Pro Bowl selection Howard Waugh Tulsa RB 1952 2-time all-MVC; No. 3 career rusher (2,597 yards); Tulsa Hall of Fame Hogan Wharton Houston OT 1959 Two-time MVC Lineman of the Year; Houston Oilers (1960-63) *COACH: 1947-56 -- J.O Brothers (Tulsa) -- 4 MVC titles in his seven years as coach THE 1960s Name School Pos. Yrs.~ Notable Honors Billy Guy Anderson Tulsa QB 1965 all-MVC in 1965; No. 14 retired at Tulsa; single-season passing record (3,464 yards) Doug Buffone Louisville LB/C 1965 all-MVC in 1965; No. 56 retired at Louisville; 15-year career at LB with Chicago Joe Greene North Texas State DT 1968 College Football Hall of Fame; 1968 consensus All-American; 3-time all-MVC Cedric Hardman North Texas State DE 1969 6-time NFL Pro Bowl selection with the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders Glen Holloway North Texas State OG 1969 2-time all-MVC; 5-year NFL career with the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns Roland Lakes Wichita State C 1960 2-time all-MVC; 11-year NFL career with San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants Jim O’Brien Cincinnati PK/SE 1969 2-time all-MVC; 2-time honorable mention All-America; won Super Bowl V with a FG Brig Owens Cincinnati DB 1964 12-year NFL defensive back with the Washington Redskins Bill Parcells Wichita State LB 1963 all-MVC in 1963; long-time NFL coach - winner of two Super Bowls (XXI and XXV) Steve Ramsey North Texas State QB 1969 3-time all-MVC; No. 1 in career in pass yards (7,076) and TDs (69) Jerry Rhome Tulsa QB 1964 College Football Hall of Fame; 1964 - 2nd in Heisman voting; No. 3 in career TDs (42) Ronnie Shanklin North Texas State WR 1969 2-time all-MVC; No. 3 in career receptions (144) and yards (2,465) Willie Townes Tulsa DT 1965 all-MVC in 1965; member of Tulsa Hall of Fame; 4-year NFL playing career Howard Twilley Tulsa WR 1965 College Football Hall of Fame; 1965 - 2nd in Heisman; No. 1 catches (261) and yards (3,343) *COACHES: 1957-66 -- Odus Mitchell (North Texas) -- 3 MVC titles; 3-time runners-up 1957-66 -- Marcelino “Chelo” Huerta (Wichita State) -- College Football Hall of Fame; 1963 MVC Coach of the Year THE 1970s Name School Pos. Yrs.~ Notable Honors Steve August Tulsa OL 1976 all-MVC in 1976; All-American in 1976; 8-year NFL career with Seattle, Pittsburgh Andy Dorris New Mexico State DE 1972 all-MVC in 1972; 9-year NFL career with New Orleans, Houston, St. Louis, and Seattle Rick Dvorak Wichita State DL 1973 3-time all-MVC; 5-year NFL career with New York Giants and Miami Paul Skeeter Gowen Memphis RB 1971 2-time all-MVC; 1969 MVC Sophomore of the Year; 2-time HM All-American Tunch Ilkin Indiana State OL 1979 14-year NFL career; 13 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers Tom Jackson Louisville LB 1972 2-time MVC Player of the Year; three-time all-MVC; 14-year NFL career with Denver Steve Largent Tulsa WR 1975 14-year NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks, Pro Football Hall of Fame Drew Pearson Tulsa WR 1972 11-year NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys Joe Pisarcik New Mexico State QB 1973 8-year NFL player with the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles Bo Robinson West Texas State RB 1978 3-time all-MVC; No. 1 in career rushing yards (3,542) Lovie Smith Tulsa DB 1979 3-time all-MVC; 1978 All-American; Chicago Bears head coach; Tulsa Hall of Fame Mike Stark Memphis OL 1971 3-time all-MVC; first-team AP All-American in 1971 Howard Stevens Louisville RB 1972 2-time all-MVC; 5-year NFL career with the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Colts Rickey Watts Tulsa WR 1978 all-MVC in 1978; 5-year NFL playing career *COACHES: 1967-76 -- F.A. Dry (Tulsa) -- 4-straight MVC titles from 1973-76 1967-76 -- Billy Murphy (Memphis) -- 3-time MVC Coach of the Year THE 1980s Name School Pos. Yrs.~ Notable Honors Sid Abramowitz Tulsa OL 1982 two-time all-MVC; All-American in 1982; 4-year NFL playing career Clarence Collins Illinois State WR 1983 all-MVC in 1983; No. 2 in career receptions (147) and yards (2,498) Jumpy Geathers Wichita State DL 1983 13-year career in the NFL with New Orleans, Washington, Atlanta, and Denver Vencie Glenn Indiana State DB 1985 MVC Defensive Player of the Year 1985; 10-year NFL career with 5 different teams Michael Gunter Tulsa RB 1983 2-time all-MVC; No. 2 in career rushing yards (3,536) Kevin Lilly Tulsa DL 1984 3-time all-MVC; 2-year NFL playing career Prince McJunkins Wichita State QB 1982 2-time all-MVC; No. 2 career total offense (6,591 yards) Jeff Miller Indiana State QB 1985 2-time MVC Player of the Year; 3-time all-MVC; No. 1 career total offense (7,559 yards) Mike Prior Illinois State DB 1984 3-time All-American; No. 1 in career interceptions (23); 13-year NFL career Terry Taylor Southern Illinois DB 1983 2-time all-MVC; 12-year NFL career with Seattle, Detroit, Cleveland, and Atlanta Amero Ware Drake RB 1982 3-time all-MVC; No. 3 career rusher (3,217 yards) Fredd Young New Mexico State DL 1982 7-year NFL player; 4-time NFL Pro Bowl Selection as LB for Seattle Seahawks *COACH: 1977-85 -- John Cooper (Tulsa) -- 5-straight MVC titles from 1980-84

