Mike Jackson

I have but never thought that bragging about being the smartest kid on the “short bus” was a good look. We need to hire a real deal coach and start winning and then all those other positive metrics our school has look better. TV executives aren’t idiots you can’t sell the “potential eyeballs on screens” you sell them actual numbers. Based on “potential eyeballs” SMU would already be in a P5 conference just like TCU is. I still think hiring a coach like Gene Chizik and going independent in Football if our conference situation doesn’t improve. I think with some hard work from the AD and staff we could build a better schedule for attendance. Also an 8 or more win independent Mean Green end up in just as attractive bowl as 2nd or 3rd place CUSA west division. None of this is a slam dunk and if we stay in a conference for the benefit of the other programs that is fine by me as well. But ALL the G5 conferences are structurally weak and have zero loyalty. So using them to position ourselves to a jump up to P5 (which really should be the goal else why even bother moving conferences in the first place except to control travel cost, increase attendance, and foster regional rivalries). Going independent opens the schedule to get longer home and home series with the remaining Big 12 teams after TX and OU leave. Go regional whether the conference leadership gets their heads out of asses or not. Stop hoping that these selfish egotistical greedy SOBs do something logical and chose your own destiny.

Vegas will regret not making the spread bigger.

MWC would have made public overtures to add us if they really wanted us. But we need to win games and put buts in seats else we we always be just hoping a decent conference picks us.

Great piece. The contract extension for Wren Baker it deserved but gives me one question: Is the size of the extension dependent on the composition of the conference we end up in? I would prefer us not be in a Sun Belt-is west Divison of whatever conference we end up in. Although I wouldn't mind Louisiana being added to our division.

Thank you Bret

I wish Siggers no ill will but I 100% completely agree with the sentiment. Tough talented guy who battle his way back from injuries good on him. Do I really want hear about him in the MEAN GREEN FORUM beyond vs SMU week? Hell Naw.

Making him 3rd string is more than just injuries. Now if he is second string I would factor that in. I think most coaches always go with the best talent that has firm grasp of how to run the offense for the second string QB position. Worrying about a backup's injury resilience is over thinking it for no reason. No coach in the country that has been running a decent program is going to be worried about losing their job because 2nd string QB went down after the 1st string had a season ending injury. I just haven't seen anything from him that would warrant running him out there again in games that can get your team to a bowl game. I think he could be a solid back up. But the chances of him being a difference maker starting FBS QB are slim this far into to his career playing the way I have seen him play so far.

According to what I read in NT Daily he was going to be 3rd string if he stayed. He made true Freshman mistakes when he got snaps in games here. That opening interception traveled less than 10 yards in the air directly to the defender like he was our receiver. That is high school level stuff.

Really? Discounting all the coaching in high school he receive and development camps 4 star prospect QBs go to? I am not saying he doesn’t need more coaching but come on if the dude was all that talented we would see glimpses of it by now. He is a backup at the FBS level at best that why he was going to be buried on the bench as 3rd string in NC. Maybe Andrew McNutly has some eligibility left so we can fix him.

Sumlin or someone with a similar resume and time coaching in Texas would be my first choice. I am not intrigued with any Offensive coordinator that hasn’t coached in the NFL. All these spread option and Air Raid systems are similar. If your position coaches aren’t top notch refining the techniques for each position the OC doesn’t matter. But the notion of turning our noses up at a former Cowboy with Super Bowl Rings (one of them with the Cowboys) and a Hall of Fame Jacket? 🤔 Recruiting in DFW area and Texas in general. If I thought for a second he would consider it I am on the phone with his agent ASAP. He would be my first choice we NEED a publicity stunt to differentiate ourselves in this market. If we got 6 bonafide 5 star athletes the X & O don’t matter that much going against CUSA west. Imagine if we had gotten Courtland Sutton and Darden. That would have been possible if you have someone like Deion. Reading the defense doesn’t matter that much when you top 2 options are always open.

No matter what point you bring up this: The school presidents for the remaining schools in C-USA, AAC, Sun Belt should come together and determine a geographic friendly conference for each. Leaving it to the commissioners is bound to create more losers than winners. -Cyrus _________________________________________\_ In this round of re-alignment I am not optimistic that UNT will find itself in a better position if left up to the conference leadership.

Mountain Valley Conference callback 🙄. By the way that successful SBC run? Ummm, we fired that coach the presided over that run. And some members here minimized what he did here and defending SL who hasn’t won anything. The facilities were garbage here then and UNT had done nothing on the FBS level since stepping back to it in 1995. Based on this we should stop bringing up the early 2000s because leadership made multiple bad decisions that squandered or greatly diminished everything the Mean Green accomplished during that time. In regards to Dickey’s firing "Right's right and wrong's wrong. It's the right thing to do,"McIngvale said. "I don't think firing a guy three weeks after hehad a heart attack was the right thing to do, either. Even WallStreet is not that callous." —Jim McIngvale (Mattress. Mack) So unfortunately this might be Karma. Congrats to Cincy, oh and btw according to USA Today the Notre Dame’s coach and Seth Littrell salaries are very close. Let that marinate for a minute. I almost forgot to mention Notre Dame’s coach upgrade from coaching Cincinnati. 🤷🏽‍♂️

This guy isn’t a freshman. He was at North Carolina for 3 years. I am sure he has received a ton of coaching on those basic things.

