MeanGreenZen

no.

He's playing for Hal Wasson next season. Plus, there are other coaches at UNT who would have an impact on him not just his dad, notably the OC and QB coach. I don't have a problem with Riley going to a school besides UNT, I just think it would be sorry of him to go to one of UNT's rivals.

It is an embarrassment to Todd Dodge and UNT that Riley has among his listed schools Rice and SMU and not North Texas. If Riley can sign with a BCS school then that's fine, but TD cannot let Riley sign with Rice, SMU or any other school UNT is expected to compete with. What if four years from now Riley is the starting QB for SMU and the Ponies are playing his dad's Mean Green and TD's job is on the line with a "win or else" edict from the AD? Wouldn't that be awkward if Riley threw for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns and SMU beat his dad's Mean Green and got his dad fired? This cannot be allowed to be even a possibility. Either Riley signs with a BCS school or UNT. Wouldn't it be huge for TD to get an early committment from his son to come to UNT? That way every time Riley is mentioned in any media they say he is on his way to play for his dad at UNT. Wouldn't that build a lot of momentum for TD's 2008 recruiting class? If he verbals to SMU or Rice wouldn't it look like Todd Dodge doesn't even think UNT is good enough for his own son? Riley should support his father and come to UNT.

My wife is a wonderful cook and I could not love another person more. Rachael Ray is a better cook than my wife, yet I do not love Rachael Ray. Can you understand the logic? UNT has a wonderful football program and I could not love another football program more. Texas A&M has a better football program than UNT, yet I do not love Texas A&M. Why do I owe the board an apology? Is it because I live in a place called "reality" and I understand that by almost any measurable means the Texas A&M football program is superior to the UNT football program? By the way, as far as TAMU goes, it could all burn down during the next bonfire and I wouldn't care. Maybe then we'd have a better football program than them. Go Todd Dodge!!!

Auburn didn't win because USC was also undefeated that year. The BCS awarded the title to USC. If UNT and Texas A&M were the only undefeated D-1A teams next year the BCS would give the title to Texas A&M. If you dispute that, you are a delusional UNT football fan.

That just proves my point. Boise State went undefeated and did not win a national championship, but they finished in the Top 25. If UNT went undefeated we would not win a national championship, but we would finish in the Top 25. If Texas A&M went undefeated they would win a national championship. See the difference?

I mean UNT has been at the top of the Sun Belt for what 0 years now? Get real people. No matter how much UNT, TCU, SMU, Tx Tech, UTEP, Rice or Houston try, none of them will ever consistently outperform UT or A&M on the football field. It has to do with $$$. Money those schools get from the state that the other schools don't and money those schools get from boosters that the other schools don't. The ceiling at North Texas is to be consistently ranked in the Top 25. The ceiling at Texas A&M is a national championship. Go Todd Dodge!!!

That Texas A&M offer must have had a short expiration. There is no way that Texas A&M offer was still on the table when this kid committed to UNT. I love UNT, but a kid would have to be crazy to choose to play football for UNT over Texas A&M (unless there is some crazy circumstance like he has a ailing mother who lives in Denton or he wants to pursue a career in jazz or something like that). Texas A&M is not one of our natural recruiting rivals. We just can't compete with them.

Who chose UNT over Texas A&M? I don't believe that.

Check out this list of the 2001 D/FW top 100 recruits. There are a few college stars on this list but I was surprised by how many of these guys had anonymous college football careers. Interesting... http://dallasnews.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=54434

As Larry David would say, that's pretty...pretty...pretty...funny.

The responsibilites of being a D1 head football coach are very similar to being a CEO. College football IS a business. Loyalty is important. And if all things are equal, loyalty should be the tiebreaker. But Tulsa is a step up from Rice. Todd Graham wouldn't have moved if he didn't think it was. As far as Graham finishing the job... he took them to a bowl game. I'm sorry but that's as good as it is going to get at Rice. What do you want a freaking national title?

Wonder how many of these kids will follow Graham to Tulsa? Cedar Hill's Cameron Thompson would be a great land for UNT. I hope Dodge and co. are doing everything they can do to get that kid.

You guys need to get off your high horse. Every single one of you would leave your current job if a competitor offered you the same stability, more money, a better work environment and a better chance to win at whatever it is you do. If you wouldn't, you are crazy. If loyalty is so important to you, you must think Todd Dodge should have stayed at Southlake with all the kids who grew up dreaming of playing for him. Rice is a small fish in one of the largest media markets in the country. Tulsa is in a much smaller media market and is a much bigger deal there. Graham took Rice to their first bowl game in forever and secured tons of donations for the program. Rice is much better off for his having been there. The Owls have nothing to complain about. If Todd Dodge leaves UNT for the same reasons next year, the only ones to blame will be ourselves for not being able to provide a better opportunity here. Graham wishes to climb the NCAA coaching ladder. Tulsa represents a step up for him. I hope he is a miserable failure there because I love UNT, but I understand why he took the job.

