HarringtonFishSmeller

The beards are gross. Happy to have grown up in an era where kids weren't trying to look like 60 year old vagrants. Laziness. Hope English wins his appeal, gross beard or not, though.

Um...for all the disparaging done to Dickey, Dodge, and McCarney, someone please tell me how this type of recruiting is different. We're picking off guys from Midwestern State? Last week we were sizing up a kid from a North Dakota JUCO. Don't misread me, I'm not disparaging the kid; I'm asking a legitimate question about the coaching/recruiting. So far, it doesn't seem that different to me as far as recruiting the preps go. Anyone with a theory?

t. Had a good time at the game even though we lost. Thanks Matt Phillips & Crew for the pre-game stuff. Wife and kids loved meeting the coaches and players. Coaches and players were fantastic. Really nice bunch.

So, if anyone is uncomfortable with the results of a law, they are unreasonable? That's an interesting take. Very popular as well, I'm sure, in places like China, North Korea, and Russia. Makes me wonder, though, why we have a system of checks and balances as well. Seems to be pointless because passed laws, in your view, are not supposed to raise any questions in anyone's mind. I'll mark you down, then, as someone who, as a reasonable person, agrees with - and is comfortable with - every piece of legislation promulgated and passed under Barack Obama, executive orders included.

Not only that, but based on the excellent academic achievement of the team under McCarney, it rings even more hollow to me to just say there was no accountability before. If there were no accountability, Dajon Williams would still be on the team. If the were no accountability, Damarcus Smith wouldn't have had the shouting tantrum at the coaches for not playing him because he wasn't prepared. I don't think accountability was an issue. If anything, Mac's staff did a good job of having the player be accountable. The problems was, we had no quarterback on the roster who could play at this level. What sunk Mac & Company wasn't lack of accountability; it was lack of the ability of correctly judge talent coming out of high school. And, look...when you are living in that area of recruiting where you are getting zero to two-star kids, it isn't easy to judge. Almost every kid you take in that group is a dice roll. Even if you hit on one or two of those, you are still talking about nine/ten positions filled with zero to two-star kids who are not hits. And, that, my friends, is what did Mac & Company in. And, he's not alone...many a-G5 coach gets caught not being able to get their roster full of zero to two-star players to overachieve.

Sounds like it will be up to a judge and jury to decide what constitutes "intimidates" and "alarms." Personally, if I had the wife and kids at an event and saw someone with a loaded shotgun, I'd be alarmed. Many attorneys will be made happy with the lawsuits that arise from this thing...for awhile. On the entities we write like schools and churches, insurers are already going back and revisiting the subject. In the near future, I expect insurers to exclude claims that arise out of employees, volunteers, etc, of an organization "open carrying." And, that will be the end of that on the business/entity side of the ledger. Courts and insurers usually have the last say in what really happens because politicians don't often enough think deeply enough on the liability aspect - especially these days. Easier for politicians to just say, "Look what we passed" without putting enough substance in the bills.

I know we all know our problem: Nothing to sell but hope. Well...again, I do like Seth Littrell. He seems like a really solid guy. But, the truth is, he wasn't a household name. And, most kids probably had no idea how well (or poor) North Carolina's football team was doing of late...or Indiana or Arizona. That's just the hard facts of recruiting life we'll have to push through as a program. My real hope for Littrell is that he somehow gets the guys on the roster this year to play above their potential and start a tradition on not sucking. In my eyes, this is more of a "how well can you coach this group of kids to believe they can do it" than "we'll recruit our way out of this mess" type of job right now. We've got one year with this kid from Allen at QB, then...we're back to square one at QB development.

Data Breach is insured...if he bought a cyber liability policy with data breach coverage. Most people don't because..."It'll never happen to me." Yes, But, when we're talking the recruiting game, this is something Houston now has to sell: "We're trying to get there, here are the news articles, here is our money man...etc., etc." Whether it ever happens or not is irrelevant in this year's recruiting battles.

They've got a T. Boone Pickens-like alum now that is supposedly shoveling them money. He's trying to buy Houston's way into the Big 12.

