Mike Jackson

Now this guy at 32, I would consider before Briles. But in a perfect world, I would like an older coach to mentor him with the understanding that mentor would give way to the protege as head coach in 4 years. Maybe something progressive like an 8 year escalating contract. Makes sense of the up and coming coach for stability and makes since for UNT cause we can build in buyout clauses when a P5 makes a run at him. Basically what I think UNT needs is an older coach to play politics, manage the AD situation and put a legitimate older trusted winner face on the program. I would want a Riley type guy to be OC, focus on recruiting, offensive strategy, and getting young lower level staff/grad assistances that will be in their coaching prime when he assumes the reigns at HC at UNT. If this plan is executed properly we are looking at UNT as a CUSA powerhouse.

I think a lot of us here have our heads in the clouds when it comes to the challenges at UNT. It will be hard for almost anyone to recruit here. UNT is now featured as punchline to an undefeated Iowa team's weak schedule daily on ESPN, and Fox Radio. Recruits hear that media noise and it makes UNT a harder sell to them. I don't think Kendall Briles is on the phone from UNT perks the interest of the mid range recruits we need. And if that is the case I would rather have a coach with more experience who has success recruiting to programs that are difficult to recruit to. The new staff needs to be able to find the diamonds in the rough here and polish them to shine brilliantly. I too have fallen into the name trap in other gmg.com forums we need a coach with experience in tough circumstances.

And UNT is not a P5 conference school. It is G5 conference school with a lot of negative mojo. People don't mention scheduling Texas Tech out of conference as cupcake either and that was even before this guy arrived as head coach. UNT in a lot ways is a more challenging position. Also I don't recall Kendall being a Heisman Trophy candidate as player at UNT or anywhere else. So this is bad comparison.

Great resume almost perfect. The lack of Texas ties would be a concern for me.

I am sorry by 32 is just too young for this program at this time. If we were still in the Sun Belt trying to move up I could see someone with his background being very successful here. That UNT is gone, just like half of Fouts Field. Inexperience means you don't have the connections to bring talent younger than yourself that have accomplished anything. We just don't need a head coach, we need a rock solid coaching staff. And no good OC or DC with more experience than Kendal is going to come here over other stops. He is a splash hire but I don't think he offers the legitimacy and stability we need right now. I want to the almost 40 year old coach who could convince someone like Briles (without the family name) to go in here and implement their unique variation of the spread offense. Sorry, but I just don't trust a 32 year old to manage a program full of 20 year old young men.

Losing to your chief rival most of the time is no way to build a program. They are unfortunate that Florida is their rival. 2006 Record 9-4 2010 Record 6-7 2013 Record 8-5 So it's about more than just Florida. So your 7 out 8 means nothing in the years they lost 3 regular season game or more. He might be a hero at UNT but look at the type of recruits he gets. Underachieving no matter how you slice it. But if he could recruit half as good as he did at Georgia, I would take him at UNT. But my guess is that if were to be fired and were available, most UNT fans would not be excited to have him. And I for one could understand that assessment. And BCS title game or not, you must win at least one SEC championship during your tenure especially since Florida was down a while. Ron Zook, and Muschamp were coaching at Florida for the majority of time. Beat Florida in 2002 Georgia plays in the BCS title game.

So what is a better job top coordinator at one of the historical top programs or head coach here at UNT?

I would like to see UNT turn over every stone looking for the best coach. Minority coaches can be viewed like under-recruited prospects. There are still FBS programs throughout the country not ready for a minority head coach. That isn't the case at UNT and UNT has a history of being progressive when it comes to race in their athletic programs. UNT brought in African America players 10 years before teams in the old SWC did. So if we can gain an advantage just like UNT did back then we should look at candidates that maybe overlooked for the wrong reason (race). But you absolutely can't hire the wrong coach for the "pc right" reason.

