untjim1995

Recruiting, in general, is a crapshoot. You've got schools that get great recruits, no matter what, just because of their reputation, but even then, as we have seen with Texas in the last few years, that means very little if the right coach and playbook are not in place to fight complacency. What is special is when you get guys like Gary Patterson that look at HS running backs and see them as future defensive linemen or linebackers for his scheme. But again, even at any program, you have hits and misses. The problem here, though, is that we have almost no positive history in the last 35 years to recruit with toward players, coaches, or their parents. All they have known us as are losers, quitters (I-aa drop in the 80s), or just not being a serious school about football. Today, you've got a coach in Mac that makes in-roads with the high school coaches because of his relatability to them and his experience as a long-time coach, but both the players and the coaches think his offense is too boring and they think that the school doesn't really think highly of the program itself because of the beatings we take every time we play someone that is a p5 giant. We have a good school, located in a nice town while still being near the big city, but our recruiting rankings almost every year are just pitiful. I know Mac feels frustrated by it. And I know that the previous coaches wished they had what he has to recruit with today, but I don't think either had the personality or track record to make any serious in-roads around here beyond a few success stories. The Dickey days had some great RBs and defenses, but we had no strong throwing QB that could put the team on his shoulders, as well as his attitude of just finishing games as fast as possible without getting too hurt when playing OOC games. Other than Mac's obvious upgrade in attitude towards trying to win every game, the rest of it is basically the same as those days. Have an awesome defense and running game while playing teams that are usually rated near us in conference equals bowl berths. Don't have those, you don't get anywhere near .500. And its always being under .500 that continues to kill any recruiting progress.

Its tough to compare the two, since we play several more OOC games in hoops versus football. Basketball is always easier to schedule a decent name or two to play a series with than it is in football, at least in these parts. Unless you are KU, UK, UNC, Duke, Indiana, or UCLA, football rules the roost. We have been fairly fortunate in my lifetime as a UNT fan, back to 1990, to have seen these teams play here in Denton: Indiana, Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Alabama, Colorado, Baylor, TCU, SMU, Oklahoma State, Creighton, Wyoming, Texas Tech, Tulsa, and UH. And they have all been enjoyable and make the games against Tarleton State, Wayland Baptist, Langston, Jackson State, Prairie View A&M, Houston Baptist, and Northwood understandable, considering we have gotten to see those other teams. Its not like in football where we have seen our only home OOC game in two separate years be FCS teams only or get told that SMU and Army are "premier" opponents. That would be like telling us that our premier home games at the Super Pit would be UTA and Air Force...

This...

How many times and ways have heard this said to us over the years...

I completely agree...That way, both groups have to pony up to help the situation. I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, but hosting FCS games right now does absolutely nothing to help the program. We play a team that isn't going to bring anyone to the game, the competition doesn't help you with any FBS opponent, and frankly, the game is only helpful for teams with difficult conference schedules. Granted, our CUSA schedule isn't easy to us right now, but to the rest of the college football world, playing a game against a lot of CUSA teams is not looked at as being tough competition, as Marshall saw last year. We don't have to bring in a P5 team, but there are plenty of MWC, AAC, and MAC teams to schedule a series with, not including BYU, yet we have gotten Texas Southern, South Alabama, Idaho, Nicholls State, Portland State, Incarnate Word, Lamar, and Abilene Christian as OOC games scheduled at Apogee, to match up with our "premier" matchups with SMU and Army. Fouts, in its current condition, would host all of those teams today very easily. If I were a student or recent alum that voted for Apogee or now pay the fee for it, I'd be so mad that we built this great new stadium to play WORSE competition than when we played games at the old toilet bowl across the highway. Since Apogee has been built, Texas State has played Texas Tech at their place, UTSA has played Oklahoma State, Arizona, and New Mexico at their place, and UTEP has played Oklahoma at their place. If the AD here is so short-sighted that he won't schedule better, then its supposed to be the jobs of the administration and BOR above him to correct it.

Because we don't want to get it done. RV prefers whore games at colossal P5 giants to pay for the department. They are easy to schedule and he knows that those money games are going to eventually end when the P5s decide to stop scheduling G5s anymore. The BOR is fine with that approach because it keeps us in budget, which is all that matters. RV will be here until he wants to retire or dies. And I have absolutely no doubt that the athletic complex will be called the Rick Villareal Athletic Offices, which will be perfect to look over the Darrell Dickey Practice Fields. It is just how it works around here, year after year, decade after decade...

