The Fake Lonnie Finch

Texas still has elite athletes. What they did not have is elite coaching - especially on defense. I think Charlie Strong will have Texas in competition for the Big 12 title in his first season. The Big 12 is not a great conference, as demostrated a mediocre Texas squad this year to stay in the title race until the last game. The first game of the Charlie Strong era, with experience at QB and a devastating trio of tailbacks, Texas will come out hard charging to prove to their new coach they want to dominate.

It's a great hire. Strong is a defensive-minded coach. Texas has been soft on defense for four consecutive seasons; that now ends. He will turn Texas into a premier defensive program. We will not come within 25 points of Texas next year...I hate to say. I'm not sure what planet everyone else is living on. The planet I'm living on shows that we graduate 6/7th of our front seven, while Texas returns Johnathan Gray, Malcolm Brown, and Joe Bergeron.

He was an assistance for a year or two...when we were I-AA. From 1994 to 2007, the college football landscape had changed dramatically. He needed recent college experience as Graham, Freeze, Briles, and Malzahn all got before their responsibilies were increased.

I think you are looking at Strong or John Gruden. The problem with Texas is the same problem you'd have at Alabama or Oklahoma or Michigan or USC: winning isn't enough. You've got to endure totally unrealistic expectations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Every minute, you are scrutinized. You've also got to gladhandle a completely different breed of asshole when it comes to the Texas job: Joe Jamail and that car salesman guy whose name escapes me. Also, you can't walk down the hall and take a crap without Lornhorn Network cameras and reporters on you. All of this is why I think the best person for the job is probably Gruden. I mean, the guy worked for Al Davis. Anyone who endured Al Davis (and, let's be honest - Jerry Jones can be thrown into this category as well) can probably handle any asshole hangers-on around the Texas program. Gruden also loves himself and loves to be on television. So, the Longhorn Network cameras and reporters everywhere wouldn't be all that different than the world he is already living in as an NFL TV guy. He'd have the least amount of learning curve there, if any at all. He's enthusiastic, which the players would love. He can bullshit with the best of them, too; so, he'd be great with the alumni.

Todd just wasn't ready...and, RV allowed him to hire an entire coaching staff of coaches who also weren't ready. You look at Todd Graham, Hugh Freeze, Art Briles, and Gus Malzahn...all pretty successful high school football coaches before they jumped to the college scene. The difference is, they all made the jump from high school head coach to assistant coach. Okay, so, they learned what it took to run a program before being handed the keys. They learned what is and what isn't important. I mean, in Dodge's first season you had assistant coaches disciplining players during the games for cussing! It just wasn't realistic. During a football game, the important thing is the football game. People get frustrated and cuss sometimes. But, that's how unprepared Dodge and his staff were - they didn't know what should be a priority...even during games. I don't think that Todd Dodge is incapable of being a college head coach. But, he needs two or three years of being a position coach, co-offiensive coordinator, or offensive coordinator before he is becomes a head coach again.

NT's All-Time I-A/FBS Leaders in Tackles: 1. Craig Robertson: 381 2. Zach Orr: 366 3. Brad Kassell: 365 4. Burks Washington: 351 During the first quarter of the Tulsa game, on a 2nd and 2 from the North Texas 40, Zach Orr and Marcus Trice tackled receiver Keevan Lucas after a 31 yard gain. The tackle was the 352nd of Orr's career, moving him into the top three all-time tackle list for North Texas D-I/FBS defenders. -During the Heart of Dallas Bowl, Zach Orr racked up nine tackles. By my tally, that put him at 366 for his career. However, read in Vito's column that he only tied Kassell for second. Too tired to re-add now. Tomorrow, will go back through all box scores from game one to bowl game to recount. Either way, though, we've seen one of the best defenders to don the Mean Green! Thank you, Zach!

