Doug Rush

Johnny. Thanks for the way too kind words. I am just the president because I have been the squeakiest wheel for the longest. The real all stars are our former board members Curtis Clinesmith and Danny Suges who still do great things for us. And current board members Kevin Mckinney, Brad Anderson, and Jim Chamblee. They absolutely do the bulk of the work. Stay tuned. We are getting ready to add 2 new board members and they are both home runs. That is in addition to Drew Bishop, who has just joined the board, played at U.T., coached for a long time at U.T. and is now very big at 5 tool baseball in the DFW area. Check our website in about a month and you will see two very large boosters on our board along with some other absolute all-stars. We are committed to helping football get their season tickets going and helping get the athletic center built and then it's our turn. Thanks again. We would love to challenge alumni from other sports to step up and also buy 20 season tickets for this season. There are only around 200 baseball alumni from the real good club teams in the late 70's until the varsity program was dropped in 1988. So, if we can do it imagine what former football, basketball, track and field, etc. alumni could do. I would love to challenge football alumni from the the 60's to buy 20 and from the 70's to buy 20 and from 80-85 and from 85-90 and from 90-95 and from 95-2000 and from 2000-2005 and from 2005-2010 and from 2010-2015 and from 2015-2020. Organize in groups of years and buy 20 season tickets. That alone is another 200 season tickets. And then every decade of basketball players can do the same. Let's work together to get it rolling. If a bunch of old baseball guys who either played for free or nearly free can do it then surely all these alumni who were on full rides can band together and give back. Can we turn our 20 season tickets into 500 season tickets? meangreenbaseball.com

The Mean Green Baseball Project would like to wish the U.N.T. football team the best of luck this weekend in their season opener and also in their 2023 season. In a show of support we have purchased 20 season tickets per home football game which we are donating to different kids groups each game. The athletic department was very upfront with us when we met with them in that the football team does not get the support they need with season ticket sales and we are doing our part to help out. meangreenbaseball.com #Bring It Back! Doug Rush Mean Green Baseball Project President

Jonnyeagle I am not sure about the naming rights sponsor but I doubt any of it would go to baseball. We are actively seeking other donors including a big donor. We are seeking that for the athletic center since it has to be funded first. And we are also seeking a big donor for the stadium. I would say 30-40 million for baseball is needed to build everything the way the administration wants to build it. As for other venues, we have met with the city of Denton about a joint venture, and we have met with the Frisco Roughriders about possibly using their venue some. But, the best solution is to find a person who wants their name on a stadium and wants to fund it. The land behind the indoor facility is presently designated for baseball and would make a great on campus spot. A huge problem at U.N.T. that Mr. Mosley has informed us of is that we just lag way behind other major universities in giving to the scholarship fund, overall giving to the athletic department, and in buying season tickets. We only have about 250 total baseball players who played in the 70's and 80's but we are pledging to up our game. That will make a very small dent. I know there are hundreds of thousands of U.N.T. alumni in the metroplex. And there are quite a few thousand former U.N.T. athletes from a variety of other sports who surely have gone on to some success in life. But, as of right now giving back is not high on the priority list for some reason. Most of the baseball players had never even been asked to give back and admittedly some had pledged not to until we resurrected baseball, but many who are there have changed their mind on that I believe. Our goal is to have baseball at U.N.T. in 5 years or less while still avidly supporting existing sports.

Really good article by Brett Vito in the Denton Record Chronicle. The Mean Green Baseball Project is very appreciative of Mr. Mosley meeting with us and hosting us in our reunion. meangreenbaseball.com

https://dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/mean_green/former-unt-baseball-players-reunite-dream-of-programs-return/article_43e3b874-1960-5a68-8feb-554c0d690f7b.html

UTSA baseball is ranked number 25 in the nation this week in the latest D1baseball poll. https://d1baseball.com/top-25/d1baseball-top-25-rankings-lsu-remains-no-1-five-new-teams-enter/ They have a stadium that seats about 800. Something tells me they will get a bigger stadium in the future if they keep producing like this. Much like DBU did. But, you have to have a team first. meangreenbaseball.com Go Mean Green!

Thanks for all who showed up. Kevin and Danny really enjoyed the Kiwanis meeting and I hope you guys enjoyed meeting them and seeing our vision for Mean Green Baseball! Thanks for having us. Doug Rush Mean Green Baseball Project meangreenbaseball.com

Eagle83. That idea has been discussed. Having a practice facility in Denton and playing at the RoughRiders stadium the first few years is absolutely an intriguing idea. We have also been approached by minor league operations who have an interest in discussing building a stadium. Our group is committed to helping get this athletic center built and then we think baseball should be next. The interest from the DFW baseball world has been outstanding and we feel we have an administration that wants baseball to happen sooner rather than later now. Both Danny Suges and Kevin Mckinney will be at the Kiwanis breakfast and both of these guys are absolutely committed to the cause and are studs. meangreenbaseball.com Sincerely, Doug Rush

This is an exciting hire for meangreenbaseball.com and the mean green baseball project. Our group is fully invested in getting this athletics center built and then forging ahead with baseball and all the other improvements to existing sports.