He was a total bust in college. He gained a lot of weight and washed out of TCU and SFA. Last I heard he was a volunteer assistant football coach at Denton Ryan. He was the greatest high school quarterback I've ever seen.

I never bashed Padron, I welcome him to my alma mater. I stated only facts. He has below average size and speed for a Division 1A linebacker. Dickey could have signed this guy if we are the only D1 school offering him. As far as his ceiling... He is probably as tall as he is going to get. He can't put on much more weight and maintain the speed he has and most kids are already as fast as they are going to be at 18 years old (of course, he may get slightly faster). He's been in the Southlake program for the last 6 years so his strength has been developed well already. He was an AWESOME high school player, but the reason no other D1A schools offered him is because he is probably already close to reaching his potential physically. That said, I hope he goes on to become the greatest player in UNT history. I'm fine with Dodge signing a guy he has gone to battle with already and trusts. I just hope he signs some other guys with higher upside. P.S. -- if you morally disagree with someone playing devil's advocate, why are you posting on a "discussion" board?

Only Babino and Cobb are undersized. Babino runs a 4.5 so he can get away with being small. Padron is no where near that fast. Never heard of Cobb, but I guarantee he is fast if he is on scholarship at UT.

There are outstanding, overachieving 5-foot-10 linebackers on almost every high school team in the state of Texas. Very, very, very few of them turn into Mike Singletary, Zach Thomas or Sam Mills. Instead of signing Padron, why didn’t Dodge just buy a lottery ticket? Same odds. (Just kidding) The Justin Padron/Chris Hurd comparisons are not legit. Hurd was every bit of 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2 and was as thick as an oak tree. Padron is really only about 5-10. A kid like Padron who was coached by Todd Dodge in high school is probably already as good now as he will be as a senior in college. That may be good enough to be All-Sun-Belt, who knows? I still like Padron at North Texas because he is hard working, a good leader, he’ll probably graduate, he can be a good liaison between Dodge and the team and he helps establish a Southlake pipeline. It’s fine to sign one or two kids like Padron in the class, but you also need some kids with higher upsides, who haven’t come close to realizing their potential physically yet.

Well, then if that's true why don't we just go over to the First Baptist Denton 12th grade boys Sunday School class and pass out all our scholarships? That's not a good idea because Size and Speed win football games. So does smarts and heart, but smarts and heart without size and speed will lose almost every time. Dodge needs to sign some size and speed.

Justin Padron is undersized, slow and an overachiever. A class full of guys like that is fine for Austin College, Midwestern State or Angelo State, but to win at the Division IA level you need big, fast overachievers. Padron may be able to play at the D-1 level, but give us some stud athletes in this class, too

We should be all over some of these non-qualifiers and late qualifiers. Jonas Buckles was a non-qualifier and Cody Spencer was a late qualifier. This is an area where UNT should take some risks that bigger programs wouldn't take. The potential reward is huge. Of course, you can't fill a recruiting class with them. Just like you can't fill a recruiting class with a bunch of undersized, slow, overachieving high school players like Justin Padron. Cherry picking a guy like him is OK, but I'm glad to see Dodge is chasing some high upside guys who have yet to reach their ceiling, too.

Maybe this has been reported, but there is a big billboard on I-35W in Burleson that says something like: "Thank you Todd Dodge; coach, leader, friend, legend". Below the words is a big Southlake Carroll logo. Doesn't say anything about UNT, but its pretty good pub anyway.

Technically, it is an opinion, but it is an opinion based on Meager's won/loss record, passing statistics and injury history. And those FACTS support my opinion.

By all accounts Andrew Smith was a great young man. There are a lot of great young men and women affiliated with the UNT football program. So why would we honor Andrew by naming the field after him? Because he died while he was still a big part of the UNT program. Why did he die? Because he made a tragic mistake and drove a car while under the influence. That doesn't make him a bad person, but it does make it inappropriate to name the practice field after him. Naming the practice field after Smith is disrespectful to everyone who has been a victim of drunken driving and their families.

Friday Night Lights the book and television show are outstanding. The movie sucked and so did the show on Pampa, which was one tired cliche after another.