How so? The quarterbacks were horrible. Easily the worst most of us have ever seen at North Texas. Every one of our QBs during the I-AA years was better than any QB that played for us the past two seasons...and, it isn't even close.

Dexter Bussey still lives in Michigan. Never lived in Oklahoma, save for his two seasons at OU. As far as this type of recruiting, it's not any different than before. Not only are we not getting the best in Texas, we are not getting the best in Oklahoma. Not saying the kid won't be a contributor during his time here. Just saying, for those who thought Littrell & Company were going to make a big splash in prep recruiting...still waiting. Best, so far, have been transfers from P5s. Need to fill the spaces behind them, though, with preps.

Houston thinks they are going Big 12. So, they are telling recruits that.

Thanks for the post. I never knew MLK was a pitbull advocate. The things parade goers can teach you.

DaJon was also starting a family, to go along with the responsibilities of being a student and an athlete. There was too much he couldn't handle off the field. By the way, he's still not on A&M-Commerce's roster. Hope he gets himself squared away if he decides not to go back to college.

Oklahoma State's defense was ranked 99 last season; UTSA's 100. So, what was there to get excited about with that guy? Because he came from a Big 12 school? People here, I've said before, are expecting too much of Littrell given where we are. However, Littrell's offense was ranked 18 in the country - so...he was doing somewhat better than the DC at Okie State. Plus, Littrell has had coordinating responsibilities at three different schools. So, he's had more responsibilities than UTSA's hire. Plus, I'm not even sure UTSA's hire even speaks any Spanish. So, there's that as well.

Agree. Felt the same way about DaJon - too slow in decision-making at FBS. Killed FCS Nicholls State. That's his level. Wonder if he'll ever show up anywhere again.

The Big 12 is going to be the next Big East when OU and Texas finally ditch it. At that point, it will be shut off from whatever the P4 will be called. Then, and only then, when it is relegated to Purgatory status, will UTSA sniff an invite. That's true to an extent. But, it's hard to roll a 7 or 11 with just one die.

We'll see how far the pouting/shouting at coaches gets him with the new coaching staff. Canales/McCarney caved in to him because...well, even though they knew he was terrible, he wasn't any more or less terrible than they other guys they'd tried. My guess is Smith's pouting act does not go very far with Littrell & Company. And, I'll even go so far as to predict that if he's "unseated" from the starting position during spring practice, he packs his bags and heads home when the semester is over. He doesn't seem to have the head for competition - which, really, begins off the field in the weight room and film room from January through the beginning of fall practices..

I just threw up a little bit in my mouth while laughing.

Greer, Smith, and McNulty would all have made fine D-II or FCS quarterbacks. Something more their speed. FBS - even in the C-USun Belt - moved too quickly for their decision making process-challenged brains.

Except that he also fumbles a sh*t ton. If he stays, move him to WR or special teams...but, not the returning kicks or punts-type of special teams until he is cured of fumblitis.

Wow...from Larry Coker to a position coach? I'm beginning to the UTSA's AD is in over her head. Although, if he fails, no one will notice anyway, so...carry on! Agreed. The Texas State and UTSA hires are night and day different.

Excellent points. I see cable disappearing already, and a la cart viewing taking over. If I had the option just to pay for a sports channel or two, I'd just do that. Hulu, Apple TV, etc. are already there, basically. The "networks" are sacking up to it bit by bit as well. Either way, those school in our position just need to win to keep the interest of alumni and student body. Hopefully, with enough winning, the word gets out and spreads beyond your base. Step one, for us, though, is: win.

Well played, my friend. Well played.

Agree. And, to a larger extent, stop playing little, lost puppy to the P5s. They are doing their best to exclude us from future scheduling anyway by making rules about their strength of schedule. We are an afterthought to them, and have been for three decades. Non-P5s can succeed as well. We are not going to be invited to the dance; so, it's time to quit sitting by the phone and waiting for the call. Is Arkansas State that much more sexy than Old Dominion? In my mind, no. However, it's closer. It just makes more sense now that the P5s are really pushing further away from the dock.