What's not to follow? Which other school on the list hired a high school coach? Look at the other colleges' coaches and their schedules. For example, when East Carolina needed a new coach, they tapped South Carolina OC Skip Holtz. They now have a five game series with the Gamecocks, with two home games. There are several examples of that. My point is simple - we don't have that. Our head coach has no long time coaching ties at the college level to pull in favors. Temple is a great example of what can happen with a crappy program if you have someone with a brain in their head running the operation. The discussion expanded to include the athletic directors. Somehow, several schools have gotten regional rivals to schedule home and homes. Ours hasn't. That's the point. Finally, it doesn't matter what Mack Brown or Bill Parcells say about a high school coach. It still doesn't give him years of contacts. Texas traveled halfway across the country to open a non-BCS schools' stadium...a school coached by one of Brown's old ACC buddies. That was detailed in the Orlando article posted two days ago. Dodge has no contact that he can call for that kind of favor. It's no big deal. The overarching point is to not be surprised by the original topic - MUTS getting a top level BCS opponent in its stadium. We've discussed the overall philosophies of this athletic department before - it's not serious. If it were serious, it would make series hires. This is a cash-for-thrash school to this athletic department. He hasn't so much as gotten a game here or there even with his old Mississippi contacts. Look at the other places Mississippi State and Mississippi are travelling. Heck, we haven't even gotten a game from Southern Miss - probably RV's only real connection! It's a farce. Don't question it. Just accept the reality until we get the opportunity to get someone in here who can make things happen. That's what I do. This athletic department produces nothing, so that's exactly what I expect of it. Todd Dodge's hire is just another blatant example of the huge blindspot in the current director's view of the big picture - scheduling.

