untjim1995

You night be a Mean Green Fan if you always have to explain to friends and family who the Sunbelt Conference is, that FAU, FIU, ULL, ULM, Troy, Middle Tennessee, and Arkansas State are actually Division 1 teams and not like SFA, Sam Houston, or SWTexas State), and then hear from all of them, no I really don't think I am going to pass up the other games on TV this weekend to go to your high school stadium.

I'm relatively new to this board as a poster, but have been an avid reader for a long time. I can only imagine what Emmitt is thinking right now--buddy, I don't know you, but I have a feeling that we may see a retort fairly soon on being a Dallas cop. I am certain that Emmitt is more like the 99% of our police force out there--honorable and forthright. What he doesn't deserve is to be thrown in with a bad-cop story from years ago. That's pathetic.

Does anyone know why David left his position? Where did he go?

This reply is so on the money, its not even funny..for UNT that is.

This is my fear that the Texas/Oklahoma schools (not UT, OU, or A&M) won't schedule us again unless it is just a road visit here or there. I think that alot of folks know what Dodge will be able to do for our program and they have no interest in being first or second on the list of his conquests at UNT. I could be wrong, but I just don't see SMU playing us again after this year. Their fans, just like TCUs a few years back, don't feel that it is their best interest to play us regularly. That is why the Navy game and others like it are very important that we attend very well and show other schools that we are someone to play regularly. If we can't get these Texas/Oklahoma schools to play us, lets get Memphis, Soutehrn Miss, UAB, Wyoming, New Mexico, or Colorado State to sign a home and home series.

Thanks for your remarks about this. As you state, hatred will get us nowhere. I just wonder how much the folks in Dallas really want to have anything to do with us in the same conference. It really doesn't seem like a fit to me. It is my belief that the SBC will be our home for quite a long time--possibly for the next 5-10 years or more. I don't like that much, but I think it would take a huge shift in our reputation amongst other conferences to get us in CUSA or MWC anytime soon. But, that said, Coach Dodge will go a long way in helping us reach that goal.

From the very little that I know--granted, mostly heresay--but I have always heard that SMu was much more interested in having La Tech as a member of CUSA than UNT. But, in the end, neither made it. But, as you can imagine, La Tech wants in and if they have some built-in help...well that doesn't seem to hwlp our chances much. I still think it is amazing that this very little school, SMU, that has nothing to show for football in the last 20 years has enough pull to do this, but they managed to help keep us out of the old SWC when we could have been something special. I'm still curious to hear what ideas we could use to get into CUSA, though. It would be a great fit.

I don't often reply to things on this board, but I am interested to hear your answer as to how UNT can get into CUSA when SMU has zero interest in us being in there and apparently has the ability to keep us blacklisted. I do agree with you that it would be a perfect fit for us, but I just don't think it is realistic. I think the idea of building a terrific new stadium that is state-of-the art for D-IA and see if we could join TCU in the MWC would be perfect, but I also realize that this is a long ways away, too. Just curious to hear your reply.

I was a student manager back during both Parker and Simon's time at UNT. I think you are both correct, actually. Parker was a high school coach who believed that high school motivational tactics would work with the college kids. The best example was how he talked at length of how his Marshall team got ready to play Permian when he was there and how he had pep rallies scheduled at certain times and how the team marched into the stadium arm-in-arm. Again, those tactics may have been great with 16-18 year-olds, but most of the guys we spoke with just laughed it off because they would even say it was ridiculous--that's putting it lightly. He could recruit decently as you mentioned with those guys that led us to I-A, but I can think of so many blunders during his time. The biggest one that comes to mind was in a game against Northwestern State in 1992 where he had Mitch spike the ball to stop the clock--on 3rd down. Thus, we were forced to kick a tying field goal with like 25 seconds left. or go for it. We kick the field goal to tie it, then he decides to kick an onsides kick which they recover and end up kicking the game-winning field goal to win that game. I won't even talk about our 72-0 loss at Nevada, which was still I-AA at the time, or any of the other massacres that we suffered against some of the SLC teams we played. His teams either got pounded or lost extremely close games. Either way, he was not a good coach and most of us knew it inside the fieldhouse. When Simon came in, he gave the team a fresh attitude--that quickly became stale. He worst on-field blunder was at OU when he was screaming to the deep snapper to snap the ball to Toby Gowin int the end zone--except that Toby was standing behind him on te sidelines. Thus the ball gets snapped into the end zone with no one to grab it. Luckiily, the ball made it thru the back of the end zone for a safety. This was how he could just lose it emotionally at just the wrong time. The straw that broke the camel's back was when he tried to keep the DRC writer from knowing about towel-gate at Utah State by having someone in the athletic department drive the writer to the airport in Logan, UT via a longer path because the police were waiting at the airport for the team, he lost ALL credibility with the administration. because the writer still found out the next day and this all became national news. He had some of the worst peoople-skills of any coach at any level that I have dealt with. His own coaches hated him, which is why when he was fired and when Dickey got ram-rodded past everybody, Helwig made Dickey keep those coaches--many of whom stayed for years like Mills, Russell, Leftwich, etc.. Simon's teams weren't competetive with fellow Big West teams or lower BCS teams, but he could get them up for a big game against one of the Texas schools--in part because he knew that could get him a better job, which he almost got at Kansas. As for coaching, we all felt that Simon was a much better coach than Parker, but Parker was 20x the man that Simon was/is. And, in the end, you really need to be both to be a successful head coach in college--which is why you are both right. And, why the university got the right man for the job in Coach Dodge. As I have said often, he and Kragthorpe were miles ahead of any other coach at UNT in terms of being ready to lead people and give them the proper respect and motivation. Todd Dodge will be huge here, even if it isn't for a long period of time.

I couldn't agree more. Its been a while since I last saw any of these guys--probably haven't since Mitch since our reunion back in 1999 for the 1994 Southland Championship--but I look forward to visiting with Coach Dodge again and letting him know that he helped me get to where I am in my life.

Hey there everybody!! I am also new to the forum, but have been a lurker for many years. I can't tell you how excited I am to see Coach Dodge hired at UNT. I was a student manager when he was the OC and I worked with him and the QBs (including the great Mitch Maher) everyday at practice. Between Coach Kragthorpe and Coach Dodge, they were the two best coaches that I met and worked with at UNT by a long mile. Both knew how to connect with people--whether they were players, coaches, managers, trainers, fans, etc.. Trust me on this. Coach Dodge is a laid-back guy, but he knows when to get things fired up. UNT just got their best hope at making football a huge part of the university's culture. And for some one who had their way thru college paid for by the athletic department, I can only pray that the rest of the university and the community will finally begin to support its teams. As I have read often from PlummMeanGreen, Denton and its ol nestors have had their day--its time for a new beginning and I think we just saw it tonight!!