Smitty

I understand the financial realities of UNT's situation, but I don't like seeing UNT play OU and Arkansas in the same season, especially so close together. We're just not ready for that kind of schedule. One of them a year, okay. But we don't have the depth or the athleticism to play two of them in a month. At least, not yet.

I feel the same way, and I enjoyed the visits, Kola52. Good luck against Penn State, and I'll visit VolNation again.

I would be delighted with Jay Norvell, Todd Dodge, or Don Carthel.

I don't know what kind of coach Don Carthel is, but I got a good idea what kind of person he is from this article by Kevin Sherrington in Saturday's Dallas Morning News. This is one of the most amazing things I have ever heard of a coach doing: 10:58 PM CST on Saturday, December 9, 2006 By Kevin Sherrington Coaching is a fraternity. One coach befriends another who worked for someone else, on and on, until you could pull up any staff and find the roots of at least a hundred more. But it's not just the jobs they've shared that draw coaches together. Sometimes it's nothing about the job at all. Sam McElroy had been head football coach at Tarleton State for only three months when he and his wife found out why the youngest of their three children, Madison, or Madie, tired and bruised so easily. Diagnosis: acute lymphatic leukemia. They checked her into the hospital that night, May 16, 2005, and didn't come out for a month. Every week since then, on Thursdays or Fridays, one of her parents takes 9-year-old Madie to Fort Worth for chemo treatments. Seventeen down. Sixty to go. The good people of Stephenville have helped. They've prayed for the McElroys, raised money to defray medical bills, done whatever they could. "If you've gotta go through something like this," McElroy says, "I can't imagine a better place to do it." But help hasn't been limited to Stephenville. Folks in Granbury hosted a fundraiser. Abilene Christian University, too. Colby Carthel coached on that ACU staff. He left it after last season to join his father, Don, at West Texas A&M. One of Carthel's other assistants, Scott Parr, used to be on McElroy's staff at Tarleton State. Don Carthel knew McElroy, too. Even knew his father, Bob, who coached at Navarro College in Corsicana. Considering all the ties, it wasn't long before Carthel knew about Madie, too. And when it came time for West Texas A&M and Tarleton State to play each other in the regular season's last game, a game to determine which would advance to the playoffs, Carthel called McElroy. Asked him if it'd be OK to make an announcement at halftime of the game in Canyon. And he'd need a picture of Madie, too. Carthel's pre-recorded speech lasted about five minutes. After it was over, Madie's picture radiating from the video screen, redshirt West Texas players circulated among their 10,647 fans and passed Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets. They counted up the collection, put it all in a box and taped it up, and West Texas' captains presented it to McElroy after the game. Came to a little more than $14,000. West Texas' players and coaches put in $2,000. And then there was this, too: The Buffaloes' unofficial mascot, Blake Bagwell, heard coaches talking about Madie that week and set out across campus on his own. Came back with an envelope stuffed with $1,700. Nearly a month later, Carthel is still getting checks from fans, and maybe that's the least of the residual effects. "I think it did more good for our players to get involved like that," he says, "than anything they could have done outside football." West Texas beat Tarleton, 21-16. The Buffs went two rounds into the playoffs before they were eliminated, finishing at 11-2. Tarleton ended its season 6-4. McElroy wishes he could have beaten the Buffs, but it's hard to complain. He's grateful beyond words to opposing fans for their generosity, and to West Texas for going to all the trouble the week of a pivotal game. Coaches in the Lone Star Conference are "a pretty close-knit group," is the only way he can explain it. "It certainly makes you appreciate the good days," he says, "when your kid wakes up with a smile on her face, and all's good with the world."

Caris would be "featured in a photo shoot in Athlon Sports' 2007 College Football Annual" according to the Athlon website. But the site also says: "The winner of this year's competition will win a prize pack for their school including $1,000 cash, 42" and 32" Samsung LCD Flat-Panel Televisions, A Samsung Sports Camcorder, and Hi-Fi Conversion DVD recorder." So she gets in their magazine. The money and gear goes to UNT.

Absolutely. Complete agreement. Do it and close the book on this episode.

Anyone who played a significant role in turning around Nebraska's offense is someone of interest. Two things caught my attention in this bio: Excellent resume. I'm not concerned that he has no head-coaching experience. With twenty years experience, he should be well versed in what it takes to be a head coach. He's been at small schools, big schools, and the NFL. And you better believe some recruits will be impressed with where he's played and coached. There's the Texas ties that everyone wants. I'd much rather have a coach who has recruited in Texas than someone from Texas but with little recruiting experience. Extremely impressive.

Patrick did not play vs. the Patriots today. ESPN's Dolphins page shows that Patrick did play last week against Jacksonville, but had no carries or receptions. The Dolphins website says Patrick played on special teams. Here is the Dolphins complete bio of Patrick: Name: Patrick Cobbs Height/Weight: 5-8, 210 Position: RB Born: 1/31/83 College: North Texas ‘06 Acquired: FA, '06 NFL: Rookie Dolphins: Rookie PRO 2006 - Made his NFL and Dolphin debut in a special teams role on Dec. 3rd vs. Jacksonville ... Signed by the Dolphins off their practice squad on December 2, 2006 ... Went to camp with New England as an undrafted college free agent ... Led the Patriots in rushing this preseason with 188 yards and three touchdowns on 38 attempts ... Also caught seven passes for 115 yards and a TD ... Was traded by New England to Pittsburgh on September 1 for an undisclosed draft choice ... Was inactive for the Steelers’ regular season opener against the Dolphins on September 7 ... Waived the following day. COLLEGE Had a four-year collegiate career at North Texas (2001-03, 2005) in which he rushed for 4,050 yards and 36 touchdowns on 818 attempts...Holds school and Sun Belt Conference records for career rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, rushing attempts and all-purpose yards (5,255)...Was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection as a senior in 2005 when he ran for 1,154 yards...As a junior in 2003, he rushed for a career-high 1,680 yards and 19 touchdowns on 307 carries...His 152.7 yards rushing per game led the nation. PERSONAL Attended Tecumseh (Okla.) High School...Rushed for 4,729 yards and 61 touchdowns, while also recording 16 interceptions in his career...Born January 31, 1983.