Brelan Chancellor finishes as the NT career leader in: Kickoff Returns: 125 Kickoff Return Yards: 3,031 Kickoffs Returned For TD: 3 During the Heart of Dallas Bowl, Brelan surpassed the 3,000 career kick return yards midway through the first quarter. In All-Purpose Yards: 1. Brelan Chancellor: 5,503 2. Lance Dunbar: 5,375 3. Patrick Cobbs: 5,222 -Brelan Chancellor joined Partick Cobbs and Lance Dunbar as the only Mean Green players to reach 5,000 career all-purpose yards. And, he did it in style with a 65 yard punt return for a touchdown versus Rice, a game that clinched bowl eligibility for North Texas for the first time since 2004. -On the very first play from scrimmage of the Tulsa game, Brelan Chancellor caught a 13 yard pass to suplant Patrick Cobbs as the second leading all-purpose yards gainer in the UNT history. -During the 1st Quarter of the Heart of Dallas Bowl, on a 2nd and 5 from the UNLV 25, Brelan ran for 10 yards to become UNT's all-time career leader in All-Purpose Yards. He finished the day with 181 All-Purpose Yards, to end his career as the only UNT player to ever gained more than 5,500 All-Purpose Yards in a career. Punt return yards in a season: Brelan Chancellor finished the 2013 season with 331 punt return yards, fourth best in school history. 1. 380: J.T. Smith, 1976 2. 371: Bernie Barbour, 1969 3. 351: Billy Woods, 1966 4. 331: Brelan Chancellor, 2013 It is notable that not only has no North Texas punt returner had a 300+ yard return season since J.T. Smith set the record, but also that only two North Texas returners since that season had as many as 200 punt return yards in a season: Tubby Coleman with 200 yards in 1996, and Ja'Mel Branch with 229 yards in 2002. Great job, Brelan! I think it's safe to say that someone in the NFL will give Brelan a look. If his predraft workouts go well, he could even have his name called during the draft. Good luck, Brelan! (Crossing fingers that Dallas will take him and team him up with Lance Dunbar!)

Oh, and...entire career with Mike Canales as offensive coordinator. Many Mean Green record setters have had Canales as offensive coordinator.

Brandin Byrd joined another elite class during the Heart of Dallas Bowl: Mean Green players with 2,500 or more career All-Purpose Yards (D-I/FBS-level). The List 1. 5,503: Brelan Chancellor 2. 5,375: Lance Dunbar 3. 5,222: Patrick Cobbs 4. 3,835: Johnny Quinn 5. 3,670: Jamario Thomas 6. 3,322: Abner Haynes 7. 3,299: Ja'Quay Wilburn 8. 3,022: Broderick McGrew 9. 2,977: John Love 10. 2,929: Bernard Jackson 11. 2,882: Leo Taylor 12. 2,697: Ja'Mel Branch 13. 2,571: Ron Shanklin 14. 2,519: Brandin Bryd 15. 2,502: Casey Fitzgerald

