Greendylan

Oh, no! Is the war to end all wars upon us? Do I dare to eat a peach? That Babe Ruth is a hell of a pitcher for the Sox.

I don't know why I'm even bothering to say this, but why is everyone getting -1ed in this thread?

Thanks. Yeah, I will be very curious to see the combinations they roll out there Friday. It's tough because there seems to be a lot of backcourt talent, but any lineup that doesn't include Holston will be comprised of guards who are all 6'3 or less, and I wonder how that will fare against D1 teams that almost always have someone significantly taller at the 3.

I was kind of thinking we would see a starting lineup of Reese, Harris, Holston, Combs, and Fuller (perhaps Brice around the start of conference play). Any chance of this?

Maybe . . . but they did also play Sturm against Louisiana Tech and had an even closer game (3 points) than they did against us.

Well, if you go back and look at Rivals's recruiting rankings, in 2003 North Texas was only six spots behind Baylor, and then in 2004 the two were nearly equal. Since that time the two programs' recruiting and, in turn, on-field success have gone in opposite directions. So yes, there was a time, albeit brief, when recruits were fairly torn between the two schools--and then obviously Baylor made some smart coaching hires, while we made some historically bad ones.

Exactly. This is the time of year when currently employed coaches vehemently deny that they're considering leaving for ________'s head coaching position. Also, we appreciate your coverage and updates of the coaching search!

Man, I hadn't thought about it until now, but we really couldn't select someone and then let him coach throughout the playoff. The national championship is not until January 11, and I don't see how we could wait until mid-January to start recruiting. We would be headed for a bottom-ten-ranked class, which would hinder said coach for years to come.

You're absolutely right. But, I just wonder how much RV REALLY is involved in the hiring process, despite what has been publicly stated.

Not to diminish any of what you're saying, but Fritz would not necessarily bring the triple option here (or wherever else outside of GSU).

He does fit a lot of the criteria, and hell, he knows how to beat SMU. But, I suspect we will steer away from another sexagenarian.

I don't know who RV has in mind, but what I do know is that years later we'll learn the revisionist history version of events--about how Smatresk "forced" him to make the hire. I kid, I kid . . . actually, I'll give RV the benefit of the doubt for once and say that as an impressive grand finale to his career, he somehow convinces Fritz to come here.

The good news is that with so few people in the crowd to chant, RV can personally scribble out an 1187 word response to each person.

Um, he does currently have a job. I mean, he's not exactly flailing about in a hobo line for free coffee and donuts . . .

Ah, it seems that you're right. Odd, so just an informal scrimmage but no official exhibition this year? Correct.

He would have to fund a flying banner that reads, "Fire Ernie Kuehne!!"

So, if I'm remembering correctly, Jarvis Christian (11/13) is an exhibition, and Texas College (11/16) is technically the season opener. Am I getting this right? Meangreensports.com doesn't seem to differentiate exhibition from regular season on the schedule.

The present state of our football program is light years behind the state of our basketball team the last time we were in the market for a head coach. I'm not sure how helpful it is to make comparisons between the two situations. Having said that, I do agree with Billy and others who have said that there is no single-criterion formula to determine a coach's chances to succeed here.

This brings up a really interesting issue. In a lot of industries, you would want to get your candidate for as little pay as possible--or so I would imagine for many lines of work. But, college football is just a different animal where perception tends to rule. I could make a case (though I wouldn't necessarily make it) that even a 3rd or 4th choice needs to make $1 million+. Perception in college football largely dictates recruiting, rankings, conference invitations, scheduling, etc.--in other words, all the things we haven't been very good at in recent decades. Whether fair or not, I feel like head coach pay (and to a lesser extent assistant compensation) is one major barometer of the overall health and support for a program. It also goes a long way toward establishing the pecking order of who can hire away from whom.

It needs to be at least $1 million. We need to at least get to half of what SMU pays to stay competitive both in the area and in the broader hierarchy of college football. Ideally I would like to see us match or surpass UL-Lafayette's $1.1 million (or thereabout) that they pay to Mark Hudspeth. We need to emphasize the perception that we are at a higher prestige level than any Sun Belt school. I know there are plenty examples of mid-major programs that accomplish far more with less, but we don't seem to ever have the vision that they do. Therefore, we must be prepared to throw down the big bucks.

I think we can safely assume that the people who donated toward the banner are aware that their collective monetary contributions can't compete with the amounts of some--let's say--"different-minded" big donors. So, they are voicing their opinion through a public display of words rather that a novelty-sized million dollar check. I can totally respect the views of those who oppose flying banner as an effective method. But, I just don't get this concept that donating massive amounts of money is the ONLY way to prove that your opinion is worthy. Is UNT a private corporation or a non-profit, public institution? Let's not disenfranchise all potential fans save for a handful of millionaires and denigrate passionate supporters as being "all talk" when "talk" is their only recourse.

I feel kind of the same way as I did for the WKU game. Marshall will score as many points as they want. They will slow down once they've proven their point and/or it becomes distasteful. As young as our secondary is, I don't see much hope for improvement from week to week. Next season, though, they could be much better. On offense, I'm a little more optimistic, but against a solid defense on the road I wouldn't expect more than 20-24 points.

Braggart. If a few disgruntled message board conspirators and a couple thousand dollars have the power to handcuff our university's president for years from making a decision he otherwise deems necessary while also instigating waves of zeus-like retribution from RV and his merry band of millionaires, then we are doomed regardless. The negative effects of the banner: RV rolls his eyes and gets annoyed for a minute before having a good laugh with Smatresk and other VIPs. The positives: minimal. But, it does demonstrate a small step toward culture change. It shows that some fans who might not have millions still have a fire in their bellies and want to find some way--any way--to get proactive about change. Or, of course, we could just all retreat into the safety of indifference like 99% of our UNT friends from college did years ago. It would be more polite, I suppose.

I've been hearing about patience for years--which would be fine if we saw evidence that we were at least progressing in the right direction. I don't see us catching up (at any speed) to many programs in the major sports. In fact, it seems just the opposite is happening.

Billy, I think you nailed it.