untjim1995

I think the BOR and administration are wanting to spend enough to be a G5 program--but that is the hard part because you have other G5s in the state that are higher up the foodchain who do spend lots of $$$ in SMU and UH. And spending money without a guarantee has never really been something we have done much of before. The reality to all of this is the tv revenue being reduced so noticeably. Now, you have three ways to help your bottom line--control spending, increase attendance, and play whore games. Geographically, we can accomplish the first two ways, for sure. And number three has been tried and done infinitum over the decades. If the SBCUSA comes to pass, combining into four separate divisions, that won't be the worst thing that could happen here. If the MWC and AAC won't take us, particularly when the Big XII falls apart, then we are going to have to do something to control costs better. Regionalization will do that, and if certain teams won't play in a division with another team, than the SBCUSA model can probably accommodate this. If we had given the MWC any reason to believe we could have added value there, I still don't believe our fanbase or administration would have gone for it. Its too bad, but the fact will always remain that you can get people to go to watch us play Boise State, AFA, Colorado State, and Fresno State at Apogee over F_Us, ODU, and Charlotte. You can get people to watch us play SDSU, UNM, or UNLV in basketball at the Super Pit, too. But that's not what the majority wants, so it was never gonna get accepted even if they offered us, sadly.

I believe his dad, with the same name and was also from Waco, was a RB for our football team in the early 90'ss.

I think the Marching Band has one job at almost every school in the country--get the crowd fired up with the fight song, alma mater, and other crowd favorites. I don't think that is what is the mission of the Green Brigade and I don't believe that the majority of the UNT fans want that to be the case. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in line to buy a general admission ticket back at Fouts and heard people in front of me or next to me ask the ticket office where was the best seat to watch the band march in and perform at halftime because that was how long they were gonna stick around. I am not even saying that is wrong, but it is certainly different from attending a game at any other school in this region of the country.

I see us winning 5 or 6 games against the schedule. Sure wins: Lamar and UAB (2 wins) Probable Wins: @ Rice, UTSA, UTEP (2 wins Possible Wins: Army, @ FAU, ODU (1-2 wins) Probable Losses: @SMU, @ La Tech, @ USM (0-1 win) Just Don't Let the Check Bounce and Get Anyone Hurt: @ Iowa (0 win)

It has seemed over the years that Pac-12 schools have traveled to MWC opponents more frequently, not unlike some of the ACC schools playing eastern AAC schools on the road. I know Boise has faced the three NW Pac-12 schools quite a bit, while BYU hosted the southern Pac-12 schools some. But your point is correct about thinking they would play more home-and-home series. Of course, the Pac-12 now plays the B1G teams in at least one OOC game usually, so that leaves you 3 more home games, of which at least 1 or 2 are bought games, so that limits your scheduling flexibility some. I know this was one of the reasons that Nebraska in the B1G cancelled a game in Chicago against NIU, which was part of a 4 for 1 series, but NIU still accepts the remaining 4 games in Lincoln for the cash. I still find Okie State's acceptance of road games at MAC, CUSA, and SBC games as odd, but they probably look at them as easier road wins that help to teach kids how to get focused for the bigger road games ahead in their season. Gundy sure look at this completely different that every other Power League school, for sure.

My favorite all time Spike Dykes quote was at a preseason SWC coaches media day and he was complaining about how players don't work hard enough for his liking--that they were used to things being given to them without effort. He said, "Today, when you talk about manual labor, they think you're taking about a TE from McAllen..."

Well, if they get to still play Power Teams and we in the lower G5s don't, that's still a lot of money to make for the MWC and AAC that the MACUSBC won't be able to get, from road games or gate receipts from the home game they might still get.

