untjim1995

Actually, the laughter you hear is probably from TWU and SMU.

???

Great--now we get a guy back who can win 3-4 games a year versus one who wins 1-2 per year. Way to go MFers!! Neither of these two guys are worth celebrating as head coaches in my opinion. Corky Nelson would run laps around these two guys with the current level of support and interest in the program today.

No chance that this happens. He either signs an extension because we field a bowl team next year or he is fired with a year left on the contract. Its either or, IMO. Of course, I go back to the words of the SIDs office that told a local media member that next year's goal is to get to 4-5 wins and then year 5 is to go to a bowl game. I can only pray that this type of expectation has somehow changed in the last two weeks.

I, too, heard that Harbaugh was looking at a salary that was in the between $375K and $400K per year. This could even be low. We couldn't come close to that because we were still paying for Dickey's last 2 years on his cotract, so we went and got the coach that we could afford and create a buzz. Everyone can hate the "we are poor little ol' UNT", but until the administration and the BOR say that we will buy out Dodge's remaining contract AND offer a salary that is around what Harbaugh wanted coming from a Division III school, Dodge will be here for 2010. We might only have 10K in attendance next year, but the cost to the university will outweigh the possibilities of increased support with a new coach. Look, it is really simple. Unless, the university decides to fund this thing at a differnet level than they have historically, Dodge will be here. But the good news is that it will be his reckoning as a head coach. Next year, either Dodge wins 7+ games and we go to a bowl game (assuming that there are no quirky leave-outs due to us being in a piss-poor conference) or he is gone. We go into a new stadium with a lot of talent that is somehwat seasoned and a new coach that can recruit kids here to a great stadium and facilities. We made a bad decision on signing Dodge to a five year deal and we have to deal with it--AND learn from it, too. Most deals are actually a year short of the tenure on the contract for recruiting purposes, so a 4-year deal really says that you have 3 years to get this going. No coach ever goes into his last year of a contract without an extension planned because it kills recruiting. Three years really should be enough to see a coach turn it around in today's world. We have seen Rice turn around in one year, SMU turn around in 2 years, etc. It can be done here, too.

I was just lurking over on killerfrogs.com and reading up on all the hysteria about the game tomorrow in my old hometown. It really amazes me just how far TCU has come since the old SWC days. It really does seem miraculous. They were 1-10 in Pat Sullivan's last year, with their only win being in the last game against SMU, causing the Ponies to miss a bowl game (hehe!!) But here is where the really crazy part sets in for me. In SI's college football season preview for 2005, we were ranked 1 spot behind TCU to start the year, somewhere in the 50s or 60s, IIRC. That year, TCU went 11-1 and finished #11, we went 2-9. Of course, we also beat Cincy in the NO Bowl in 2002 and they are now on the cusp of their 2nd BCS game in a row. I know that there are several lines of thought on what happend to us since 2004, but really, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO US TO CAUSE THIS? In mny ways, I think the 4 SBC championships falsely made us feel like we were further along than we were. It is just so frustrating. I mean, really, freaking TCU is a Texas loss (albeit not likely) from probably playing for a MNC if they take care of business. It just all blows my mind that we were once considered BASICALLY EQUAL to them in the national press just 5 seasons ago.

Let me see here--this thread was started by UNT-Playmaker and has great insight from shaft. This thread = greatness for sure. Only thing that surprises me is that it wasn't started at 3am...

Am I the only one on here that finds it absolutely embarrassing that we lost to TWU in an athletic event? Seriously?

This is so money, I can't even believe how close this comparison is on EVERY level. Trilli was such a great guy, but his coaching acumen was somewhere near your spare Denton YMCA basketball coach. Heck, the old Ryan coach one time mentioned that Trilli couldn't win in THEIR DISTRICT, much less at UNT. Sure it was probably an exaggeration, but it hit home with me when he said it. I just remember when Maryland beat us by 75 points in one game his first year at UNT and I thought to myself, Division II teams don't lose that badly to Kansas or UNC or Kentucky. But, I still bought into him completely and just thought success would show up soon. Then when Big West/ SBC teams would beat us by 30 at the Super Pit in front of 9500 empty green seats, I knew that I ws just a little wrong about Trilli, which is sadly how I now feel about Dodge. I am not sure, but I think Trilli got 4 years here, which is what I believe Dodge will get, too. The Zombie has returned!!