This is whereMac's reputation as a developer of linemen really helps u. We might not get any QBs that want to come here, but linemen know Mac specializes in this area.

It wouldn't change a thing in their eyes if there was a mass exodus. Look at hoops--we went from averaging crowds that are double or triple the size we get now--and yet nothing was done about it because it would cost too much. Known costs are always the first hurdle for the BOR and administration. Everything else follows. Think about it--they literally are just fine with keeping Benford for a 4th year at half the attendance of the year before he got here because it would knowingly cost $325k per year that they had to buy out. Opportunity costs don't even matter...and the same will be true of McCarney, too, if he loses big time in the next two seasons. We won't buyout an extra $650k for anything more than one year. Its just not what we do. Vic Trilli, Todd Dodge, and Tony Benford are all proof of this.

Sadly, that game was up against Alabama at A&M that day, which got a ton of attention from theyear before when the Aggies beat them and it was their only loss on the way to another Bama title. The heat kept some diehards from coming that day, but that other game also caught a lot of casual fans who watched that game on TV, too.

Sadly, we knew it wasn't an actual quote... Vito says that because he knows its true. Smith has to prove himself to be better than McNulty on the field in practice, in an offense he has never run before, while McNulty knows it like the back of his hand. McNulty will start at SMU and at home against Rice, at a bare minimum, probably even against Iowa and USM, too. If he loses the starter's job, it will be against Portland State, which is in early October.

Until we run an offense that Texas HS kids want to play in that are taller than 6'0", we are going to have to go the JUCO route for QBs. Its just that simple.We run an offense that Woody Hayes would have run in the 60's and 70's. The high majority of Texas HS kids play in spread offenses. Their coaches think its more fun for the kids--they think Mac's offense is boring. Obviously, by the results we have seen since Mac got here, so do the HS QBs from this state. Mac's starters have been Derek Thompson, who was already here, MiniMac, who he got from Iowa because he knows his dad, Greer, who came from the juco ranks and cannot play at this level, and Dajon, who was run off for multipple reasons and didn't have another FBS offer, IIRC. And if Damarcus Smith cannot come in here and win this job against this bunch this year, that will be just pathetic. And then we will start all over again trying to find another JUCO QB to come here and hope to take the reins of the busdriver offense, this time with a different OC, since Chico will probably be gone after this season ends.

That is very possible. I truly believe he'd have gotten an extension last year if he could've finished .500 or better, but even that small hurdle proved to be way higher than it should've been.

I think RV will use the Dodge approach this year with Beenford. Once it becomes clear that there is no chance of having a winning season, including winning every game in the CUSA Tournament, he will be toast and Rob Evans will take over. I still think Rob Evans woulkd be a logical choice to be the head coach here next year and beyond, with his track record and experience. This means RV will hire an assistant that blows him away in an interview.

In all seriousness, FCS games against FBS teams shouldn't even be allowed because of the scholarshp differential alone. This is a good thing for the big Ten to do. There are plenty of MAC, SBC, and CUSA schools to get a bought game from. The Big Ten's revenuees are huge--they know that playing a FCS opponent won't help their bottom line to get intot he playoff system anymore. So pay a few hundred grand more to play Idaho than Idaho State and you don't get crushed for it in the media if it comes down to matchignup with another school in a different conference. I've never minded playing P5 money games--we obviously have to have them, just like most G5 schools. But except for when we play Iowa, all of our money games have been against southern powerhouses for the last 10 years. LSU, UT, OU, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas A&M. We have basically learned that northern and western P5s are more beatable than the southern schools, plus playing games later in the year for OOC has also helped the G5 team to be more competitive. If we had a better team this year, the Tennessee game would actually fall at the best time it could for us--late in the season instead of opening the year as the Christians being fed to the lions. I just think RV needs to call more Pac schools, B1G schools, and northern schools in the ACC and SEC. Colorado, Kansas, Mizzou, Kentucky, UNC, NC State, UVa, Maryland, and Rutgers are all teams I'd be glad to play as a one time bodybag opponent.

Well, a schedule of 5 home games with Portland State, Western Kentucky, Rice, Texas-El Paso, Texas-San Antonio really does sell itself...//RV

Now you are just trolling. Mac got it real quick last year just how much this game matters to the fanbase, even though he looked at it first as if there was no reason this could be looked at as a rivalry because of the lopsided record overall. Once he saw this and heard about Russia State being preferred to SMUby George Dunham, he knew then what this menat. And we went out there and crushed them. When he was at Iowa State, ISU hadn't beaten Iowa in years. Hayden Fry had just owned ISU. Then, once Mac got things going in Ames, he turned the tables on Iowa. He started winning more than he lost against Iowa, knowing that game mattered more to ISU fans than any other game. He's gonna do the same thing here with SMU. The Ponies don't look at us as any kind of rival--they have TCU and UH for that, not to mention Tulsa and Tulane. We will always want this game more than they will, even if we don't win it.

