NorthTexasWeLove

We could throw a tarp over the top and call ourselves UAB, right @Coach Bill Lewis?

There are 3 draft worthy players on this team...Brooks, EJ, and Guyton. Kemon Hall has the talent to do something as well. All 4 have the talent to contribute to a team in 2019. The problem is that some teams might sit on these players and see if they can forego a draft pick and swoop in right after Rd 7 concludes in FA. There is no rhyme or reason as to why Zach Orr was not drafted. Size, speed, intangibles, acumen, football IQ, etc. was all there. I hate to say this, but he did not get drafted because he was a player at UNT. For there is no other explanation to it. Zach Orr 2013 - 109 tot, 13 tkl for loss, 3 sacks EJ Ejiya 2018 - 121 tot, 25.5 t/l for loss, 9 sacks Career stats are similar too. Orr 292 tot, 23 tkls for loss, 5 sacks - EJ 272 tot, 41 tkls for loss, 16 sacks (I don't believe EJ was a full time starter his first year here, whereas Orr was a full time starter for 3 years). Stats are similar, and it can be argued that EJ has better instincts and a quicker first step to the ball. Or the argument could be made that EJ was a blitzing rush end on several occasions and it allowed him to compile those tkls for loss and sack stats. EJ is 6'2" 228 and ran a 4.77. Orr was 6' 230 coming out and ran a 4.73. For whatever reason Orr lives in UNT lore and EJ has sort of been an afterthought. Reason being is probably UNT in 2013 were where they were because of their D and Orr was the leader of that unit. With today's team they are where they are because of the O and Fine is the leader and the D is asked to hold the opponent under 30. If stats and ability transfer as they did for Orr, they should be EJ. There is no reason whatsoever he should not have his name called in the coming days. He has the size, intangibles, and the tape/stats. For the 4 draft hopefuls...According to more than 1 publication, 3 of them are projected inside the draft. Guyton projected in the 5/6 rd, EJ and Brooks projected in the 7th, with Kemon projected as a 7th rd/FA pick up.

He will make it or not make it based on the talent of his arm and the development of his brain making decisions. His athleticism is not going to carry him very far, because he's not really that athletic in comparison to what he will be up against in the NFL or even vs just straight line defenders tracking him down in college. He's not a statue by any means, but is not a burner. I would be surprised to see him run in the 4.6 range. Something around a 4.7/8 if I had to guess. And a probable well below average 3 cone time given his size. I also think his arm strength needs to get better. He sometimes puts his body into down field throws for it to just not be under thrown and in the NFL you don't have the time to body throw deep balls. Scouts will see that on tape. Great arm on short - intermediate throws; which is what the air raid system thrives under and it's a big contributing factor to his success while at UNT. I think he deserves a fair shake though. I think he still has room to bulk up. Notice how Baker Mayfield is a little pudgy around the edges...Mason needs that pudge. 185lb is all good and all considering where he was, but he needs to get up to that 205 range and he has 1 years time to do it for teams to take him serious. Something else that is at least worrisome is the lack of success air raid QBs have had in the NFL not named Patrick Mahomes. Good thing for these kind of QBs though, the NFL has started to take the defense is optional college approach. This might be too much real talk for the green-goggled googly eyes of UNT fans though.

Stats are NOT W's. When I think of stat filled football with decent season outcomes I first think of Texas Tech. Now, I sort of think of Texas Tech and UNT. If Harry is singling out Mason Fine's individual accomplishments then scoot over and let me help you kill this horse. But it reads as he is talking about the team accomplishments due to the phrase, 'taking us'. And no one is comparing UNT to Alabama. But why not hope to be the "Alabama" of CUSA in order to hopefully allow us to climb to a better platform in the coming years.

The whole, "..taken us to places we have never been before..." comment is where I pulled that. UNT has had success before. UNT has had players nationally publicized before. UNT has won bowl games before. UNT has won conference championships before. What UNT has not done before is have UCF/Boise success. I don't think we are closer to it than ever before either. If that'd be the case we wouldn't have to scratch and claw to pull out dubs vs the likes or UTSA, Rice, etc. and lose to poor teams such as ODU. Then get lambasted in the bowl game(s). Harry's comment just comes off as, "This is out high water mark. Thank you for carrying us here." Because last I checked...Dan freaking McCarney won 9 games AND a bowl.

Where has he taken us? Yes, we aren't 2015 Dan McCarney bad anymore, but your comment infers we're on a UCF-type run or something. Statistics are fun to watch. But stats don't create automatic W's, or win bowl games and conference championships.

Ok wise one. No-one is asking for 7 PM kickoff times on ABC vs Incarnate. But our premiere games should at least make it to ESPN+.

Though I agree that Facebook streaming can be a clearer and more in tune broadcast. It still bleeds small time and has a minuscule platform in regards to college football streaming. It's better to be on ESPN+ than not be on it.

Is it too much to accomplish? I think it should be standard expectations given the timeline of the program.

Great job, Mark. You're a great ambassador for UNT.

Oh no! A running QB that has a highlight! We better cancel the game immediately.