The lead is over 32,000 votes. Since early this morning, the approximate vote count is UNT 7000, Vols 500.

1982

Good for her. I wonder if that terrible snow storm has affected her totals? The storm apparently knocked out power in large parts of Missouri and Illinois. Speaking of power, why is it that smoke alarms batteries only run out in the middle of the night or early in the morning? Then they start that loud chirping - like this morning. Oh well, might as well vote. The Saturday it's-too-early morning standings: Caris Tschauner (Sun Belt) 164,858 Shawn Manners (SEC) 139,008

Oh, sorry, I misunderstood the title of this topic. I thought for a second it was a Beach Boys song.

Made it! 25,000 at 11:51. I'm stunned. I don't know if they've quit or what, but the Vols have posted a very few votes in the last fifteen minutes. It's time to finish them, to spend the weekend building an insurmountable lead and win this thing for Caris and the Mean Green Nation. Keep pushing, folks. I understand your frustration, Vols. I really do. And, no, we don't win as much as you do. We don't have the national titles or the big-time bowl games or the national reputation. But we're winning this fair and square, and you're going to have to fight like hell to beat us.

Here's a link to the thread about the Athlon contest on VolNation.com: VolNation: Vote for U.T. Cheerleader Some posts suggest they're losing hope, some are still defiant. This weekend may tell what they have left. I give them credit for cutting into the lead the way they did after that gut-punch of having so many votes wiped away. Caris's lead is back up to 24,000 now, so that's a huge mountain to climb.

The lead just climbed back over 22,000! The Vols spent two days chopping 10,000 votes off the lead, and we've retaken 4,000 of those votes. But on the Vol Nation website, the Vols are talking about about making another run at us this weekend. They're not finished, yet.

Hey, a Greek took down the Egyptians and the Persians. Tennessee should be no problem.

Momentum shift! At 8:15 this morning, the lead had shrunk to just over 18,000. But five hours later, the lead has grown to over 19,000. Five minutes of voting showed Ms. Manners receiving 43 votes and Caris pulling in...89! Well done, Green! Keep up the pressure! VOTE

That makes the most sense. Perhaps they're getting all the paperwork out of the way before the holidays.

It's been a long time, but I'm thinking of a drawing that was around post-Hayden and showed North Texas and Iowa on the scoreboard. But I may be confused. Frequently am. That model sounds really cool. Do you know if it still exists?

I would lean away from any Texas schools, because I'd want that first game to be all our crowd, all about UNT. TCU or SMU or Tech might bring a lot of fans (although the Mustangs didn't bring that many this year). My suggestions: Cincinnati - they were the opponent in our one bowl victory, and to me that's the high point of UNT football in the last two decades. Iowa - a tribute to Hayden Fry. I remember way back in the day, NT had drawings of a full stadium and the scoreboard showed North Texas hosting Iowa. Coach Fry might be able to help make that happen. I'd also consider Colorado State, Memphis, and Southern Miss, who we played in New Orleans. All of those are solid programs in good conferences and are frequent bowl participants. But they're not a powerhouse that is a guaranteed loss.

At this time yesterday, the lead was about 25,000. This morning the lead is 18,189. This thing may swing on either UNT's Greeks getting involved, or the UT Greeks being unable to sustain their pace. If any UNT Greeks are listening, we don't need 150 people voting at once. All that is needed is three computers with high-speed connections, with voters rotating on the computers. Three computers going all the time would easily match or exceed the Vols' pace of sixty votes every five minutes.

Miami has promoted its defensive coordinator to be its new head coach. Good news, because that means Leach stays at Texas Tech, and that's one less Texas team looking for a coach. First SMU and now Tech are out of the market for a head coach. That leaves UNT as the most attractive coaching position available in Texas.

Don't know it for sure, but I'd bet he has not. If UNT is interested in him, there probably has been some casual contact, very informal, but I would guess Dodge would not do an interview. He'd be running the risk of the existence of that interview leaking out, providing a real distraction to his team in the midst of the playoffs. And what's the hurry? Where's the fire? And if there is a fire, call Rick, not RV. The hurry is because WE JUST CAN'T STAND TO WAIT!!! We're like a bunch of little kids a week before Christmas, shaking all the packages and peaking into cabinets for a glimpse of treasure. "You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."

Somebody got it! Yes!

I'm not interested in RV's choice making a splash. Any splash will be washed away by more losing seasons, and any disappointment at a not-so-splashy hire will be forgotten by winning. Remember the disdain some USC fans expressed when Pete Carroll was hired? No one is complaining now. Why are so many here so excited about Harbaugh? Mostly because we've heard of him. Nobody wants their school to hire a coach that generates a reacton of "Who?" So what if he played in the NFL? Can he coach and can he recruit? Is he flexible to adjust his coaching style to take advantage of his roster's strengths? Final judgment on this hire will not come in January or February. It comes three, four, or five years from now.