Among NT QBs at the Division I-A/FBS level, Thompson is now: Passing Attempts 1. Derek Thompson: 1,052 2. Steve Ramsey: 1,015 During the 1st Quarter of the Tulsa game, on 2nd and 5 from the Tulsa 20, Derek completed a 17 yard pass to Brelan Chancellor. The pass was the 1,000th of his career, making him and Steve Ramsey NT's only D-I/FBS-level quarterbacks to have throw 1,000 passes in a career. During the 2nd Quarter of the Tulsa game, on a 2nd and 8 from the UNT 84, Derek completed a 3 yard pass to Drew Miller. The pass was the 1,016th of his career and broke Steve Ramsey's record for pass attempts by a D-I/FBS quarterback. Passes Completed 1. Derek Thompson: 635 2. Giovanni Vizza: 532 During the Louisian Tech game, on a 3rd and 5 from the Louisiana Tech 38, Derek Thompson completed a 35 yard pass to Darnell Smith to become UNT's all-time leader in completed passes among I-A/FBS-level quarterbacks. During the Tulsa game, on a 2nd and 8 from the Tulsa 38, Derek completed a 13 yard pass to Drew Miller. The pass was the 600th completion of his career. No other D-I/FBS quarterback in North Texas history has completed 600 passes. Passing Efficiency 1. Scott Hall: 132.26 2. Derek Thompson: 125.8 3. Riley Dodge: 125.71 Touchdown Passes 1. Steve Ramsey: 69 2. Scott Hall: 50 3. Derek Thompson: 42 Passing Yards 1. Derek Thompson: 7,447 2. Steve Ramsey: 7,076 During the fourth quarter of the UTSA game, on 1st and 10 from the UTSA 41, Derek completed a 14 yard pass to Darnell Smith to become only the second I-A/FBS quarterback to throw for 7,000 yards. During the first quarter of the Tulsa game, on 2nd and 20 from the UNT 28, Derek completed a 7 yard pass to Brelan Chancellor to break Steve Ramsey's career passing yards record for NT D-I/FBS-level quarterbacks. Completion Percentage 1. Riley Dodge: 64.7% 2. Jordan Case: 61.6% 3. Giovanni Vizza: 60.7% 4. Derek Thompson: 60.4% Career 200 Yard Passing Games 1. Derek Thompson: 20 1. Steve Ramsey: 20 During the 3rd Quarter of the Heart of Dallas Bowl, on a 1st and 10 from the UNLV 44, Derek completed a nine yard pass to Drew Miller to give him 200 yard passing on the day. The 200 yard passing game tied him with Steve Ramsey for the most 200+ yard passing games by a North Texas I-A/FBS quarterback with 20. Career 300 Yard Passing Games 1. Derek Thompson: 7 2. Steve Ramsey: 6 During the 3rd Quarter, on a 3rd and 10 from the Southern Miss 39, Derek Thompson completed a 14 yard pass to Brelan Chancellor to become UNT's all-time leader in 300 yard passing games among Divison I-A/FBS quarterbacks. Career Total Offense (Passing + Rushing) 1. Derek Thompson: 7,751 2. Steve Ramsey: 6,568 During the 1st Quarter, on a 3rd and 8 from the Southern Miss 44, Derek Thompson completed a 15 yard pass to Brelan Chancellor to become UNT's all-time total offense leader among Division I-A/FBS quarterbacks. During the 4th Quarter, on a 2nd and 9 from the UTEP 42, Derek Thompson threw a touchdown pass to Carlos Harris to become UNT's first I-A/FBS quarterback to surpass 7,000 career yards in total offense. Until the touchdown strike to Harris to put him over 7,000 yards in total offense, all of Derek Thompson's record setting plays this season had come on 3rd down with 5 or more yards to go. On the very first play of the Heart of Dallas Bowl, Derek completed a 19 yard pass to Brelan Chancellor. The play gave him more than 7,500 yards of total offense for his career. No other I-A/FBS quarterback in North Texas history has 7,500 yards of total offense.

"Under pressure to turn out more students, more quickly and for less money, and to tie graduates’ skills to workforce needs, higher-education institutions and policy makers have been busy reducing the number of required credits, giving credit for life experience, and cutting some courses, while putting others online." I have two nephews graduting in May. One has already been accepted to Georgetown, Chicago, and Wisconsin. He wants to work for the government in some sort of foreign services/diplomat job (he's studied Chinese for seven years and has been to China twice already...so, this isn't a whim for this kid). The other is pretty much set on North Texas or Oklahoma State. He will major in biology or, perhaps, a pre-med program. He wants to be a doctor. I'm proud of them both, but have told them that no matter what their major is, they should take Accounting, Business Law, and Finance classes so that they will be able to function correctly as adults.

Wow! A&M Commerce lists 17 football coaches! http://www.lionathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football

It says he's undersized for a DE at 6-1, 235. True, but... ...if we ever go 3-3-5 or 3-4, he'd make a nice outside linebacker at that size.

Exactly. They are still going to be in Texas because they will still be playing SMU in their new, imitation conference. Therefore, although we lose them as conference mates, our coaches will still be competing with them in the living rooms of DFW and Houston recruits. And, Tulsa has recruited very well in Louisiana for the past decade. There's no secret about that. They had a down year due to the sheer number of new starters on defense (10) and losing their starting QB and leading WR early in the season. But, they could pop back up pretty easily in 2014. So, they are absolutely a measuring stick for us recruiting-wise until we can string together enough winning seasons to leave them behind. (Which, by the way, I think we will. Their athletic director hires since Bubba Cunningham left are poor. And, I'm still not sold on Blankenship or Men's Basketball Coach Danny Manning.)

Oklahoma got a marquee Sugar Bowl matchup with Alabama. The two teams that managed to beat them got crappier bowls. Baylor with UCF, a game with 0% national, or even regional appeal. And, Texas with Oregon, who will likely run roughshod over the 'Horns in Mack's final game. Think the NCAA/BCS doesn't like 'em some Alabama and Oklahoma?

