Side.Show.Joe

Nope, I wasn't there. I decided not to attend after watching Morris' UAB press conference last Tuesday. His blind support of Caponi despite all the data surrounding his failure was too much for me to overlook. I watched the game on ESPN+. I watch every game. Having said that, I did expect UNT to win the game. UAB was already locked into a sub .500 record for the season. They were not good. But, Caponi's defense sure made it interesting down the stretch. Since you asked, my season tickets are located in 205. I've had the same seats since DATCU/Apogee opened. I'm sure my comments above will trigger a few downvotes, eyerolls, & vomiting eagles, and that's okay. As I've stated before. I really don't care. I will still be here long after the coaches and administrators are gone. And most of the fans that are irritated by my outspokenness too.

Ha! I got 2 eyerolls and a downvote for posting actual facts about the AAC Title game. I guess some just don't want to hear the truth.

Yeah, I have no interest in hearing Morris talk about how anything will improve defensively until Caponi is replaced. I have no confidence in Caponi. And the longer Caponi remains, the less confidence I have in Morris. There are a lot of good offensive Air Raid coaches that fail as head coaches because they can't field solid defenses. So right now, Morris is looking a lot like Littrell, and we don't need more of that.

That's just an excuse for failure. The offense didn't have what they needed either. We haven't had a real QB since Mason Fine graduated. But, those coaches did their job and went out and found the right pieces and we ended up with the 8th best offense in the nation. Rogers wasn't just sitting on the bench for the past 3 years. No, our offensive coaches evaluated our needs and went and got him from the portal. Our special teams coaches went out and grabbed Rauschenberg from the portal. Caponi didn't do his job. He didn't adequately evaluate his players and he didn't go get the players he needed to field a successful defense. He failed at his job. And he was paid more than ever other assistant coach in the Group of 5. That's an embarrassment. And, that's entirely on him. Caponi doesn't deserve another year at UNT. He should be fired.

Funny how the two teams playing in the AAC title game, feature the top 2 defenses in the conference. (1st & 2nd in fewest yards allowed & fewest points allowed). Defense wins championships. Fire Caponi!!! https://theamerican.org/stats.aspx?path=football&year=2023

There is nothing Morris can say that will sell me on wanting Caponi in Denton for another season. Caponi's defense is the worst in the FBS. His defense sh!t the bed for an entire season. There is no excuse for that ever. And no Mean Green fan should be expected to accept those results as deserving of a second chance to fail at UNT. Fire Caponi!!!

Morris laid to rest any hope of him firing Caponi at his UAB press conference last Tuesday. He clearly stated he supports Caponi's direction leading our defense into next season. I'm pissed about it. Caponi was paid more than every other G5 assistant in the FBS, and produced the worst results in the FBS. And those that are paid to lead our athletics believe this is good enough. You can't make this crap up. Ever with clear data of Caponi's complete failure, Morris won't let him go. It's irritating and sad all at the same time. How can we as fans be expected to be excited about next season when our program is being held hostage by pure stubbornness. Nothing in the stats or results support Caponi returning. But here we are. Someone in the athletic department needs to step up and make this right. If more fans and students walk away from our program, those at the athletic department will only have themselves to blame. This is an issue only because those with the power to fix it refuse to do so. You can listen to Morris' comments supporting Caponi in this press conference..........

1. Show me one post or comment where anyone was calling this defense a rebuild before the season started. You can't. Because no one expected our defense to be this stinking bad. 2. I never read where Morris put our cap at 5 to 7. In fact the preseason media poll ranked UNT 7th, predicting a 7-7- record, that means UNT was expected to play in a bowl. https://www.underdogdynasty.com/2023/7/25/23806619/tulane-ranks-atop-2023-aac-preseason-media-poll-newcomer-utsa-places-second 3. The line had issues, but some of those pass protection issues were due to the RB's not picking up their blocks, or even at time Rogers holding the ball too long. But they did allow far too many sacks. I could see why some might grade them lower than I did. I thought the WR's were solid, especially considering how Sides developed this season, once defense took Maclin away. When the WR's are averages over 300 yards receiving a game, the WR's are doing a great job.