This is awesome. Congrats from the Mean Green Baseball Project. meangreenbaseball.com

Hey Mean Green Nation, If you would have an interest in buying season tickets once we get a baseball team then please visit our website meangreenbaseball.com Once you get on the site click the link that says register and then sign up for how many season tickets you would want. This is non-binding of course but a great opportunity to show how much a baseball team would be supported in this area. Thanks, Doug Rush President, Mean Green Baseball Project

Hi Johnny, Great to hear from you. I know in the past I used to say we would be better off back in the Southland and able to compete for a national championship in football, while freeing up 20 scholarships. But, the Southland is not what it used to be in any sport. Here is what I want. I want U.N.T. to have a baseball team, a basketball team, and a football team that can compete for a national championship or at least be nationally relevant year in year out with a chance to beat the very best. Basketball and Baseball can do that at U.N.T. If we are able to do that in football while adding baseball then I am all for us trying to be a d1 football power house. Wren Baker did do a lot of great things to help try and get us there but he also left for greener pastures which maybe indicates he has his doubts? Maybe we can keep up with the likes of Texas, and Texas A & M, and T.C.U. and L.S.U., etc. in NIL and using the transfer portal, etc. and maybe we can't. History since 1977 says otherwise and I believe in 8-10 years all of this will work itself out one way or another with the major haves being in one division and the lesser haves being in a division below that. Meanwhile our group is going to focus on trying to add an athletic center and a baseball team. The football stuff will work itself out and I will be a fan either way it goes.

I don't know. How can UTSA afford baseball and we can't? That seems to be a better comparison of universities. Maybe S.M.U. does not have a group of former players trying to help find the money. Maybe they are landlocked and don't think they can have a stadium. Maybe they have a mindset that they are going to completely sell out to football and basketball at the expense of anything else. I am not sure. I hope they don't ever get it. They would be really, really good at baseball.

Hello fellow Mean Green Supporters, This is Doug Rush, president of the Mean Green Baseball Project. I want to clarify something here. First of all, our group avidly supports ALL Mean Green Athletics and we want football to succeed. I did say on my personal Facebook page that I felt bad for Seth Littrell because when he gets fired that means that it affects more people than him and that a lot of families of assistant football coaches will be uprooted, etc. As a fellow coach I do feel for other coaches when they get fired because I know how hard they work. I do understand why it happened and did not necessarily disagree with it. I just have empathy for people. Now, back to our group. We feel that U.N.T. is striving to get in order for what will inevitably be another big shift in the conference world in the next few years when all the NIL rules and all the portal issues get hammered out. We feel this shift will be a clear line between the haves and have nots. We are presently a have not and unless the NIL gets some rules and regulations behind them we will remain a have not. We will always be behind the 8 ball financially when it comes to NIL and the big time programs and their booster money if it remains a free for all. This has to get fixed. Also, NIL aside, personally, I and several of us feel that unless baseball and a couple of women sports are added then it will not bode well for U.N.T. in the next few years as it strives to continue to improve its status. We presently field the bare minimum number of sports to be division 1 (16) and only six of those are men's sports. It is difficult to imagine that we will be part of the equation in a positive manner as conferences continue to realign and shift into haves and have nots when we have the minimum number of sports. We feel like it will make us look exponentially better by being able to field all 3 major sports on the men's side. Also, our group is not trying to take money from your groups. We do not want the money from people who want to give for other things to the athletic program including NIL money. In fact as a Houston area resident I have twice in the last few weeks tried to reach out to Mattress Mack. But, not for baseball. I have told him what we are about and said that the first priority is the athletic center and asked if he would consider giving to the athletic center. He has not answered as of yet but I am trying. Our group is talking to people about giving to the athletic center getting funded so that we can expedite baseball. We are trying to be team players. Our goal for baseball is to find new money for baseball. I feel like its out there. I live in a baseball world and there are people out there who will only give to U.N.T. in order for them to add baseball. There are also people who give a lot now to U.N.T. who really want baseball and have spoken to us about their intense desire to make sure baseball happens. Additionally there are those who have given a lot in the past to U.N.T. athletics who no longer do because they are tired of not having baseball after 35 years. Now, once it is added those same people might begin giving to baseball AND other sports. Plus, it will generate more fans and overall supporters. Most people who love baseball also love football. I know I do. Baseball does not have to be a huge cash negative. U.T.S.A. has a very good baseball team in a stadium that seats 800. Because of the lack of scholarships and the immense talent in Texas for baseball the chance to be really good (like the softball team) is there because there is so much parity. After all the 11.7 scholarships are distributed among the big boys there is still plenty of talent to go around for the mid majors, etc. in baseball. There are several ways to fund baseball without it being a huge, huge expense. We could build a smaller stadium that could have seats added later. We could build a practice facility and then partner with the Frisco Roughriders for a few years and use that stadium for home games until we can fund our own stadium. We could go into a partnership with the city of Denton and U.N.T. and have a stadium that is mutually funded and also used for concert venues, etc. As for adding women's sports I am told that is what has to happen. And that is fine. 11.7 scholarships is not that much. There are some women's sports like bowling, flag football is becoming big and is a new sport for women, or beach volleyball that don't cost that much. A beach volleyball area could be attached to the baseball stadium and flag football could be played on the baseball field or on an existing football field. There are bowling alleys in Denton. As for coaching staff salaries you could fill out a great baseball staff for 500k to 600k per year for the entire staff and get an amazing staff. Yes, guys like Rusty Greer or Cliff Pennington, the recruiting coordinator at D.B.U. who played 11 years professionally, etc. Or an up and coming assistant coach or some other ex pro out there. There are baseball guys out there that do not have to be paid a huge salary that would do great at getting the ball rolling for us. And sometimes the best hires are not big name guys when they get hired. Let's work together and get this athletic center funded. Then add baseball. Then talk about a new basketball stadium. That is our goals. Go Mean Green. meangreenbaseball.com