Great post Harry and I hope all the things you listed overcome the deplorable leadership that has been on display for the majority of the past 10 years. I get what you are saying about "really trying" since 2011 but I still think that is a fairly weak excuse. If Darrell Dickey had success here with the resources he had at UNT the time, there is no way UNT should have had the horrible records since his departure. The Dodge hire wasn't so bad because of the results it was terrible because they could have brought him in as Offensive Coordinator and paid hime 25k more a year than what he maded as head coach and pay a head coach at least 5 years experience at the college 50k more than Dodge. That would not have broken the bank and I put that lack of foresight on RV. They could have even made Dickey's defensive coordinator as head coach and brought Dodge. That could have been an awesome combination.

Count me in too. You will get at least 50% of the money I would have spent on tickets for the 2017 season.

No offense forevereagle but I think you are living in a dream world. As a Denton native and UNT alum even I have come to the conclusion that UNT does not care about revenue athletics. I would be surprised if there is a secret mandate coming out of Austin to keep FBS programs at public universities down because UT Austin and Texas A&M rely on the DFW area too much for athletes. It is part of the reason UT Arlington killed their program years ago. It is also why TCU and SMU can do better because they are beholden to the state. It is very sad that is the case but all the evidence over the course of years and hideous statements by the president attest to that in my mind. UNT is dropping down to FCS in couple of years, mark it down. I think the move up to FBS was just a con to get better facilities to drop back down to FCS with better resources to compete. It all wild speculation on my part, I know but I don't think it is illogical. My last game will be the UTEP and I doubt I will ever step foot on campus again. Once leadership tells me "Bleep You" in a slightly round about way, I listen and believe you. I feel so ripped off it isn't even funny. I love my university but it doesn't love me.

Nice theory but you have to realize the conference we are in. No team in the east division moves the needle for casual college football fans except. Home games are great but at UNT you need to bring in teams that move the needle. And no team in the from the east is going to put more butts in seats. Even during the Heart of Dallas Bowl season, I only got one guest to come with me to a game. And that was the Rice game (local interest plus old SWC history) As for Texas State you can schedule them non-conference almost anytime you want. But adding them to the conference would make things simpler. They would love a DFW area game for recruiting purposes. I would like home and away games with both team marching bands there. I would reshape CUSA like this. WestEastNorth TexasULLRiceULMUTSASouthern MissTexas StateMiddle TennLa TechSouth AlabamaArkansas StateWestern Kentucky Now I would love to have Tulsa, Tulane, Colorado State, and UTEP (or one of the New Mexico school in place of UTEP). I don't like having the worse programs in the state of Florida in our conference. We aren't going to recruit from Florida because we can beat FIU, or FAU. We aren't going to play them enough in the current alignment or a 14 team alignment. I like playing Marshall but the recruiting ground in West Virginia isn't that fertile. In the 12 team alignment I present there are great natural rivalries built into the east and west divisions. On a side note the leftovers from CUSA East and Sun Belt have a very compelling looking nucleus for a new Sun Belt. App StateOld DominionCharoletteGeorgia SouthernMarshallFAUFIU And the Mountain West needs to do the honorable thing and give Idaho, New Mexico State, UTEP a home in the Conference they regionally belong in.

I would like it to go back to 12. If that allows for scheduling more non conference games.

Apologizes appreciated and accepted. I have another older account under that I just rediscovered after I forgot the password to this one. (On a side note is there a way to merge them?). I haven't be active between my last post in 2012 in that old account till I established this one. So I will address the question you posed. 1. Leaving Sun Belt for the WAC without TCU, SMU, or Houston is a lateral move in my opinion. We need to establish a regional rival that we have close to .500 record with so with the possibility of developing that in a new conference, I think we should pass. 2. The 4 team metroplex tourney sounds great, but I would like to add 2 teams outside the metro but fairly close, Tulsa, and Baylor come to mind. Baylor might overshadow the tournament so I am not sure about them. 3. I don't think baseball would pay for itself at UNT. It might but you need a great location for the ballpark with something like Frye Street right outside the gate. It has to be a student and community hangout scene since. Also Rice being the historical powerhouse in baseball that they are it going to be very difficult to win a conference title to get the attention of your casual but loyal UNT supporter. Anything is possible but baseball paying for itself without a great athletic department planning it is highly unlikely. And for as much as we may all disagree about RV to varying degrees I don't think anyone would argue that UNT has a great athletic department. 4. Being a 15th or 14th seed would be better than 16th seed. Just from a perception point of view because more people will watch because they think you have a long shot chance. As a 16th seed people don't care, they believe you are cannon fodder for a team that has all but earned a pass to the round of 16. We need exposure and some compelling competitive moments when we get that exposure. I like you (I suspect) will never forget beating Texas Tech at the Super Pit and the students storming the court. We need more of those moments on national TV. And my apologizes for going "all in". I don't think Benford is a good coach but I think original post was a little silly comparing Football Coaches to Basketball Coaches at any level above maybe Middle School. We are all very frustrated unless you are a big time soccer fan and even then you only have a women's team to follow.