I completely agree with this last sentence. Seriously, we couldn't build a new stadium, even though we needed one for decades. Then, during the worst economic year the country has seen in 70+ years, the stadium deal gets passed. Whether RV and GB were vocal or not vocal about it all last year, the fact remains they wanted it badly to pass. RV may have some black marks on his record, but he has to be the best AD this university has ever seen. I still think that another school will come along and hire him away after all of the facility and financial improvements he has led during his tenure.

He would be placed into "development", not urinal scrubbing

SUMG, I agree to a point, with the question of whether being able to afford to keep Dodge. I will say this up front, just as so many of you have--I think that Todd Dodge is a great guy and a fabulous high school coach. It just hasn't worked up here. Trust me, I would love for our university to basically cut ties today because we can afford to pay him off and go and get a "name" coach that can compete with Patterson and Jones here in the Metroplex for recruiting. I know that the program lists lots of donors, but I guess my question goes back to the buyout. Because of the amount of Dickey's buyout, the amount we could afford to pay a new coach was still minimal, actually below what Dickey made in his last few years. My fear is that we would limit ourselves to only go out and get a "cheap" coach again. Of course, many times, the cheap option turns into gold--maybe a i-aa coach with success makes it happen here or a an OC from a mid-major that is bright and makes a great run in his first head coaching job, but we have seen us do similar things in hiring since 1991 and it really hasn't worked. I guess my main point is that if it means putting up with one last year of Todd Dodge to prove he can do this or else we can go get a Kragthorpe-type, for example, then I will accept it. But what is UNACCEPTABLE to me is either hiring a cheap coach again because we fired him too soon or keeping Dodge here for the fifth year with anything less than a 7 win, bowl-attending season next year. Just my opinion, though.

Let me ask you a question. If at your current job, you made $250K or more and your boss came in and said either you stay here and do nothing and get $250K for the next two years or you can leave your job and go and get a job at your previous level, which pays about $125K, what would you do, knowing full well that the $125K job (at most) will be plentiful whenever you want to go look? He ain't leaving with us paying nothing. There will be a buyout of some level--its just a matter of how much and for how many years. Next year will be his last year on this current contract, no matter what. He will either get an extension if we are winning or he will be bought out for his last year of salary, which would allow us to pay a new coach more than what we could afford to pay Dodge while Dickey was still collecting a check from us.

