The Fake Lonnie Finch

Hmmm. Sounds suspiciously like the "One-back offense" "I-back" or "pro set." Or, that's what every other normal coach would do...just call it what it is. By the way, you'll note that in our two wins the run game and defense played a bigger roles than the passing game. Amazing what happens when you settle down and just play football. The "bend but don't break defense" seemed to deliver better than the "we need this many three and outs" crap. Like I said before, when the Dallas Cowboys were stacking up Super Bowl title in the early to mid 90s, they weren't getting a bunch of "three and outs." They were the ultimate "bend but don't break" defenses, making plays when the pressure was on. I hope we see more of the "keep them out of the end zone" mindset than the ridiculous "get this many three and outs." Who cares? Just keep them out of the end zone and you win more than you lose. Give me results over stats every day of the week. Because, in the end, the only stat that counts is the final score. I know this is cheesy, but when it comes to winning football games, I take the philosophy of that Ford dealer and their crappy commercials - "We don't care how you get here, folks, just get here!" Give me that in UNT football - "We don't care how you win, just win!"

That there is a difference between the expectation/talent levels at Arkansas and Baylor. Who could possibly miss that? Here are the possible upside to Briles to Baylor: (1) They installed a spread offense a couple of seasons ago. Hiring Briles, who runs a similar offense, would mean they wouldn't be starting from scratch, having to teach players a whole new philosophy. (2) Waco is relatively close to Stephenville where Briles spent many years. Waco probably has more of a "home" feel/pace for Briles than Houston. (3) Briles has eight years of Division I-A experience: 2000-2002 as running backs coach at Texas Tech; 2003-Present as Houston head coach. (4) Briles took a Houston program who had only one winning season is seven prior years, and has turned in four bowl appearances in five season, including the Conference USA Championship in 2006. So, he's proven he can turn a program around. (5) Private schools are not completely unfamiliar territory to him as he earned his Master's degree at Abilene Christian while coaching at Hamlin.

"I also spent quality time with my 2 sons" - Cooley Hmmm. Maybe by saying that he meant...he didn't spend time with his kids? Usually, when I say I spent quality time with my son, I mean I spent quality time with my son. Maybe Cooley's different. I doubt it, though.

Whether he can coach or not isn't the real story...it's whether he can recruit or not. A&M's problem is that R.C. Slocum got so far behind Bob Stoops and Mack Brown recruiting-wise, that A&M was never going to compete. It's gotten so bad that Texas Tech now beats them regularly. I don't see Mike Sherman in an 18-year old kid's living room convincing some kid who has already been visited by an OU or UT coach that A&M is the place to be if he wants to compete for championships. Sorry, I just don't see it. It's way early, I know, but I'll go ahead and call "failure" on this hire. There are too many young offensive and defensive coordinators and coaches of mid-majors who could have been considered and who would have been better hires for the Aggies. Pathetic.

Careful Cooley, I was upbraided for staying home with my son and pregnant wife a couple of weeks ago. Even though I took the radio outside while my son and I played, I was called a bad fan. Because I had family in town for the holidays and they didn't want to go see I-AA football in Denton, there's no telling how far down on the "real fan" meter I've dropped.

Also, quit the myth about Mizzou and Todd Dodge. Gary Pinkel was turning out NFL QBs in pro-style offenses while Dodge was still setting interception records at Texas. Pinkel is like any other coach, he takes bits from here and there are uses them in his own system. To suggest that Dodge schooled Pinkel in anything is laughble, given Pinkel's extensive track record as an offensive coordinator and head coach at the I-A level. Please, just back away from the Dodge kool-aid for five seconds. Dodge is a good coach, but really....

Plumm... There is no "anti-Dodge" faction. However, there is an very large "anti-loss" faction. A loss is a loss is a loss no matter who is standing on the sideline.

I wish that was our logo. That or some version of the Eagle with the NT inside in him (or her, for you PC libs) like we had when I first got to UNT (1990...Erric Pegram...good times). Let me also say this about the old flying worm logo...for many years I hated it. For whatever reason, now I think if we had it we'd be invited to join the MAC. Anyone get a close look at the helmets of the teams in that conference? Bowling Green's logo looks like is was stolen from the opening of the Partridge Family TV show. They could film an episode of That 70's Show at a MAC game. I think the Flying Worm would go over well in the MAC. By the way...those of you who are entrpreneurial-minded and like running food and beverage joints should consider opening a place called The Flying Worm in the strip shopping center across from Sac-N-Sav. Good location. People see would the words "The Flying Worm" as they exited to get to campus, or if they were just flying by on 35. Trust me this is a good idea. Someone steal it and use it. I don't have the time or cash to do it right now (21 month old boy at home and a girl coming Dec. 14th).