Good point. I think is possible for a first time head coach at the FBS level to be successful here. However I believe will be extremely difficult. I hate to say it but it is true. The year UTSA started practicing to play FBS football it was a better job than UNT is today at the very moment. That doesn't mean that UNT still doesn't have more potential than UTSA. But right now as the new UNT head coach you are starting off at negative two (-2). At UTSA you were at least starting at zero. At zero people don't have expectations and can get excited about the new unknown they never had before. There is a lot negative momentum here now and a coach will need to that ASAP just to finish his first contract. Hell if UNT sat out of the 2016 season FBS season because of some tragedy (God Forbid). I would more excited about the 2017 FBS season. I just think that is human nature. Absence makes the heart grow founder.

Yes don't want to pile on but really? The record attendance at UH's stadium was set August 29, 2014. 40,700. A sellout would be 30,850 at Apogee. And maybe someone from the older generation can verify but I don't believe UNT, NTSU has ever had a sellout for FBS football at Fouts either. I highly doubt UNT has ever broke the 30,000 barrier at any home venue including the games played at Texas Stadium.

That is about coaching, poor marketing from the athletic department, a community that doesn't care about college basketball, and virtually no history of basketball success. Hell I recall the 1988 UNT appearance in the NCAA tournament was barely covered by the Dallas TV news stations. They were first round cannon fodder for a number 1 seed. And I compared Le Bron because he is 6' 8" highly touted basketball player that would have been forced to play one year of college under rules that were applied in 2005. Tony with all the hype surrounding him would have been approached at the very least by agents telling him he should jump straight to the NBA if the rules allowed that his senior year. So my original statement was attached and the comment you quoted was a defense. Cause I didn't mean just a really good top 15 recruit I meant an almost can't miss prodigy transforming a program. My example Vince Young was that at least for the college level. You can't turn on a television in Houston without seeing Vince Young. You might see him more than the Texans. He was like LeBron James in Houston when he was coming out of high school.”— Rodrique Wright, Alief Hastings High School, and later Texas defensive tackle.[13] I referenced Vince Young in my original post and that is why I mentioned LeBron James. And the original state can be summarized: Even if DeMarcus Smith was the second coming of Vince Young even he could not get the team to win more than 4 or 5 games. (Meaning he can't play defense, special team or make the players on those squads better). In contrast a healthy basketball prodigy can be on the court 90% of the game if he can stay out of foul trouble.

