StealthEagle84

I agree with basically everything that has been said above. When I say it's concerning, one thing to consider is depth. We simply don't have (quality) depth on the defensive side of the ball right now and I think that has to play a huge role in the overall coaching philosophy. With all that said, I think Littrell and Harrell only know one way to play the game, and that's to #LetItFly. They're gonna put the pedal to the metal and try to get ahead and make the opposition play catch up. In the most refreshing way, it will be the polar opposite to what we've witnessed under the previous regime. Yes, at times it's going to get us into trouble, but I couldn't agree more with the philosophy of the current staff.

I started to dig into the offenses that Seth Littrell has headed up since becoming an offensive coordinator. As I started to look at the numbers, which he's led some pretty impressive units, one thing really jumped off the page at me, and that is the time of possession. Here's the breakdown of the last four seasons: 2015 @ UNC 126th in the nation w/ 25:16 per game / 2014 @ UNC 125th in the nation w/ 25:28 per game / 2013 @ Indiana 120th in the nation w/ 25:48 per game / 2012 @ Indiana 118th w/ 26:31 per game. While his offenses have put up good numbers all around and scored plenty of points, this concerns me given the state our team on the other side of the ball. I suppose this is less concerning if we're scoring points when we have the ball. But if we're not doing that, or moving the chains and flipping field position, I could easily see us getting into trouble quickly. This makes me wonder if Littrell and Harrell will try to slow things down, which I highly doubt, to attempt to manage the game better.

"Playing time is important to me, "Scott said. This. We ought to be able to sell plenty of this. Not only is the talent pool fairly low right now but we also don't have any depth to speak of. SL & Co. ought to be able to walk into these kids homes and sell them on the fact they will have every opportunity to play and play early.

Good to see us getting a quarterback early in the process instead of getting the leftovers. This may be hard to find out but I wonder if there is a list of quarterbacks that Seth Littrell inked. Not kids that were signed while he was OC but ones he recruited and signed. I think this will give us a gauge on his eye for talent.

@UNT90, you make it real hard to be a UNT fan sometimes. Our quarterback play has been the worst in the country the last two seasons and Morris didn't get a ride to Alabama for no reason. 'Bama quarterbacks may not have the stat sheets of some other QBs across the nation but they've played pretty damn well within the confines of their system. And much like Scott Hall, who's numbers didn't jump off of the page, they have been very efficient. And even if Morris' talent level isn't head and shoulders above what we've had, he'll still perform better for no other reason than coaching. Graham Harrell is a very accomplished quarterback himself and he and LIttrell will find schemes to get the ball in the hands of our play makers.

I think you're reading too deep into what I am saying. I made that statement as it pertains to SMU. Their defense was just as atrocious as ours was last year and I don't thin it's hard to imagine us scoring 30+ points. I'm not saying we light up the scoreboard this season but we will be vastly improved on the last two seasons. The key to watch, and how I gauge a coaching staff, is how do we progress as the season goes on? Even the great teams (see Alabama and Ohio State) will vastly improved in the final weeks of the season compared to week one. So I'm not as concerned in what we do vs. SMU as I am in what we look like when we play Southern Miss and UTEP. That right there is how we should gauge our optimism going into 2017 and beyond.

We will be vastly improved on offense, just wait. I can't emphasize enough how much Morris will improve the play at quarterback. Combine that with the new offensive scheme and I think we have enough athleticism on offense that Littrell & Graham will find a way to get those guys into open space. We'll score 35 easy on the Ponies.

I need some of whatever Vito is smoking. If Vegas sets the over/under anywhere close to 51, I'm taking out a 2nd mortgage. We were 119th in the country last year in total defense and gave up 41.3 points/game while SMU was 118th in total defense and gave up 45.7 points/game. You don't change those statistics overnight. One of the two ought to score that many alone.

Everyone is trying to save face and protect themselves. This is about to get real nasty, like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich nasty....... and I can't wait to watch.

Sounds a hell of a lot like another defensive tackle we once had. Hope he can be just as productive too. "English is a bowling ball of destruction. He carries over 320 pounds on his 5-foot-11 frame. English is an athlete, however, despite his physical makeup. He lived in opposing backfields in his prep days. His lack of height serves as an advantage in some ways. English keeps his center of gravity low. That allows him to not only get under offensive linemen in order to push them around and get to his spot, but it also makes it hard for offenses to force English out of his gap, even with double teams. He’s best suited as a one-technique defensive tackle capable of taking on blocks to free up linebackers to roam unblocked in the running game. He’s also athletic enough to collapse a pocket and put pressure on a quarterback from the middle of the defense."

I know several high school coaches in the state that have very little respect for Todd Graham. And as more and more time passes by, the more and more it looks like his college head coaching days may end out in the desert.

For me, this represents the bad side of college football these days. There is hardly any loyalty these days and I think that knife cuts both ways. Coaches are no longer loyal to the schools and schools are no longer loyal to the coaches (outside of winning). You don't see many coaches staying with programs for long periods of time anymore. Schools have missions outside of the sport and sadly, the values we intend to instill in these kids gets pushed aside in the name of money and winning. This why I admire men like Mark Richt who don't let winning championships define who they are. He understands that winning comes more in the form of molding young kids into men.

1) He's an athlete, which I love. It's been some time since we've had a quarterback that doubled as a natural athlete. 2) He has good mechanics. His release is quick and smooth and he has very good touch on the ball. His posture and quick release reminds a little of Andrew Smith. 3) Its hard to tell what kind of accuracy he has from the lack of timed throws. Time will tell if he can make those throws (slants, curls, out routes, etc.). I imagine we will be running quite a bit of screens so that shouldn't be an issue 4) He has good pocket awareness and scrambles well. While he runs well, but he keeps his eyes downfield looking for a place to throw first. 5) I don't mind 'throwing it up for grabs' throws as long as we teach our receivers to be aggressive and win those one on one battles. 6) I also don't mind 'his lack of size'. Other quarterbacks have already been mentioned that are/were great QB's that lacked height.

