BillySee58

This. I've been very surprised to see we've only offered one JUCO tackle so far. And he's a longshot at best (Tyler Howell). This makes it more of a pressing need. And we don't have a lot of realistic targets left at tackle. OTs are the first linemen to get scooped up by the big schools. Really going to need the tackles left (Rentfro, Trussell, Sorge) to step up. Maybe Sam Rice moves to tackle?

Agreed. Also, JRock, I'd be very down for that.

Another scary thing I've heard is that the P5 conferences plan on making the transfer rule where a kid doesn't have to sit out a year if they transfer up from a non-P5 school to a P5 school. So if we do get a kid like Brelan Chancellor to fall through the cracks, a P5 team could just come in and scoop him up without him having to sit out a year.

Says the SMU game is at 6.

As All About UNT said, it's all in the name. UTsa. UTep. The UT is the reason. DFW is a big market. Just like LA in the PAC12, DFW is a big enough market to have two teams. But the key is, are we winning. We need to pull out a couple miraculous 12-14 win seasons coming up here. TCU didn't get in to the BIG12 because they're in Ft. Worth. They got in because they were coming off of 4 straight 11+ win seasons. That's very unlikely for us, but if we could do that we would have a shot.

SMU doesn't draw enough and they don't have a big school to get behind it. We don't draw a lot, but we have 36K+ students. Play on a bigger stage and we could easily get 50K people down the line when we play schools like Texas, Baylor, Tech, and OU. Assuming those schools bring a lot of people. Houston has the best chance. BYU scares me too, and they really want in. Again, that would mean that the conference would have to put OU and Ok State in different divisions. I still could see WVU leaving the BIG12, then BYU would have a spot in the North and two Texas teams could be added. It hasn't been a good fit at all, and they don't get to play their rivals. Just been a casualty of all this major college football landscaping, but at least they aren't left out in the AAC.

Actually, the chance is still not good at all, but it's better than you think. The big 12 has two choices for expansion. 1. Add two more non-Texas schools. This would be hard, but probably ideal for them. That way they could keep the 4 Texas schools and the 2 Oklahoma schools in the same division. BYU wants in, but finding another school may be hard, with all the other legitimate North Division candidates in the B1G (Big10) and Pac 12. Also, not entirely sure WVU wants to stay in the Big12 longterm. 2. Add two more Texas schools. If you add just one more Texas school and a non-Texas school for the Northern Division, then you'd have to split up the Oklahoma schools. Putting 1 in the North and 1 in the south. By adding 2 Texas schools they could create a Texas division with 6 schools and a North Division, with the 2 Oklahoma schools, Iowa State, K-State, Kansas, and WVU. This scenario would leave the door open for us. If we could pass up SMU, Rice, and UTSA, then we could have a shot. Fortunately we play all those schools. Creating a Texas division and a North Division would allow Texas and OU to play each other every year, with each school having a cross-division rival they play every year, and potentially play against each other twice a year in the Big12 conference championship game. It may be more appealing for the Big12 to do it that way and take two more Texas teams.

It has become almost a necessity. If we don't beat Texas, we need to keep it close and win every other game.

Yup. Unless we can pull off a couple 11+ win seasons and be invited to the big 12.

This impending change is the reason why I want our coaches to open up the offense and put Dajon at qb. Same reason I wanted Brock or Dajon last year. We have a very unique opportunity in this change, in that we play in the heart of the Big 12. The only P5 conference that has less than 12 members, not enough to have a conference championship game which may hinder them in the future. They will very likely add at least 2 more members. In order for this to happen, we need to do better than just 7-5 or 8-4 seasons. I'm not sure that can happen with a bus-driver qb approach. And it's not a knock on the qbs, it's the conservative approach. Don't get me wrong, if Coach Mccarney can string together 7-5 and 8-4 seasons over the next 2-5 years, I'd be extremely grateful. And it'd be one of the best periods of North Texas football in years. But ultimately we'll get left out and we'd be relegated to a new, lower division similar to FCS/1AA, as UNT90 said. Now if we open things up, stick in our most electric player at qb, and let these freshmen skill players develop together we could see 10+ win seasons and the ability to play with the big boys that may catch the attention of the Big 12. Imagine Dajon at qb, Jeffery Wilson (shoutout from Chico for all 3 practices), Willy Ivery, and Erick Evans at running back, Tee Goree, O'Keeron Rutherford, and Turner Smiley at WR, and potentially a guy like Caleb Chumley at TE. All of those guys are freshmen. Sorry for post length, and I know that all was a stretch. But it's what I've been thinking about for us through all of this college-football landscape changing. 10 years ago I'd be ecstatic about 7 and 8 win seasons. But the truth is we need more than that. May not be fair for Coach Mccarney and crew, but it's just the truth.