If we lose to SMU or Portland State, it's very possible that we only win 1 game. Those two teams are behind every single CUSA team we play by a wide margin.

With our track record of getting QBs here under Mac/Chico, I'd say you'd better go down to 55% and 5.5. And that is recruiting in a state with the offenses that are full of throwing QBs at 95+% of the schools. And yet last year's QB and this year's hopeful QB are both JUCOs. It is what it is--you just gotta hope that the busdriver keeps a steady hand on the wheel. That's the McDickney Offense in a nutshell.

The schedule is the just a killer for a school like ours, in its current talent condition. Blame RV for a poor schedule, blame Mac for the lack of developed talent on the roster, but the fact is that this team may have a coach in year 5, but it looks like one in year 2. Obviously, it shouldn't, but it does. So, because of that fact, you can be pissed about that reality, but to be reasonable about the current situation and the schedule ahead, expecting a bowl berth is just a pipedream, IMO. It sucks, but its the place we are in. The only person who is ont he chopping block is Chico, who's contract runs out this year. Unless he turns Minimac into something no one can foresee, this will be his last year. But Mac and RV are here after this season even if we go 0-12, which we won't because of Portland State, at the very least. For those fans out there that love UNT Football and RV because of tailgating, even with only 5 games to enjoy this fine experience that has given the AD an almost lifetime guaranteed contract, its highly probable that you guys are going to enjoy this season the most out of anyone associated with UNT...and you'll probably have plenty of room to enjoy yourself in the stands, too.

I don't think so...music is the window to the university and the town. Always has been, always will be. Maybe that is what brings in the "hippies" as you say, but that is what the entire city is known for. Its a liberal arts university and town. Again, though, your point was that football is king in Texas...which is very true. Just not in Denton, Texas. It isn't wishy washy on sports at all...they make it real clear that they don't care about them much at all, except for the 10,000-20,000 that show up on a Saturday for the fall, many of who travel from outside the city limits, as well as the 1000-3000 that show up at the Super Pit during the regular season. From a pool of 36k students, thousands of faculty and employees, 100k citizens in Denton, and the 200k local alumni in the DFW area, that 's not wishy-washy, that's pretty damn clear to me...

Arkansas is a talent-rich and tradition-rich flagship program in the best conference in our land. They are doing a great job of finding a niche for their style of offense, which I think will play well in the SEC, since they have gone spread happy, too. But Arkansas will get a much better QB than us even if they never passed the ball because they are Arkansas in the SEC. Kids in Arkansas want to play at Razorback Stadium. QBs in Texas don't want to come here unless they have no other option. I have no problem with the McDickney offense...when its paired with a kick-ass defense and special teams. But it will never feature a throwing QB that is flinging it around all over the field, like at most other schools these days, who can put the team on his shoulders and bring you back on his own. Look at the QBs we have signed and played under Mac has been the coach--McNulty (underwhelming), Dajon (bad fit), and Greer (scared). None of them could even be trusted to throw a pass downfield against FBS competition, one of who seemed nervous as hell to be on the field, one who couldn't learn the playbook or anything else apparently, and one who could be trusted to only hand off the ball or throw two yard passes. Maybe Damarcus Smith changes this completely and he is Seneca Wallace 2.0, but we won't know that until October most likely. McNulty is Mac's guy--fully trusts him, knows he will run the gameplan the he wants it run, and he apparently is a good test-taker in Chico's class.

I never posted a syllable about UTA being our rival, just posting about a school that actually looks at us as a rival. Kinda like SMU looks at us, but I digress...but I guess bringing that up is "dumb", which is probably what SMU posters say when we talk about them being our "rivals", the guys who have played us exactly 6 times in the previous 25 years. And, yeah, football really rules bigtime in Denton, Texas...I mean adding 800 members to the MGC in the same time that 76k graduated, not to mention those who attended the school and didn't graduate, or just moved into Denton in the last 15 years, shows that football is definitely ruling in our fair town.

In all seriousness, the school that views us as a huge rival is probably UTA, since we compete with them for Metroplex students and have played several years in basketball. UTSA probably likes us as a "rival" in football, since we are an in-state school that has some name recognition from fielding a team for decades, yet still haven't beat them (sad)...

