TheColonyEagle

Look, as for SMU….they’re 30 minutes down the road. You can say “why are we talking about them” they’re in the top 12 playoff. We have to get over it. We’re college football fans. Of course SMU being in the playoff is going to be discussed. But as for their performance….it was expected. They got super lucky with their schedule this year. Just like Indiana. If you plugged Memphis or Tulane in their spot, they would’ve done the same thing. Their QB is no better than most QBs we faced in the AAC this year. Our QB was as good as him. That’s just the truth. so they were a really good AAC team this year that got a super lucky schedule in a bad conference. I don’t hold anything against them for that. BUT We can’t really discuss them for much longer because the current college landscape is set up to make them a national powerhouse. They have a good coach. He is. And he got them in the national discussion. And they can take that with their money and go on an unbelievable run. Their QB won’t be here next year. Of course he won’t. They’ll pay a better one. Their NIL will dwarf every team in the ACC. I would bet their NIL will be top 10 in the country. Maybe top 5. They’ll have more $$ available than Bama. Arguably UT. What do they need? 4 star DE? 3 top OL? QB? 2 WR? There’s no cap to what they can pay. So we have to move on from SMU. They will be in the playoff a lot. So of course we’ll talk about them because they’ll be in the playoff. But we have to get over it. Are they scum bags? Yes. Of course. They have too much money and they will win. The landscape has changed. And they will succeed because they can pay. We have to hope we break off and do our own thing

On the surface, this seems bad for HS grads. Really good for P4s. If you are a HS senior, your chances of playing D1...baseball especially, out of HS is severely diminished. A D1 baseball coach has way better options now than taking a chance on a HS kid. The whole model has changed and it effects all sports. Think about football. The days of recruiting a kid and developing him are over. Saw in another thread about our incoming QB from Miami. Someone asked (and it's a good question): "if he was the back up, the Heisman candidate starter just left. Isn't it his job? Why would he leave?" Because that coach doesn't care about him. He's scouring the transfer portal looking for his next Cam Ward. (just like he did with the real Cam Ward). Chances are the Miami staff is looking for a bigger, better deal. If you're a D1 baseball or basketball coach, the talent pool of 21 year old, developed, experienced players just opened up. HS kids are going to get pushed out. The transfer portal is going to get crazier to. College players are going to be used, moved, basically traded... With NIL, players are going to stay in college longer too. Saw something the other day: Every SEC starting QB makes more $$ than Brock Purdy, a Superbowl starting 3rd year NFL QB.

It's been interesting to watch one side of the political spectrum that used to be anti-war, anti crony capitalism, anti big pharma, anti big food, anti military industrial complex, pro privacy, anti surveillance state completely support every single one of those because they don't like the guy that is trying to dismantle all of that.

You take that literally? And why do we subsidize Canada that much? Shouldn't we not?

Actually he didn't do a lot on the return side (shocked by that actually, I would expect him to be a punt returner in the NFL) The crazy thing is he's done it quietly on the offensive side... He's not big, but they just can't guard him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the #1 overall pick. I'm no Colorado fan but he was stop down to watch. He just takes over games....

He was one of just two receivers who had at least 90 catches, 1,000 yards and 10 TDs this season. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/travis-hunter-charles-woodson-heisman-stats/25d2e618223f9a55e09cba9c

I've watched him quite a bit. And the answer is "yes" to both questions. Lock down CB, I would say he can be an electric returner and he had 1150 receiving yards and 14 TDs. Every play the D was keyed on him and he still made plays. He was pretty much un-guardable all season....

