NT80

Ask Mr. Casual Fan from DFW if they have ever heard of Mr. Nix. Ask Mr. Local Businessman if they would contribute to Mr. Nix's first college head coach's program and see if the first question isn't...."Who?".

2-16

I agree, it's about more than just searching for a head coach, it's about a whole football "system" change. I think Dodge can be that person. The main thing this program needs in the short-term is EXCITEMENT. Something to inspire FANS to want to join in and get involved ($). It is a big decision for RV, affecting more than just Xs and Os. $$$$$ and fans for the program are also on the line with this hire!

And yes, I would trade a Buick for a Dodge!

If he is looking at UAB then he must be desperate.

Back to the original rumor about Dodge....where is Moot Point when we need a to confirm something? I like Dodge's potential and I think he gives us that instant BANG we need with recruits, fans, and the media!

posted to Football at 10:57 AM CST Speaking of the Mean Green, did you see that Scripps Howard columnist John Lindsay acknowledged the flood of email he got after he referred to the team as North Texas State? "But every game means something to a group of fans. You want proof? Try calling New Orleans Bowl-bound North Texas, North Texas State in print. We made that mistake and got bombed by angry e-mails from UNT alums."

I'd vote a big NO. Heard ASU stories from a local parent of a former player. Let's just say Koetter was not exactly player-friendly and ASU was very close to being Thug-U .

Ronnie Richard: Mean Green should follow Big Red lead 08:28 PM CST on Friday, November 17, 2006 Just a few years ago I was having an argument with a friend that I find quite relevant to this year’s North Texas football team. Let me explain. First, here’s a quick background to get you up to speed. See, my friend was a student at the University of Nebraska (he’s now an alum), and we were discussing the Cornhuskers’ back-to-back national championships in 1994-95. Since he bleeds Husker Red, his viewpoint was just a smidgeon biased. And since I like to stir the pot in arguments, so was mine. At some point early in the discussion, I made the point that I can’t picture a team with such a one-dimensional, run-based offense like Nebraska’s famed option attack winning the title ever again. With defenses in college football getting quicker and smarter, I felt -- and still feel -- that it takes a truly balanced attack to win these days. Take a look at the last few national champs -- Texas, USC, LSU, Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma -- and think about how their offenses worked. They used the run to open up the pass, they mixed some deep throws in to keep the defense on their toes. You never knew what to expect next from those teams and that’s why it worked. Defensive zone and blitz schemes at the top-level programs are becoming nearly as complex as those in the NFL, and it’s starting to trickle down to the smaller schools as well. Well, you can imagine what a hardcore Husker fan might have to say about me blaspheming those Lincoln legends. I think it involved something along the lines of, “You’re a complete moron.” But, nevertheless, I still stick to my point. Now this argument occurred back in the summer of 2003 when Nebraska was faltering under head coach Frank Solich. Right after that football season, Nebraska made the coaching switch to Bill Callahan. Callahan’s first order of business at his first press conference was to announce that he was scrapping the long-favored option offense and installing a West Coast scheme that would provide far more balance to the offense with a quick passing attack. Any of this sound familiar, Mean Green fans? Everyone knows UNT head coach Darrell Dickey likes to run the ball, wants to run the ball and will run the ball. But you just can’t be that one-dimensional anymore. As I wrote earlier, those complex defensive schemes are starting to trickle down to the smaller programs. Assistant coaches from bigger programs take head coaching jobs at smaller programs and they bring their knowledge with them. It’s just starting to catch up in the Sun Belt Conference and UNT is finding out the hard way. Two seasons ago, 66 percent of the Mean Green’s offensive plays were runs, and they worked. UNT averaged 344 yards and 25.4 points per game while steamrolling the Sun Belt to another New Orleans Bowl bid. Fast-forward to today and that production has vanished. The offense has slowly deteriorated into a sloppy mess, yet still sticking to a similar play-calling ratio (it’s now 62-percent run despite trailing in nearly every game). Heading into Saturday’s game against Louisiana Tech, UNT ranked 119th -- dead last! -- in Division I-A in yards per game. And don’t let their production against Louisiana Tech fool you. The Bulldogs rank dead last in the nation in defense. Entering Saturday’s game, UNT was averaging a paltry 11.0 points and 206.1 yards per game. Maybe it’s time for a change. If Nebraska can change, surely North Texas can. Let’s dump the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust and bring in a new offense. It worked for Troy, which had the same offense as UNT before switching to spread this season. The Trojans (4-4) gave scares to Florida State and Georgia Tech, and they are now in the hunt for the conference title at 3-0 in Sun Belt play. With the wrong players for its new offense, Nebraska struggled to a 5-6 finish in Callahan’s first season. But the Huskers came on strong last season to go 8-4, including a bowl win over Michigan to end the year. This season, Nebraska (7-3) sits atop the Big 12 North Division standings at 4-2 after beating Missouri on Saturday. UNT’s offensive line has struggled all season to pave the way for Jamario Thomas, while the Mean Green’s best receiving corps in years is turned into a group of extra blockers. Open things up, make some big plays. The quarterbacks might make mistakes, but it can’t be much worse than it is now. I think it could work ... but then again I might just be a complete moron.

