eulessismore

Joe Hawthorne Jamel Jackson Coleman Feeley? Aaron Fortenberr?

Tevinn Cantly

I lived in Seattle once, and can remember how well they loved and supported their Huskies! This was back in the Don James days, so I'm dating myself. Willingham did start out improving things ever so slightly, taking basically the same players who had gone 1-10 in 2004 to 2-9 in 2005, with 3 and 4 win seasons to follow. According to Wikipedia, his recruiting classes at ND were the worst ever for that school, so maybe he didn't improve all that much after goint to UW. He did seem to have a good thing going at Stanford, and it's tough to meet expectations at Notre Dame. Really though, I would expect someone who had had some good years at Stanford and one at Notre Dame to come to Seattle, get some good recruiting classes and have a winning record by his third year; it's that kind of place. No coach had ever posted 3 consecutive losing seasons at UW, so it can't be said he didn't get a chance in his fourth year there. Of course, there were the injuries, but I can't see him at this point as someone we need to seriously consider as head coach at North Texas, for his sake or ours. A million dollars (his buyout) isn't what it used to be, but he should be able to get by until he lands somewhere, maybe even in the NFL, where he coached before, perhaps as an assistant coach. He will probably do well for himself and his family. That seems to be the story of fired D1 head coaches.

I've never heard of a fullback in the spread offense, unless you're talking about a running back with fullback size. I've read some theory that the spread evolved out of the old single wing, in which there was often a direct snap to the fullback, who was the key offensive player. By the way, did anyone notice that Troy had a play with a direct snap to the running back, and it went for good yardage. Miami has had some success using the single wing, or Gus Malzahn's "wildhog", but it may have been figured out by now. Hey, just trying to keep ideas alive for changeups to the true spread (at times).

Dude, thanks for that early morning laugh!

What books have the rest of you read lately that involve football? I've only read one lately, but I can't resist suggesting, "Sway: the Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior". I'm not suggesting you should buy it (it can be checked out at the library), or even read the whole thing (some may be put off by some of the antiwar views), but there are some concepts that, in my opinion, merit serious consideration. Since I'm part of an airlines family, and am interested in football, I found it interesting that the first 2 chapters deal with decisions made by pilots and college football coaches, which, I'm sure, seemed like good ideas at the time. Some of the ideas examined, generally speaking (and some rough sports terminology equivalents), are: 1. Loss aversion (playing not to lose). 2. Commitment (failure to make adjustments). 3. Programming for failure (believing the ratings, rather than looking at what a player is doing on the field). 4. Value attribution (assigning playing time based on the ratings). 5. Narrowing of options as the stress of losing builds up (not taking advantage of what's "given" to you by the opponent). Let me make it clear that I'm not saying that any or all of the above is true about any of our coaches, players, or North Texas football, generally or specifically. I'm just saying that there may be something in the theories presented in this book that are worth considering to those wishing to improve airline safety, create a winning football program, or otherwise respond to a challenging situation. Anyway, I'm not giving up on Dodge, because, the only football coach I know, Steve Lineweaver of Euless Trinity, says Dodge will bring winning football to North Texas. Anything can be achieved by those who believe in themselves, and who use the mental and emotional intelligence that is given to them to achieve that goal. However, those who don't believe in themselves and what they're doing, and don't learn from experience, cannot succeed.

Thanks for the props!

I'm glad someone has asked that question so directly. My wife played in marching band in hs, and said it was due to the mix of instruments; brass, no woodwinds, lots of tubas. I respect her opinion in these matters, but am still thinking there are other factor(s). Since stadium acoustics has been mentioned as one of the many problems with Fouts, I'm thinking this needs to be seriously investigated, and tough questions asked. I have never felt before that our marching band was quieter than that of the visiting team.

Since that is paraphrasing from my post to start this thread, I would like to make it clear that all I meant was that his play stood out more against Troy than it had previously this season, not that I've kept track of every part of every game. In short, I was just complimenting Warren for his play against Troy; as far as any more subtle meaning in what I wrote, it just isn't there. I can promise that one substance I have never consumed is genius juice.

If you think she could pass block, let's recruit her for our OL.

I love the Green Brigade, but I was commenting to my wife about how "big" of a sound the small ensemble from Troy made. It makes you realize what enthusiasm can do.

Sorry, I must have missed that!

1. Cam Montgomery runs hard, and seems to be improving as the season goes along. 2. Steve Warren made some big plays at linebacker; where has he been? 3. DeWaylon Cook had some good kickoff returns, one for over 30 yards. 4. Truman Spencer kicked well; unfortunately the punt coverage unit gave up a big return. 5. Knotts made both pat's and his field goal, kicked off well; also with a kickoff coverage unit giving up the big play. 6. Casey Fitzgerald; what will North Texas football be without him?