I apologize for the length of this, but I think we all have really gotten down--rightfully so--about where our program currently resides in the FBS division, but I feel like there are some positives that are ahead that I want to discuss. This is a list of things that I think will impact UNT football positively for the future ahead. 1. The new stadium will open up new funds and recruiting for this program at the perfect time. I truly beleive that our university decided that it wanted to be in the football business because if the vote didn't pass, I am 100% convinced we were either going back to 1-aa or giving up the program eventually if we were stuck at Fouts. 2. Dodge's situation-- The university made a mistake giving him a 5-year deal (should have been no more than 4) But, since we have this, next year will be his year to either stay here for a while or get fired. There is no way we can afford to fire him now, but there is no way he will be coaching in 2011 with only one year on his contract. RV knows recruiting will suffer mightily if he goes into a final year of a contract with no extension. So a FINAL bit of more patience will give us this certainty--Dodge is either our coach going into a new stadium with an extension or we will have a new one. The buyout is too steep now, but it won't be next year. The AD has been on record about next year needing 4-5 wins, but I now believe that the number of wins is a bare minimum of 7 with a bowl appearance, unless all slots are full. Otherwise, a coaching change will be done. I'm not completely ruling out this year, but I highly doubt it will happen in 2009 or early 2010. 3.Potential Replacement List--there are going to be a lot of folks out there that will entertain this opportunity more now that at any point in the last 30 years. We will have the the final piece of the facility-puzzle in play. The academics, the location, and the increased fan support are the biggest reasons to believe that a guy with a lot of name value will come knocking. Just a few of the names that I believe will be talked about will be Franchione, Kragthorpe, Bower, Dan McCarney, Chan Gailey, not to mention a few other well-known coordinators from big-time schools. Seriously, this should be a job search that will bring up names we never would have dreamed of in the past. 4. SMU---TCUs success over the last 10 years is miraculous--very similar to where K-State went in the 90s from their horrid decades before. The thing with TCUs success though was that it was in Ft. Worth. We all know that the major media outlets in this town revolve around Dallas. Denton is much more aligned with Dallas than FW, and the history between UNT and SMU is so much stronger, that the SMU program's losing ways didn't really affect us that much at all. The two conferences are pretty equal, with a few differences here and there, and the recruiting was about the same, too. Yeah, they could pay more for a coach, but the success never manifested itself for SMU, especially when Phil Bennett made twice as much as Dickey and had a worse record, so we all kind of laughed. But then SMU got real serious with the cash and bought June Jones for $2 Million. And in the first year, they were terrible. But the money paid is starting to pay off big time and SMU is about to go bowling--for the first time in 25 years. Meanwhile, we are floundering at 2-7 and our record has been around this for the last 5 years. Because our "rival" down the road--if that what we truly think of them--is seeing the light, our fanbase is going to have to see both Metroplex teams enjoy amounts of coverage that will dwarf anything we have ever seen. Which, of course, means we will either become an after-thought in the Metroplex or we are going to make a "splash" to stay competitve with the folks we recruit against. The snobs in University Park will still be able to spend more, but the HS recruit doesn't always fit in with that crowd, nor do they always qualify academically, which is precisely why I do believe that the large public school up the road will still do quite well in recruiting. And why I think a reputable coach will look to come here for around $400k-500K. He knows that what could be around the corner here will lead to $$$ for himself, whether from UNT or another school. To me, I want SMU to lose every week, but I think that their bar has been raised and if we are truly "peers" with them in football, which is what we are in regards to recruiting, this is going to have to force us to raise the bar, too. Its one thing for Troy to become a strong program, its completely different when its SMU. 5.)New Leadership--replacing the Old Nestors-- In the past, UNT's BOR and administration took the path of least resistance and were fine with it. They felt that a true liberal arts college that had a strong history in education was perfect for the sleepy town that didn't want to grow or attract crowds. No need to put money into something as "obscene" as football. But things change--growth occurs whether you want it or not. Now, with the leadership we have seen from Pohl and Bataille, over the last 10 years, they want this thing to work and they aren't gonna take chances on unknowns again, not with almost $80Million being spent to build a new stadium. That is the thing of legacy-type reputations--for good or bad. A beautiful new stadium with large crowds, winning football, and quality opponents will get a name or two on facilities, not to mention even more job opportunites. But a large new stadium that cost that much and isn't anywhere close to full because we cannot afford to have a competitive program is stuff that will follow an administrator anywhere else he or she may go, especially during these economic times we are in today, Imagine for a moment, tha you are in Gretchen Bataille's shoes. She just watched the student body decide that the school deserves a new stadium, to watch a team she obviously enjoys watching and knows full well from her prior stops that athletics is that window for all to see us from afar. She knows that the university's student body is only going to get bigger. Do you think if you were in her shoes that it make sense to move forward with all of this and watch it fail? After your student body just agreed to raise the fees for this for years to come while our world economy was at its worst in 70 years? She has too much vested in this project to watch the whole thing turn into the worst investment the university has ever made, which it would be if we don't upgrade the product. Drawing 11K to see the two worst teams in America play each other at Fouts is bad, but it somehow seems appropriate since it is a toilet. But drawing 11K to watch two teams that suck in a brand new stadium that cost so much and had so much controversy surrounding it would be the ultimate reputation crusher. She may have been fairly silent during the vote, but her preference on needing a new stadium has been known for years--and now she has it. Under her tenure as President at UNT, she will be forever known as the one in place when we got approval for a new stadium that will cost the student body alot of money. It is in her best interest to make the investment return plenty back to the university--and she knows it too. So there it is--my longest post ever, but I felt it was needed atthis time. I don't blame anyone who got tired head after the first paragraph, but I think it all needs to be noted and reminded. The history of this place is terrible when it comes to decision-making and funding, without a doubt. And if I thought for a moment that we weren't going to do anything about it--stay in Fouts, keep Dodge with no strings attached, etc.--I would probably walk away, although it wiould hurt to do it. But I asked myself a few weeks ago, what is the university gonna do about this program and it made me realize that they are already doing it. From tailgating, to the new athletic facilites, to the new stadium on the way, and to the "unacceptance' of where we are as a program, it made me feel better about the future than I EVER HAVE BEFORE. Trust me, I know that my faith could get stomped in the mud here, but I don't believe it will this time. As a matter of fact, just like we did when Trilli got hired, then fired, and we replaced him with Johnny Jones, I think we will see a better coach and a winning program come sooner than we ever believed it could, at least from where we sit today. So there it is--Down the Corridor of Years, We'll Forget the Joys and Tears, For North Texas We Love!!