The negative juju is not a result of our players effort, it is a result of our DC's poor job performance, and the inability of Morris to fix it. Last night Caponi's defense gave up a touchdown on their final defensive stand of the season (a 5 play 75 yard drive resulting in a touchdown that allowed UAB to tie the game with 2:46 left in the game). If not for our outstanding (8th ranked in the FBS) offense, we probably would have lost. I like Morris and want him to be successful, but the first deficiency that next to be addressed is our defensive coordinator position. We need a guy smart enough to evaluate our talent and get the right players,.... and then teach them how to tackle. People can downvote or eyeroll this post all they want. I don't care. I'm not going to toe the party line around here and accept the new "rebuilding" narrative, or excuse our defense for being the absolute worst in the entire FBS. We all love this program, but we obviously have different standards about what success means. I have no desire to idly watch our program repeat the last 4 years of the Littrell era, or watch the same posters make the same excuses for the same failures. Too many around here stay quiet when they should call it like it is. Caponi doesn't deserve to keep his job. That's just the truth.

Since you missed the explanation..... His offense is amazing. And, his ability to find outstanding QB's is unquestionable. But at the end of the day, we are staying home for bowl season. This team played for the conference title last season, and was picked to be a bowl team this year. In school you need a 70 to pass. I'd have given him a passing grade if we had just won 50% of our games. Defense matters. He still needs to learn that. The fact that he's content to bring Caponi back next season doesn't help his grade either. We are what our record says we are... a team that won about 42% of our games. I can't give him anything but an F for that. And, if you want more fans next September, it would be a good idea to get a real DC before December... which Morris doesn't seem motivated to do. When 70% of the fans that actually care want Caponi gone, bring the guy back won't get fans excited for next season. Or help sell tickets.

Now that the season is officially over, I will state my opinion about Caponi's defense......

We averaged over 190 yards rushing per game, and a conference leading 5.1 yards per carry. And we threw for over 300 yards per game... best in the AAC. Sure, Rogers & backs did some of that with pure athleticism, but we have to give the O-Line credit too. My biggest knock on the O-Line is the number of sacks they gave up this season.

His offense is amazing. And, his ability to find outstanding QB's is unquestionable. But at the end of the day, we are staying home for bowl season. This team played for the conference title last season, and was picked to be a bowl team this year. In school you need a 70 to pass. I'd have given him a passing grade if we had just won 50% of our games. Defense matters. He still needs to learn that. The fact that he's content to bring Caponi back next season doesn't help his grade either. We are what our record says we are... a team that won about 42% of our games. I can't give him anything but an F for that.

