Mike Jackson

I am not buying this anymore. A Bowl win requires you only to beat a mediocre team in one extra game on a neutral field. Also you can run into a team that expected to be in a better bowl game or the playoff and disappointed to play in "we created the bowl for an Espn programing slot.com" Bowl. A playoff game win on the road when you aren't a high rated seed is harder. How many other programs can start from nothing or jump up from FCS and surpass us before we stop making excuses. The athletic department wants their D1 FBS level ticket, parking, concessions, and donation money every year. I would find the absurdity of selling patience comical if it weren't pervasive and significant reason why leadership feels it can move the way it does. It is this patience attitude and acting like we are lucky to have mediocrity that makes me want to throw up when I am on this board sometimes. Where would these programs be today if they had that "patient perspective"? (These are just at the top my head no research look them up yourselves and measure SL & UNT) Liberty UAB UTSA South Alabama ALL of these programs have done more with less in a shorter amount of time than Mean Green Football. There is no structural systemic uniquely UNT/Denton reason why this program hasn't won their conference or bowl game in 7 years under SL. Where was all this patience and perspective when Dickey was coaching in our beloved but shamefully outdated Fouts Field? For "perspective" Dickey 26 game conference winning streak ended October 4, 2005 and by November 8, 2006 (and about 30 days after missing a game due to a heart attack) he was fired. He was btw 33-20 in conference. I am not preaching that he shouldn't have been fired (maybe you approach him gently and ask him if he wants to finish the season honoring what he accomplished and his health issues) There is one thing I know for certain about Mean Green Football: Until mediocrity is nauseating to virtually everyone invested Mean Green Football, medocrity or worse is what we will get. Patience and Perspective will have a program with such little fan & alumni support it won't be sustainable at the FBS level. We aren't lucky to have qualified coaches come here for a midrange G5 salary. You want top G5 Salary or even better earn it.

Do you buy that he looked more accurate playing at a disadvantage than our guy? Now I am not saying give up up on Gunnell or the other newcomers. But Aune is gone after this year and Ruder couldn't beat him out after a full season and off-season.

I am down on Coach L.500 as anyone but I don’t blame him a bit for taking our program’s money. If they are that stupid it is up to upper leadership to fire the people mismanaging the athletic budget. We should NEVER be in a position where unloading a mediocre coach for on field performance puts us in budget crunch. Everything has been in place for this program to be 0.500 in a weak CUSA for his entire tenure. And the truth is that if Fine doesn’t fall into his lap he wouldn’t be close to 0.500 here and likely not employed here in 2021 or 2022. He owes Fine an assistant job with a fat check if he gets power hire coaches at another school. Or may just a fat 100k backpay NIL check from his own pocket. I first called these extension as stupid when most people were way too happy to be above 0.500 with no Bowl wins or conference titles. There aren’t a lot of job in the world that pay above 500k so we need to stop conducting business like we are lucky to have a qualified person take our athletic budget dollars. That freaking atitude is the source of the “bad culture” here NOTHING else. Stop blaming Denton, our schools history or etc. If it was all about just history and money the blue blood programs would never have bad stretches.

Big picture? Who could have predicted Aune throwing 55% in another game? 😂. The 4 touchdown is an anomaly of just having better athletes when they get the ball in their hands. The beginning of this game looked a lot like the beginning of the SMU game. TSU’s early big plays just didn’t result in touchdowns. Their starting QB looked better than ours. Aune’s throws were off target or late 40% of the time by my generous estimation giving him a benefit of a doubt. Unless the rest of the teams on our schedule are much worse that I think they are, I don’t see 5 more wins on it.

When “overcoming that culture” is used a reason to give a mediocre coach multiple extensions and raises when was already the highest or (top 3) paid coaches in the conference that leadership/donor mindset will NEVER “overcome the culture”. With the resources UNT has a head coach should never get a raise on top of an already top of the conference salary without winning a conference title (or a bowl game in football). A change in culture would have resulted in SL being fired after that bowl game. I don’t care what the budget says when they are charging $6 for a soda which is price on par with Cowboys AT&T stadium. And the facilities were a recruiting issue but not preventing us from winning. Not every FBS G5 program doing better than us on the field has better facilities. It was always a loser argument for fans and underperforming coaches. (And when it was the most valid and impactful they fired Dickey for being salty about it). 🤷🏽‍♂️

That has nothing to do with your transfer QB’s that can’t beat out a guy in perfect game conditions can’t throw on time or on target. If you can find it watch the first drive against Texas Southern and tell me I am wrong. 1 pass was on target but late. Other 2 off target and late.

A good FCS program if you want to be realistically accurate. App State fairly recently stepped up to FBS and beat a ranked Michigan at home. Our best victory since 1995 is beating an Arkansas team in transition of play styles having one of their worst runs ever.