I believe that would be classified as a "catfight".

I'd prefer Dodge but Nix sounds like he's next on the ask list.

UT-PA is like 5-1, only loss at UTA by 6. UTA's 4-2 only losses to TCU in 2OT and now to UTPA.

Great. And I happen to know a couple assistants I could recommend to help their run-first offense.

NU beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff by about 30 last night to go 4-0 for the first time in many years. The crowd should be good for Wed unless the blizzard affects it.

UNT historian dies at age 80 12:01 AM CST on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 By Matthew Zabel / Staff Writer Dr. James L. Rogers, a retired professor and vice president at the University of North Texas, and the author of the most comprehensive book about UNT’s history, died Sunday in Conroe. He was 80. Rogers spent 43 years at UNT from 1953 to 1996, including six years as vice president for administrative affairs from 1965 to 1971 and seven years as the university’s planning director from 1971 to 1978. He also taught journalism classes and served as the university’s public relations director. Rogers also wrote The Story of North Texas, publishing a first edition in 1965 and an updated edition in 2002. The second edition’s 736 pages chronicle the university’s history beginning with the forming of the Texas Normal College in 1890 through the inauguration of Norval Pohl as the 14th president in 2001. “Talk about a guy who was truly dedicated to the university, he certainly ranks up there,” said Dr. Alfred Hurley, former UNT chancellor. Rogers joined the journalism faculty at what was North Texas State College in 1953. He also served as the college’s public relations director as the university went through integration in the 1950s and 1960s. In a 1980 interview for UNT’s copyrighted oral history project, Rogers discussed then-President J.C. Matthews’ desire to downplay the enrollment of the university’s first black undergraduate student, Irma Cephas, in 1956. At the same time, students in Alabama were throwing rocks at a black student when she arrived on campus to enroll. Rogers is quoted in that project saying that Matthews feared that if it became public that a black student enrolled at North Texas without violent protests, then violence would soon follow. Keith Shelton, a retired journalism professor at UNT, said that Rogers had a difficult job at a difficult time at UNT and that he “played an integral part of the university’s history.” Shelton recalled some of Rogers’ lighter moments, too. For example, as the university’s public relations director, Rogers assigned Bill Moyers, then his student assistant, to interview a student musician named Pat Boone, Shelton said. Coincidentally, both Moyers and Boone became well-known in their fields — Moyers as a television journalist and Boone as a recording artist. Reg Westmoreland, a retired journalism professor at UNT, recalled an incident when Rogers was in charge of the press box at UNT football games. Rogers instructed his student assistant there not to allow anyone into the box without a press pass. Following orders, that student would not allow Matthews in because he did not have the proper pass. “When Jim finally got there to straighten it out, he told President Matthews, ‘We run a tight ship up here,’” Westmoreland said. After his stint as an administrator, Rogers returned to the journalism classroom full time and brought cutting-edge technology into that department. Rogers’ former colleagues praised him for thinking ahead and bringing computer technology to UNT’s journalism program and teaching some of the first versions of newspaper layout software. “He saw the future was in technology and computers, and before most departments in the country were using computers, he was teaching them at UNT,” said Dr. Richard Wells, a UNT journalism professor. Wells said Rogers influenced thousands of students in the journalism department alone, and thousands more in the rest of the university. “Rogers helped shape and had more influence on this university than anyone who was not a president,” Wells said. Arrangements are pending with Sam Houston Memorial Funeral Home in Huntsville.

