greendog

At the football banquet tonight RV spoke of how many of the athletic teams at NT are on the rise. He spoke of the foortball team, mens bb, tennis, swimming, etc. He certainly didn't speak of the progress of the women's bb program. Tonight, at MT, we are blown out again. When you have been a head coach for 20 years and your teams draw only 400 or 500 fans, it speaks volumes. Sorry, Tina, but we can't stand another year of your high school teams. Women's bb is a revenue sport and NT cannot ask all of it's fans to keep giving to a losing program. Tina, if you care for NT, and I feel you do, PLEASE step aside so we can begin building a program we can back and be proud of.

Forget about the Dennis kid. Considered by many the best Junior in the country. He has offers from Duke, NC. Kansas, Georgetown, etc. He would really want to be close to mom's cooking for him to stay close to home.

Don't worry, DeLoach is a Mean Greenie. Came from the horses mouth.

The model is in RV's office. I assume it is new. It is to scale and has the east slope of the old golf course adding height to that side of the stadium which brings it up to the level of the west side. It also has 24 private boxes on the west side. The achitectural firm that will be selected will be told that the model will represent the desired concept and of course NT will want the architects design input that will further enhance the facility.

For those of you that haven't seen the model of the football stadium, you should. Although they haven't selected the architect for the final design, the basic concept is reflected in this model. A second section can be added on the east side which would bring the seating capacity to 55M. The physical structure looks similar to the SMU facility but provides a great view from the NT administration building to the south. This may be old news since I haven't been on the gomeangreen forum for a while

NT didn't blow the name change. Hayden Fry presented it in 1976 to the legislature and they turned us down. Fry wasn't popular with some of the old SWC members after he left SMU. It was talked about and presented and turned down. It wasn't that NT didn't try for the name to be changed from North Texas State University to Texas State. The legislature, at that time, said it "would take away from UT's name recognition. The time wasn't right in 1976.

Please, you must be kidding about Harris becoming a great player. They were both super people but they were marginal division 1 players. The same can be said for Justin Barnett. There is no doubt that the current team and the new recruits are the best group possibly to ever be a NT. The only other team close in talent was the years of 75 - 78. Also, the current coaching staff is by far the best group of coaches to ever coach at NT. The Mean Green, over the next 2 or 3 years, are going to be special. If you have not been to any of the games this year you are missing out on watching 9 new players starting to mesh and become a real power to be excited about.

When most coaches are on the hotseat, they do whatever will help them win in the near future. DD knows he must not have another losing season next year. He is such a poor PR man that he has many NT fans that don't care for him. If he wins he is tolerated by most; if he has another 2005 season, there will be big problems for him. Saturday, I attended the HP - Stephenville game at Fouts. I was standing in line next to Phil Bennett {SMU coach} and we talked for about 2 minutes about the players he would like to recruit. I had never talked to him or ever seen him in person until last Saturday. He is a very likeable person and that two minutes is two more than I have ever talked to DD. Dickey has walked past me on 2 or 3 occassions over the past 6+ years and he usually looks the other way so that he dosen't have to be cordial. It must be my deodorant! Whatever it is he, along with a coach we had for 1 year by the name of Bob Tyler are the only coaches we have had at NT over the past 40+ years, that I have been a fan, that doesn't give a rats a-- about Mean Green fans. DD really needs to recruit some JC kids for immediate help or he can forget about 2 years down the road.

