GrandGreen

I have a big doubt, and on the surface it contradicts comments I made concerning athletes being admitting to the HOF. I stated that off the field activities should not be held against players when NT chose to let those players continue to participate. I differ with Dickey. I think that his four straight conference championships are certainly HOF worthy. However, I hope that NT does not honor a coach that continually publicly criticized a program that he was working for. He should definitely get credit for building up NT football, but on the other hand, he should get the blame for basically letting the program slide as he looked for greener pastures. A coach's primary responsibly is always going to be winning, however he also has a responsibly to be a good representative of his school. Dickey failed miserably at being that representative.

I was generally a Corky fan, but lets get real. Nelson coached in a 1-aa league and never dominated. He did his best coaching against 1-a schools and I think those are the games that most remember. He won the Southland conference once in NT's first year were NT had a big advantage of having basically a 1-a recruited team playing in a lower league. Corky did a great job playing the "big boys" but against the Southland he was just a little better than a .500 coach. I liked Corky's attitude and NT was at a big disadvantage in the Southland that is rarely talked about. With the exception of UTA, most of the teams in Texas and Louisiana were composed of players that could not get admitted to NT. This continued until minimun standards were enacted by the NCAA, long after Nelson's tenure at NT.

I applaud the administration (who ever makes these decisions) for trying to make the HOF more exclusive. However, four a year is far from being that exclusive. I really enjoy the bloggers and am amazed at how candid they are in their comments. However, with the criteria they mentioned, it would be difficult to get many players in the HOF. Moral, academic, multi-year stardom, etc. standards; would disqualify many who are already in the HOF. Many of the current HOF players never graduated and in some cases were barely kept in school. Moral factors also in my opinion should not be an issue if the university kept them in school despite transgressions to play sports than obviously it would be very hypocritical to deny them the HOF. Inclusion should be based on the whole career, but IMO players such as Jamario Thomas will be ultimately included. Yes, he only had one great year; but it was a year few football players at NT or elsewhere ever came close to. Again, I will use the old analogy what if he seasons were reversed and he had ending his senior year averaging 180 yards rushing a game. There would absolutely be no question, he would be a quick induction into the hall. The current HOF football members are a very diverse lot, some where chosen IMO based on program support, pro careers, and some frankly I have little explanation for. All were good football players but some were not exceptional. Entry into the most prestigious group of NT athletes should be highly selective but based on the player's on the field, pool, track or court accomplishments. For the most part off the field and post NT activities should not be factors in selection. Obviously, there should be some exceptions: no mass murderers, automatic entry for supporters who rival Boone Pickens in level of donations, etc.

I suspect Hall will be in the HOF. Our fearless bloggers IMO don't consider that Hall was the QB of a run based offense and isn't going to have the numbers of pass first offensive QB's. All he did was lead teams to 3 conference championships something no other QB at NT has ever done. I wanted to be in on that discussion but couldn't make it to campaign for Walter Chapman, who I am sure would have got little support because he was only in a conference his first two years and played before defensive statistics were maintained. Therefore, there is nothing to sell, to those that never saw him play. If those statistics were available, I think they would show that Chapman would be the all time leader in tackles and tackles for loses for a NT defensive lineman. I do think that most that actually saw him play would agree that he should be quickly inducted.

Congrats to Juett, but I wondered why Perlman a first team all Belt last year was not on the team. Seems odd since NT was picked second, that WKU had four first team selections.

There are a lot of bodies available but although I hope you are right, there is nothing yet to suggest you are. The guys that graduated last year, Ike Thomas and Davenport started most of the games. Sykes who left the program actually started six. Gilmore started 4 at tackle and ended up started the last two at defensive end. Stewart started 3 games and Cole and Brown started one game each as woefully small defensive tackles. Ross actually started the last two games and Russo one game. So other than Gilmore there is not a lot of experience returning. Frankly the only one who has shown he can be an effective player so far is Gilmore. None of the others have shown much yet. The coaches seem to be high on Akpunka, Cantly and Ross; and add in Gilmore and I would project this as the starting lineup. The jucos really have not had time to prove themselves and hopefully there will be substantially help there. Desoto seems to be a forgotten man but he seems at this point to be as solid as any.

I believe it is an APR hit if he does not transfer to another college. It is two APR hits if he is not in good academic standing.

Not unexpected, with TCU being a good team and having a weeks more practice and already having played one exhibit game.

His decision and I wish him good luck, but it will be another hit to the APR.

Well, a very rare review, NT is not in the last or next to last slot. I do think they went to sleep at the wheel when rating the NT offensive line the 8th best in the league. They noted all the starters are back and the best lineman, Drake is returning after a years absence and still rated them next to the bottom of the conference. Strange, what most recognize as the strength of the team being rated behind NT's questionable defense.

For what its worth, Ross is now listed as a junior on the roster of the official site.

It looks like he would know his status better than a staff member. Looking at his profile on the official site, it says he played in one game in 2007 which would make him a senior if he did not get a medical redshirt. It is kind of unbelievable that the status of one of their best player is not better known.

Reopen with a rearranged title. Instead of Non UNT Sports which can be interpreted as any discussion other than about UNT sports, change it to Sports Non UNT. Hopefully than the threads would be limited to sports. I agree with those that think a sports message board is no place for political debate.

