PlummMeanGreen

I know a bit of "shoot from the hip" here but BSU's success along with their soon to make about $14 million in one game makes me wonder if we should have gone to that conference when we had a chance. The WAC will get very nice publicity over all this and will probably help La Tech out-recruit UNT in Texas (again) because of it. Who knows, it may even help New Mexico State get a few from our area since we know they will recruit Texas harder with Mumme (sp?) as their coach with his Texas ties. I know there are distance concerns with the WAC, but jeez, just how far are the 2 Florida schools away from Denton anyway in comparison to some in the WAC who are way out there? GO BRONCOS! HERE'S ANOTHER WHO IS OFFICIALLY ON YOUR BANDWAGON! PS: BSU does have a very nice NCAA D1-A double deck football stadium which I'm sure looks very nice to recruits in spite of their blue turf surface.

Yeah, but UNT goes back into its "Cotton Eyed Joe" best, hits a certain plateau (not as high as what BSU has in recent years with numerous Top 25 rankings); yet then we go back into our traditional retreat mode (again and again and again). Wonder how our athletic personel has compared to BSU's thru the years? Might any UNT media guide give us a hint on that? It's always about the people you hire, folks, (and then some you even have to fire) to get your program fine-tuned to the extent to where it can attain the kind of plateau Boise State reached today. How many million$ will this one game mean for BSU? Even if they were to upset OU how much more would it be? Probably more than enough to be a good down payment to get a new football stadium construction started in Denton would be my guess.

What an early Christmas pre$ent for the BSU athletic program. I am trying to remember while in my junior year when we beat Tennessee, Houston, etc, etc, etc, if I ever heard of a school out of Idaho named BSU and a BSU that didn't mean Baptist Student Union. The upside? If UNT leaders say they want to use the BSU Bronco football program as our model. The downside? Well, we've been living that for way too long. Congrats, Broncos! You have made the non-BCS consortium of schools very proud!

Ask her about what she thinks about an 8'th name change and that to: NORTH TEXAS UNIVERSITY! NTU! Hey, it has that "NYU" sound, ie, NY state of mind and chic', whadda' you think, darlin' (with a very, very heavy native Texan accent? (Uh, just kidding, of course) Seriously: Dr. Bataille, it is quite an honor to meet you and I (as an NT Ex) just want to extend my personal welcome to you to the University of North Texas, yet I do have a question for you if you have a minute.......... OK, good................. Dr. Bataille, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board projects that UNT will increase in enrollment and become the 3'rd largest university in Texas (trailing only UT-Austin and TAMU).......... .......so looking at how those 2 schools respective athletic program's successes have annually enhanced their across-the-board on-campus fundraising and even moreso, how it has created more of a national awareness of both of those school's academic quality............anyway, as we project to the future when we will only be behind UT and TAMU in enrollment (and behind them in our alumnus numbers, too), how do you feel UNT can soon start improving and enhancing our own athletic program as the projected 3'rd largest university in Texas? (I know, it's been more than a minute).

There's an old Broadway song titled: "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" but might we change the words of that title a bit to fit us in MG Country to: "On A Clear Day You Can See The South End Zone Seats (from the North End Zone Seats)? I've never enjoyed watching games at Fouts Field from the first time I sat in it in September of 1973 and no matter how many times they polish that old t_rd of a football stadium, none of that will ever change the poor sightlines and the fact that the accoustics are terrible (as football fan referred to that in his above post). IMPLODE FOUTS FIELD SOON!

How long you been watching games at Fouts Field, football fan? Just curious... In spite of all the recent cosmetics at Fouts, no one is going to ever take UNT serious as a school that has ambitions to climb any higher than the SBC/Bottom 25 until we build a new football stadium and hopefully one that we don't cut corners or down-size to too small a capacity which would keep the UT's, OU's and TAMU's from coming to Denton. Of course, some of us have only been saying this about Fouts Field going on 4 plus decades. One of the few things Hayden Fry did that I didn't like was take games off our main campus to Texas Stadium; of course, we know all the reasons he had to do that with who we were playing which would be those who would never come to Fouts Field. Yet had Fry been given the directive and challenge to raise Dallas/Denton/ Metroplex monies for a new stadium from the very beginning of his Mean Green coaching career and with NT officials saying (even back then) that we could not take MG football games off campus, I think we'd be in a major college stadium today. Fry was a fundraising dynamo; not sure why we paid all that consultant money to Gene Stallings when we could have probably had Fry with far less to be a special assistant to the AD for DFW Metroplex fundraising. In 17 years as a HFC here in the Metroplex at both SMU and UNT, anyone else think Fry might know more than just a few heavy-hitter$ out there? BTW, one of his Mean Green football players in 1973 was some guy named Jim McIngvale. Hayden Fry's first few months upon his arrival in Denton in December of 1972, he raised (back then) what many have told me would have been the equivalent of $1,000,000.oo today.