The thing is....there will ALWAYS be a QB available. And why wouldn't a good QB want to come play for EM and resurrect his career? (EXACTLY what Chandler Morris did) He hit on Chandler Rogers He hit on Chandler Morris I fully expect us to get a top notch QB in here for next year. Could be nice little strategy for the program...just fix the D a LITTLE and one of these seasons could be special. ** I'll add** And we can't think "oh man we got the next Mason Fine that's gonna bleed green and my kid will look up to him and want to be like this Mean Green legend." (which is exactly what my kids did with Mason Fine) They're hired guns to come in here and see if they can win. Then we do it all over again the next season. If we get a good QB in here, he will not be here more than a year. Just have to accept it. Johnny Quinn bleeds green and talks about UNT all the time in his career. There's pride there. Those days are gone....

So it got me thinkin'...... Will we ever have another Mean Green Hall of Famer football player from this era? Will we have one post...I don't know, the Littrell era?

good perspective...

I agree with that.

I think the reason we get upset when kids enter the portal is we see them as quitting on our school. The school we love and have attachment to. That love and attachment will never leave. And we take it personally when a kid that got to come to UNT for free leaves and goes somewhere else and they have no loyalty or care about The University of North Texas. What we have to do is realize not one player on any team we have truly gives a damn about UNT. Especially not at the level we do. So what we have to do is not give a damn about them. Why should we? That's not being negative toward the kids...just look at them objectively. Give them the same love they give UNT, meaning cheer for them when they're here, hope they help us win, then shitcan them. Good luck at your next stop, who's next? Makes all this much better to stomach.

Lifer, I hear you....but of course Chandler Morris is worth the money. The reason I know that he is worth the money is someone is willing to pay it. I don't think the portal is out of control. I think the portal is behaving in a way that was inevitable. We can't say "these damn 20 year olds are old enough to make their own decisions...quit holding their hands" and then get upset when they do. Are they good decisions? Who knows. Good for some, not good for others. They'll find out. What I don't want to see is we then turn around and treat them like victims when it doesn't go well or they don't protect themselves and get taken advantage of. Weigh the risks and rewards, make the decision, live with the consequences or do something different...you know like normal every day adults do every day. When they graduate/leave school they will have opportunities to go on the open market, leave their job for more pay, get fired, laid off, start their own business, fail, start again, make a mistake leaving one situation to go to another, etc. The transfer portal is no different.

OK...well that's not true. For those that "give a little to NIL" That's admirable. Truly is. (This is going to come off like I'm being a jerk...I'm not picking on you...but look at this objectively) As for giving a little to NIL, that's great and all. Also Andy Dufresne eventually broke out of Shawshank. Took him just under 20 years. But we can keep digging that wall with our little $10 a month rock hammer...short of a billionaire or 50-60 millionaires coming in here with some dynamite or a bull dozer....that's what giving to our NIL in this landscape is like. Sorry, but it's just true. Remember, we have to compare out program in today's landscape. We can refuse to believe that we're not a poor program and our opportunity to have a winning football team is over...that doesn't make it not true. In the context of today's college football world to use another Moneyball reference as I believe @FirefightnRick used one earlier: "There are rich teams, and there are poor teams, then there's 50 feet of crap......and then there's us." Saw on another thread that Chandler Morris may have gotten around $1 million to go to Ok State? (I don't believe that but we'll see) But let's say he got $500k. Very reasonable in P4 for a decent QB. That one player would be getting more than our entire NIL budget? Do we have close to $500k for our entire team? We cannot compete in this new world. Wishing we could and giving $10 bucks per month doesn't change that. It's just not enough. If most of the G5 do not break off and do something else, I have to question the UNT leadership's judgement in trying to keep and run a football program in today's world. If Morris DID get that much....then throw everything I said out the window. We're in a totally different stratosphere and it took less that 2 years. What will it be 2 years from now? Will there be a $10 million player in the next 3-5 years? I don't see how there won't be. We have to understand the unbelievable amount of money that is out there. It's beyond anything we can fathom. I'm not protesting NIL. It's a free market. I don't blame the players or the schools with the means for doing what they're doing. Want me to get interested in UNT football again? Have the UNT Leadership step up and lead the rest of the G5 in breaking off and giving me something to hope for. Cause this ain't it.

source?