I have been an advocate of going to the MWC for a long time, but two things really got confirmed to me about this. 1.) Our fans don't want it---they think its too far away. I believe that is typically short-sighted, but the reality is that what we want, we cannot ever have--a bid into a conference with SMU and other regional rivals higher up the foodchain than the current CUSA teams. 2.) The even bigger point, which really got cemented to me after TCU joined the Big XII, is that the MWC doesn't want us. They want other Texas schools from the Big XII's eventual demise, as well as possibly getting SMU or UH to join. That isn't even counting UTEP or UTSA, two cities with bowls to offer. I do believe that the MWC was a possibility back when TCU was there, but our football team went from Bad Dickey to Terrible Dodge in that same time, totally crushing the advancement of the Johnny Jones-led hoops team's attractiveness to a league. We are basically stuck at this point. The AAC and MWC will continue to be given the opportunities to play the Power Leagues in football in OOC and in bowl games, when the Big XII goes the way of the dodo, but the rest of us in the lower G5 will be left to officially start our own level of play with the top end of FCS schools, probably by 2025, which is when the GOR expires for the Big XII. I see Texas keeping LHN money until that expires in 2031, meaning either a conference lets them keep it until then or they will just go independent in football until then. OU, KU, and WVU will be the next schools taken, then OSU, Tech, and KSU have to hope for some long coattails from big brother. If they get them, they stay in a power league. If they don't, they'll join ISU, TCU, and Baylor on the dropout list, giving the AAC and MWC some nice sloppy seconds to fight over. I imagine seeing the Pac 12 become 16 with UT, Tech, OU, and OSU. I see the B1G getting KU and UConn to go to 16. I see the SEC possibly adding WVU and KSU to get to 16. The ACC probably adds Cincy to get to 16 teams for them, while UConn goes back to the Big East and becomes a football independent like UMass. The MWC then decides to add in TCU and Baylor. If they can get BYU to also come back, that would leave them with one spot remaining, which I believe will be reserved for UTEP. That gets them to 16. The AAC, sitting at 10 teams after UConn and Cincy leave, will add ISU, then try and get Army to join Navy in their league as football only, as well. That gets them to 12. If they want to go to 16, then they set their sights on the MAC and CUSA teams they want to add, like NIU, Ohio, MUTS, and maybe a team like Marshall. And that will be it. The rest of the MAC, CUSA, and SBC, as well as the top FCS schools, probably totaling about 60 schools or so, will be playing at a secondary level, with a playoff to win the national championship like the current FCS does.

Great move by the AAC--gets a very solid hoops program in a decent market, while not disturbing football. I've always wondered why the PAC-12, for example, wouldn't add Gonzaga and St. Mary's to their league. Seems like an easy fix, they would cover the revenue you pay them fairly easily, plus you get more credits for their basketball success.

Who makes up the non-Big 12 that you are referring to? Just curious to see who you are talking about...

That he wasn't fired on the spot for getting into an altercation with Silver is still amazing. He should have been fired for being the OC of an offense with the overall excitement of watching paint dry, not to mention having the personality of Rosie O' Donnell.

Neither has much choice. I guess they could go independent or make it to where those schools weren't in their divisions, but if they would prefer to not exist as a program over not playing with another school they look down on, I'm sure that NMSU and ULM wouldn't mind. Besides, at some point, schools like Sam Houston and SFA will want to move up from FCS. Totally agree...

I think it would be great for us if we can get his thing tighter, from a geographical standpoint. Assuming we cannot move up to the MWC or AAC, which is what I believe is the case because of the Texas ties currently in the AAC and the future availability of Texas schools for the MWC to choose from the inevitable Big XII implosion, this scenario needs to happen ASAP. Schools like UTEP and La Tech cannot look down their noses anymore at NMSU or ULM--they don't have that kind of clout. UTEP, NMSU, UTSA, Texas State, Rice, and UNT in the West La Tech, ULL, ULM, Arkansas State, USM, and UAB in the East Troy, USA, FIU, FAU, Ga State, and Ga Southern in the South Marshall, MUTS, WKU, ODU, Charlotte, and Appy State in the North It all just makes too much sense from a cost standpoint, from a travel standpoint, and from a rivalry/attendance standpoint. Benefits the schools, the players, coaches, staff, and fans.

The AAC doesn't have to merge yet because they have a lot more revenue than the lower G5s--same with the MWC. Plus, both leagues will really stand to do better after the Big XII falls apart and they can add some solid pieces both in Texas and in the Midwest. I figure that will keep them able to continue playing the Power teams in OOC and in bowls. The rest of us will be the next level of play, but will have a chance to win a national championship which we don't now. Of course, people may not care, but it's the decisions we didn't make back in the 80s and 90s that determined our situation. We can still follow and support our alma mater, even if it isn't at the top level of play again. This isn't being I-aa in the SLC at the same time as the SWC and Big Eight being dominant. Very different today than it was back then.

Something like this is a matter of when... I know there are a lot of fans that don't want to associate with the old SBC teams, but it's a natural fit.

Best thing we and the others in the G5 can do is just live stream all games and make the priority be on cost cutting for travel and more regionalized conference opponents. We don't need to be playing Marshall, ODU, Charlotte, F_U, or any other eastern SBCUSA team as a conference opponent. Neither does Utep, UTSA, or La Tech. Until that gets fixed, this lack of TV and other media will just get more problematic. Fans of G5 schools, especially in the MAC, CUSA, and the SBC, need to figure this out soon. It won't get better, it's just gonna get worse.

So we can't seem to ever hire coaches that can recruit here? Or is it just maybe that we hire coaches who realize that they cannot get recruits to listen or consider us as a last FBS resort? I mean, we have been at this level of play now for over 22 years and nothing really changes in our recruiting rankings. Hire different coaches, Get a new conference, go to bowls, move into a new stadium, change the offensive schemes, etc...and nothing ever changes with our recruiting rankings. At some point, you have to at least ponder the question of how our program never makes decent leaps in recruiting, even against other G5s. We broke McCarney down after he had seen three years of significant rebuilding culminate in a 9-win, HoD Bowl victory season provide exactly zero with TX HS recruits and their coaches and parents. The guy went from Uber positive ever where he went about UNT, to being Darrell Dickey 2.0 by the time his 4th season here was in full swing. Maybe Littrell will get better as a recruiter, along with his staff, but he's gotta beat decades of apathy and negativity to fully turn this around to where it was back in the late 70s.