I left before the end of the fourth quarter and missed the kickoff return for a td, but even before that there seemed to be some good plays by all 3 units, but overall a team loss. I guess I'm still advocating a focus on special teams because that seems to have been an area where we've given up a lot of points and not gotten any. The punt coverage on a nice punt by Spencer where two coverage guys were right next to the return man as he caught the ball, got away, fumbled, Troy recovered their own fumble, and North Texas got called on holding, with a net on the punt of may 8 or 10 yards was really hard to watch.

SMU was just punked like that and they're going to rape us? Now if you want to talk about what NAVY would do to us THIS year! Come to think of it; one of our only two wins last year was in a game that we HAD to run because of similar conditions vs. Western Kenucky; of course we had Jamario Thomas then.

Well, there was a lot of complaining here last year about going for it when we could have been getting 3 points if we had a good kicker. Guess we have to be careful what we ask for.

Good find, GreenTeam, and, if we get some tight ends, he also coaches those (don't guess we have a tight ends coach now). Hey, tonight, I was thinking at some point that special teams was doing better. In some ways the return game doesn't seem so chaotic, but our punt and kickoff coverage units need some coaching help from someone who has done that at the D1 college level.

I've been thinking, and actually studying on this for a while: Although I and others, such as Adler and GrayEagleOne have mentioned this in passing, I think that the need for someone whose sole responsibility in practices and games is coaching special teams deserves it's own thread. I have my own thoughts about our current coaching staff, but see a downside in discussing the potential for someone on the current staff to be leaving. Recruits and their parents do not like uncertainty of a coaches employment status as National Signing Day approaches, and the departure of a coach who has recruited a player may lead potential recruits to look at other options. However, since we do not have a coach who has special teams as his sole responsibility, I see no harm in suggesting that one be hired. I felt added urgency in bringing this up due to the following article in today's Dallas Morning News: DMN on SMU's Frank Gansz Yes, I'm saying that SMU has done something that UNT needs to do; hire that special teams coach! Before you accuse me of heresy for respecting something they have done, please read enough of the story to note how they've scored 5 touchdowns off special teams turnovers this year, and tell me how many we have on the season. Please comment as to whether this is any more or less likely a scenario than any other coaching improvements that have been suggested on the board, or suggest your favorite candidate(s). Mostly, I've been looking at guys coaching at the FCS level, since FBS would be the logical next step up for them, and I think we could be seen as providing an opportunity to coach at the next level. Here are a few I think would be worth considering: Terrol Dillon LB/Special Teams Coach Texas State If (and I'd prefer he didn't) this young guy were to continue coaching a position as well as special teams as North Texas, he could coach linebackers, either letting Deloach concentrate solely on DC, or letting him assist with the secondary, where he's done quite well before. And yes, our secondary needs help. Johnny Nagle, Asst. HC/Secondary/NCAA Compliance/Special Teams, Northwestern State We might be able to hire this guy just by telling him we'd shorten his job description. I'd have to consider it a long shot him leaving Northwestern after 20 years there and being Asst HC, but he spent 3 years at Texas State, maybe he needs more years to get vested in the Texas Teachers Pension Fund. His credentials and accomplishments seem impressive. Central Arkansas LB/Co-coordinator Special Teams Has coached a 1-AA all-american punt returner, now returning punts for Edmonton of the CFL. Coached a 1-AA all-american defensive defensive linemen, he and another UCA D-lineman went to the NFL. Delaware State LB/Special Teams Coordinator He was a big time linebacker during Arizona's most successful season in recent years. has coached linebackers who went on to the NFL; has success with a variety of special teams unit, and sounds like a confident, inspirational leader. Weber State Special Teams Coordinator/Cornerbacks One of his ST players, a return man, led the FCS last year in all purpose yardage; other special teams units have done well. Also, Weber's secondary has led the Big Sky in pass defense under him.

If someone had a site plan drawn to scale, I could use some GIS software to make it look really "spatial".

Edited for emphasis, and my short analysis of Andy Hogue: "Just bouncing around".

He kinda reminds me of a favorite Winston Churchill quote "If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative at 40, you have no brain." Hmmm, I was a Young Republican as a college freshman, Young Democrat as a sophomore; back and forth. Andy seems like he's trying to be both at once, so maybe it's all just part of being 20-something, bouncing around. Or maybe he's like many of us are at one time or another, searching. However, if Flyer says he has no basis to challenge the referendum, I'll trust Flyer on that one.

Maybe I have a sick sense of humor, but I really got a laugh out of this comment: "Why such a big deal? It was a clean hit." Hey, and who's to say it's not?

Well, you can type "Andy Hogue" into the text box of a search engine, and view a real mishmash of causes and perspectives from which to view them. I really think he has good intentions, but is nobody we have to be concerned about in terms of UNT Football.

He's coaching at Cisco Junior College, along with a couple of other UNT alums, Evan Cardwell and Chris Hurd. Cisco JC coaches

Well North Texas and the Cowboys have one thing in common, not so "special teams". Poor special teams play seems like the start of a downward spiral. Blocked punts are never a good sign.