Which, again, is more than any of the others on the roster have played past high school...plus, one of them was a bowl game!

He even looks nice: https://twitter.com/Bubugoalie53

...just so we can have a player named Bubu on the squad? http://rivals.yahoo.com/northtexas/football/recruiting/player-Bubu-Alvarez-146309;_ylt=AmfhBJU4v0ikyv0aL6H7q__NSMJ_ I think at the end of his career, Howard Schnellenberger was offering guys just based on their unique names. A few of Schnelly's FAU players: Nexon Dorvilus, TE and Tavious Polo, S: Writers, these are great names for a sci-fi vilians. Andrew Bolognese, QB: Pepperjack cheese, please; hold the pickles. Vinny Zaccario, K, and Vinny Davino, OL: Don't welch a bet with these guys. Yourhighness Morgan, LB: Good to hang with royalty...in case the ref need to be politically influenced. Cortez Gent, WR: Polite with the ladies. Frantz Joseph, LB: Great composer, not a bad football players either Cergile Sincere, LB: Mama always said, honesty is the best policy. Warley Leroy, K: Just calling it out like it's written on the attendance sheet - last name first. Others: Di'Ivory Edgecomb, RB Gedel Merzius, CB McKinson Souverain, QB Kinyumba Mutakabbir, LB

The only thing I don't understand about the WRs is that we are a "run first" team. But...having seen the number of WRs not pan out since 2007...maybe the idea is to get as many as you can and hope one or two ends up being able to make plays for you by the time they graduate. Still, would have liked to see 2/3 linemen on both sides of the ball.

Good get. It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that the coaching staff must not believe there is a front runner at QB. Sadly. But, again, if this makes everyone grind harder to win the position, it bodes well for us. Whomever wins the job will have been challenged thoroughly to earn it. I also think this shows, somewhat, the conservative nature of McCarney, regarding offense. He seems to hew to experience. And, although this guy's experience is JUCO, it is snaps against live action. And, as much potential as the other four QBs have, none of them have much live action with the game on the line. Say what you will about a "conservative" / "run first" approach, but you have to admit that it's gotten us back to winning.

Bama, up 24-6, would have, maybe paid closer attention to Shipley? Maybe not. McCoy didn't exactly light up Nebaska in the Big 12 title game that year, and Texas won and advanced not because of McCoy, but because Big 12 officials put one second back on the clock for them at the end of the game. McCoy was 20-36 for 186, 0 TDs, 3 INTs versus Nebraska. Alabama's defense was better than even Nebraska's then. There's no guarantee he would have done any better. As it was, he couldn't even take more than one hit from Bama's defense. He was bad against OU that year as well: 21 of 39, 127 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT...another close win for UT, but not because McCoy did anything special. The top two defenses McCoy had faced in conference in 2009 had battered him. Bama did the same thing...just much earlier in the game than OU or Nebraska did. So, with McCoy, without McCoy, it wasn't going to make much of a difference. Bama ran them out of the house...when interested...by three scores/16 points.

http://www.footballgeography.com/college-football-fbs-and-ncaa-probation/

Your assumption is that with McCoy in the game, Bama would have covered Shipley the same way. As it was, Bama "effected the quarterback" as Saban requires: Gilbert was only 15 for 40, 186 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs, 1 fumble...so...?

UT and OU have the same problem - hubris. You can mark down that Bob Stoops will be forced out in the same manner in less than three years because he has been unable to recruit big time OLs/DLs in the past few recruiting classes. Baylor abused OU with a third team tailback. Also, I'm the camp that believe the overall crappiness of the Big 12 fed greatly the "legends" that Mack Brown and Bob Stoops have become. For instance, because of the sheer difference in the type of athlete these two schools get, they should never ever be struggling with the likes of Iowa State. Ever. The horrible run defenses UT and OU have produced over the past two or three seasons has been a complete joke.

Sample size? I'd say getting through to knock out the starting QB just a few plays into the game is all the sample size you need. The five turnovers forced later in the game, the two 100 yards rushers, and inability to rush for 100 on offense on the night, pretty much completed the story that began with the knockout on the first drive.