From the official MeanGreenSports.com website, under the recruiting tab: Tutoring And Academic Coaching Services Courtesy: University of North Texas Release: 01/10/2008 -Tutor Any and all student-athletes are allowed private tutors for most courses. It is the student-athletes responsibility to request the tutor. We also provide many in-house tutoring in core subject areas such as English, Math, Economics, & History. Please check the "This week at the Mean Green Student-Athlete Student Services Center" ...page to discover what events are going on at study hall at any given time. Academic Coach Several students will need additional academic monitoring for the common struggle of transitioning from high school to college.Those students will be assigned an Academic Coach that will assist them with organization, study skills, time management, etc. Athletic Academic Advisors consult with our Learning Specialist for continual progress of this program. If you are interested in this service please fill out the form below. http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...;ATCLID=1366195 Academic and Compliance Staff Link, bragging about the new "Mean Green Student-Athlete Services Center" at the 'Mean Green Village." Opened in 2005. Quote: "The highest priority of the North Texas Athletics Department is to fulfill its mission to provide student-athletes with an excellent education, culminating in a degree in their chosen discipline." https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_...p;ATCLID=246010 All of the Academic Athletic Services Links: http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...mp;ATCLID=67484 Blather on all you want about Darrell Dickey. The athletic director hires in the academic support staff and oversees it, not the head football coach. Neither Darrell Dickey nor Todd Dodge (or Johnny Jones, etc.) is expected to walk every athlete to and from class, then check and make sure he or she is studying every night. As the link itself says, if the athlete needs help "It is the student athlete's responsibility to request the tutor."

Newsflash - Darrell Dickey doesn't hire in the academic support staff and advisors. That's the athletic director's job. So, whomever our esteemed athletic director has had in place to monitor the athlete's academic progress hasn't been doing their job.

I'm shocking by Buffalo, Wyoming, and East Carolina...until I look and see that they have coaches with long histories in the college business. Look, we need to get serious. We talk here about some future stadium that we can't now sit in. It's like me talking about sitting in a Maserati...it's nothing more than fiction. We say, "order season tickets! join the booster club!" Etc., etc., etc. Based on our history with this athletic department, to what end are we buying tickets and joining booster clubs? To see other schools in our same predicament? Gee, why can't I tear my neighbors with degrees from Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC conferences on their walls away from their allegiances to go up to Denton? Look at what many of these schools have done. They've taken advantage of coaches' ties. They've taken advantage of nearby cities and attractions. They've gotten alumni with big money to give them big money. They've gotten their communities behind them. They've gotten their staff and students behind them. What have we done? What are we doing? Other than some ongoing, distant promise of a new stadium? What is happening? Our coach is has ton of high school connections. Quick. Someone name me one of Todd Dodge's former UT teammates who are coaching somewhere in Division I football? Where? Where? Anyone? I can't think of one. Okay...let's get some games in Dallas. Sorry, Jerry is moving the stage to Arlington and filling it with Big 12/SEC match-ups and Big 12 rivalries. The City of Irving is razing Texas Stadium and replacing it with yet another DFW shopping center. We've squeezed the Mattress King a million or so before we angered him, and gotten another million from some other couple for...plans? So, the development wing of our athletic department has basically gotten us a new practice field and some blueprints over the 10 or so years since we've returned to I-A status. Great job, athletic department! Keep on keepin' on! Denton, a city with a population of 109k according to 2006 census estimates. Denton, the county seat of Denton County, which has over 530k population according to 2006 census estimates. And, to get thousands of these people to buy into the program, what do we do...we laugh and make fun of SMU for at least making an effort last year. What a genius of a plan. Do nothing, then laugh at others for trying. Great work. The staff and students? Shouldn't this be like shooting fish in a barrel. I mean, they're already on campus! Guys, 2008 should be a no excuses year. Unfortunately, I fear it won't be. With what we have and who we have leading, it'll will likely be more of the same. Oh...and, have a nice day!