Well, this would be ideal. We would basically be combining our best offensive player in school history (MF would do well with some of those 2013 weapons, even in that dinosaur offense) with our best defense over the last decade. I believe that UGA game in 2013 in this scenario would be a fun one too. Could've been a table running type year. We need to get some guys like that back in here that are blood thirsty; Orr, Akunne, Abbe, Sarge, Trice, Lee, etc. We have some guys that sort of fit that mold, but philosophies can bring out the best in players or it can expose all of their weaknesses. We are setup right now to feast or famine on defense and the 3-3-5 tends itself to be a little more finesse and softer. The constant running of base 4-3 puts itself out there on display and tells the opponent, "Here we are, come get it." That 2013 was such a bland team to watch, but the defense may have been more entertaining to watch than the offense and that's rare air in the 21st century.

This is 100% speculation. King is a true dual threat type guy. It's all philosophy of the coaching staff that determines what brand of football they want their QB playing. Mike Leach or any disciple of would take Mason Fine over King most days. Urban Meyer or any disciple of would take King over Mason Fine most days. When you're not too busy blatantly trolling, you talk in sweeping generalizations too much on here.

Does the UH board have an obsessed UNT fan on there all the time or something?

Without question. I'd take that bullet 10/10 times.

It's difficult to take this as gospel. If true, this is a huge disservice X coach was doing to his own high school players by not giving them every available platform. Hard to imagine a HS coach would do that just because X college coaching staff hasn't stroked his ego enough.

Definitely. Something strong is in the water down there. The self entitled unearned arrogance runs unprecedentedly deep. Academically, they act as if they are or did attend Harvard or Cambridge. Athletically, they act as if they are the UCLA basketball team from the 60s/70s or the Alabama program of this era. ATM is nothing except money spenders and grossly underachievers. Texas A&M have won three national titles (1919, 1927 and 1939).

I can get on board with a lot of this. I would probably put Charlotte in the sure win category, but I guess I would have put ODU in that category last year. But on the basis of both teams playing peak level football, I would put Charlotte in there. UTSA is always a hairy game. I wish we would just throttle them and get it over with. UAB and MTSU, both wildcards with a lot of moving unknowns and missing variables. Probably closer to the 'sure win' than 'probable', but I see credence in having them where you do. SMU is always a toss up. And traveling to USM is never easy. I truly believe, that if our offense can find momentum in your probable loss teams, we can legitimately compete in all three of those games. I think we owe LaTech a punch in the throat and that will be on our teams mind. We need to be competitive with UH just because it perceptionally needs to happen, and I think we can be. Cal is the complete wildcard. They looked pitiful in their bowl, and from a declining conference. But they beat both USC and Washington last year, the representatives in the Pac12 Champ game. Then got smoked by some pretty average Pac12 teams as well. Week 2 last year they beat Weber State 33-20. IF they take us lightly like they took Weber, I really, really like our chances.

I guess that's all you took from that, but ^. To add...Of that 1.2 billion campaign, 633K donors donated, 55% as first time donors, and 207 donated over the 7 figure mark. I just pulled those figures. I was only aware of the 1.2B off hand. I would't call it unprecedented for a coach to be fired from a major sport at a major school based on results only after 2 years, but it's very uncommon. It would also make the job very unattractive for many of coaches. We can agree to disagree, and that's fine.

Chad Morris will be the head coach at Arkansas in 2020. The schedule sets up relatively nicely for them this year and I expect them to contend for a bowl. To your point, the people of Arkansas were upset with him during the season and even with the hire, you're right. But he's doing a full rehaul and Yuracheck, given that Morris is his hire, is going to give him at least 3 years to makes strides. Also to note, Auburn makes more revenue in athletics than Arkansas every single year. I believe Arkansas is usually in the 10-12th range in the SEC and AU is almost always top 5. Auburn just completed a non-capital project donor campaign that raised 1.2 billion dollars. AU trumps Arkansas in just about every measurable facet from athletics to academics. Nonetheless, I see where you may see the Arkansas tie there and how he could go there and do well. And Arkansas has operating cash to blow. The are SEC after all, so they get that tie-in money. And I think they just blew around 12 million getting rid of Brett Bielema. But Morris is there until at least the end of 2020. And if you don't think that Fat Jimmy is going to be pulling strings to get one of his clients into the seat of a high profile job where he just lost a client then I'm not sure what to tell you. Jimmy has maneuvered himself into a very privy situation and it's another reason why SL to AU makes sense.

SL is gone next off-season and Arkansas will not be an option. I see the potential there just as you do, but the timing isn't right. AU will not touch Kiffin IMO. And unfortunately, SL due to the all the up and comers being hired away is going to be the hot name on the chopping block. And AU and their fans are very aware of SL and what he's done in Denton. So he isn't going to be that name that is hired as sort of an unknown, unless you're a very causal CFB fan...Which those casual type fans don't really exist at a place like Auburn all that much. And this is all speculation on my part. But it makes sense and the timing will be right. SL just has to make sure he doesn't go 6-6 or worse. I think that would at least force Auburn to hesitate on SL, not on firing Malzahn. I suspect an interim to finish their season and more in-season coaching change conversations taking place at UNT...let's just hope our performance doesn't bottom out this time around.

Possibly, and I think it'd be awesome. I personally don't think it will happen, unfortunately. SEC head coaches usually decompress for a year or 2 after their firings. These SEC head coaches make truckloads of money, but they're constantly under high octane pressure and you can tell for many of them have burst blood vessels in their eyes and just look like dog shit.

Yup. And he was literally on the brink of being let go this year. AU had an anonymous donor with checkbook out waiting on the administration to pull the trigger. This donor was asked to put his checkbook up due to the backlash of that kind of buyout. I think it drops down from 32 million to 25 million after the season starts.