Having SMU as a conference game opens up a non-conference game slot. It also makes consistent game date easier. You could move the game to late in the year to spur attendance for both teams. Hell even if we are out of the post season picture but not a total disaster I am showing up to see if we can play spoiler to SMU in a late November rivalry game. I bet some SMU fans would feel similar if the roles were reversed in a particularly good season for UNT. Also with that non-conference slot we might be able to get series going with TCU. I would love to see something like the Commander’s Cup the service academies pass around for the DFW area FBS schools. Maybe a Golden Triangle Trophy.

If we are staying in the 1.5 million annual salary range, I would prefer to go the route of a current NFL assistant with at least 8 years college coaching experience with significant portion of it at a strong G5 program. I think either running a more pro style offense or triple option is the way to go at UNT. We consistently seem to bring in good running back talent no matter who is coaching here. Triple option doesn’t recruit well so I think pro style is the way to go. If we can get a guy known as a QB guru it would do wonders here. If we are staying under 1 million for annual HC salary we need to invest more into the OC and DC positions. Give those Coordinators solid contracts with stability. I wonder what would have been possible here if Sonny Dykes was hired as the HC and SL as assistant HC/OC. Truly we need 2 dynamic coaches get this program where it should be. One experienced head coach on his way to a P5 program in 3 years and younger hot commodity assistance that will be ready to take the job when the HC get that P5 job.

A TV package help you win? That is a new one on me. Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Indiana or (plug in whatever P5 bottom feeder you want) have great TV packages. No one but alumni and other people with connections to a school wants to see an uncompetitive losing program that hasn’t won a conference title in 15 years. 🤷🏽‍♂️ A better TV package is just more “Potential” that leadership would have to waste.

Dude this season is over. The transfer QB can’t play. Unless I see 250 yards passing in a game that isn’t a blowout at Missouri my expectations are 190 yards a game or less going foward. That might as well be zero cause in the Air Raid offense you can't win that way against FBS competition.

Exactly we suck which makes that desperation extension SL look all the more ridiculous right now.

I think you are a bit naive. The distance between the depleted CUSA we joined with SBC replacements was never that big. Some folks here who will probably down vote this comment looked at our step up to the CUSA with green tinted glasses. We have more potential with “statistics to tedious to repeat” than all of our CUSA peers. But that potential is meaningless if we don’t have a consistent winning football program. That is why Seth still coaching after this bye week is indefensible to me. We aren’t going anywhere with him. He might be able to coach and be successful elsewhere but it isn’t going to work here. I would say SBC has zoomed past the CUSA but with their leadership they are in a better position to make moves. There is zero chance Grambling comes up to FBS level unless several HBCUs come with them. I don’t think it makes a difference which near last place conference we are in if we are winning. The causal fans aren’t showing up to games versus any teams outside our region that aren’t P5. 🤷🏽‍♂️ Especially if we aren’t winning.

Meh, win and you get attention. Maybe then more than just devout Mean Green fans would recognize where the the design came from. 🤷🏽‍♂️

The only way they move makes sense in my opinion. We need at least one additional Texas school in that reorganized MWC (not counting UTEP) and preferably a school in Louisiana, Oklahoma, or Arkansas. While we are focused on Football don’t forget the more frequent weekday travel for the other sports.

I don’t think many people read the story. Private universities MIGHT have a big problem on their hands in the short term. But the demise of college sports as we knew it started with CFA being dissolved. These programs were allowed to operate as business entities with no cap on employee salary (coaches and other staff) nor floor salary (walk on players/true student athletes). That just isn’t sustainable. Greed is choking the life out it. Instead of going the direction of treating athletic department as just another academic department with salaries on par with other departments with the excess going back into the college and/or taking care of all the players from 5 star to walk on. The leadership lined their pockets with it. None of these coaches nor Administrators really deserve nor need more than 300k to 500k per year plus travel expenses.

I am 100% against dropping down to FCS. But I upvoted the post because it focused on the only thing that matters winning. If programs start winning here the money and conference affiliations will improve. Conference affiliation doesn’t matter if the program isn’t generating maximum possible revenue independent of conference payout. We maximize revenue by having a winning football program and advancing in NCAA basketball tournaments in consecutive years. We need at least 4 winning seasons in football and ending the season ranked in the top 25 for 2 years. None of the potential here matters if management fails to capitalize on it. Let’s look back 25 years, there were “rumors” the Big 8 was looking at us for expansion. Boise State was in our conference at the time and nobody knew who they were. They and other members of the Big Sky Conference circa 1996 have lapped us because they have won more since that time and improved their conference affiliation because of it. So we want jump to a severely depleted MWC to be on ESPN and lose on TV more often? I am comparing the coverage these G5 leagues are getting for this coming weekend and the difference looks minimal except for the AAC. Is being on ESPN+ versus Stadium all that different? You know how you get clips of your team on TV? Win games and make big plays against relevant teams. (ie like Punt return against Arkansas). Beat UAB, SMU, La Tech, Marshall and Houston when you get them on the schedule . Then the conference realignment talk really becomes interesting.

Yes and we also need to look at the big picture in this conference. Upstart and restart programs shortly before and after SL took this job have surpassed this team. SL started with more resources than many of his CUSA peers and they are out coaching him. Without Mason Fine SL would have been gone. And it not like SL out recruited ten P5 schools for Mason like he was a 4 star QB with NFL starter potential and size. La Tech played this game with 2 backups at QB switching series. And if La Tech scores a TD from the 2 yard line this comeback doesn’t look so good.

So it still looks like Vegas was offering free money with that 12 point line. Maybe that was just for the end of the first quarter?…. Oh never mind All this and Stadium Streaming Channel couldn’t sell commercials to this public execution and I can’t channel surf. ☹️