Football: Sun Belt hoping to send MTSU bowling 11:20 PM CST on Monday, November 27, 2006 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer Sun Belt Conference commissioner Wright Waters said Monday that the league has talked to at least a half a dozen bowls about sending a second team from the league to the postseason. The league has four teams that have six wins and are bowl eligible, including Middle Tennessee. At 7-5, the Blue Raiders appear likely to be the league's second bowl team. The glut of six-win teams from the league and the potential addition of Western Kentucky has the Sun Belt considering adding a second bowl tie-in. The league's only current bowl agreement is with the New Orleans Bowl, which takes the Sun Belt champion. Troy put itself in position to earn a bid to the game this year by beating MTSU with a late rally on Saturday and can clinch the league title with a victory over winless Florida International this week. The Trojans (6-5, 5-1) would jump over MTSU (7-5, 6-1) if they win their last game due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. "We had a great game in Murfreesboro because of all that was at stake," Waters said. "But as we move to a nine-team league and a 12-game schedule, we are going to have more bowl eligible teams that we don't want left at home. We will have to go down the road to adding a second bowl game at some point." The Sun Belt has had multiple teams that were bowl eligible in each of the last three seasons. UNT won the conference title and played in the New Orleans Bowl in 2004, the same season Troy finished second and played in the Silicon Valley Football Classic. WKU is expected to join the league in football in the next few seasons, which would give the league nine teams and even more reason to add a second bowl tie-in. Waters said that while the league is considering adding a second bowl, he wants to be sure that the conference championship still holds value. "What we are doing is working," Waters said. "As long as we only have one bowl tie-in, the championship is important." Waters said any discussions of a second bowl tie-in would take place early next year. While the league is putting off talk of adding a second bowl tie-in, it is taking an active role in trying to find a bowl for MTSU (7-5), Arkansas State (6-6) and Louisiana-Lafayette (6-5). All three teams are bowl eligible. ULL has one game left to play at home against in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe. "The good news is that three or four years ago, the bowls wouldn't return our calls," Waters said. "Now they are calling us." ................................................................................. UNT coaches waiting on recruiting UNT is on hold in terms of recruiting while waiting for word on a new head coach to replace Darrell Dickey. Dickey was fired after nine seasons and completed his tenure on Saturday in a loss to Louisiana-Monroe. UNT's assistants are under contract until February. "Right now we are on hold," UNT assistant head coach Kenny Evans said. "We have coaches who are ready to recruit, but are waiting for word on the school's plans. … We are missing some time in the contact period."

From Cooley re. Chambers on the M&G board.... ........................................................................................................ Date Posted: Mon, November 27 2006, 19:46:33 Author: Cooley Subject: Re: I think Chambers name is being used as a smoke screen In reply to: SUE 's message, "Re: I think Chambers name is being used as a smoke screen" on Mon, November 27 2006, 19:05:18 According to a very reliable source today, Bruce Chambers was offered the job. For some reason, he feels that he is too old to relocate and start over. (Age 48) He does have a good situation at UT at about $130,000 base. I've personally known Bruce from our NTSU days to present. Being totally objective, I think this would be a bad hire. From my years of following Bruce and Dallas Carter, I felt that the team was undisciplined & without proper preparation. Game day strategy was not Bruce's strong suit. Though he has a strong background to the inner city of Southern Dallas County, he has been away long enough where I fear existing coaches don't have any loyalties. As a former player at Carter, Chambers was able to join the Carter coaching staff under Freddie James (after graduating for NT). Carter High School had unbelievable talent (12-15 D1 kids; 5-10 more at a lower level each year) during his entire stay. Many followers of the program grew tired of Freddie James to the point where he retired. Most felt that Carter, despite advancing deep in the playoffs, underachieved annually. Carter was also marred with ineligibility concerns and grade scandals under James' watch. Bruce was the defensive coordinator at a time that Carter had 8-9 kids playing on his defense. He was the hand picked choice of James to take over after his retirement. Bruce didn't change much during his short stint as HC before Mack Brown hired him away to UT. Brown, as the new UT coach, made no secret of the fact that he wanted to get into Dallas Carter. Bruce benefited by being at the right place at the right time. I agree that it's important to hire a coach with local ties and being a UNT alum would help. I just can't get excited about Bruce Chambers though.

