PlummMeanGreen

Football Board, so football? But basketball, too, CMJ. My bet is you like UCLA in BB?

...Who Is Your 2'nd College Team You Want To Win It's a tie: UT and UH Of course, during the Darrell Royal years. ...and Bill Yeoman years, too GMG!

I do remember reading a feature article on Coach Fran in the FW Star Telegram years ago about one (or both?) of his parents committing suicide so he has hardly had a bed of roses in other areas of his life. I would still wonder if either UNT or Coach Fran are even interested in each other, but the impact would be tremendous because you don't have to take the next 2 or 3 years introducing recruits to him. They just don't keep up with the same stuff we do on collegiate message boards--they merely want to have a chance to play. FRAN'tic TIME: UNT would have to have at least a 4 or 5 year stay by him for it to work IMHO. He would need to come into Denton saying things like "we want to be like Boise or TCU and aim for a BCS bowl and we now have a stadium to recruit toward to make it happen." Of course, all that would also mean dominating the SBC and becoming a Top 25 football program. Whether anyone back in the day believed Fry or not, he still got UNT much statewide attention by trying to get North Texas Southwest Conference consideration and supposedly had Darrell Royal behind this happening, but we all know who would not have wanted it to happen and that would have been about 4 SWC schools of that era. Money, money, money thats-a what I want! A very high buyout clause would still be necessary with a coach like Franchione because if he had immediate success some in the BCS would come a-callin' albeit few or none of them would probably hire him now. How 'bout $5 million buyout if he left before Year 4 or Year 5? Not a bad consalation prize for UNT, eh? GMG!

Come on folks, respect for the deceased? I know, probably a generational thing. We 'boomers are probably still the last generation that when we visit a cemetary we still step over gravesites (instead of on them), but don't forget that we all also lived our lives in black and white until NBC introduced color to all of us. GMG!

Are these belated or are we starting real early for FFR's 2011 birthday celebration? GMG!

I don't know about any of the 3 for our job to be honest. Its just that Coach Fran gives UNT the "impact" name that we have not had for quite a long time. Fran would need much research. He tends to not stay long anywhere I think we'd all agree. Maybe if he signed a 5 year contract signed in blood? Fact is, he may not even be interested in our job or even getting back in football but one phone call from Rick V would find that out. GMG!

Thanks for that research, TTG. If we got Coach Fran, Rick V should have a $5,000,000 buyout Frans first 5 years in Denton then it would descend dramatically after Year 5. NOTE: The schools who would most likely want him $5 million would be mere pocket change. UNT will need 5 years of success and good recruiting from such a name coach to leave it in good hands for the next a la Boise State with their coaches turnover merry go round of the last 10 plus years yet amazingly continued success thru all those turnovers. GMG! Question: Didn't Coach Fran have written in his Alabama contract that TAMU would be 1 of 2 schools that could talk to him? The 2'nd I cannot recall. Thought: What would be funny if word got out that UNT was interested in Coach Fran (if we actually were) how that might stimulate 1 or 2 BCS Big Boys to inquire, too. Then.....UNT would be the best thing that ever happened to Coach Fran even if we didn't get to hire him. (Just more aimless speculation on a board known for much of the same).

I guess we could PM all this, right, TTG? Actually, Parker County is OK. Hell, Commanches were raiding ranches out here 12 years before UNT had its first classes in 1890. Old timers out here have great cowboy/indian stories from way back from their great grandparents--I have a few of my own. The Bearcat Cafe in Aledo is a great place for Monday morning QB's to drink coffee & have a great greasy spoon breakfast. Any county that is the home of Peter Pan and J.R. Ewing can't be too bad, either, right? (Mary Martin and her son, Larry Hagman, of course). AND............Parker County is also the home of: FIRE-FIGHTIN' RICK!...............IT'S ALL GOOD ! GMG!

Been to all of em'...but not one of those located in Parker County--where the real wild west begins, TTG. (Damn, I'm sure glad I don't have any stock with Blockbuster). GMG!

Yes! Let's all let this be our new Mean Green "hiring a new HFC" mindset from now till hiring day; that is, unless we tie for the SBC this year and go to the NO's Bowl since we would have been the last of the "tie teams" to have gone. GMG!

I hope we are not spending $80 million for a new stadium to keep a Sun Belt frame of mind. The 'Belt is pathetic & I hope does not (once again) become our barometer for success like it did in its early years and............beggin' some pardons, but why do we at UNT more than anywhere else on the globe or the known universe always want to.......................recycle coaching personnel..........& from within when we ain't produced much from within? Its like we are the Stepford Fans at times around here. Hint To UNT Powers: Don't hire anyone who has ever had anything to do with this football program under a regime that did not go up to the next level in the NCAA, OK? GMG!