We finally played a game that was almost 100% positive. What's to complain about when everyone's on the same page? We played well enough to win in all four quarters. I mean, ASU was scrambling at the end of the game. I thought their coach had screwed up royally when, with :13 seconds left they attempted one more play instead of attempting the field goal. But...it's been that kind of year for us. Dude gambled and his QB came through...although, I still think he stepped across the line. I guess that's my only complaint. If Dodge hadn't wasted the challenge on the TD catch earlier in the game, and Vizza hadn't called the timeout while we were driving on one of the last FG drives, we'd have been able to challenge the play. Advice to Dodge: whoever is upstairs telling you to challenge...sit down and have a long talk with them...curse if you need to, too.

This is one game where I won't post about the defensive horror. The truth is, the defense played well enough to win for the first 58+ minutes of the game. I know, I know...it's a 60 minute ball game. But, hear me out. First, it's a total cop out to say these players aren't good enough just because Dodge didn't recruit them. Aaron Weathers, anyone? Jeremiah Chapman. Eddrick Gilmore. Craig Robertson. These guys can play. Weathers left it out on the field last night. He damn near beat ASU all by himself. Without him, the halftime score is maybe 14-10, with us clinging to the four point lead and losing momentum a la the Navy game. That being said, for whatever reason, this group of upperclassmen didn't buy into what their new coaches were selling. Is it more their fault or the coaching staff's fault? Probably both. The point is, they didn't wholly buy into it and it showed the whole season. Second, although I currently think the entire defensive staff needs to be replaced, I say wait a year. If the next group of guys does buy into what these coaches are selling, things could get pretty good. The defense shows bits and pieces here and there of doing good things. That being said, if it doesn't happen next year for the defense, everyone's got to go. The coordinator, the line coach, the secondary coach, etc. All of them. And, at that point, there should be a requirement to hire only coaches with several years of collegiate experience. This learning curve can't go longer than two seasons.

I thought we were conservative the whole game. We didn't take many shots downfield, it seemed. I know ASU has the most experienced secondary in the Belt, but I think maybe Ford and Dodge may have bought the hype a little too much. On the other hand...ASU has the two top tacklers in Sun Belt history with their two safeties. The passes we completed were well defensed by those guys. The short week could have also effected the overall game plan. By the way, the offensive linemen who were recruited for a run-based/play-action offense do seem to run block very well at times.

Outside of the ACU and West Texas A&M games, the Texans held their own on defense. ACU and WTAM finished first and second in the LSC, Tarleton third. The Texans gave up 70 to ACU and 39 to WTAM, but only 16.2 per game in their other nine. And, not surprisingly, they finished 9-2 with their only losses coming to ACU and WTAM. Pretty good, then, I'd say. Here's the 411 on their DC: http://www.tarletonsports.com/ViewArticle....p;Q_SEASON=2007

Hmmm. I didn't tie the FWST to the gun control issue, but rather tied academic theorists to the issue. However, read it as you wish, I suppose.

My brother graduated from Abilene Christian and he's going out to their first round playoff game this weekend. Watchout for the Wildcats...they can move the ball quickly! By the way, Tarleton had a pretty nice season as well, I think.

I had a law school professor do the same thing. We had read a case for Torts about a guy who got hit in the lip with some shotgun pellets during a hunting trip. So, we get to class, and the professor asks us, "Who wants to tell about this case where the guy was hit in the head at close range with a rifle while out hunting." I raised my hand and said, "Ms. Law Professor (named withheld to protect the ignorant law professor), this case isn't about a guy being shot with a rifle. It's about a guy who was hit with some shot from a shotgun." She then asked, "What's the difference?" I answered, "If the guy had been hit in head at close range with a rifle, this case would be for the Decedents' Estates and Trusts class, not Torts." Because I was at a law school in Oklahoma, the comments drew laughter. However, the professor still didn't get it. I finally told her the different between a rifle and a shotgun. Mind you, this was a grown woman with two advanced degrees. Now, I don't personally own any firearms, but when academics start wanting to tinker with the 2nd Amendment...I've got a problem with it. I've never been convinced - and this particular professor cemented my feeling - that people who know nothing about firearms should tell people whether or not they can own firearms.

It's just another rookie mistake by Dodge. Driving home from the OU game, two Sooner assistants were sitting in on a radio talk show and taking phone calls. I don't know if they do that every week, or just for home games, or what. But, the point is, they are available to the public after the game. Seems to me that you'd like the public and press to get to know your guys as much as possible. Maybe not. KSU's Bill Snyder didn't let his assistants speak. Not surprisingly, most left when they had a chance. The biggest and most painful losses came when OU hired Bob Stoops and he raided Snyder for Brent Venables, his brother Mike, and Mark Mangino. Venables had played for Kansas State less than seven season prior. But, he jumped ship for the media-friendly Stoops. Anyway, from this interview, Mendoza doesn't seem like a monster. It seems like he has a pretty good perspective on it. Perhaps locals wouldn't be so hard on him if Dodge would just let him get out and talk. What could hurt? The guy can't be more of a nightmare than Mike Leach.