First off I'm not a DD fan. I love the school, give a lot of $, and bleed green. I'm not a DD fan because I like exciting football like TT. I like coaches that go after the top kids and build an exciting dream that recruits want to be a part of and that the fans want to be envolved with. Having said that, for $200M a year DD is about all you can get. Being in the Belt doesn't help and I understand that if we were in CUSA we could recruit a better quality athlete and a new stadium would also be a plus. We aren't in CUSA, but with DD at the helm I feel that we would be about the middle of the pack. I really feel that RV is waiting for the "right" time to step up to the plate and pay for a "big name" when we are in a better conference and are about to build a new stadium. If this isn't so, NT needs to be honest with us and tell us that we are about as committed as this school is ever going to be. See, the problem is that some of us have never felt we were second class. We are embarressed when we can't even beat Sun Belt conference schools and are demoralized when we are beaten soundly by the LSU's, Kansas States, etc. I want to be a part of a program that doesn't find excuses for being second rate, but, says we are going to be something speacial and then goes out and shouts it from the rooftops. If we can't be the best Div 1 then I want to be the best 1AA. The only problem is I don't won't to be Div.1AA. Being in the 6th largest TV market, with 34000 students and, within 30 miles of 3 million people, with well over a 100,000 alums and the only other schools close by are expensive private schools, we should be sought after by the Big 12, the Mountain West, and certainly by CUSA. Can't blame them when when schools like TCU, Baylor, and even SMU might have passed us up. Oh well, pray that Kansas State has a brain f--t and takes DD. He can leave the sorry NT fans that he must loathe and we can reignite the program.

I don't hate DD either. I also feel that for what we pay him he is about as good as you can get. I know you can get a lot worse than DD for the same money. Here is the point, as long as we are paying what we are paying and our stadium is what it is I feel that we just grit our teeth and accept the situation for what it is. Now, if we belly up to the bar and pay $500,000 + a year, then we have a different senario. If and when that happens we can see this program become the program that will be on the same par with TT. We will have a coach that goes after players that the "big time" schools go after and he will not be afraid of other schools seeing NT's name beside these good kids. We will begin to beat some of the Big 12 teams and we will pass the likes of TCU, UTEP, etc. Until then, we accept the fact that we have a pretty good coach that isn't well rounded in PR, excitement, and confidence.

Although no one in mean green land expected us to win, I was proud of the team and felt that they played pretty well and never gave up. It was the play of a really great LSU team that was the difference. We're young and we are gonna be good over the next couple of years and that is progress. I was let down that our beloved coach didn't have the courtesy to come on the air after the game. He doesn't realize that part of his role is PR. A few words to the kids and then he would have had a few minutes for us fans, that he detests, and that would be meeting his responsibility as a head coach. Instead he left George and Hank hanging and making excuses for him. I remember a Fry team getting beat 67-7 by Okie State one year. He spoke to the fans and said we will have our day. Two years later we beat OSU in the Cotton Bowl. Just one more differnce in a positive big thinking coach and one that feels no obligation to the fans.

I personally feel that each coach is a representative of the university and each coach should be held responsible for not only the won-lost record but how their program is perceived locally, state wide, and nationally. Each program should be progressing each year. Over the years we have seen our football team go from a top 25 program, during the last year for Fry to a 1-10 program under Bob Tyler. The golf program went from the top school in the nation with 4 NCAA titles to an "also ran". Coaches need to also be out in the communities promoting their programs and building a fan base. Here are my thoughts after following NT for 40+ years: 1. The football program needs a big thinking coach who is a positive energetic personality that can excite the metroplex with teams that can beat other schools rather than just Sun Belt teams. 2. I feel that basketball is the most professional quality staff we have. Thank God they office away from the football coaches. 3. The women's BB program is way overdue for a change. If Tina doesn't win and go to the NCAA this year she should be gone. Hope I'm wrong but I have no confidence in her ability as a Div. 1 coach. 4. The Volleyball, softball, swimming, and tennis I can accept as long as some progress is being made. 5. Soccer. Possibly the best program we have (I just don't understand the rules and don't really like the sport) The coach is really a quality coach. 6. The men's an women's golf programs are in the process of rebuilding and I feel will become respectable and a good reflection on the school. Probably national championships are a long way off if ever, but after 30 years of Herb Farrell taking the program down the tubes, it is looking better. I just don't want to level off when we are geographically blessed and the only Div. 1 complete athletic program in the metroplex and still not be able to compete with a couple of church supported schools one third our size. The budget never seems to be a problem with universities except when they are trying to raise money from the fans. Come on Rik don't let us down. Put the coaches on the hot seat and demand results!