Sounds to me like someone is butt hurt over Tony Mitchell and doesn't know much about football either. Riley Dodge was never mentioned as an almost can't miss NFL QB or WR prospect. Riley Dodge was barely 6' ft tall and under 200 lbs. That is right around the size of Russell Wilson. Russell, even with his obvious talents and accomplishments in a good conference facing good competition, was drafted in the 3rd round primarily because of his size alone. Because if he were 6' 2" or a little taller with all the same attributes and accomplishments he would have be drafted in the first round. Yes, Riley was a very accomplished high school QB but he played at a great high school program surrounded by very good high school players. And there is an asterisk by anything Riley accomplished at North Texas because he injured his throwing arm in the state championship game (his last high school game ever). _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "My arm hasn't been the same since after I was a senior in high school and had the shoulder surgery," said Dodge, who completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 1,975 yards and nine touchdowns with 15 interceptions for the 2-10 Mean Green last season." Dallas Morning News Story 2010 So maybe if Tony had a major knee injury that diminished his explosiveness right before he arrived at UNT, you might have somewhat valid comparison _______________________________________________________________________________________________ By the way another difference between football and basketball is that a high school football player would almost never be considered draft worthy in the first 2 rounds even if they could go straight to the NFL. I can't think of any true freshman that would have been drafted in the first 3 round of the NFL Draft in April of their Freshman year. Hershel Walker maybe and that was a different era when running back were valued way more than they are now at the NFL level. Comparing anything in Basketball to Football is very shaky to say the least and is a huge indicator that a lot of your opinions should not be taken seriously either.

Clearly you are the one that doesn't if you don't think that one in a lifetime player like a Le Bron James would transform a program at least temporarily. A future NBA Hall of Famer and prodigy with decent coaching and players around him that at least belong at the college level would take that team at least one round into the NCAA tournament (round of 32 not 64). The round of 32 is better than any Mean Green Men's Basketball team has ever gone so I would call that transformational. Three to five years after the prodigy is gone with average coaching and recruiting sure all that goes down the drain but you could say that about almost any program. So I wasn't talking about just a regular good recruit. I am talking about a player that would in the top 5 of the NBA draft straight out of high school. So unless you are former Division 1 college head coach, I don't think you are an authority to refute my opinion.

Guys we should not be arguing in this particular thread about how bad RV is. Getting into the weeds of comparing our program to any one of the 100+ programs more successful than ours over the last 14 years is a pointless exercise.

More like daily kicks in the junk and everytime by surprise with no chance to brace for it. lol

The comparison to a basketball head coaching position is silly. You need just one really good recruit to transform a basketball program. And if an recruit like a LeBron James would have been if the 1 year and done NBA rule caught him, he might have went to Akron. And we know that would have had little to do the coach at Akron but the love for his community. DeMarcus Smith could be the seconding coming of Vince Young here and it would make little difference with a horrible defense and a offensive line that can't pass block. You might beat Portland State, UTEP and maybe UTSA but you probably not winning more than 4 games this season.

I don't know what do believe when it comes to this subject. I see the empty seat at all the venue and I know MGC membership is declining so I don't know how this salary is going to get paid. The 17 and honorable mention BMDs have deeper pockets than I ever dreamed of if that is the case. So if their pockets are that deep and they want to keep RV around let them. A broken clock is right 2 times a day. I don't buy it so I see they pay 650k with easy to hit incentives to get it to 750k and hard to reach goals getting it to 950k or more. 97and03 stole my thunder in a simple comment as I was writting this. lol

If you look at all my post, I have never supported any the candidates you mentioned except Applewhite and that would only be under Mack Brown as AD maybe. And as head coach you are still to blame for not knowing what is going on with your program from an academic standpoint. So comparing that with a personal affair is not on the same level unless the person you are having affair with is a student or another employee of the university. If you have no knowledge it still doesn't stop the NCAA from leveling sanactions against your school if the academic fraud actually occured. A 50-48 record is the definition of medicore and the Big 12 North was always the weaker division of the Big 12 and the only historically dominating program up there was Nebraska. So I stand by my reletively low bar evaluation because I don't see another mid-level G5 FBS program or above being interested in him as a head coach. Because I bet if UNT doesn't sign him that you won't hear his name in connection with any other FBS head coaching opening this offseason. I would not be opposed to him as the offensive coordinator at UNT but nothing more than that. And I don't care what he looks like either he could look like Steelers coach Mike Tomilin and I still would be interested if he had the same resume. I would just like to steer clear of guys in their 50s or older with medicore records who have just been fired. This rumor reeks of UNT's deperation and dysfunction otherwise the leak would not have been taken seriously.

To be fair most of did mean a literal splash in the rehab pool when the head coach falls in.