GrayEagle

I see salary as the biggest barrier. This guy coaches wide receivers for 11 years at Kansas State and they put a lot of points on the board. His recruiting abilities are another big plus. If we can afford him, I move that the nominations cease.

No, that was his Receivers Coach J.B. Gerald that Locksley hit in the mouth.

Isn't that the job of the graduate assistant?

Not exactly. The Chancellor is appointed by the Board of Regents and they can remove him. A continual barrage of letters and e-mails might get their attention enough to act. The regents are appointed by the governor but I doubt that they are committed to the governor's bidding.

Last year Dickey was listed as Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs Coach. I can't find their coaching roster but I also haven't seen any new hiring of a running backs coach. However, that doesn't mean that reassignments weren't, or won't be, made. I'll periodically watch the UNM official athletic site for changes.

That would be the late, great Fred Cobb. But, I believe that his friendship with Byron Nelson was a big factor in those North Texas championships. That, and Don January, Billy Maxwell, Joe Conrad and Palmer Lawrence.

Texas, Alabama, Penn State and Florida are always in the Top 10 in recruiting so if they finish there how is that overachieving? At the other end of the spectrum it's been pointed out that North Texas has improved in talent with little results. That's an established fact but I hope that this year it begins to correct itself.

I see nothing wrong with the Big 10 adding a team if it's in their best interest because a twelve-team conference makes it easier to schedule events than an odd number although the Big 10 seems to have made eleven teams work for awhile now. The interesting part is Notre Dame excluding themselves. Notre Dame is putting themselves above the national good and I personally hope that Big 10 does boycott them. Furthermore, if they do not join a conference then I hope that the Big East kicks out their other sports teams and forces them to play independent as well. Thanks to former commissioner Delaney the Big 10 is the richest of all conferences and can afford this study and would scarcely miss the money if they choose not to accept the leading candidate of the study. My guess is that they will take either Pitt or Rutgers. They might even decide to take three and become the first 14-team conference. Should they take three that would cause a major upheaval in the FBS and the dominoes would really begin falling. Our best chance to gain from these changes is to have a huge increase in attendance.

In an era where it's hard to ge a consensus on motherhood, apple pie or the Constitution how can we ever agree on introductions? Being an old geezer I'm partial to marches. So put me down for the old German march "Under the Double Eagle."

I, too received that proposal in the mail. The idea certainly has merit but I see no way to get that to happen. Congress will not pass a law that undermines their current power and benefits. That includes their retirement benefits, disallowing amendments that are not pertinent to the bill being voted on, term limits, pay raises, and health benefits. Only when the populace rises up and demands that the candidate embrace at least one of these concepts will change be possible.

Since most of the offense is back and there are few new additions, this would seem like an easy call. Except we are told that we will use a tight end more. The question is how will he be used...blocker or receiver? I am going to make an assumption that the TE will be a decent blocker who is a good receiver. On that basis my starting offense is: QB Dodge RB Dunbar WR Jamaal Jackson WR Carey WR Stradford TE Fitzpatrick OT Gill OG Drake C J. Johnson OG Feeley OT Santiago The defense is much harder to predict even though there were only 2 1/2 starters lost. (Even though Nwigwe went down about mid-season, I still consider him a starter. I should even add Kylie Hill, another starter who went down before the season ended). DE Obi DT Atkinson DT K. Jackson DE Anyiam LB Graham LB Penson LB Robertson CB Hill CB Ford FS Cook SS Hughes There are a number of quality players that could possibly start on defense...Akpunku at WDE, Miller at SDE, Cantly at DT, Phillips or F. Johnson at OLB, Wood at corner and Smith at either corner or safety. I'm a big Zach Orr fan and it wouldn't surprise me to see the big freshman starting at middle linebacker before the season is over. The competition is so close that I don't see anyone, even Robertson, with a lock on a starting position.

I have to believe that Brad Graham should be somewhere in that mix. NJCAA 1st team all-American and conference Defensive Player of Year...what's not to like?

I saw one thing in the organization chart that struck me as peculiar. The vice-president of finance at UNT does not report to the president of UNT but instead reports to the chancellor. The apparent reason is that he is vice-chancellor of finance for the UNT System. He's located in Dallas, not Denton. Another controversy that I seem to recall was that Lee Jackson wanted to move the information systems personnel to Dallas to avoid hiring another staff at the System level. Addressing the first point that the tuition increase was too high; her request was based on information available and was just that a request. Apparently it is up to the chancellor to recommend the amount of increase to the BOR. How can that be a firable offense even if she made a strong appeal to keep the increase as it was recommended. I don't know how the increase would compare with the tuitions at UT, A&M, Tech and Houston but we had previously been lower than any of those. Furthermore, it hasn't affected our enrollment. As I recall, the reason Dr. Bataille gave for wanting to keep the IS in Denton was that it was tied to research. I agree that it shouldn't be moved because the majority of the work is in Denton. As chancellor he can get whatever information that he requests without duplicating staff or having them next door or under his thumb. Lee Jackson may be a smart man but he is also a control freak and needs to be removed. Chancellors do not need to micromanage.