He's not alone. San Antonio Reagan quarterback and Baylor commit is doing the same thing for his senior season. And I agree, I don't like the looks of this trend. http://www.expressnews.com/sports/high_school/high_school_football/article/Reagan-quarterback-Mond-headed-to-Florida-prep-6724926.php

USA Today gave us a D-, on par with Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, Kansas, La-La, Maryland, Purdue, South Carolina, and Wyoming. But hey, we beat out UCF (0-12). Thanks Mac & Co. for what you gave us in 2015. But its a new year and I feel a good vibe with what Littrell is doing so far. Lets hope it all translates into W's. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2016/01/12/final-grades-all-128-teams-fbs-college-football/78670874/

To the point of trying new things and looking at other universities to gauge what works and what doesn't, I had a thought earlier this year while attending a Baylor game. Baylor has the tradition of 'The Baylor Line', where the president and student body (maybe just freshman) run out of the tunnel before the team makes their way out. The students then create a tunnel for the players to run through as they make their way onto to the field.. As I watched this unfold, I thought how cool it would be for us to try this out. On one hand, I worry about us 'stealing' traditions from other schools, especially other schools from Texas (i.e. tortilla tossing). But on the other hand, I see this tradition in particular as a great way to engage the student body and to get them involved with the game day experience. I see it as a great way for the students to connect with the team and make them feel like they are part of the program. Just thought it was worth mention.

I remember being at the UTEP game is '13 in front of 26k plus thinking to myself, "This is what real college football games look like. We have finally made it at the FBS level." Oh, how quickly things can change. But yes, fans do show up when we put a good product of the field. We can't use the excuse of playing low level teams that no one recognizes anymore. We have SMU, Marshall, LaTech, and Southern Miss all slated to come to Apogee next season. No more excuses. Now we to add the final ingredient, winning. http://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=333130249

I'm not sure who is the right of RV in the picture but I need to see some memes on their conversation during this picture.

With all of the turmoil of this past season and the angst against Rick Villarreal coming into this hiring process, I wanted to ask a simple question: Did the University of North Texas make the right hire in Seth Littrell? I emphasize UNT because this is a group project that we all (students, alumni, staff, City of Denton, etc.) need get behind and support. I know we as fans weren't directly involved in this hire but RV did not make this decision alone. So at the end of the day, did WE get this one right?

Only if he wants to get fired in the immediate future.

It sounds like this is what may happen. A high school head coach in San Antonio who once coached with Jinks said he is angling to be the head coach there. This feels like a real possibility since Coker hasn't been canned but he is gutting his staff. Jinks has yet to be a coordinator in college so this would be a good move for him and could set him up to take over when Coker leaves. Said coach also told me that Coker's health is becoming an issue and he wondered how much longer Coker would be able to coach. He also confirmed that Jinks did interview for the UNT job.

I went to the Baylor / OU game last night and came away not overly impressed with Lil Briles. He has a lot of room to improve as a coordinator and I don't think he's anywhere ready to be the head coach of an FBS team. It may be that he toned down the play calling bc he's working with a true freshman at QB, but the talent is there with Stidham. OU did everything they could to keep from getting beat deep and it ultimately worked. But when the run game got bogged down, Briles did little to 'run' without running (i.e. Screens, short passes, etc).

The chances of Babers or Fritz leaving where they're at now and coming to Denton is slim to none in my opinion. Both are having success at the FBS level now and would be better positioned for a P5 job by continuing to win where they're at. If their desire is to be a P5 coach, coming to UNT would set them back years towards that quest. Whether you want to admit it or not, it is going to take a few years to right this ship. You don't change the numbers below overnight. Team Stats - Through games 11/11/2015StatRankValueTotal Offense108345.9Rushing Offense77165.8Passing Offense107180.1Team Passing Efficiency12594.99Scoring Offense11717.6Total Defense123541.3Rushing Defense120254.4Passing Yards Allowed117286.9Team Passing Efficiency Defense124166.28Scoring Defense12545.6Turnover MarginT-117-1.113rd Down Conversion Pct1070.3484th Down Conversion Pct440.5713rd Down Conversion Pct Defense1270.5544th Down Conversion Pct DefenseT-160.333Red Zone Offense1200.720Red Zone DefenseT-1120.900Net Punting8137.07Punt Returns578.85Kickoff Returns8220.44First Downs Offense74182First Downs Defense122241Fewest Penalties Per GameT-545.89Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game5552.67Time of Possession122 25:55

One other thing that I have not seen mention of and that I think that is very important is what kind of staff will our next head coach be able to assemble. This is critical for two reasons. The obvious reason is a sound overall staff is important to winning in the near term. And two, and maybe more importantly, is building a good staff also opens the avenue to groom a predecessor.

I think that Thomsen is more than qualified to be our next head coach. But this right here is what I've been thinking too. If we were to hire one of these so called young guns and they were the least bit successful, they would move on to greener pastures at first chance. I think Thomsen would stay put a little longer and invest a few more years into this program. I know some have even advocated for our program to be a stepping stone, and I understand that mentality to a point, but I don't think its in our best interest to have a revolving door of coaches every few years. From all indications, Chris Thomsen above all else is a good man. I could be wrong but I feel like if he were to get this job, there would be a much higher level of commitment back to UNT than any of the other candidates mentioned.