FAU hosted, and beat, Minnesota last year. They also have a future home and home series with Michigan State. To my knowledge, we're not hosting any Big Ten teams in the future. Anyone? In addition to Maryland, future MUTS home schedules including Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. Hey...wow...another ACC team going to Murfreesboro. Weird, eh? While we're on the subject (that others won't let die), here are some other non-BCS schools who have landed at least home games against BCS schools: Air Force (yes, this is a gimme because people want to go to the Academy just for the experience, but still): Florida State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Minnesota Akron: home and home with Syracuse Ball State: home and home with South Florida Boise State: Oregon State and Oregon (gee, I wonder if we could score home dates with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma) BYU: Washington, Florida State, Arizona State Buffalo...Buffalo?: A 2 for 1 with Pittsburgh with Buffalo getting the two homes games! and a four game series with Connecticut, two home and two away! Buffalo! Central Michigan: Indiana Colorado State: They get Colorado year after year in Denver, a good game televised annually. Do we get a regional rival year after year in Dallas on television? Not even from non-BCS schools nearby (read SMU and TCU who can afford to ignore us for the most part). East Carolina: A 2 for 1 with North Carolina State where ECU gets the two at home (SEE Buffalo/Pittsburgh), a whopping seven-game series with Virginia Tech that will give them three home games against the Hokies, a five game serieswith South Carolina where they get the Gamecocks at home twice, and North Carolina. Florida Atlantic: already covered, Michigan State home and home Fresno State: Cincinnati and Rutgers Hawaii (another gimme, but we're not even getting the occassional game in Dallas with anyone anymore): Southern Cal, Wisconsin, Washington State, and a 2 for 1 with Colorado where the Buffaloes go to the island twice. Houston: Mississippi State (Note: the Cougars just hired OU's co-offensive coordinator, a guy who had also previously coached at Washington State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Texas A&M. So, there will probably be more BCS school going to Houston in the future) Kent State: Iowa State Louisiana Tech: home and home with Texas A&M Marshall: West Virginia every other year, plus a home and homes with Virginia Tech and Miami, FL...yes, the Hurricanes, not Miami, OH. Memphis: Tennessee and Mississippi Miami (OH): Two home games with Cincinnati Middle Tennessee: In additional to Maryland this year, future schedules include home dates with Mississippi State, a home and home with Georgia Tech, and a four game series with Vanderbilt with each school getting two home games. Nice job, Coach Stockstill. Navy: several home games with Notre Dame and Rutgers, and then a home game with Ohio State. Nevada (the school Giovanni Vizza turned down to ink with us): Missouri, and a home and home with Oregon. New Mexico: four games with Texas Tech, each getting two home games. North Texas: Kansas State (2010)...a game set up by Wildcat alum Darrell Dickey...ever heard of him? Northern Illinois: home and home with Wisconsin Ohio: Connecticut Rice: home and home with Texas, home and home with Kansas, home and home with Northwestern, home and home with Wake Forest, two for one with Baylor where the Owls get the two home games...oh, and Vanderbilt, Purdue, and UCLA. Nice. Very nice. This from a school with one of the crappiest stadiums in football and no tradition to draw upon. Oh, yes...it can be done..with the right people leading the way! San Diego State: a home and home with Wisconsin (no shock, really...head coach Chuck Long was a Big Ten legend at Iowa where he played and coached. Badger head coach Bret Beilema is also a Hawkeye. Connections within the elite level...and those who take advantage of them). SMU: the continuing home and home series with Texas Tech, a home and home with Missouri, and a couple of home games against Baylor, and Texas A&m thrown in for good measure. Hmmm. Phil Bennett didn't take the Ponies bowling...but he tapped his Big 8/12/SWC roots to the Mustangs advantage while he was at The Hilltop. Southern Miss: home and home with Virginia, home and home with Kansas, one home game with Nebraska in a 2 for 1. TCU: the home game of a two for one where they went to Oklahoma twice (skinning the Adrian Peterson-led Sooners in Norman in the lead off to the series which resumes this year), home and home with Baylor, home and home with Texas Tech, home and home with Arkansas, and a home and home with LSU. Very excellent scheduling indeed from a school many here pooh-pooh. And, why not pooh-pooh them? They pay their head coach over $1 million a year and all he does is get OU, LSU, and Arkansas on his home turf. What a waste of money, right? Temple: arguably the worst program in the country at one point will have future home and home sets ups with the following - Penn State, Maryland (twice), and Connecticut. Toledo: home and home with Arizona, home and home with Missouri, and a game in Cleveland with Ohio State. Tulane: a four game series with Georgia Tech with each getting two home games, and a visit from Mississippi State. Tulsa: a home game with Texas Tech, one game of a 2 for 1 with Oklahoma State, and a home and home with Iowa State. UAB: Mississippi and Mississippi State...again, a regional getting a neighboring state's two BCS teams on the turf of their very crappy, old stadium that Alabama and Auburn abandoned years ago. UCF: Boston College, North Carolina (ACC-O'Leary), and a home and home with Miami, FL (ACC-O'Leary). Yes, O'Leary may have fudged on past resumes, but...he's rapidly getting UCF prepared for an invite into a higher conference. Bygones will be bygones, I suppose. UNLV: Oregon State, Washington State, home and home with Wisconsin, home and home with Minnesota. Utah: Louisville, Washington State, home and home with Oregon, home and home with Iowa State, home and home with Colorado. Western Kentucky: yes, barely past their I-AA days the Hilltoppers score home and home series with both Indiana and Iow State. and finally... Wyoming: home and home with Texas, home and home with Missouri, home and home with Oregon. Wow. Just...wow. But, we're doing plenty with RV, his message board trolls, and our high school coach. Just give them more time. Many passing record will fall. And, that will count for something somewhere someday... ...yeah, sure.

