MeanGreenZen

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.

If Woody Wilson had trouble understanding Dickey's offense then how is he going to execute Todd Dodge's offense? That's like asking someone who can't work their Tivo to build a nuclear bomb. Woody Wilson will get a courtesy look at QB during the spring then he will be moved to a position where he can really help the team: WR, RB or DB. I think he is a fantastic athlete. Daniel Meager is horrible. Matt Phillips has the potential to be a great quarterback, but I think it would be in his best interest to transfer. He is not a fit for Dodgeball. All of Dodge's SLC QB's have one thing in common: great mobility. The QB must be a running threat in this offense to open up things downfield. While Matt Phillips has a wonderful arm, he is about as mobile as a fire hydrant and is no longer a good fit at UNT. I think he can have great success somewhere else in a more traditional offense. Nathan Tune is wildly unproven, but may be the best candidate among the current crop of UNT QBs. However, I would be a little reluctant pinning my hopes on a kid who didn't even start at a Class 3A high school until his senior year. That said, he looked amazing in the all-star game and the former coaching staff was very high on him. I'm rooting for him. There is a great chance that UNT's starting QB next season is still in high school right now. I can't wait to find out what kind of talent Dodge can bring to Denton at the QB position.

Of course no one would think bad of UNT if Riley signed with the Texas Longhorns or any other top BCS program. No one expects UNT to compete with those teams for recruits. However, all indications are that Riley is not the caliber of prospect a UT would sign. But if Riley signs with another non-BCS Division IA team (Rice, Tulsa, TCU, SMU, Houston, etc) then UNT and Todd Dodge would look bad. If Riley signs with a Division I-AA or Division II team then it wouldn't matter because he wouldn't be a Division I-A athlete. Does that read like I am speaking with a forked tongue? By the way, Jack Elway was only an average college football coach and John Elway was a losing college quarterback. Art Briles was only a assistant coach when his son signed with Texas and his son transferred almost immediately when his dad got the Houston gig.

That's not how teams recruiting against North Texas will paint it. Imagine a top WR prospect deciding between TCU and UNT, the TCU recruiter will be in the kid's ear saying things like, "Why would you want to go to UNT and play for Todd Dodge? That place is so bad Dodge wouldn't even send his own kid there (Or that place is so bad Dodge's own son didn't want to go there"). Of course, if Riley goes somewhere else UNT will try to put a positive spin on it, but I think it would be wildly better if we just signed him and avoided that situation all together.

It is of the utmost importance that Riley Dodge follow his dad to North Texas. Todd Dodge’s credibility from a recruiting standpoint is at stake. How can Daddy Dodge go into any top recruit’s house and ask them to come to North Texas if UNT isn’t even good enough for his own son? Riley was dodging questions about this issue in a Star-Telegram article about the hiring and that is not good news. We all know Riley is a wonderful high school quarterback, but from what I’ve heard he is a marginal Division IA prospect. That is good news for UNT. He is listed at 6 foot, but I understand he is closer to 5’9 (yeah, yeah… Doug Flutie…short QBs can still be good… blah, blah, blah). From a public relations standpoint, his commitment to UNT is absolutely necessary. He is a big name player and his early commitment (hopefully this summer) can help UNT build a strong ’08 recruiting class. Now it won’t hurt UNT if Riley signs with SFA, Texas State or someone like that, but he absolutely cannot commit or sign with another Division IA school. That would make Todd Dodge and the UNT football team look really bad.

This is awesome exposure for the program! This is more an amusing situation than anything that makes us look bad. I think it is great.

Yeah, and Jesus was just a jewish carpenter, right? You can find a way to describe anyone in unimpressive terms. As far as no high school coach jumping directly to a Division 1A head coaching gig... have you ever heard of thinking outside the box? Or of going down the path less traveled? UNT does not have the resources of other institutions therefore we must make riskier moves to compete against them. How did the Mavs go from the worst franchise in sports to the NBA Finals? They built their team around a jump-shooting 7-foot European at a time when it was believed that foreign players could not dominate the NBA. North Texas must take risks to improve its place in the Division IA hierarchy. Hiring Todd Dodge would be a calculated risk worth taking.

Should Dickey be allowed to coach next week if he put the team in black uniforms without RV's permission?

I believe effort and results have a cause-and-effect relationship. Dickey's effort was lacking way before his health became an issue.

If he didn't want to get fired why didn't he give maximum effort the last two seasons? Do you think he did? I don't. 2002 Dickey vs. 2006 Dickey is like 2004 Jamario vs. 2006 Jamario. They are not the same.

But Dickey did switch uniforms for a reason -- to show up RV.