Not to start up another different debate, but here's David Shaw's (Stanford Head Coach) view on pay for play. These two are combining to lead this change. http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/stanford-s-david-shaw-offers-strong-words-of-caution-on-possible-ncaa-changes-072514

Never said that. My point was that implying that a commitment may be impending because of him wearing our jersey in his twitter avi may be a stretch. He hasn't been offered, or visited any other schools. It's not like he picked a picture of him wearing our jersey over a picture of him wearing a jersey of another school who has offered him. We lead by default.

I included Chelf. And technically Harris wasn't included in the second day, but not a big deal. 2 out of 3 ain't bad, plus, we know what he can do.

All 3 qbs again, for the third day in a row. Have to wonder if anyone is seperating themselves from the others in actuality. Chelf and Smiley making it again for the third day in a row, and Jeffery Wilson again as well. 3 straight days for the true freshman running back. Very interesting.

You guys are reading way too much into that. We're his only offer and, to my knowledge, the only school he's visited.

The only players who have averaged double digits points per game under Benford have been top 100 players in the nation, except for Alzee Williams, a JJ recruit. Roger Franklin, Jordan Williams, and Tony Mitchell are the other guys.

Seconded. And to follow that up, any process underway on hiring our first manager?

And just 3 total scholarship running backs, Brown, Gray, and true freshman Donald Catalom. 3 running backs will be more of a challenge over the course of the season than against us, but still.

Jaxon Shipley suffered a hamstring injury. If he is out 3 weeks, that would put him out right before our game. Even if he could play, hard to imagine him being 100% Here's an article on their situation at receiver. http://www.burntorangenation.com/football/2014/8/6/5975861/jaxon-shipley-hamstring-injury-texas-longhorns Their top 4 leading returning receivers were Shipley, Kendall Sanders, Marcus Johnson, and Daje Johnson. Sanders was dismissed from the team, Marcus Johnson just had a minor surgery, Daje Johnson will be suspended against us, and Shipley's status against us appears to be in doubt. Not to mention Receiver Montrel Meander was also dismissed along with Sanders, and Meander was expected to be in Texas' two deep. Throw in the fact that Texas' 3rd back/short yardage back Joe Bergeron and 4th back Jalen Overstreet were both dismissed, and freshman running back Kevin Shorter was forced to give up football due to injuries. Texas' depth at the skill positions is looking extremely thin.

Scott Cross strikes again. Really wonder what he could do with our resources..

Just an update on where our 2015 recruiting efforts stand at this moment, for those who care. We currently have 4 spots available in this class, with G TJ Taylor, G/F Jordan Williams, F Armani Flannigan, and F Colin Voss. However, under Benford we've ended up signing much more players than initial spots we've had available. For example, going into 2012-2013, we had 5 seniors and Tony Mitchell (6 spots), but we ended up signing 10 guys. Going into this past season we had 3 seniors and 1 open spot, but we ended up signing 7 guys. Anyways, here are our targets (we've offered all) Guards: - JUCO PG Mike Rodriguez http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/mike-rodriguez - PG Daron Curry - SG Michael Kolawale (committed to Fresno State) - SG Gage Ellis (has eliminated us) - SG Kerwin Roach - SG/SF Jalon Anderson http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/jalon-anderson Forwards: - F Emmanuel Nzekwesi http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/emmanuel-nzekwesi - PF Mustapha Traore (has eliminated us) - F Hassan Thomas http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/hassan-thomas - F Mason Riggins http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/mason-riggins - PF Elijah Thomas (has eliminated us) Not going great as of now. Of the 11, 4 have eliminated us or committed elsewhere, and 2 others (Kerwin Roach and Daron Curry) are longshots at best because of their offer lists. I linked the verbalcommits profiles of the other 5 who we may have a shot at.

6'1" 210 lb safety from Iowa Western CC. We have offered recently. Originally from Iowa City, where he signed with Iowa State. Had 18 tackles and 1 interception last year Will be a mid-term enrollee, and will have 2 years of eligibility remaining. Minnesota appears to be the favorite right now. JUCO Spring Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3866885/highlights/142743375 Iowa State highlights: http://247sports.com/Video/Charles-Rogers-Highlights-Iowa-State-2867006 http://247sports.com/Player/Charlie-Rogers-8725 http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Charlie-Rogers-161580

Yeah, and even that Ball State game we had compete control in the second half, and there was very little doubt that. Out scored them 18-0 in the second half and just controlled the game. I've been saying this for a while, but I think we could have either as good a record or even better despite maybe not being as good a team. This conference is still pretty down. Plus I think our offense could be better with this o-line and skill players. Last year we were 6-2 in conference despite 8 touchdowns against 10 interceptions thrown by our qb in conference games. If our passing game takes a step forward from that, then we should still win plenty of games despite a dropoff on defense, and likely special teams. Also, if we could turn some of those botched-game losses into wins. I would honestly be surprised with anything less than 8-4. The feel around camp just seems like this team is all focus and they have some unfinished business that they didn't accomplish last year. I'll say 9-3.