Are you here yet? Pretty empty plenty of good seats.lol

You do realize a lot of “lower revenue” teams consistently win above what their budget dictates. If NIL and Transfer portal had been around for a decade I might agree with this “budget is everything” take. This is first year we could use NIL as an excuse. They played very sloppy and quarterback is just plain inaccurate. He throws below 55% completions. You won’t have an accurate assessment of the offensive talent if the quarterback can time, see, or hit open receivers 75% of the time. Mind you I am not asking for 75% completions, I am asking for 75% catchable balls. If a professional analyzed his game play and came back saying he throws on time, and on target 65% of the plays he gets adequate blocking I would be shock. Teams with budgets similar to SMU will be regular foes. Since 2002 Navy is 9-4 vs SMU. You think Navy doesn’t have huge disadvantages to SMU. How many prime football athletes are transferring to Navy. How many hot young offense/quarterback guru coaches are anxious to coach at Navy? We play the same sport what you are talking about is SMART EFFORT. I see NONE of that from leadership here. Always happy with the minimum if the coach is a little guy you want to have a beer with. Dominate your conference and get snarky they will fire you the first opportunity.

I just don’t take for granted he will be a good. Mind you coaches who arrived in this conference after Seth did kicked his teams but on their way to conference championships, bowl games and better jobs. I saw an okay OC HC luck up and get a quality FBS QB with that elusive “it” factor most scouts ignored due to his height. That QB arrive at the same we had 3 WR with NFL level talent, a RB that went to the NFL and we had QB\OC who knows quarterbacks and Air Raid offense like it he had been studying it since kindergarten. It almost every game SL has won here his team has had a significant talent advantage. Anytime talent is close and we didn’t have Fine to bail us out we lost. And god forbid if the other team has a talent advantage they run over us like it an old school body bag revenue game of the early 2000s. That is understandable when it is Texas, Oklahoma , Alabama, or LSU but 100% unacceptable when it UAB, FAU, or SMU. I mean really what can SL in 2023 put on his resume from his time here. Qualified for Bowl with an Academic completion rate? In 2018 his team took a step back finished in a 3-way tie for second place in our division. 2017 they at least earn an opportunity to a repeat of the curb stomping FAU gave us earlier that season. I think cooler heads prevailed and looked beyond the unwarranted hype. This ain’t Rice so what he accomplished he is the minimum I would expect for Mean Green team in a weak conference.

Anything less than 8 wins before the bowl game and a good showing in the bowl game there is no way he should be back. A lame duck coach heading into AAC play would a horrible move.

Pisses me off your post got an 🙄. WTH? I think everyone he should very tired of our program being the but of jokes upstart programs, restart program (UAB) and team stepping up to FBS post 2002 surpassing us WHERE IT Counts W & L's, Bowl Wins, Conference Titles, drafted players and all-americans. As much as cherish Mean Joe rolling that out year after year is admission that we haven't had another concensus All-american in 50 years. Unless you are just a hater/fan of another school hanging out here I don't understand the eyeroll.

Exactly this why guys like Gary Patterson don't make sense on this list. Going as far as he did with TCU is the equivalent to a national title. He has nothing to prove and I think he would be resistant to tweak his the way he goes about business to be successful at UNT. Now if Gary and his agent call us unsolicited that would change my mind. Now if you want to hire a 60+ year old with something to prove you could always call Dickey. 🤷🏽‍♂️. He is the only guy that proved he could do more with less and exceed our modest expectations for more than 2 seasons. 😂 And I still credit him with our strong run game tradition. But that will never happen. I prefer to go young with with someone with experience coaching College Football in the DFW area. Or a least someone who grew up on the northern side of the Metroplex. Because I don't think people unfamiliar with DFW appreciate how important beating SMU and other teams in Texas when we are home are. A Bowl Game win is nice but venue and opponent make all the difference in the world for our fanbase.

Try? 😂 Okay your leading rusher from last year also btw. And a key part of team successful enough to get most of the 2021 SMU coaching staff promoted to TCU your real rival.

And that is exactly why I am only a MGSF contributer and not a season ticket holder. Cost isn't an excuse. They thought outside the box and brought in Todd Dodge for cheap. It didn't work out because they went cheap around him and didn't put guardrails assistance around a coach new to FBS. SL never should have been the highest paid coach in CUSA. This is a good G5 HC job with a long list of reasons making it better than more than half our conference rivals especially before realignment and NIL. We don't have overpay experienced coaches to put the program in a budget crunch. Finding a good head coach you can 750k per year before he actually wins something isn't out the box going cheap route. It is exactly what other G5 programs do.

And conversely you could say the coaches don't trust the players as we all saw the conservative decisions when the game was out of hand. And remember all the scholarship players came here via a coaches invitation. So either they are poor evaluators of talent or can't coach up that talent to get the best of of them.

