Yellow Snow

The Pac 10 hasn't had as many two team BCS years because that conference has sucked. The Big 10 would be a better comparison. They routinely get two teams in the BCS and their conference bowl record has not been good. Just because UNT has been shown little support from alums in the past doesn't mean they will continue to be indifferent. Is that the argument you are making? That there is no hope and UNT should just give up? Seems to be what you are saying. Dan McCarney changed the culture at Iowa State, and my money is saying he will do the same at UNT. Mark my words. Dan McCarney is the perfect hire. All he needs to do is get an additional 1 in 10 UNT alums to buy in and UNT will be at that proverbial next level. With even a small increase in pulse - UNT will win, and win alot.

I see the round robin differently. It will increase the leagues chances of getting two teams in the BCS. Fact of the matter is that the lower tier teams will be the ones absorbing the five additional losses, not the likes of OU or UT. True, they will have to play an additional road game in a place like Ames, Iowa in the winter, but still… By going round robin they avoid playing a championship game. This game automatically gives one of the two top teams another loss. In addition, by having the championship game, it is possible for the top two teams to meet TWICE in the same year.

You make some very valid points… I understand the OOC scheduling issue all too well. We’ll play Iowa and nine Big 12 games every year now. That makes it incredibly difficult to schedule games with other local (relatively) teams on a regular basis. Northern Iowa fans accuse us of ducking them too. Playing home and homes with Utah, UConn, Army, etc. dropped them from the non-con. However, since Nebraska is leaving we have UNI on the schedule going forward to replace the gate money (UNI games are always sell-outs). That said, from an outsiders perspective, I can see why there is animosity here towards SMU. UNT has played you guys even up on the field for the last 20 years (when you play each other). I don’t know why you are surprised when your condescension elicits the responses you get. Interesting discussion... One thing I do know is that all fanbases are basically the same.

I take it you are an SMU fan? A few of points Id like to make about your post…. 1. The series record between SMU and UNT, while interesting and all, isnt relevant to the discussion at hand. 1922 was a long time ago. By my math (according to your data provided) UNT is 2-3 against SMU since 1989. That to me would be a more logical place to start the head to head comparison as far as Im concerned. It doesnt matter one iota who beat who back when leather helmets were all the rage. As an Iowa State fan I get this type of argument all the time. That ancient history looks good on paper, but in no way indicates that SMU would continue to win with that regularity going forward. In fact, the evidence indicates exactly the opposite. The teams have been basically equal for the last 20 years, DESPITE all of the handicaps UNT has to deal with, whether self inflicted or otherwise. 2. I think the fact that UNT is right in about the same position it was in (or probably worse) back when the SWC expansion talks were on going and the success of programs that were ask to join (during and even AFTER the SWC) shows the correct decision was made by the SWC to not invite UNT. This comment is also a bit of flawed logic. You are basically comparing apples to oranges. The lack of institutional support and supposed lack of athletic success you are posing as a reason the SWC didnt invite UNT is a direct result of the fact that they DIDNT get invited and not the other way around. I would argue that UNT would be in a position to be VERY competitive in any conference that would have them Conf-USA, MWC, WAC or even Big 12 (would need a bigger football stadium for this). The potential fanbase is there… the facilities are there… the local recruiting pool is there… Compare enrollments… SMU ~11k, UNT ~36 k… Football stadiums… SMU ~32k cap., UNT ~31.5k (old stadium?), basketball arenas… SMU ~9k, UNT ~10k. These are pretty comparable to me. What makes you so sure that UNT wouldnt be able to compete in Conf-USA? I would argue that Iowa State recruits a higher level of athlete BECAUSE of conference affiliation than would be possible in a lesser conference. Kids want to play on the big stage. They choose I-State over other programs closer to home because they want to play on TV, get a chance to stick it to Texas for snubbing them, etc. Do you honestly think that UNT wouldnt recruit better if they were in a better conference? That is a bit naïve. In fact with their alumni base and enrollment, they would be in a position to be one of the better teams in Conf-USA (for example). SMU has benefitted from being in a "higher prestige" conference and still only managed to beat UNT 3 out of 5 times in the last 20 years. Yet - here you are...

Since I'm now a Mean Green fan, it would seem a good team for me to despise would be SMU... Consider it done. Hopefully the NCAA gives them the death penalty again on Auburn's behalf.

This is a great post... I can relate... Cyclone fans hate the Des Moines Register, white helmets, the script cyclones logo, the birdnado logo, the I-State logo, red pants, white pants, gold pants, night games, day games, 11 am games, the Big 12 tv deal, fans who stand all game, fans who sit all game, etc... awesome stuff...