I like the virtual football guide but I will miss the old media guides. I hope that in the future that a lot of the material particularly the history of North Texas football that was part of the media guides can be added. I hope there are plans for on-line access to the records by years, participating players, statistical records, etc.

I thought you were talking about records and performances not intangibles. Most would think when you are discussing a team's performance that you are referring to on the field action not the climate within the athletic program. I think if you look at the scores you will have to agree that Tyler's club was a lot more competitive on the field. There was certainly hope when Tyler was hired and he was promptly fired after his one year due to off the field transgressions more than his record. There are a lot of positive things currently going on within NT's athletes program now, however I don't think that is germane to the debate about the quality of the football team. By your rationale, the last two years could be termed the golden age of NT football as the emphasis has been primarily on improving the program rather than cost containment which has been the focus for most of NT's history before moving back up to 1a or FB Division football.

Actually a history of winning is the most likely way to build up a program. I believe those that think a new stadium is a panacea for all of NT's football woes are in for a big disappointment. The stadium, short term, is not going to significantly alter the competition coming into Denton. Going from an old to new 30,000 seat stadium is not going to alter the economics of college football. Teams that can fill mega stadiums are not likely to schedule away games when they can make substantially more money at home and keep the home field advantages. Likewise, I don't think a new stadium will have much of an effect on the scheduling of other Texas teams in Denton who can come up with a myriad of reasons not to play NT. The new stadium will be a great building block for recruiting and elevating the program, but it is not going to turn a struggling Belt team into big time program without a lot more factors greatly improving. ColoradoEagle, based on your comments here; I doubt that you will ever be more than a casual NT fan. I have been going to NT games for decades, and I have never thought going to Fouts was a "terrible experience" or that the program was a joke. First, I have been to a lot of so called great football stadiums and I can honestly state that the stadium I watch a game is a minor consideration in my enjoyment of the game. Now where I set in the stadium may be, paying premium prices to be in the OU or UT end zone in seats that wouldn't accommodate the average pygmy does have a negative effect. NT is not going to be playing in a big six conference any time soon, and most that think NT's program is a joke will not change their opinions. Because those opinions are derived from a type of herd mentality that believes winning and hype are superior to loyalty or allegiance to their University.

It doesn't make me feel better, but I don't think you can find anything in NT history that comes close to matching the last two years in football futility. Being positive and optimistic is great, but you can't cover up the record of the last two years. There may have been years were the win/loss records were as bad but nothing matches the total non-competitiveness of the program in Dodge's first two years. I attended all the home games in Bob Tyler's one season and the disaster of Rod Rust's last season and I can honestly tell you that there is little comparison between those years and last year. You can argue why the last two years were bad, but I really don't see how anyone can state they were "far from the worst ever". Give me an example of any NT team in the last 50 years that supports your contention. Any real NT fan wants Dodge to succeed and in a mammoth way, but why try to obscure the obvious.

As of about 3:20 the roster has only been partially updated. It looks like that may be half way through.

I think a 1-11 record had more to do with it, then any projections. Just like the all conference team, NT is not going to get any respect until they turn things around.

I thought his comments were a bit off base, but otherwise I like what NT is doing with all the added coverage. Obviously, getting a bounce back player is not the same as winning a recruiting battle against the big XII and SMU or Houston certainly are not in the top tier of college football. Also getting late qualifiers is not exactly beating top tier competition either. Having said that I think Dodge and staff are doing exactly what they should be doing in recruiting. They are scrambling for every player they think can upgrade the program and finding players that have basically fail through the cracks. If DD and staff had tried half as hard, Dickey may have gotten that better job he so desparately wanted and NT might not have fallen so far or fast.

I hope the raw deal he got from SMU, only fires him up. Quick Google show that SMU timed him at 4.4 in the 40, second fastest on the team. I always take 40 times with a grain of salt but no doubt this guy has phenomenal speed for a linebacker.

Cody Spencer had a problem getting cleared to play by the NCAA because of the odd grading system used by his high school. As I recall it, he always would have met the academic requirement if his high school had used the standard grading format and once it was interpreted correctly, he was certified eligible. Comments relative to other posts: I don't think either Cardwell or Brewster had any academic issues. Brewster was an all state player but deemed to small by everyone to play until NT picked him up late. I don't think anyone thought Roman was a shut down corner back but rather a player with some speed who was available and worth taking a chance on. By the way, Roman was a gutsy kid who was totally mishandled along with every cornerback on that team. I am not sure Deon Sanders would have been successful trying to play that defensive scheme.

All other things being equal, I think I would take two years more experience over an extra 10 lbs.

I have a lot of problems with NT alums latching on the UT and OU's of the world and acting like the NT's teams either don't exist or are an embarrassment to these great fans. I appreciate the fans that stand up and are counted as supporters of their universities' sports regardless of the level of play or the success of those institutions. It is easy to be a fan of UT, you are bombarded by the media hype, they are as close to a pro team that is allowed, and they top of the mountain in athletic excess. I appreciate that many if not most alums could not care less about sports in general, but it is the ones who are rabid fans just not of their own institution that bug me. They come in two types. One, the front runners that have to be with a winner no matter how little actual connection they have with that school. Hey my team can beat you and I will savor it, no matter that my team as ten times the resources and usually insists on as uneven a playing field as allowed. Second, and even worse are the cowards that apparently can't take the heat of supporting a losing program or even a winning one that is not in the top echelon of teams.