I really think Donnan is close to the Dickey family and that may make him feel personally uncomfortable in putting his name in the hat for our job. Not sure he would anyway. In fact, don't some of you remember on one of the ESPN telelcast of one of our games when Donnan was shopping DD for a really Big Time U program (and to use his words) "should take a chance with Darrell Dickey." That kind of turned me off that he used a UNT televised football game to shop DD. I mean come on now, isn't there a time and a place to do such things as that? I think Donnan and DD's Dad were assistant coaches at one assistant coach stopover. He sounds like a good ol' Southern boy on ESPN radio, but what the hell, I guess that would be OK.

Truth Patrol Yeah, but UH has about $400 million in their school's endowment coffers and UNT ain't even close. Since Bobby Ray has been the chairman of the UNT Board of Regents, how much has been raised to increase ours? Yet $400 million for UH? Not bad for a commuter school that some on this board are actually comparing to UTA, eh? UTA and UH are apples and oranges, fellow alums. And not to pour ice water on facilities that have been built recently or will have to be built at Eagle Point Campus but.................... ..............folks, if we don't build these facilities at UNT how long do we even stay in the athletic business period? RV should be commended for hitting some late inning home runs with all this, but if it had only been singles being hit at this point in time of our athletic history then our athletic program could have very well become history. NOTE: Not RV's fault at all, but all this building and fundraising happening recently to the present should and could have been done years ago, but we actually had fundraisers over in the NT Athletic Dept. who didn't realize that fund-raising was their job (if you can believe that). (And thats all been within the last 10 or so years, too). Better late than never I suppose. Some of you young gun alums (for yourselves) give all this another 30 plus years of hitting your own heads against the wall with all these UNT Athletic Dept. "would be's and could be's" and then you'll know where some of us are coming from with what may seem to you to be some frustration (which you'd be right about) on some of our's part with how all this has been handled at our main campus in Denton almost non-stop. So can you really blame many, many, many of us (many of whom never post) for some of our non-trust or lack of faith in what many times has been our being led down numerous primrose lanes laced with bullshit from some very effective bullshitters in Denton, Texas, America, thru the years (and decades)? Have A Nice Day

And didn't someone on this board say that the Dallas Cowboys even made an inquiry about Todd Dodge's availability for one of their assistant jobs at one point? Had that happened then you have one coming from a very successful Texas HS football program to the NFL? But coming from a very successful TX HS FB program to UNT is not do-able? That sounds like the UNT kind of thinkin' many of us have become accustomed to for about the last 2 1/2 decades when it has become HFC hiring time in Denton. Will still defer to the signature below:

Was in Stephenville a few weeks ago and met the grandfather of one of Brile's UH recruits and he said the UH players down in H-town think the former Texas HS coaching success story literally hung the moon. No one can know or predict who would be a successful HFC at UNT at this point, but I think whoever we hire will know for them to make the next step up and out of Denton (and you could put any non BCS city's name in place of Denton on this, too); anyway, that they will have to beat some OOC schools, probaby need to beat some ranked OOC schools and they will need to have the Mean Green in the Top 25 for at least one or two seasons before anyone from Big Time U would look at them. If DD had won the SBC with some of his teams ranked Top 25, then DD would have gotten his hearts desire and away from what many seasons of his post-game/Coach's Show radio comments suggested was a man who was not happy to be where he was. I think if the DD/UNT Story taught anything is that you don't leave Denton for the Big 10 or Big 12 by just beating SBC schools and getting to the NO's Bowl (no matter how many times that would happen in a row); and I think we have more than ample proof that proves such a theory as that to be pretty well right on target.