In this assessment, I tried to be fair and base the results on the results, and numbers put up. I did include my personal takes too. I have some strong feeling about some of this stuff. OFFENSE QB's: A Would have been an A+ had Rogers started from day one. Rogers is among the best QB's in the entire AAC, and the numbers prove. Rogers led the conference in touchdowns thrown, and was a 3,000 yard passer with only 5 INT's on the season. Those numbers are even better than the legendary Mason Fine. Let that sink in. The only knock on Rogers is that he did fumble some balls, but some of those were on the protection. Hard to blame a guy when the bind side pressure gets to him early. Tulane and Memphis don't have better QB's, but the AAC will probably still place them above Rogers in the All-Conference Teams. RB's: A Once again Cobbs' crew delivers. Even though injuries knocked out Ragsdale and Johnson for the season, Adeyi and Adaway keep the Mean Green rushing attach as the second best in the AAC, only behind Navy, which rarely ever passes. Just incredible production from those two. They were with best 1-2 backfield punch in the AAC. Adeyi led the AAC in yards per carry and finished as 1,000 yard back. Despite multiple season of injuries, Adaway finished the season 4th in the AAC with around 6 yards per carry. Would have been an A+ except for Adeyi's habit of missing key blocks at important times this season which led to turnovers. But aside from that, the unit was outstanding. Adeyi should be a 1st team All-Conference selection. WR's & TE's: A+ UNT finished 2nd in the AAC in passing yards per game, because any of these guys could step up and make plays. Maclin was special posting a 1000 yard season, while leading all WR's in Touchdowns. He was also among the conference leaders in yards per game. Maclin should make the 1st team All-Conference Team. Burns and Ward were also big contributors this season and clutch when the ball was thrown their way. As a receiving corp, the unit dropped very few passes and made several tough catches at key moments in games. Landon Side grew up over the course of the season and was a major contributor by the end of the year (Going to brag a little here and remind everyone that I picked this kid to be special back before the season even started). Sides is a lock to be on the All-Freshman team.... Maybe Freshman All-American Team too. O-Line: B- Like other units, injuries took their toll on the line. But, the O-Line was still productive, Allowing UNT to feature a very successful rushing attack. Overall, their run blocking was very solid. UNT also threw the ball well, so the line did a fair job in pass protection. But, despite our deadly passing attack, the O-Line did allow over 30 sack on our QB's, which is among the worst in the AAC. Offensive Coaching: A+ Insane offensive success for a first year staff. This offensive coaching staff produced a 3,000 yard QB, a 1,000 yard rusher, and a 1,000 yard receiver. This was not a rebuilding year for UNT. The Mean Green finished the season among the Top 10 offenses in the entire FBS. Those are a lot of offensive first for UNT. It would have been nice to score more points compared to the yards we rolled up. That's not a knock, just a goal for next season. DEFENSE DL's & LB's: F UNT's front 6ish were statistically the worst in the entire FBS in multiple categories, and dead last in most AAC categories. In addition to our world-renowned inability to stop the run, our defensive front only recorded 17 sacks on the season. For comparison, SMU & UTSA both finished their seasons with around 40 sacks each. Before the season began, I questioned the DL hire. I'm sticking with my initial concerns. Secondary: B- UNT featured a respectable secondary, which finished 4th in the AAC in yards allowed. UNT's secondary also finished 3rd in INT's, which is impressive considering many teams spent most of their time running on our defensive front. My biggest knock on our secondary was that they were prone to give up big plays down field late in games when we needed stops. Defensive Coaching: F This year wasn't a rebuild, despite what some around here want to push now that we failed to post a winning record. Our DC just didn't put the work in a build us a real defense. He failed to access the talent and fill gaps through the portal, and he failed to teach of defensive players the basic fundamentals of playing defense. Even in our 12th game, we still had major problems with basic tackling. Just sad. There really is nothing more to say, other than he shouldn't be allowed back next season. Special Teams: B+ Rauschenberg's strong leg was great on kickoffs and a weapon on field goals, hitting on over 81% of attempts. Sawyer averaged over 42 yards per punt. Horton was among the conference leaders in kick returns and hit on some long returns. Punt returns could have been better, but that about it. Head Coach Morris: F Such a hard grade to assign. The offense was unbelievable, but the defense negated all of their hard work. In the end this was a team that could and should have been a winner. It should have earned a bowl appearance. And it should have contended for the AAC title. But, our defense held us back... all season long. Ultimately, Morris didn't place the same level of importance on the defense that he did the offense, and it showed on the field and on the scoreboard. 5-7 is sub .500, and doesn't equal a passing grade. The fact that Morris publicly stated in his last press conference that he still believed in Caponi's leadership on defense also raises serious concerns about our prospects for next season. Right now I see too much Littrell in Morris (all offense and no clue about how or why we need a defense). That's my take on this season.

Thanks for posting this information. I have combed through the data, and it appears Caponi is actually the highest paid assistant among the entire Group of 5. In my opinion, that only makes our defensive performance this season that much more depressing. In light of this information and the production we have all witnessed this season.... Do you still think Caponi deserves to be at UNT for another season?

In the past 20 years UNT has caught up to Boise in every possible category (athletic budget, salaries, conference affiliation,...), except expectations. This is why Boise never suffers real down periods. Anytime they sense their program is on the verge of falling off, they do what is necessary and go get a better coach. Boise understands that the cost of losing is far greater than what it cost to ensure winning. I'm on the fence with Morris, I'm not quite ready to get rid of Morris. I think he has a really good offensive mind, and I want him to be a success. But, if he can't do what is best for UNT and get us a winning defense, then Morris is probably no better than any of the other Air Raid head coaches, that can't field real defenses. No head coach should retain a DC whose defense ranks dead last in the FBS. If Caponi stays, I will have serious doubts about Morris' ability to be a head coach at this level. Right now, Morris reminds me too much of Littrell, and that is a major red flag.

Caponi is what he is. Though 10 games this season, Caponi's defense has allowed a 100-yard rusher in every game (last night against SMU we allowed 2). I'm dumbfounded that some people around here are actually serious about wanting him back next season. We have the worst defense in the FBS, and that's good enough for some of our fans. Unbelievable.

3 straight sacks??????????? Can we not try a roll out?

Lots of fight in our guys tonight and it's showing on the scoreboard. Seems like quite a few names out there on defense that weren't seeing the field early in the year. If we can keep playing well on both sides of the ball. we certainly have a shot to win this.

I don't have high hopes for tonight, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

Last night I watched Kehres' Toledo defense hold EMU to 255 yards of total offense, and I was green with envy.

Be careful posting true facts around here. Some people don't want reality interfering with our program.

His defenses were good enough to post winning records in every season he has been their DC. I haven't looked up their rankings for every season. But, whatever they were ranked, It was never dead last in the FBS.

I apologize. There is so much irrational defense of our failures, I'm having trouble identifying those that actually believe the BS they are typing.