It isn't like Dodge's recruiting classes--he got legit FBS talent for offensive skill positions. Dickey, McCarney, and now Littrell all appear to be hammered by the UNT Apathy/Loser monster that exists with TX HS Coaches and Parents. Decades of not caring, caring very little, and now caring some, have combined to cause this. Only Dodge, because of his SLC run and reputation, was able to recruit better than anyone else here. HE just couldn't coach that talent at all, much less how to run a defense at this level. Seth Littrell has one option here--follow the Johnny Jones plan of coaching up what you can get and opening the doors to football players that want to transfer back near home, then start winning and opening up the door to get solid TX HS recruits to listen to you. Right now, Littrell doesn't have the pedigree or reputation to even sway these TX HS Coaches and parents because of the program's history. If he can fix that, while also winning here, he will have his choice of Power Conference head coaching jobs at his feet. If not, he will have his choice of assistant coaching jobs at his feet. Its that simple. Frank Wilson is selling kids on the idea that they are on the ground floor at a school who wants to win at football, will bring in legitimate competition that these kids and their families have heard of in OOC play, and will play in a city that is showing support for them. And these TX HS coaches know him from his LSU days, so he can get their attention pretty easily. Littrell cannot do that because he cannot offer these recruits what Wilson can offer. Now, if UTSA falls flat on their face, while we keep progressing upward, that can change. But the fact is that TX HS Coaches know two things about UNT Football--we dropped down to I-aa for a long time and when we moved up, we lost a lot of games to teams that their kids have heard of and followed in their lifetime. UTSA doesn't have that problem--yet. If the losing part comes into vogue for awhile, and we can start winning significantly, that might do the trick. But for now, recruiting here is just a tough gig because of our reputation. Its gonna take a coach, hopefully Littrell, to change this by winning big, but he's gotta do it with low-rated HS recruits, JUCO kids, and transfers until these TX HS coaches and parents will change their views on us.

We chose Shanice Stephens over Vic Schafer...one lost to TWU, the other just beat UConn to end a 111 game winning streak. As we say, only at North Texas...

I know that a lot of guys just want to see UNT and feel excited...

Dixon is a great coach--he knew that winning at Pitt was going to get much harder because of the ACC schedule, which was an upgrade from the old Big East. Basically, Pitt, Syracuse, and Louisville traded away UConn, Georgetown, Villanova, and others for UNC, Duke, UVa, and the rest. TCU was home and they made a great commitment. Dixon should do great things for them. Their ceiling is much higher than SMUs, just from conference affiliation. I actually believe they can become even better than Baylor, just because Dixon is 100x the game coach that Drew is...his bibles full of cash bring in lots of talent, but his x's and o's are on par with any of the best "roll out the ball rack and play" coaches we have ever seen.

Youth today...next thing we will hear is that we expect Wilson to have a better year than Jamario had his freshman year...

This is what Benford is supposed to be--a recruiter at a Power Conference school with lots of resources and a plethora of talent surrounding him. He doesn't need to x's and o's anything and Will Wade won't ask him to do that. He will plant him in every gym in LA, MS, and TX to get the Tigers some great talent. Thanks again, RV...the $hittiest of his hires, if you ask me. Worse than Dodge just due to what he took over and what he left behind--with absolutely no success at all and an attendance plummet that may not be recovered here for years ahead, if ever...

The biggest leaps forward are going from awful to not awful...see Littrell's first football season here as proof. We basically improved 5 games--the last year of Mac/Chico saw us win one game because of miraculous circumstances (UTSA playing their 4th string QB in the second half let us win a game by a TD at home or else we are winless). I suspect that McCasland's first year here will look a lot like Jankovich did here in his first season after Gales was fired in 1994, as well as Johnny Jones after Trilli. Both coaches went .500 or better in their first season, where the kids that stayed were excited as hell to have new coaches that were excited to be here. I suspect that will occur here, somewhere in the .500 range. I will say this about the NIT when it comes to propelling a program forward. I've seen A&M, Wichita State, Baylor, and SMU use it to make major strides forward. I suspect that UTA and TCU will do the same, especially TCU, who has money, resources, conference pedigree, and ESPECIALLY a great head coach with great name recognition. It must be nice to have money and the interest of BMDs to care about revenue sports that way...

I think we can agree that Earl Campbell, Billy Sims, Eric Dickerson, LaDanian Tomlinson, and Adrian Peterson are the best running backs from Texas HS that went on to have incredible college and NFL careers. Maybe more to add to the list, but not looking at HS, but after that, these 5 are the ones that really stand out to me since the full integration of major college football in this state.