Hey! Hey! Hey! Anyone else know a better place to "buy" old movies on DVD? Jeez! I feel a Toby Keith song comin' up next! GMG!

Hey TTG, please refresh my memory of what happened at TAMU with Coach Fran toward the end. I cannot recall the details. Also.......I heard on ESPN last night that one known coach has a $5,000,000 buyout clause--if we get a name coach, what would be your (or anyone reading this) idea of a buyout clause maybe anytime between Year 1 and Year 5? After Year 5 whatever the buyout figure could descend I would presume. GMG

So another sports white lie from Mack Brown, perhaps? GMG!

Agree... If Kragthorpe is calling then someone needs to find the soundbite of him being just a tad condescending toward North Texas when asked if he would be interested in our job a few years ago. Life Lesson? Don't burn your bridges. GMG!

Blockbuster? Parker County here, Merle's inspiration for this song I'm quite sure: We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee; We don't take our trips on LSD We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street; We like livin' right, and bein' free. I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee, A place where even squares can have a ball We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse, And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all We don't make a party out of lovin'; We like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo; We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy, Like the hippies out in San Francisco do. And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee, A place where even squares can have a ball. We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse, And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all. Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear; Beads and Roman sandals won't be seen. Football's still the roughest thing on campus, And the kids here still respect the college dean. We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse, In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Merle Haggard I'd rather be a red neck than a pinko as in........ take from the rich--give to the poor?

No, Mark, I said when traveling from Fort Worth to Fouts Field at dusk to watch out for UFO's. Man oh man! A lady friend and I were coming back from Weatherford's Olive Garden back to her Lake Weatherford home and we were both shocked with what we saw (and I am serious as a heart attack here). I'm still trying to 'cipher that whole thing out. Go Little Green Men!

On that we will agree... GMG! PS: And on this PS I will say in your honor, CMJ..........Hooray for Hollywood! I'm out and headed to Blockbuster! Adios, amigos!

I didn't post this article to say he was a success in Denton--few (if any) have been in your lifetime, CMJ, but only to point out that sometimes its not the person but rather the school that cannot be successful because of karma, stars not lining up, uh, "stadium" or whatever and is the main reason many on this board feel like it will have to be a Name Coach next go around or we will be farting in the wind in Denton another one of your lifetimes or your childrens, that's all pal. I mean how many former UNT HFC's knock their socks off to get back to Denton for university related golf tourneys other than one I can think of? That one just so happened to be the last coach at UNT with a career above .500 W/L record, too. I hope our next HFC 30 years from now is knocking the Denton City Limits sign over to come back to any event related to UNT because that would probably mean that Rick V hired the right one this time around--we are 30 plus years over-due for this to happen. It has been the greatest challenge for any UNT AD since I was a student. Our AD job is not an easy job to say the least. GMG!

USC? TAMU? , uh...UNT?