We might be in a similar situation in the near future. With Iowa in the non-con every year that makes for a brutal schedule. Nine Big 12 teams plus Iowa. There is talk of dropping the Iowa/I-State series... hope it doesn't happen, but could see why it would. This year we played 6 teams that were ranked in the top 10 at one point during the year plus Texas Tech, Northern Illinois, and K-State... yeesh...

I have a quick question for you folks... Who would you guys consider your biggest conference rival? Being the only team from Texas in the conference you don't have an obvious "team to hate". Everybody has to have some team they like to kick in the junk extra hard. For obvious reasons I think the Iowa Hawkeyes need to go down in flames everytime they play a sporting event. On that note and for the record.. Hayden Fry is the devil to most Iowa State fans He took the Hawks from 20 losing seasons in a row and being the 2nd team in the state behind ISU to national prominence. Don't much care for that guy... lol He got Iowa winning while Iowa State went from having Johnny Majors and Earl Bruce as coaches to Donnie freakin' Duncan and Jim Walden. We sucked for the next 20 years (until Dan Mac)... and are still trying to catch up. Dan McCarney beat Hayden's Iowa team in Iowa City the last year Fry was coaching there and went on to win 4 more in a row over Iowa... He has a winning record against Kirk Ferentz and Iowa doesn't suck. He'll get your guys to play ball against anybody... The Kansas Jayhawks are probably next in line for me. In basketball I-State and Kansas have had some real doozies. The only other team to win the Big 12 conference basketball championship outright more than I-State is Kansas. Anywhoo... Who do y'all hate? GMG!!! and Go 'Clones!!!!

Matt McGettigan was a good S&C coach for I-State. He'd be a nice hire for Dan if he could get him again. The guy makes football players. He'd say conditioning is one thing each individual can control (regardless of natural talent). Something like, "a fresh athlete beats a winded "great" athlete every time..." "Be in better football shape not a bodybuilder"... Just some I-State input about him.

That made me smile... I never even thought twice about typing that, eh? lol It's one thing to say it, yet another to actually type it in a message. I must be too close to Canada.

Hey guys – me again… This board has been a great read the last few days You’re fan base basically went through the same “transformation” I went through when Iowa State hired DMac. We fired Jim Walden after 12 years of COMPLETE AND TOTAL futility and I was hoping for a “spash” hire… I was like “Dan who???” when they announced McCarney. But then I watched his introductory press conference… Wow… I had the same reaction y’all (is that proper use of y’all?) are having now. He’s impressive, eh? The best part is the fact that it’s not coach-speak from him. The man will to follow through and do what he say’s he’ll do. Trust me… good times are ahead for you folks. I am so extremely happy for everybody at UNT right now! I never in my wildest dreams thought I was as sentimental about DMac as I am, but this whole thing brought out the fond memories of him at I-State Believe me, I’m a MEAN GREEN fan now! It’s good to have a Texas team I can actually root for (can’t stand UT, A&M or Tech for obvious reasons). TCU and SMU… meh… don’t care... UNT on the other hand… I’m going to be sporting the MEAN GREEN gear up here in northern Iowa! Speaking of that… where is a good place you can get UNT hats, etc. online? Good luck fellas… go out and kick some ass now! I’m going to probably be bothering you on this message board from now on… lol… sorry in advance.

It's all relative I guess. There is no reason you should expect to get lesser assistants at UNT than he did at I-State. With all of the infrastructure you guys have invested in football... obviously a signal by your administration that you are committed to winning some football games. That goes a LONG way towards getting and keeping good coaches. It's not always strictly money. The moral of the story is that he has a knack for picking really good assistants.

And that is exactly why he never got over the hump at I-State. That is some serious coaching turnover. I-State didn't pay assistants squat during Mac's tenure so we were constantly changing coaches. Not Mac's fault, but that was the hand he was dealt. There are some seriously good names listed above.

He will be out in the community selling UNT like crazy. While at ISU he was the best ambassador the school had. Being such a rah, rah guy - it's hard to not get excited about what he is selling. It's easy to sell something you believe in, and no doubt he wouldn't have taken the UNT job if he didn't think he would be successful. You guys are going to love him as your head coach. He's accountable, honest, embraces challenges, and most of all is a psychotically hard working guy. As you can tell i'm a huge Mac fan. I guess my judgment is clouded by the fact that the 12 years or so before he got to Ames, we sucked as much as a football team can suck. He brought our football program back from the dead - so he'll always have my respect for that. It cannot be overstated... our football program was circling the drain when he was hired.