DD is probably one of the very best coaches available that can be hired for around $200,000. That is also about what he is worth. Here are my reasons: 1. He may be the nicest most wonderful man in the world but to many of us he is a p---k. Perhaps he is a private person or introvert, but a head coach can't be like that. 2. You don't have to have a 140 IQ to coach but you do have to be creative, likeable and exciting in order to recruit and to motivate. He is not. 3. Most of us on this board give money to the school and attend the games. The problem I have is that you can run into him and he almost turns away as if we, the fans and donors, are the enemies. 4. Coaches that believe in their program sell a "dream" to their recruits and aren't afraid of other schools knowing who they are recruiting. We can't grow and compete with the big boys with kids that the big schools aren't interested in. You build a following by getting your fan base excited about the kids and the kids get excited about a fan base that follows them. This all equates into winning. As bad as it is to watch a DD coached team, we don,t really have a choice. One of these days with a new stadium we will have to belly up to the bar and go after a big name coach or an exciting assistant who sees being a head coach as more than X's and O's. That will require quality assistants and a coach who sees it big. Until then we are only going to compete with Sun Belt schools. (Hopefully that new coach will be like the TT coach and actually go after QB's that can throw the ball and lineman that can run 40 yard dashes in less than 6 seconds!)

It is my understanding that: Mangrum - offered by TCU, SMU, BAYLOR, TULSA Muse offered by Wyoming among others Jackson offered by UNLV, Utah State. Been told a lot of teams were interested in Muse but he was only interested in JJ and Wyoming

Just talked to one of the BB coaches and he related the following: 1. NT BB is not recruiting second level players anymore. In the past the high school coaches in the DFW area and Texas in general "pushed" their top players toward UT, A&M etc. We could only settle for the second tier kids. 2. We just signed two top tier kids from the Mo. JC. One is really "special" and along with the Arizona State transfer, this is an outstanding class. 3. This coach said that "great" things are in NT's future for BB. I for one believe that this staff is the finest BB staff ever at NT. Only time will tell, but, after 40 years of following NT I feel that this staff is Big Time. Only when Hayden Fry was at NT did we have a staff that saw NT for what it can be. Fry didn't have the facilities that the BB program has but like JJ he never thought we were second class. Other coaches we have and have had reflected an image that a lot of us can't tolerate and that is one of "taking whats left" when it comes to recruiting, etc. Hopefully those coaches are on the way OUT!

I for one am not a big DD fan and I don't think he is a big fan of NT. So be it. I respect what he has done for the program but feel that his success has been basically against Sun Belt teams. At one time we were almost even with TT but they are light years ahead of us now. TCU is a better program and Baylor is moving ahead. SMU and us are about even in my opinion. Here is my delima. The conference and our stadium are our biggest recruiting problems. When we get the new stadium and move "up" to the CUSA we should be able to compete with the top CUSA teams year after year. To move up and beat the "big boys" we are going to have an exciting coach of the Hayden Fry type that can put an exciting offense on the field. The really good teams are balanced and if they are not the only chance they have is to have a solid defense and a TT passing game. I can't stand TT but I would watch them when they are on TV because they are EXCITING. In 3 or 4 years with a new stadium I feel that we will need someone other than DD to take us to the next level.

I, like you, suffered all through this season. I expected more and didn't get it. We did have a bright spot and that was Chris. This young man will finish 2nd in all time scoring behind Kenneth Lyons. There is one big difference. Kenneth is closing in on 40 years old and still lacks 24 hours graduating. Chris paid the price and has already graduated and did so with a 3.8 average. Super young man and will be a big success in whatever he chooses. Chris should be an immediate UNT Hall of Famer. He is what all student athletes should be like.

I attended all of our home games and two of our out of town outings. Here is my assesment for what it is worth: 1. Leonard Hopkins' loss probably cost us at least 3 or 4 losses. 2. Justin Barnett can be a factor but needs to get his back problem taken care of prior to next season. Our big men were ineffective overall. 3. The loss of our frosh point guard hurt us. 4. We don't have any shooters and I was shocked that Harris and Thomas weren't any better than they were offensively. Hopefully, they will be better next year with more experience and a different role. The coaches have told me that the new kid Jones that is coming in is a better shooter and overall better player than Chris Davis. The LSU transfer is going to turn heads next year according to the coaches and he is probably the best "big man" to ever be at NT. Shame we only have him 1 year. NT will probably add 2 more players for next year.