It might have made it even more interesting if he had thrown in Oklahoma State transfer William Cole.

I believe that he's taking Clinkscale's spot. The others did not have the title of Associate Athletic Director and Jones will be in charge of all development for the athletic department. Any other fund raisers hired should be under him.

I'm sure that Wright Waters has a number of plans depending on who he loses but as long as there's a moratorium there's no one to fill any openings. If the Pac 10 and the Big 10 expand to 12 then the Big East will likely have to do the same to keep their AQ status. Even if they can talk the three independents into joining they will still have to pull two from CUSA which will in turn drop to ten or less or take two or more from the Belt. The game of musical chairs is just starting and a lot of conferences will need a Plan B but the SBC and the WAC will be hurt the most.

Did you look in the WAC?

The Big 12 footprint is large, state schools. If Arkansas won't switch (and I'm fairly certain that they won't) then I'd think that Houston would be the next member. I do, however, believe that the MWC must go to 12 to attain AQ status. To do that they would either take four from the WAC or three and UTEP.

Yep, spent four years there; three of those as OC. He's a good coach but I wouldn't want him back here again.

We are loaded at running back but now have only one true fullback. Since we will likely change our offense for this year to get two national rushing champions on the field at the same time, a fullback might not be important but, to me, it should be even more important. Patrick Cobbs Sr 5-9 205 Tecumseh, OK Keronna Henderson FR 6-0 225 Carthage James Mitchell JR 5-9 192 Aubrey Kevin Moore JR 5-9 193 Houston Robert Payne FR 5-9 185 San Angelo Jarret Payten JR 5-8 206 Plano Evan Robertson FR 5-9 160 Pflugerville Jamario Thomas SO 5-11 195 Longview As you are no doubt aware, this is a first in NCAA history that two former national rushing champions are on the same squad. We have the best running back tandem in the country, Cobbs and Thomas, and the coaching staff has been searching for ways to play them together. This group is so good that senior Roy Bishop, a Texas Top 100 pick from high school, was shifted to wide receiver. Speedster Kevin Moore has averaged more than 25 yards per kickoff return the last two seasons. James Mitchell has racked up some nice gains when used as a running back. Jarret Payten was a nice high school running back at Plano West but has had a hard time cracking even the 3-deep lineup. If Desmon Chatman is moved to defense, the only scholarship incoming freshman running back will be Evan Robertson. His 4.4 speed might make him a serious candidate at kickoff returner with Moore. I think that he needs more weight to play running back except maybe in spot situations. The other freshman listed, Robert Payne, is a preferred walkon from San Angelo Lakeview. He was a co-MVP in an all-star game and announced his intentions at that time. They have been starting James Mitchell at fullback. Mitchell is fearless and would run through a brick wall, if told. But, he still weighs only 192 and that is light for any fullback, who is primarily a blocking back. With Nevins out for this year, Henderson is the only other fullback candidate. He looked good in the spring drills but that was his first college experience. If they choose to use an H-back this year, the best candidates that I see are Davidson and Brown. If they don't then they need to move McNac, one of the light linemen (who can run), or a tight end to the fullback slot. I would rate this position a 9. If judged by the two top running backs, this would be a 10 rating. But the size and/or inexperience at fullback has to pull the rating down a point.

Ja'Mel Branch did look all-conference in spring training BUT how much of it was familiarity with our plays? He always seemed to be at the right place at the right time. We can only hope that it transfers into top play against opponents. To show the absurdity of this all-conference team, a quarterback on the 30 year team, Steven Jyles, is not the quarterback on the pre-season team. Do they know something that we don't?

By the way, Grand, I seem to recall that Grady Davis graduated and passed on his last year of eligibility. I think that he was introduced with the graduating seniors at the last home game. Can anyone else remember that?

Harmon was the starter at the end of spring drills and the only one with better skills is Davidson. But, as noted, Davidson was hurt during the year and only played in 2/3 of the games. In addition, he is an accomplished long snapper and may have to spend time (in practice) there. Believe me, Harmon is an excellent blocker and that's what Dickey wants unless we had someone with the receiving skills of the just graduated Andy Blount. Brown may have those skills but it will likely take a year to develop. I did not get to see Chaney play this spring as he was injured but he did not have the reputation of a pass-catching tight end.

The old proposal did not pass the DISD School Board because of the possibility of liability for the WHISD commitments. The new proposal sends students, depending on where they were living, to various Dallas schools using DISD attendance zones. The proposal, to be voted on tonight would send all Wilmer-Hutchins seniors to James Madison High School. Madison is a 3-A school that was in Wilmer-Hutchins district. They were picked to finish second by DCTF so this may send them deep into the playoffs. If you combine the two, there are 11 returning starters on offense, 18 on defense. The non-seniors will be distributed to four Dallas high schools: Carter, South Oak Cliff, Roosevelt, and Smith. The non high school students are diffused even more widely.