McCarney is a players coach. Your guys are going to like him and play hard. I wouldn't worry too much about that. By the way, Dunbar would be flat out crazy to leave. Mac had Troy Davis his first two years and Davis ran for over 2,000 yards each season. Mac is NOT afraid to give a tailback the carries. Dunbar will have a freakin' field day.

FYI - Mac recruits Texas very well. We had over 25% of our roster from Texas and did all through his tenure as coach. The high school kid don't need to know who he is until he recruits them. The key is having inroads with all of the high school coaches, which he most certainly does. I guarantee there isn't a high school coach in Texas that has anything negative at all to say about the man. If he can get guys from Texas to Iowa, he can get them to UNT.

As a fan base, we were pretty mixed when he left. Half were ticked and half were glad. We wanted more at the time and hadn't yet come to the realization that losing assistants every year didn't help matters at all. We then got Gene Chizik who proceeded to go 5-19 the next two years. We have our guy now in Paul Rhoads, but there was alot of "justification" by the faction of the fan base that wanted Mac gone while Chizik was sucking it up. You are seeing that in that thread. Since it was such a polarizing change (getting rid of Mac) there are still people in our fan base with an axe to grind. Mac is nothing if not professional and honest. I'd be willing to bet that you guys will be a winning program in 3 years tops (if not sooner). You can't underestimate the value of good recruiting. The guy can flat out get it done. He takes the guys that are maybe an inch too short for Texas or A&M to offer and gets on them early. He gets football players and these guys have a chip on their shoulder. I-State isn't in a position to beat the likes of Oklahoma or Texas for recruits head to head, but the guys he gets can sure play winning football.

Good point on the budget. When he took over our facilities were hideous compared to Big 12 standards. He still managed to recruit well, show serious improvement on the field and exponentially grow attendance at games. Our football facilities have been upgraded to BCS standards as a result of this. Don't get me wrong - you'll have your share of gutwrenching moral victories... i'm all to familiar with those at I-State. The thing that made things like this different with him was the fact that we didn't beat ourselves. If we got beat by a better team, that was easier to take. The biggest problem he had at I-State that prevented him from achieving greater success was losing assistants. We didn't pay well enough to keep the good ones. Steve Loney to the Vikings, Pete Hoener to A&M, Bobby Elliot to K-State, etc. We were trying to replace good coaches every year it seems. He'd still be at Iowa State if he could have kept a staff together. Not his fault, just the way things were at the time.

Hey guys - Cyclone fan here... I just wanted to come over here and give props to you guys for picking up Coach Mac. I'm a Mean Green fan now! I've noticed that there is some consternation on the board with the hire. Understandable... but you got a good coach. I don't know who the other candidates were, or who you guys were hoping to get, but you didn't make a mistake with Coach Mac. The guy is a winner - you will see soon enough. Some things you will notice right away (from my experience when he was hired at I-State)... 1. He is excellent at evaluating talent. Iowa is not a state known for it's homegrown football talent. Going head to head with Iowa and Nebraska isn't easy, yet he more than held his own. He had a knack for identifying quality players and getting in on them early. It payed huge dividends as he was able to secure early commitments from guys that would have otherwise gone elsewhere. Loyalty is big to him. All in all, he was the best recruiter we had at I-State up to the point he was hired. 2. He coaches fundamental football. You WILL run the ball. I don't know how well you guys ran the ball in the past (without looking it up), but you will be a solid running team. I-State hasn't been the same in this regard since he left. 3. You will NOT turn the ball over. Goes without saying, but guys that put the ball on the ground won't play. Simple as that. 4. You will have EXCELLENT special teams. He puts a huge emphasis on special teams. It is a phase of the game that can really change the complexion of a game, and he coaches as such. 5. His record at I-State is misleading. He took over a program that went winless the season before and due to absolutely dismal recruiting in prior years had about 3 BCS caliber players on the roster. Once he got established on the recruiting trail - marked improvement. It isn't easy to win at I-State, yet he tied for the Big 12 North twice (missed winning outright on a dropped INT in overtime at Nebraska and a missed 27 yard field goal against Mizzou). In 12 years, we basically went to bowl games every other year. Hadn't been in ~20 years prior to Mac. 6. Your players will run through walls for the guy. He is honest and lets guys know where they stand and what they need to do in order to play. He doesn't pussyfoot around and the guys all appreciate that. Anyway - I just wanted to give you my impressions of the guy. Great man... you will find out. Good luck and I'm pulling for you!