NT80

I think it's excellent he brings his coordinators and former coaches with him. That's much less time to make a playbook and develop a program when all already know the terminology and techniques and have previously worked together. Good move.

The new coaches?

I would love to see Dodge open up against OU with one of those trick plays Boise used, or even fake it just to rub their noses in it!

Strongly disagree. Troy has limited name recognition, weak basketball and facilities, and is not an easy location to get to.

Wow, what an ending!! I hope TD was taking notes for our game with OU in Sept.

The Bowl years were fun, although trouncing thru the SunBelt allowed a false sense of invulnerability with some of our fans. We saw in the '03 and '04 Bowl games how undersized we were and how athletic other mid-majors could be. I could have lived without enduring the '05 and '06 seasons, except the SMUt win was nice. The Dodge hire has re-energized the fanbase to where it should have been a couple years ago. I hope we take advantage of this positive time to push hard for a new stadium as well. Strike while the fire is hot!

Good stuff, thanks!

As I understood it, the initial stadium concept was to have the suite/pressbox level at walkin level, thus eliminating the need for a ton of elevators and expense. However that also elimated the ability to have a large seating area below the suite level and the need to put more seats above. While I agree it is best to have a single level of stands (see Utah's stadium), this will have to be balanced by the cost of moving the pressbox and suites higher. We either dig lower (can this be done with the water table there?) or build suites and elevators higher. I'm also in favor of having as few endzone seats as possible. I'd rather have upper deck (sideline) seats than endzone seats anytime.

Wow; a little hard hitting for Vito, great! I like his attitude in this article. A lot of things may be changing.

I only knew that because Craig James and Stratford beat Plano in the State final his senior year...then went on to SMUt...double grrrrrrrr.

How? Sell season tickets and start the Stadium Campaign!

Craig James played at Houston Stratford. His son may have played at Celina.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/t...s_1931_10586012

The new logo looks great among the others. How neat would that be if that was a 1-A conference of all Texas schools?

I never could find it on the Sporting News website after you mentioned it, guess it was just in the print edition so far. This was in a column on a Chicago based sports site.

COMMENTARY Can't dodge interest in coaching hires BY MATT HAYES Matt Hayes is a columnist for The Sporting News December 24, 2006 So here is Todd Dodge, the new coach at North Texas. The team he's leaving is in the playoffs--the Texas high school playoffs. So here is North Texas, with a fat-cat booster who threatened to redirect a million-dollar donation from the athletic department to the music department if a practice facility wasn't named after recently fired coach Darrell Dickey. Guess who won that battle? Can you say "Dickey Fieldhouse"? A coach willing to walk into that situation gets an "A" on any hiring report card. Then again, that 78-1 record and those three state titles Dodge has put up over the last five years at powerhouse Southlake Carroll High School help too. This has to be the most intriguing coaching hire of the season. But plenty of others stand out: Best hire: Brian Kelly, Cincinnati. Don't know why Kelly didn't hold out for a bigger job. In three years, the Bearcats will have won the Big East and Kelly, a former NCAA Division II jewel, will be headed elsewhere. Probably Alabama, which, no doubt, will have fired another coach by then. Worst hire: Dennis Erickson, Arizona State. This is the administration's home run hire? Erickson seems to have NCAA issues wherever he goes and shows zero loyalty. But he can coach. Best non-jump: Rich Rodriguez to Alabama. Almost heaven or almost fired. You pick. Best use of the early ax: North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour. Notorious for failed searches, he cut loose John Bunting in late October and immediately landed Butch Davis, the prize on the market. Had North Carolina waited longer, Alabama would have offered Davis $6 gazillion a year--and suffered yet another emasculating rejection. Worst panic hire: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State. Why was there a rush to hire Dantonio, a former Michigan State assistant, away from Cincinnati? Couldn't the Sparty brass have looked longer to find the perfect fit for a program with lots of bad karma? Worst trade-down: Tulane. From Chris Scelfo, a guy with passion, discipline and loyalty, to Bob Toledo, a guy with a good offensive mind who lets his players do whatever they want. Best use of limited funds: Miami. The Hurricanes wanted Barry Alvarez to embrace the program and the $15 million of athletic department red ink as coach/AD. They settled for talented assistant Randy Shannon, who will cost millions less, not require the AD tag and produce much more. ----------

I guess UNT stole SMUt's potential buzz!