Honest to goodness I think many on this board would have thought Nix an excellent choice, but not with the current climate among the MG Nation or ticket-buying public or this time in the history of MG football. Gol' darn it, Craig Helwig, with your crony hire! My have we all in MG Country in past decades had to pay for the sins of others (so to speak). Todd Dodge is still The Man for the UNT HFC's job IMHO: I think what some of you call a risk with T.D. would turn into eventual rewards with the hiring of Dodge who does have one advantage of having already been a UNT assistant coach albeit only 2 years. I think his DFW recruiting ties with the kind of assistant coaches he would hire to take advantage of those and also his being a former U of Texas QB along with his present TX HS FB success at the highest level would be to UNT's advantage now. Any other of the usual or typical hires we've had at UNT the last 2 1/2 decades have been as much project hires as some of you have said T.D. would be; but wouldn't T.D still have more advantages and plusses over most or all of that group who we've seen come and go thru Denton and not leave much behind as a legacy at a higher profile? Would you have picked Todd Dodge (with his current successes and Lone Star State name ID) over Darrell Dickey whose resume showed he'd basically been a journeyman assistant football coach when he was hired at UNT by Helwig)?

From what I've read in recent years, there may be some conservative Southern Baptist who may be ready to burn Baylor to the ground. So there's always a chance for UNT in the Big 12, eh, like a snowballs chance in hell? CUSA probably has the same attitude the old SWC had: "We already have enough Texas schools in this league." I think the MWC would be intriguing (especially over the WAC for you who still think that a good direction) and especially since TCU needs a travel partner. Its just the same ol' thing in Denton, though, inasmuch as we of UNT still have a long list of things that need to be done for us to even think of upgrading to such a league as the MWC if that even became an option at all. Just looking at UNT media guides (which really serve as pretty fair reference guides of our success or lack thereof); anyway, I still think we only have a handful in our athletic department who are of a NCAA D1-A talent level just looking at those media guides, but the rest still seem to think we're still operating back in the early 1990's in our 1-AA/SLC days with their attitudes (and seemed low expectation for this program). And FWIW, its apparent that some of that group on campus have been successful with some of our elect in making them think we really have a "got it going on" program in Denton. So with many of that group of UNT athletic employees its still just probably more of the: "As long as they pay me my pay check I'll just keep on selling refrigerators to a bunch of those green-clad/green-tinted thinking Eskimos." Just my .02 from many, many years of observation and..............I know several of you who have personally (or via telephone or email) told me you feel the very same (and some of you with even stronger feelings about this than myself), but I'll go ahead and be the one who'll post it so you won't get any sludge or personal criticism thrown your way.

Hold it just a minute, Eagle-96, be respectful: Both those fellers are part of my "All-Heaven" team. Won't tell you who is part of my "Awe Hell (not again)" team. I still defer to my rather lengthy signature below:

Scoop-Poop: And I hear Flanagan will get that job and be responsible for recruiting the DFW area. (OK, gol' darn it, I'm just kiddin'). This thread confuses me a bit: Is there a new NCAA rule that says a caucasian HFC can no longer hire a very sharp (up and comer of a) black assistant football coach to assist in inner city recruiting (and any other area where he (they) would be needed? One of my favorites (as I know he was many of yours with some of you who even played under him) was the late and great Ron Shanklin who used to recruit greater Fort Worth and when he came to town he'd often stop by my office and we'd head out for Dos Gringos. Jeez, don't we all miss that man?

Now wait just a minute here, GMG1999..... We have UNT assistant football coaches who were part of the Dickey Ball staff (and I'm probably all wrong here once again, but didn't DD have about a 42W**62L career at UNT)? And we need to be concerned about them losing ground on recruiting? I think if I were a UNT assistant football coach I would be spending much of my time with a fax machine and freshened up resume'. SCOOP: But I did hear Ramon Flanagan had to be hog-tied to his office chair to keep him from recruiting DFW until..................he gets official word on what to do.

