JesseMartin

Probably going to El Paso in November so that my kids can see us WIN a game...right, Seth and company? The UTEP game in 2014 was their first experience and they loved it. So let's follow that with a win on the next trip out! So who's meeting us there Thanksgiving weekend?

I saw on 24/7 we were at #108...not all that impressive overall, but unless I missed something, we weren't outranked by any lower-tier (FCS or DII) schools, while quite a few other FBS schools did get bumped further down the list by FCS. Any other observations about this? I know, I know, it's the coaching more than the ranking...but before Littrell jumped on board, I'd say there was a pretty good chance of us being near the bottom and outranked by quite a few FCS, so really, this is much better than it probably could have been.

My life is more fun than North Texas Football...because for me, EVERY day is singing day.

The Rangers have T-Shirts?!

Awful.

Eastern Illinois isn't exactly something to sneeze at, either.

Just read all of the updates...and I think I may have sharted, just a little....

I think your definition of this phrase is very different from my own.

I know it's a lot of maybes, but this would all be great if it worked out.

What a meandering thread this has become! As to the Augie DeBiase and related comments, I've known quite a few guys with that sort of background and mentality that went to North Texas. Funny thing is, they weren't put off by the atmosphere - they were impressed by it. Sometimes a mentality comes with the addendum that too many people of your own demographic might not be a good fit, and a wise man would heed that wake-up call. They liked that they didn't have to compete in the "attitude field" as much as they would elsewhere, and instead, ended up feeling comfortable enough to be themselves a lot more than if they'd continued to be surrounded by posturing idiots. Obviously, they made the right choice as to where they should enroll. And to the players vs. coaches conundrum...really? We can play fantasy team vs. fantasy coach as much as we like, but these facts remain: 1) A good coach can bring greatness out of players who seemed less than impressive. 2) A poor coach can make talented players appear less so. 3) Talented players can make a bad coach appear more savvy than he is. 4) Terrible players can make a great coach appear average. You can combine any of those, with a weighted average towards either the coach or the players depending upon the extremity of the circumstances, and come up with the 80-95% of teams that are in the bell curve every year. I'm not going to write a 25-page post, but those of you who have worked in a research-based field of any kind would likely find a similar bent to your "eyeball test" analysis. And for good reason...as everyone's arguments have shown, there must be a combination of great talent and coaching to breach the top 25, whereas both awful ability and sad coaching will make you a sad panda in the Bottom 10. Various combinations thereof will mix you up with everyone else. Is anyone still lost here?

Not at all veering negative on this one, but I'm sure I'll sound boring by saying this, though it has to be said. With all of the JUCOs we're landing, I hope it is partially due to our reputation as a school that actually EDUCATES and GRADUATES our athletes. We don't just push you through, and we don't use up your eligibility and then dump you if you aren't finished. And if that reputation doesn't already precede us, then it should. We are, statistically and pragmatically, one of the best colleges in the nation when it comes to ensuring that the 99% of our athletes that don't compete professionally are more capable of entering the workforce than are most of our competitors in the collegiate landscape, be they Division I or otherwise. If this isn't being sold to the JUCO All-Star types, then it should be. EVERY time. Our tutoring and other academic services available to assist those who want an education are among the best in the country as well. If that ever stops being the case, I'll be easy to bribe to come back to help return us to that high level of accomplishment in serving the students who need a bit of an extra boost once in a while.

...who else wants to jump in on my earlier prediction of 11 wins for the guys? Too much talent for such a low prediction, I know, but Benford has a hard time NOT coaching them down and losing games he should have won. I really wanted to root for him to turn this around and be even better than JJ in the long run, but I'm not seeing that happen after this much time and talent being allotted to him.

Hey, now, you shut your damned, dirty mouth! HA!

My only reason for thinking that this is different is that he hasn't had to work back from nothing to get those other chances. But note that I had a heavy dose of "screw him" in there too :P

No "puff, puff" first? Seriously, what kind of idiot lets somebody get video of him snorting coke, let alone one who is likely to lose so much? I agree about PWO. He wants a place for a second chance, he has to prove he's willing to work for it and isn't showing up just for another college party in a different town. He doesn't want that, screw him. Pretty sad when you're a P5 QB with a decent record on the field, but 1-11 North Texas fans aren't interested in you.

OMG how have I not heard of this before?! Can you say which player it was?

Enroll him for 11 hours FTW!

Here's why it doesn't matter: As long as he doesn't get pissed off and go elsewhere because of paying his way for a semester, this would enable him to get AT LEAST 4 years after Alec leaves, or possibly even redshirt in 2017 and go 4 years AFTER THAT (or reserve a redshirt for later, umm, just in case?), depending upon what options/surprises Littrell has/gets at QB. More time to grow/develop/strengthen, and more time to become as awesome a college player as he was relative to the high school field. This is just a way for the staff to finagle scholarship numbers by using loopholes in situations where they don't expect someone to need immediate playing time.

He's the class president AND valedictorian?! AND Oklahoma POY 2 years running?! Holy crap. I've now upgraded to "do whatever you must to get him to North Texas." That kind of all-around student-athlete is even more valuable to our University than he already was for the sake of being an athletic ambassador due to his skills on the field. We need this guy to set a classroom and leadership example just as much as the one he could set in the locker room and on the practice field.

With him getting a late start, this class will have a couple of diamonds in the rough, a couple of highly touted transfers (which we already know anyway), and probably a couple of nice surprises that either decide right at the end or had their offers pulled from a P5 school and need a mid-major to sign with fast. Then next year will be about using the best assets and "coaching up" the rest. If that yields moderate to good results, then next year's class should be sufficiently impressive.

He seemed to go back and forth on it. It looked like he was going that way, then we'd find out his QB requirements. So maybe he was okay with it in some positions and not in others? Either way, I agree with you. If they can outplay the guys the P5 are recruiting, then they can obviously play, so let's take them.

I'm not worrying much. He's coming in the same year as Alec. If he doesn't progress at QB, who knows, he might end up being a great receiver or safety or something...as long as we either have another HS QB this class or next that's got the same level of chops, then I'm more comfortable with the likelihood of one of them working out well at the position than I've been in...hmm...what year is it again?

I knew about Matthews. Even if it was around before then, they probably just had it sitting there quietly with no new donations being developed until after he was gone. We do have a lot of weird history we've had to overcome.

I can see the possibility that things develop to the point where change is more forced than voluntary, possibly even through lawsuits. I would wager that if this does occur, it would veer towards being a bit more rugby-like anyway.