I don't think the posters here believe we'll win more games because of the uniforms. You are right that most players probably could care less what they look like; more worried about playing time and winning. The posters however have a vested interest in the advancement, promotion and marketing of the program...thus the interest in logos, fonts, symbols, colors, etc. After years of every coach deciding their own style for uniform logos, fonts and coloring there is finally some move towards standardization (although the means to which it was selected was not exactly democratic, more czar-like, but that's another story). The football uniforms will be changed. What form they take will influence shirt and hat sales, university image, and eventually could affect game attendance and even enrollment applications with the "coolness" factor for high school kids. Uniforms are important; they may not win games, but they will win or lose revenue, fans and even potential students.

JJ said on the postgame interview that both UNT and Denver didn't play another game until next Thursday, Jan. 4 (UNT at UALR and Denver at ULL). He indicated the game could be played later in the week if need be. Hank or George said it would be better to play DU now as they are struggling at 1-11 rather than later in the season.

I think it was the trunk full of black jerseys that turned them off.

I'm very surprised at this hire considering the list of applicants they had (including Slocum, Dickey, Flanigan, DeLoach, Carthel, etc.)........ ....................................................................................................... SFA Names J.C. Harper Head Football Coach SFA defensive coordinator takes over as `Jacks' new head coach Dec. 21, 2006 NACOGDOCHES - Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack defensive coordinator J.C. Harper has been named SFA's new head football coach, Director of Athletics Robert Hill announced at a press conference on campus Thursday morning. Harper takes over for Robert McFarland, who resigned earlier this month to become an assistant coach at Iowa State. "I'm extremely excited to announce J.C. as our new head coach," said Hill. "After a thorough search, Harper stood out as the best choice for this position. He has earned this opportunity through his hard work and dedication to SFA. I'm excited about the future of Stephen F. Austin football." Harper joined the Lumberjack coaching staff as the defensive coordinator prior to the 2005 season. He was given the responsibility of turning a young Lumberjack defensive unit into a dominant force. Harper's influence is evident in just two short seasons on campus. Harper turned a defense that finished near the bottom in every statistical category in 2005, into the most effective defense in the league. The `Jacks led the Southland Conference in scoring defense, rush defense and total defense during league games in 2006. Harper's athletes have also been recognized at the conference, regional and national level. The Lumberjack defense has produced nine all-conference athletes, including two first-team and two-second team selections, under Harper. SFA has also produced three All-American selections and two all-region honors during the past two seasons. The 2006 season marked the second consecutive year that SFA has produced the league's top tackler. Former Lumberjack Ryan Luedecke made the switch to linebacker as a senior and recorded a career year in 2005. Luedecke led the SLC in tackles on his way to honorable mention All-America honors. This past season Harper found success with another player making the switch to linebacker in Damian Perkins. Perkins became an impact player during his first season on defense leading the league with 92 tackles, including 11.5 for losses. An 18-year veteran of collegiate coaching, Harper served as defensive coordinator at Western Michigan in 2004. Harper spent two seasons at Western Michigan, and has also made coaching stops at Northwestern State and McNeese State. During that time he helped coach the Cowboys and Demons to three playoff appearances in four years. -SFA-

A good update. I like that spring practice will actually take place now in spring and not winter. I also like that Dodge will hire mostly coaches he has previously worked with. This was a major factor why I wanted a head coach vs an assistant becoming a head coach. The staff will be formed and up and running much faster this way. They will already have a working knowledge of Dodge's system and each other. Good news all around.

The history of the "Mean Green" name..... http://www.unt.edu/northtexan/archives/w04/mean.htm

Southlake Carroll HFC job & Domino effect | Category: Coaching News With Todd Dodge headed to UNT, several current head coaches and assistants are likely headed to Denton with him. Names include Clayton George of Haltom, Todd Ford, who is an assistant under Dodge at SLC, and current Wichita Falls coach Travis Pride is also in the mix. Do not be surprised if Beaumont West Brook coach Craig Stump also makes the trip to UNT. Potential SLC Replacements Wichita Falls coach Travis Pride is also a potential candidate for the Dragons head coach opening. Other names that have surfaced in recent days includes Denton Ryan's Joey Florence, Fossil Ridge's Hal Wasson, Cedar Hill's Joey McGuire, Weatherford's Mike Sneed and Hebron Assistant Dane Johnson. Do not be surprised if Arlington Bowie coach Kenny Perry become a very legit front-runner for the job as well. Perry is coming off a year in which he helped lead Arlington Bowie to their first ever playoff appearance. Domino Effect The domino effect on the Dodge hiring is not only going to be felt in the coaching scene. The recruiting scene is also begining to see a mass of current college and high school players either reconsidering a verbal commitment or asking out of their scholarships so they could transfer to North Texas to play for Dodge. Over the next few weeks look for several big name recruits to take a more serious look at UNT. The domino effect of the Dodge hiring could end up becoming a much larger effect on several fronts than what many may consider.