Pat Sullivan: (1) Ask TCU officials about him. Better yet, ask TCU alums/Horned Frog fans where you'll get a clearer, truer and not the typical rubber-stamp "he's just fine" resume reference type of comments). Folks, unless someone has been accused and convicted of rape or murder, these people take care of each other when it comes to giving each other job references no matter the performance. You know, the old "they might need one in return one day" kind of scenario? (2) Didn't Pat Sullivan have some very, very serious health problems just a few years ago that should be considered? Sullivan didn't seem to have much in the area of being a charismatic personality while at TCU as I recall and didn't we just have a coach just like that at UNT? Of course, they'll be those who said while Sullivan was at TCU he recruited all the kids that Coach Fran turned into a success; but if you use that argument, so did UNT assistant coach Todd Dodge who was part of Parker's staff who recruited those who Matt Simon would later have some success. Tell Tell? I think Pat Sullivan was the TCU HFC when Rick V was on the staff in Horned Frog Country.

Defer below

Nix would probably be a great hire, but who else has (seriously) tried to hire him and who is trying to hire him now (besides maybe only us)? I may be wrong, but it also seems Nix was at USM for many, many years before someone hired him away from there? From all I read on this board and hear (elsewhere) the climate in the UNT community (of which a Nix hire would sorta' need to appea$e to $ome extent?) would frown on such a hire at this time in our football program's history. I am trying to even detect on this forum a groundswell of support for Nix to come to Denton; realizing this board is not the end all nor does it ever speak for the entire UNT community, but it does represent a pretty good cross-section or barometer of how NT Exes and MG fans feel about their school and their school's football program. Some might also ask what are the W/L records of all the other "multi-years on campus' varsity coaches our AD has hired? We're all pulling for Coach Johnny Jones to make this this year his big "coming out" year, but even Coach Jones I believe is still under .500 in W/L's after a few years on the UNT payroll and he was an RV hire as I recall. Based on the last 25 years of what has been a very average athletic program at the Division One level, it may be hard for some of us to show much trust at all because we've seen a comedy of errors in many hirings at UNT; and the "one man hiring committee" Helwig debacle with DD is the most recent thing we have to go by with such a (crony) hire. There would be few who would blame many for their having concerns for this next very crucial football coaching hire at UNT.

Both "crony' hires of Helwig, too. Any other time for a crony hire at UNT but this one.

I don't disagree with what you've posted. As they say.....you're preaching to the choir, jjpfootball.

UNT just doesn't have a Jitter Nolen (NTSU prez who hired Fry) who can think outside the box enough to go for the "collegiate" high profile coach on our campus right now IMHO. Back then, jjpfootball, I never even thought about Todd Dodge, but in light of new information on him and the fact that I believe he could recruit the most highly recruited QB in UNT football history (among others) in 2007, ie, his own son, I think he is a "high profile" hire that most any Texas HS coach (at any level of the UIL and Texas Assoc. of Private Schools) would all know who Todd Dodge is PLUS.............. ............Coach Dodge already has 2 years of very valuable experience as a UNT assistant football coach several years ago (albeit it under Parker); so he would not be a total stranger to our situation in Denton (but this time around he would be working with far better facilites even from the git-go than he did when he was at UNT before). Also, IMO, I believe Todd Dodge coupled with Rick Villarreal would find us the next few Big Donors who will help us start and finish a new football stadium. Just a gut feeling with that. Rick V might have a Mississippi buddy up his sleeve and you know what, that person might be very, very qualified for our job, too, but in light of Helwig's crony hiring of DD (and the way it came down and then bit us in the butt) I don't think that kind of hire this time around by RV would play well in Denton and the UNT community at all. In fact, I am afraid it could backfire from a perception and public relations standpoint. Rick V has a very important decision he will soon make (along with our new president who is a part of this process). RV also probably needs to pull the trigger on some other deadwood inside the UNT Athletic Department as several of us had hoped he would have done his first week on the UNT payroll; but as some of us have learned only recently, the man was very strapped from doing his AD job by one (mabye two) "higher ups" who probably need to be hung from the tallest oak tree out at Pilot Knob off I35-W and by their short-hairs for interfering with RV's job that he was paid to do. PS FFR, if you're reading this, I am getting thunder, lightening and "sleet" as I post out here off Bankhead. Are you at home and getting the same?

150%, gangrene...

Boyhowdy, UNTLifer, if it could only be this simple and happen just this way.