Or, like I said a couple of weeks ago, Dodge and his staff of high school coaches don't have control of their lockerroom. Rather than stepping up and buying into the program, upperclassmen have divided it somewhat. In short, the defensive coaches have failed to get the guys on their side of the ball to buy into what they are doing (manning up on OU's receivers, trying to react to the option rather than playing assignment football). Anyway, if such really is the case, as it appears to be, maybe it's good that so many defensive players are graduating. It's a shame Dodge wouldn't hire a coaching staff that suited their strengths, but...we got what we got when we had our AD and BOR let our high school coach hire a staff full of high school coaches to guide college athletes. Surely, next year will be vastly different.

That would be about 90% of all BCS fanbases! Basically, any school with more than two losses. Anyway, here are some long shots based on that sliver of information: Mike Stoops from Arizona - he didn't come close to panning out. Ty Willingham - has coached at schools with higher academic standards, hasn't really turned things around at Washington Ed Orgeron - has done basically nothing at Ole Miss Greg Robinson - has taken Syracuse from mediocre to just plain bad in three seasons That about all I can think of who would have "disenchanted" fanbases, based on the respectively schools' histories. Each of those programs has had good success, just not under the current coaches.

Jerseyville's a cool place. It has a room for pro athletes and such to sit in. I went to lunch there yesterday and Donnie Nelson and Dirk Nowitski's coach from Germany were in there watching TV. Note: The backyard burger is the thing to order...but only if you like a hot burger with bacon and slathered with steak sauce. Ask for an extra napkin.

You don't have to wait. Simply point out that our defense sucks and Plumm will shadow your each and every post saying you are a DD freak and Utah State fan. Seems like it would just be easier to recognize and admit that we have a defensive coordinator who doesn't know what he's doing. From trying to man up all night on OU's receivers to having two weeks to prepare for the option and still laying a 572-yard, 74 point-egg, it is plain to everyone except the most ardent Todd Dodge cultists that the guy doesn't understand how to game plan outside of Friday Night Lights.

Look, dude, you're obviously not a cultist. If you disagree with our poor defense, the cultists brand you in some fashion. Because their worldview is so small, the only two coaches they can comprehend are Darrell Dickey and Todd Dodge. If you don't agree with 100% of everything Todd Dodge does, you are in their eyes a Darrell Dickey freak. Their world really is that small. In your case, they've revealed a new and ingenious level of stupidity. By recognizing a problem with the defense and wanting Dodge to do something more about it, you are accused of having a benched son. Amazing. Jim Jones and David Koresh would have loved to have the followers Todd Dodge has here.

Todd Reesing didn't start as a freshman. He also isn't playing in a novelty offense with no tight ends. Therefore, he's not getting hit every play. He's also got two running back behind him who each have rushed for over 700 yards this season with at least three games remaining. One will go over 1,000 yards, probably this weekend. The other may do so during their bowl game. Reesing has the advantage of being led by college coaches who understand the game, not statistics freaks from high school.

Chief, We're not looking forward to seeing Tyrell Johnson and Khayyam Burns. Or, Montis Harrison, for that matter. I feel as though we're about to enter Interception City Thursday with those guys. Other than those three, how do you expect your defense to perform against the spread. TFLF

Three things: (1) Coaches only need time to adjust to a new level if they're on a new level! If Dodge and RV had taken the time to interview candidates with experience at this level, and hired someone with experience, there wouldn't be any "adjustment" needed. It makes me think those two were naive about the difference between high school and college ball. (2) Of the two guys on the defensive side of the ball with some experience, one had been out of coaching for over a decade (LaCroix), and the other was a QB coach/offensive coordinator for an wishbone-based offense (Peterson from Air Force). So, even the two guys he brought in with some experience, neither had recent experience with coaching defenses. Again...a naive move? (3) It's good that Dodge isn't letting the defensive coaches talk to the media. We already know from the DC's actions after the Louisiana-Monroe game that he can't handle criticism and would be unlikely to be able to face any line of questioning other than 'What did you have for breakfast?' or 'How does it feel to have a bigger paycheck?' Dodge should keep the defensive coaches behind his skirt where they belong until they produce consistently good results.

Ah, yes. The classic "If you don't like 100% of everything Todd Dodge, you're a DD bootlicker." Because, we all know there are only two men on the planet who can coach the UNT football team - Darrell Dickey or Todd Dodge. You must either like one or the other 100%. It's as stupid now as any other time you drag it out. Pointing out crappy coaching and results by this defensive coaching staff has nothing to do with Darrell Dickey...except in your mind.