Hey guys, I'm an Iowa State fan and I just want you to let you know that I think Dan McCarney would be a GREAT fit at North Texas, as do most other Cyclone fans I've talked to.
First off, the man is a passionate football coach. I don't know where people got the idea that he has a boring personality, because it couldn't be further from the truth. He brings a ton of positive energy that resonates very well with players and fans. He's the kind of guy that could get you to run through a brick wall. A true genius at motivation. Players loved him, and he was great at fan functions.
As for recruiting, Mac has years of experience recruiting in Texas AND Florida, the two biggest states in the Sun Belt footprint, as well as the midwest. When he was at Iowa State he developed great relationships with all the high schools in Iowa, and I know he would be able to do the same in the North Texas area.
Do you have a main rival? Mac is great at taking down his team's biggest rival. When he arrived at Iowa State, we were in the middle of a 15 year losing streak against the Iowa Hawkeyes. In Mac's fourth year, he upset the Hawks, and from that point on he won six of nine against the Hawkeyes.
Mac did great things for Iowa State. I've already mentioned the losing streak against the Hawkeyes before he got here, but we also hadn't been to a bowl game in 17 years. With Kansas State's improvement under Snyder, we were easily the worst program in the Big 8, and then we had to move into the tougher Big 12 in Mac's second year. The previous staff had basically quit recruiting about three years before Mac got here, so he had mostly Division 2 level players to work with. On top of that facilities were not good at all.
Despite all of the factors working against him, Mac was able to get things turned around at Iowa State. His biggest problem, and the main reason he was forced out, was that we couldn't afford to keep the good assistants that he hired (like our current head coach Paul Rhoads, and St. Louis Rams offensive line coach Steve Loney). The lack of staff continuity caused by that doomed him.
You might look at his record at Iowa State and see it as mediocre or bad, but you have to keep in mind just how bad Iowa State was before he got here, and also how many more millions of dollars schools like Texas and Oklahoma bring in. I confess that I don't know a ton about North Texas, but I do know that you have had fairly recent success, winning the Sun Belt three or four times in a row. I also imagine that you are far more even with other teams in the Sun Belt when it comes to revenue than Iowa State is with the big boys in the Big 12. If Mac could succeed at Iowa State, I have no doubt that he could succeed and have an even better record at North Texas. As Mac would say there's "no doubt about it."
I'll leave you with with one final thought. In his resignation speech at Iowa State, Coach Mac mentioned his favorite quote (from Bobby Kennedy), and it exemplifies the way he thinks. Here is the quote, and you can apply it to North Texas:
"Some people see things as they are and say, why? I dream things that never were and say, why not? When I took this job I said, why not Iowa State? Why not winning? Why not bowl games? Why not sell outs? Why not national respect? Why not us? Why not here? Why not the Cyclone family?"