Where is the money gonna come from? Sure you can try the "reclassification" route, but there is still a cost if TDodge accepted the deal--whatever that would be. Here is the best hope we have--and I believe it is slim to none--that Dodge decides that HS Football is his thing and he leaves this all behind. Again, that probably isn't gonna happen, as in these economic times, a head coach at a big Texas HS will pay less than half than what his salary commands at UNT. If someone gave that kind of money up knowingly during these times, I wouldn't question their heart--I would question their mind.

I bet you that their basketball success gives their AD some more $$$ from alumni giving and attendance, not to mention NCAA $$, that makes our financial support look pathetic. Our alumni might be larger, but I will bet that the $$ given back to WKU from their alumni is at a much higher level than ours. Could be that Crennel could very well look at WKU and say that I can go home and win in that league sooner rather than later. The bigger question is who do we get and when? The AD is on record as saying that Dodge is safe this year if we are "competitive", so I am assuming that since we doubled our win output from last year, and the fact that he still has 2.5 years to go on his full contract, the when is next year at the earliest. The who is going to be the intriguing part--as I said earlier, this is gonna be an attractive job to someone if we pay a good salary.

In other news, it appears that we will all still need oxygen to breathe. Seriously, How hard is it to really write an article like this? Yes, it is extremely accurate, but this same article could have been written at just about anytime over the last 30 years. Even in the SBC championship days, we got a little more attention from the local media, but it was ALWAYS behind TCU and SMU, even when we had better records than SMU. The Metroplex fanbase doesn't even support TCU as well as they should and they play in a really good conference and have reached #4 in the BCS. The real deal here is that if you are not in the Big XII, the fans really don't care here in the DFW area. If you are not from the old SWC, the media really doesn't care, either. Here is the hope and this is what I would write an article about. UNT is building a new stadium that will be ready in 2011. The facility will match up perfectly with the other great facilities in the Athletic Center. The funding for the program will get a needed infusion from student fees and probably from corporate sponsorships and suite purchases/rentals. This will be an attractive job for someone.

I also think World Peace would be awesome, too...

Fixed

You'll keep waiting, trust me. This spare ain't gonna answer you directly on anything--unless it is how many mattresses are being sold today or how great things are in Albuquerque these days. He acts like everyone on this board is a Dodge apologist--never mind that for every Dodge apologist, there is a Dodge antagonist to match.

Even More Fixed

The SEC is on record as saying that they don't want to play non-BCS schools in bowl games anymore, which is why the Liberty Bowl is not happy. I don't know how the Big XII feels, but I suspect it isn't far from the SEC's stance. There is just too much credibility that the non-BCS has to gain when they beat a BCS team.

Shhh..don't let this little nugget of truth get out. The media giant that is the DRC hates UNT, as does the Ciy of Denton, all of Denton County, the Metroplex media (all because of SMU), and the entire state of Texas, especially UT and A&M, which view us as the real threat to their status!!If we could just convince Bill Patterson to hire UNT grads only for sports journalism, in the same manner that our fine alma mater has only hired UNT grads for ALL athletic department positions, we wouldn't be in the position we are in today.--SARCASM ALERT!!! Look, Bill Patterson went to OSU. His parents went to UT. They run a business that caters to the local readers, of whom, 90% feel the same way about UNT athletics--pure apathy. They publish what the readers of Denton want to read.

The really sucky part about this is that the bowl games want the 6-6 team from the BCS conference over the 8-4 or better SBC team--see Troy in 2007. Its just the way it is, but the BCS ain't going anywhere. Anyone want to take a look at the teams that are undefeated and see any way both TCU and Boise State get BCS bowl bids? There is just no way--hell, Boise beat Oregon for the second year in a row and will watch the Ducks zoom past them in the BCS rankings. WHEN this happens, it will represent the second year in a row that Boise will go undefeated, be ranked high--as in top ten, and not get to go to a BCS game. And the worst part of it all? Baylor gets more bowl money revenue than Boise, even though the Broncos go undefeated and the Bears will not win a conference game this year. That is the most repulsive part of it all to me.

Am I the only one that is thinking that this whole scenario will not end well for the winner of these prized tickets and parking pass?