O'Leary, Brown to meet again The coaches match up for the first time in a decade at the debut of Bright House Networks Stadium. Kyle Hightower Sentinel Staff Writer September 11, 2007 Their names are the biggest reason that Saturday's matchup between UCF and Texas to open Bright House Networks Stadium was even brokered by ESPN two years ago. But before George O'Leary was being hailed as a savior at UCF and Mack Brown was winning a national title at Texas, the pair was a long way from the national spotlight as two up-and-coming 40-something coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The year was 1995. Brown, then 44, was in his eighth season at North Carolina but was just starting to turn the corner after a rocky start to his Tar Heels' tenure. O'Leary, a 49-year-old longtime Georgia Tech assistant, had just taken the reins of a Yellow Jackets' program that was stumbling following the less-than-stellar tenure of Bill Lewis. While Saturday's game will be the first time they've met on a football field in over 10 years, Brown and O'Leary will actually be meeting for the fourth time as head coaches, having faced each other three previous occasions as ACC foes from 1995 to 1997. "Those three meetings as head coaches is what everybody remembers, but people forget that Mack was coaching at Carolina in 1990 when O'Leary was defensive coordinator at Tech," said Georgia Tech play-by-play voice Wes Durham. "Tech, of course, won the national title that year going 11-0-1. But that one tie against Carolina, it kind of started there I think." Durham, whose first season doing Tech radio was coincidentally also O'Leary's first season, vividly remembers three closely contested meetings between the coaches. O'Leary won the closest of the three games, a 27-25 decision in 1995, and Brown took the next two, 16-0 in Chapel Hill in '96 and 16-13 in '97 back in Atlanta. Though O'Leary was the older coach, Brown was actually in his third head coaching stint, having spent one year at Appalachian State and two at Tulane. "We had some real battles," Brown said Tuesday. "All of them were very close. I've always had a great respect for George. We always competed as staffs and played some really tight games." O'Leary said that respect has remained even after they left the ACC. "I've known Mack for a lot of years," O'Leary said. "But coaching is a funny deal. Rarely do you get calls from other coaches during the season. We run into each other at conventions and stuff, though. "He's obviously done a wonderful job at Texas from the very storied tradition they've been able to develop." That legacy of growing a program actually extends back to UNC, according to Wes Durham's father Woody Durham, who is entering his 37th season as the Tar Heels radio voice. Following back-to-back 1-10 seasons in 1988 and 1989, Brown was 6-4-1 and 7-4 before going to consecutive bowl games in '92 and '93. "Mack kind of got Carolina rolling from what he accomplished in 1992 and 1993," Woody Durham said. "That was emphasized even more after Mack left [in 1998], with Carolina winning only one of the 10 games since then. That's pretty significant when you look back on the matchup between the two schools." Durham said for a fan base that didn't really know Brown when he came over from Tulane and a fan base that didn't really know O'Leary as more than a coordinator, there is a similarity in how they won over their respective schools. "And I think they had a good respect for one another putting it all together then and now," he said. "I know certainly that Mack respected George when he worked with [former Tech Coach] Bobby [Ross], and then when he took over and continued to build their program." A big part of that friendship and lineage can be plotted through current Texas offensive line/assistant head coach Mac McWhorter. McWhorter went over to the Longhorns from O'Leary's staff at Tech following a brief stint as the Yellow Jackets' interim coach when O'Leary left in 2001 for Notre Dame. "They have both remained the same type of guys even following their stops at Tech and Carolina," Wes Durham said. "Mack has solidified what he's done through [offensive coordinator] Greg Davis. And I also think [uCF quarterback Coach] George Godsey is the legacy carry-over from Tech in a unique kind of way. George has a lot of guys on his staff now, but he's a guy I can see how the [former Tech offensive coordinator] Ralph Friedgen touch is still involved." And even though the Longhorns program is currently on a higher tier than the Knights right now, he said that he isn't surprised O'Leary would look to his old rival to help usher in a new era at UCF. "That game will go a long way in helping UCF build up its program," he said. "It's the kind of game he likes to play because it allows him to immediately measure where his program is at nationally. We got better here at Tech those first two years playing games like that. He's doing the same thing at UCF." Kyle Hightower can be reached at khightower@orlandosentinel.com.