If BYU could move the needle, they'd already be there. But the Big XII is at full value right now. The three big drivers in the Big XII are UT, OU, and KU. OU and KU are already flirting very heard with the Big Ten and SEC, with the Pac-12 and ACC also possibilites. Its the GOR that keeps them in place. If they both leave, as has been mentioned heavily of late to go to the Big Ten, Texas is not staying in the Big 12 as its currently positioned. They either go with the other two or they go independent, which I still believe is their best bet. They can unleash all of the political baggage that would be Baylor, Tech, and TCU, by, in part, agreeing to still play them, as well as fellow independents BYU, ND, and Army. They can add in an FCS team to play, a few SBCUSA teams to buy, and then get other P5 games, all while keeping the LHN. The AAC would do backflips if Texas joined them for the other sports, just like the ACC did with ND. In that scenario, the Pac-12 probably just stays at 12. They won't take religious schools, so that kills BYU, BU, and TCU, nor will they take schools with poor academic rankings that are below some of their current members, so Boise State, Texas Tech, OSU, and KSU are out. They won't take Iowa State becuase of having no market, even though they are AAU, and obviously WVU isn't a git geographically, academically, or market-wise. That leaves the ACC and the SEC to figure out if they want to stand pat at 14 football members or if they want o join the Big Ten in adding membership to get to 16. The SEC is all about TV markets for the SEC network, so I don't know if KSU, OSU, or WVU move the needle enough, although they have made it clear that they won't take two teams from the same state anymore, so if the ACC holds steady with its membership, then maybe KSU and OSU would be good fits. For $hits and giggles, lets say they do. Then, let's say the ACC adds WVU and UConn to get to 16, as well. The ship would have 60 conference mates, plus at least three independents with national name recognition, ND, BYU, and UT. I don't believe that Tech, TCU, Baylor, or ISU could pull off independence, so I suspect that the MWC will add them into their conference at that point. I could be wrong about TCU and Baylor, though--their money might be able to keep them afloat for a while as an independent in football to see if they can join the other three I mentioned above, knowing full well that the AAC would probably take them in, as well, as non-football members. You could reshuffle the deck to include a few differnet names as G5s that could move up, but only UConn has the basketball gold in both genders to provide the most value, not to mention their proximity to the NE markets.I don't see how they could get passed up for expansion by Cincy, USF, UCF, Memphis, Houston, Boise State, or BYU. Anyone not mentioned is G5 going forward for good, unless they quit football/athletics.

My only worry about Means is that he was red-shirted last year with the worst collection of QBs that we have seen here since the Dickey era closed up. Seriously, if the coach felt it was better to redshirt Means instead of play him over McNulty last year, that doesn't give me much confidence in Mac's opinion of Means. I know you are talking true fresman versus junior QB who also redshirted, but seriously, McNulty is not an FBS QB. Just because he beat out Greer and Dajon in no way makes me feel good about him. Instead, it just tells me that Greer cannot play at this level and that Dajon was a round peg in a square hole known as Mac/Chico's offense. I'd have taken my chance on Means over McNulty last season, especially after the FIU game where the coach literally wouldn't let him throw a ball in the 4th quarter because he knew he would turn it over. Means could be a Derek Thompson QB eventually. McNulty has more than proven that he cannot reach even that level of busdriver. The McDickney offense is very much a bore to Texas HS recruits and coaches. Ask any of them and they will tell you that. They all like McCarney and his staff, but they think his offense is from the Woody Hayes era of football, a time that most of today's football coaches were'nt even alive to see. They like his hard-hitting defense and his ability to relate to offensive linemen, but they know that the spread is run by 95% of the high schools in this state. The coaches are the first ones to tell you that the McDickney offense is absolutely no fun for the kids and that maybe one school per district runs an offense that is like ours. I suspect that you'll continue to see us having to depend on juco QBs or HS kids from out of state to agree to come here. Especially after watching Dajon get run off, other staffs are going ot have an even easier time to recruit against us for QBs than they already had, which was very easy to begin with. Even if Chico gets fired after this season and the staff somehow blames him for the QB mess, I still doubt that the G5 schools we recruit against aren't still gonna pound on Mac's offensive strategy at UNT and ask them what offesne would be a better fit and more fun to be a part of. Whether its been 2002-2004 or 2013, two things have held true to win at UNT at this level of play. We have to more physical than the other teams we play and we have to create turnovers. If we do, we win. If not, see 1995-2001, as well 2005-2014, sans 2013.