The DRC would differ with your source on who the leading candidates are. Have your source call their source.

The early termination of DD was to get the process rolling for a new coach & staff and have a shot at the early recruiting period..now thru mid-Dec. It looks like we've already blown that waiting for some programs to finish their schedules. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if RV already had a short list of who he was interested in before the official firing, that's only natural. Then you also wait and see what names pop up on the applicants list, and now other coaches are being let go so there's a new group to consider. But the competition is also heating up to snare a good coach. I have my favorites but I also look at it like ANY new coach is better than DD.

I think Dodge was telling all colleges to bring offers, I'll listen. You can only win so many state trophies before you wonder how you'd do at the next level. The biggest thing in UNT's favor was the proximity to SLC. He could have stayed in his same house and watch son play senior year. Now SMUt would have the same advantage plus larger pur$e if they fire Bennett. Other colleges will be hesitant to hire Dodge only because of his limited coaching in college and the big fear of hiring a HS coach.

But it also allows other programs to come asking about him (re. SMUt). The winter recruiting window also is I believe from Nov. 26 - Dec. 15. Then there is a dead period until like mid-Jan. 2007.

If Dodge were to go to SMUt and we signed Nix it would be interesting to see the progress of the two programs at the same time. I hope we wouldn't look back and regret our choice.

If only Trinity hadn't lost when they tried a fake punt with less than 2 minutes to go in their game...we might have our coach now.

Bennett discusses direction of SMU Athletic director meets with coach, whose job could be on the line 11:51 PM CST on Sunday, November 26, 2006 By KATE HAIROPOULOS / The Dallas Morning News SMU football coach Phil Bennett and athletic director Steve Orsini met for a couple of hours Sunday to discuss the direction of the program. "Obviously it's very important to both of us," Bennett said. "We made progress, but we're not where we want to be." Bennett said that he appreciated the dialogue and that it would continue today. Bennett's job status is in question after SMU, which ended the season 6-6, became bowl eligible but failed to lock up a bowl bid at Rice on Saturday with a 31-27 loss. Bennett said at the start of the season, his fifth at SMU, that fans should expect a bowl, and Orsini agreed with the goal. Orsini, in his first year at SMU, has said all along that he would evaluate the program at the end of the season. "With this being a timely matter, we wanted to begin the process today, and meeting with Coach Bennett was just the first part of that process," Orsini said Sunday through an SMU spokesperson. Bennett, who is 17-41 at SMU, said Sunday that he deserved to return. "We've gotten better, we're making progress," he said. "But we want more." Bennett said he will return the best nucleus of players next season that he's had at SMU. He said that he was obviously disappointed with the loss at Rice and that SMU should play for championships every season. "We've got to keep recruiting hard," Bennett said. "You always evaluate yourself. You never stay the same." Bennett said redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Willis reacted emotionally when he said Saturday that he would transfer if Bennett doesn't return. "Justin belongs at SMU regardless of who the coach is," Bennett said. Bennett said all of his coaches were out recruiting Sunday. Bennett was at work despite suffering a dislocated collarbone and separated rib cartilage after a sideline collision just before halftime at Rice. Bennett said he was in so much pain that he became sick at the half, though he coached the entire game. He took a shot for the pain, but it also made him sick. He said he almost had to leave the sideline in the fourth quarter. He had X-rays after the game and was unavailable for postgame comment. Bennett said he did not suffer a fracture but will be wearing a sling for at least the next couple of days

I gotta go with Dodge. He IS a head coach. He IS an offensive mind. He IS known in the metroplex and state-wide by fans and by recruits. All things we NEED NOW!