The discussion started with a post about Middle Tennessee pulling in Maryland. None of those teams you mention have been contracted to play UNT with Dodge as the head coach. My counter to the original post was that the head coaches at Maryland and Middle Tennessee have a professional relationship dating back some two decades, then pointing out that Dodge had no such ties to get favorable scheduling. Same thing with Texas going to UCF. Mack Brown and George O'Leary knew each other from their ACC days, for over a decade. It's a business. People in business over a long period of time do favors for each other. It's just another thing you realize we didn't get when we went with a high school coach to lead the program. We got a "high school coaching legend." Middle Tennessee and UCF got guys with long time ties to BCS conferences. It's no big deal. But, you don't have to wonder why these other teams get better than Baylor-grade BCS teams in their stadiums and we don't. Our formula is the same now as it was before - go on the road to get pounded for cash. The only difference is, when the old regime was here, the poundings took a shorter time to complete because we weren't throwing the ball in the fourth quarter, down by 60 points with 20 second left on the play clock, then throwing interceptions or incompletions. It's money and connections. We have neither. You can't hire money, but you can hire connections. We didn't do that either. MUTS and UCF did, and they reaped the benefit in landing home games with Maryland and Texas. And, those people who pooh-pooh Maryland...please...are you even paying attention to any football outside of the Sun Belt? Before the Terps hired Ralph Friedgen, the program had only been to one bowl game in 15 seasons. He's taken them to five in seven years. They won 55 games in the 14 seasons prior to hiring him; they've won 56 in the seven years he's been there. Maryland is consistently on TV, consistently ranked, they've been in the Top 10 and skinned Top 10 teams plenty under Friedgen...they bring a game and the money. Middle Tennessee is getting something much more than Baylor in having the Terps on their field. They are getting what we don't get with our high school coach - real nation exposure beyond the pie-in-the-sky "Wow! They Hired A High School Coach!" monkey piece. They're getting a legitimate BCS Name School with a Name Coach on their turf. It's real. Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again (and again and again): I hope Dodge does well, but the odds are heavily stacked against him, and my allegiance is always to my alma mater over this coach or that. What I want is smart moves by the people in control. We don't get that. Everyone gets a piece of the pie except us. We're still like the small puppy just fighting for a spot on the hind teat. We're not making any moves to change it either. The 2008 season cannot be a losing effort. All we have in the eyes of the national collegiate football press is a stretch of a hire. It was an interesting story last year. This year, a ton of losses will just mean that - UNT with a ton of losses again. Nothing changed. Some people here talk about giving five years and its just nonsense. This isn't 1997 or 1998 when we were brand new to the I-A game. We're more than 10 years into it, have had some success and need more to be taken seriously. If we go out there and show our backsides again in 2008...that's not good enough, nor will it be progress. The kids with speed and power don't care what Todd Dodge did in Southlake three, four, and five years ago. They want to win, they want to go to bowl games, they want on television. Another season of blowouts, and the "he's a high school coaching legend" won't sell to anyone outside of his own kid and a few of the Southlake kids. 2008 is the year. Troy gets BCS pelts and press, and could jump out of the Sun Belt. MTSU simply needs a conference title. They've got the coach to pull in some favors. Our athletic department and coaching staff need to turn in up ten notches pronto or we fall even further behind. Seriously, you all.