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/ksherrington/stories/121306dnsposherrington.3355eb7.html Seems Todd Dodge did have a very nice resume' and many, many football higher-ups on his bandwagon, too. His lack of success may make some of these people in the article below think there may be something wrong in Denton, perhaps? If we can't make it happen with a name coach, then what the hell do we do, folks? (Fact is...I think we can, though, because that formula worked before in Denton like none other since--so let's let history repeat itself in this case). DENTON The University of North Texas introduced a high school coach Tuesday in its never-ending quest for Hayden Fry's heir apparent. In many places, maybe most, the preceding paragraph might be construed as an indictment. But not if you know Todd Dodge . Not if you've seen his Southlake Carroll teams play. Not if you witnessed Rice's revival this year. Or Missouri's. Not if you ask Bill Parcells or Sean Payton or Mack Brown or Gary Pinkel. The Mean Green didn't just hire a high school coach. Rick Villarreal found answers to the direction of his athletic program. CollegesColleges blog Tell us: A good hire for UNT? Sherrington: Dodge ball will be a hit at UNT Mean Green turns to familiar face Dodge inherits team with question marks Whitmire: Carroll needs to find total package More: North Texas Need an entertaining offense that'll draw fans as well as recruits? Check. Need a coach with a lot of high school contacts, especially in the area? Check. Need a coach to sell the push for a $60 million stadium? Check. Need a coach who can turn it around fast? Check. Maybe you're still not so sure. Maybe you recall the last high school coach UNT hired. Dennis Parker came straight out of Marshall in the early '90s and won an average of four games in three seasons. His offensive coordinator? Todd Dodge. Hardly seems comforting, does it? Only if you know how far UNT and Dodge have come in the years since. Dodge took over Bob Ledbetter's excellent Carroll program in 2000 and did the impossible: He made it better, guiding it through the difficult transition from 4A to 5A. Guided it? The Dragons have dominated the state's top class like no team since Chuck Moser's Abilene teams of the 1950s. Get this: The Dragons have gone 77-1 since moving up to 5A. The only loss was by one point to Katy in the 2003 state title game. Of course, those were high school games. He's stepping up in class now, and some UNT boosters and alumni have already asked Villarreal: "How do you know he can do it at this level?" All you need to do, Villarreal tells the doubters, is talk X's and O's with the man. Or you could talk to the quarterbacks and receivers who come to his camp every summer, the most prestigious in North Texas, a likely base for North Texas recruiting the next several years. You could talk to Rice officials. They tried to interview Dodge for the job that eventually went to Todd Graham, who qualified Rice for its first bowl in 42 seasons. Graham wanted to hire Dodge, too. When he couldn't, he got Major Applewhite, who calls Dodge a mentor, and all Applewhite did was effectively run Rice's spread offense with Wishbone personnel. Moral: With the right coaches, you can get it done at this level, and fast. Ask Missouri coaches what they think. Dodge supplied the quarterback, Chase Daniel, and offense for the Tigers' turnaround season. Pinkel says Dodge's offensive knowledge and development of young quarterbacks is "as good as anyone I've ever seen." Talk to Bill Parcells. Called up Dodge out of the blue last year and asked if he wanted to talk about coaching tight ends for him. Even after he got an audience with the Cowboys' coach, Dodge still couldn't believe it. "What," he asked, "am I doing here?" Parcells told him he'd been watching his games. Had his eye on him as a potential assistant. Called him a "football guy," and a "good teacher of the game." Coaching is coaching at any level, Mack Brown says, high school or college or pros. "It will be a great fit for him," Brown says, "and North Texas is lucky to have him." Lucky that Dodge got to coach his son, Riley, this season, and can check it off his list. Lucky that Riley's only a junior, or Dodge might have left for a coordinator's job someplace else. Lucky that Dodge coached here once, and he can see how far the facilities have come since then. Darrell Dickey built a base here. He qualified UNT four times for the New Orleans Bowl, and Dodge hasn't forgotten. But he also knows it can be better. "The Metroplex's Team," is how he sees it. Frankly, Villarreal probably would settle for a program Denton and UNT's alumni base can finally embrace. If anyone can fulfill the Mean Green's long-lost promise, it's the man who plans on coaching a high school team until Dec. 23. After that, he's all UNT's. Christmas comes early.

I am easily confused, especially since my past is getting longer than my future. GMG!

Agree... Last year "if" we had won all those close 4'th quarter games that probably would have given TDodge the capital he would have needed this Fall to come back in light of all those injuries...but it was not mean't to be. DD had his turnaround with a healthy football team and a 1'st year in operation SBC...TDodge will not have such a turnaround because half his squad is in the MASH unit. Todd Dodge will rebound somewhere else nice because of his prior reputation among his statewide peers and lets face it, fellow alums, UNT does have the reputation as a coach's graveyard at this moment in time (although IMHO that description will soon end, too, because of what is in our near future across from Fouts. (I know some of us are putting a lot of pressure on this stadium doing everything except maybe curing cancer, but I think in due time we will all be amazed what this edifice will do for the psyche of the entire UNT community, ie, the City of Denton, Denton County, UNT Academia, DFW Exes and mostly, UNT Athletics. Wish we would have built this twent'.............oh, hellbells, nevermind! GMG!

Will's grandfather sat behind our group at the Rice game and it was a pleasure to get to talk to him (and high 5 with him) during the game. For certain, he was real proud of his grandson as he should be. GMG!

First of all, I think the MGRN of Jub & Hank is premium and I don't know about the other thing you mention--haven't visited it in a while. I've listened to many college football broadcasting teams across the Southwest beginning with Kern Tips and Dave "All Time Homer" South in the old SWC Exxon Network back in the 60's and believe me..........we have a very good broadcasting team with George Dunham and Hank Dickenson; quite frankly, not sure why they haven't won some statewide awards I understand are out there for collegiate football broadcasts. One year we had all our games televised but the team sucked that year so........do you highlight a football program that is not on top its game by televising it? I have no idea about that. Name Coach? I think at this stage of our football history we may be forced to go with a name coach and that is where we're at now on the eve of a new stadium opening and our location where UNT may have to do a bit more to get the much needed local or statewide media attention. Now there will be different degrees of what we will all call a name coach, but we need one that will all but give North Texas the "you mean UNT was able to hire HIM" response. Name Coach? Don't know if that coach is out there right this minute but things change fast in the NCAA but please........I don't think we recycle (again) from our losing past and that should be a given. As we know, this hire will be a totally different kind of hire than we've ever had in our history in light of whats being built between the 2 Texas interstates. GMG!