Neither when the administration heaps multiple raises and extensions for a mediocre football coach. But if you want to support all Mean Green Athletics, not just Football MGSF probably the best ROI in my opinion.

🤔 you when our RB room is 100% healthy Siggers is a back up here. I wonder were y'all got him from? Congratulations you guys can buy projected P5 bench riders.

But apparently you don’t have to earn job security and big raises as a Football coach at UNT. That why we are getting “disrespected”. The SMU fans near me were less obnoxious than previous years cause they saw we are no threat to them as long as our offensive guru head coach is at the helm. Was it disrespectful when a Mean Green fan sarcastically cheered “run up the middle” predicting our next play when we were down 21 points? There were a ton of give up conservative decisions throughout the second half starting with running Aune back out after that INT in the second half. You have a QB you have very little trust in to sit in the pocket and make an on time, on target throw taking his 1000th rep like he is going to get better at being conservative. The beating was so sad it wasn't that entertaining to SMU fans. The disrespect was laid when Seth got his second raise and contract extension without winning a bowl game, conference title or ANY of the important home games with the highest attendance numbers. Those mistakes cost the program money but SL got raises and extensions. It is ticket and merchandise buying fans who are getting disrespected by our leadership here not SMU gently poking our program for being pathetic. 🙄

That is comically sad. We can’t get rid of a coach who is the epitome of mediocre in “all 3 phases”. We sign him to unwarranted extensions for doing the minimum here with the resources available to this program. At best he is a mediocre G5 FBS coach at worse he is bad coach that probably should be at the high school level.

I keep hearing the 5 straight wins as some kind of deciding factor. It shouldn't have been when it was completed with a weather fluke aided win over UTSA. Regular weather we don't win that game. Hell in regular weather or God forbid unseasonably nice weather with +25k Seth would've made sure the play of the team didn't earn them any new fans JUST LIKR EVERY GAME SINCE FINE LEFT and most before Fine graduated. It was a mind numbing bad decision to bring Seth back. Indefensible to bring him back because of a bad contract situation they didn't have to get into. Head Coach here since Dickey has been a good job offering more than what 1/2 of other G5 provide. For football leadership has been acting like new head coaches here are coming to “Texas State" of Necessary Roughness movie lore coming off the death penalty. (like cough err a team that just made us look like JV). If they had dominated Miami of Ohio or played a really good P5 opponent in the bowl and lost a nail biter then maybe you have reason to bring him back other than piss poor contract management.

No he wasn't the reason for the lost. But he is HUGE part of the reason they couldn't score 20 points tonight or put any pressure on the SMU offense to keep pace with them. He had a very typical stat line for him for all the games he has played here which are sub 55% completions and sub 250 yards. Those numbers running any "air raid" offensive is not winning many games. Losing sucks but your offense looking we are still trying to convert from an old school QB under center pro style offense to a spread/air raid offense makes watching them unbearable. When we win it is either in spite of Aune's subpar play or his bus driving is just enough to compliment our run game. This guy ceiling is lower than a good QB's floor. So he should have a very short leash for the rest of the year.

Again what was the positive of bringing Seth back this year. I really hate being critical directly at this point so can we start calling him Jason Garrett? They are so similar. Much like Garrett, Seth has unwarranted favor with decision makers here. He is an offensive guru that doesn't coach that side of the ball nor does he strategically manage the game. Watching the game you would think SL was the brand new head coach with a new coaching staff opening a game on the road and not Laslee. Gunnell should have played every series after the 1st series of the second half OR the best QB available not named Aune. So pissed they have gave Jason--err I mean SL another year to be mediocre. 🤷🏽‍♂️

It's a playcall that says "we don't trust our QB when it counts except what amounts to a long handoff" no the INT isn't on Aune. But they weren't going to score if it was completed anyway. And on 3rd down down by 3 TD's I don't like the playcall.

For the second half I see 0 downside to this. We have to score quick to even have a shot. You are going to have to throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field at least on 35% of pass attempts to do that. Maybe they are banking on having a talent advantage in more than half of games they have left. 🤷🏽‍♂️. Very "hit six" of them and unfortunately typical. And momentum in the market we got for winning with Fine is long gone and SL should have been gone before that happened. Some of it might have been salvaged by bringing back Harrell as HC. Probably could've gotten him relatively cheap to to offset SL's buyout. Now without overpaying for an experience coach, we start AAC play off with very little optimism. Maybe they will shock the heck out of me the rest of the way. But with a QB room the staff has very little confidence in (THAT INCULDES AUNE Look at the play selection) I don't see a run heavy "Air Raid" offense getting +31 points to help the defense out. The UTEP game looks like an anomaly and we were lucky they were more sloppy than us.