He's done alot in several places with limited resources.

Stockstill has a ton of connections in the ACC from his 14 seasons at Clemson. Maryland's Ralph Freidgen's span in the ACC as an assistant and head coach pretty much mirror Stockstill's there. As offensive coordinator/QB coaches, they undoubtedly have been to tons of coaching functions together and forged some kid of friendship. Coaches do favors for other coaches. Texas played at UCF last year. No surprise. He and Knights' coach George O'Leary were conference mates in the ACC for a decade or so. That's one of the other downsides of not hiring a college coach when Darrell Dickey was let go. Dodge has no longtime coaching ties with other college coaches, programs, or conferences. There's really no one to do him - and, by extension, us - any favors as far a scheduling goes. Maybe we could get a home and home with Grapevine? Anyway, it's a business. And, Dodge hasn't really been in the business at the elite level. So, he doesn't have enough pull with anyone to get the type of scheduling that Stockstill and O'Leary can get. Bringing in tons of high school assistants didn't do much either as far as having elite collegiate coaching ties. But, the team will set many passing and receiving records while Dodge is here. So, we've got that going for us. And, maybe, in the end, that's better than having a good home schedule with BCS conference opponents coming to Fouts Field. Maybe.

Weatherbie. Let's see. In his career, he's taken Utah State to a bowl game, as well as Navy. And, his ULM team beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa last year. Yeah, he's an idiot for sure. How is this guy even employed?

OU and USC offered this kid. He is big time. And, he would wipe Vizza under the rug. Riley isn't big enough to play college football at QB, so I'm not even going to compare them. The kool-aid here is strong. good Lord.

Ah, another Riley QB discussion. Vizza is a quarterback. Riley is too little. If he can't get through a playoff game against Abilene without getting injured, how do you think he'll do against real competition? It's obvious that he came here because his dad might play him at QB. Mack would have had him playing third-team safety and on the special teams at UT. We'll soon see whether TD can use his brain to override his emotions. Vizza is a guy that can start for four years, and barring injury, should start for four years. However, coaches have been known to screw up and play favorites. We'll see what happens.

Really? "We" are? We employ Vito? H-town, Exhibit I-A of why you may as well not even try with some of this crowd. Inny and the Audies....

This isn't really news. Many schools' coaches come through Dallas every year to speak to booster clubs. They generally charge some sort of fee to get in a sell memorabilia. It's not a recruiting gambit, so it's legal. The only thing remotely surprising about the story is that people will pay to see Cincinnati's coach speak. But, the NCAA is a money game. Cincinnati has figured it out, and they'll squeeze every dime out of the boosters now just like the Notre Dames and Ohio States of the world. We should be thankful UNT isn't that way. Would is help us raise money? Maybe. But, as legal as it is, is just somehow seems low form.