akriesman

I have both a comment and a question.... First, I was all for letting TD finish the season, before deciding his fate. Personally, I would probably be OK with even 5 wins, if the team could somehow show lot of improvement in the remaining season. However, because of the injuries, this season could easily spirial out of control quickly. The reality is that winning 7 games at this point would take a minor miracle (even 5 might take a masterful coaching/motivation job). So, I see 4 options for RV at this point. [1] Let TD finish the season no matter what, then replace him and start an official coaching search. [2] Try and find a permanent replacement coach ASAP and hire him as soon as things get out of hand DURING the season (if things really go south). [3] Release TD during the season and replace him with an interim coach (i.e. Canales or DeLoach). [4] Give TD a mulligan on this season due to the injuries. If RV goes with #1 and takes his time finding another coach, wouldn't this hurt what is left of this years recruiting ? Or, is it already too late ? #2 might be an option, but only if RV already has a coach in mind. Option #3 does not good at all to me, unless we plan on promoting the interim coach to HC in the offseason. You might as well let TD finish things out. If RV goes with #4, he stands to receive a ton of backlash from most of the NT supporters (based on what I have seen in this forum anyway). Here is my question. Maybe OldTimer can answer it. What percentage of college players have already given verbal agreements for the next recruiting class ? I am guessing that it is already too late for us to have any major positive impact on the next recruiting class. I had such high hopes for this season Go Mean Green. I really hope that our kids and coaching staff go down fighting this season.

It would be OK to start Riley. But, Baine needs to be ready to come off the bench soon, if necessary. Here is the reason..... The entire Sun Belt knows that Riley's arm is probably shot due to injuries. FAU is going to stack the line and dare us to throw the ball beyond 20 yards. If we can somehow run the ball and execute a short passing game against a stacked FAU front, then leave Riley in. However, if FAU completely shuts us down on the ground, then we have to have somebody come in who can at least keep the defense somewhat honest. Frankly, I know nothing about the QB's now behind Riley. But, based on what I have read about the players, it would seem that Baine is our best bet at this point (if Riley's arm is indeed shot). Tough spot for Riley....I really feel for him.

I do believe that Riley had enough arm strength, prior to his shoulder injury(s). At this point, the kid has been thrown into a really bad situation. We will somehow have to take some shots downfield, just to keep the defenses honest. Even option teams like Army have to throw it downfield on occassion. FAU's defensive coordinater has got to be licking his chops.

I thought that this was the year we finally beat FAU also. But, that was before the nighmare string of injuries. The injury to Thompson (backup QB) was the real disasterous one. Riley's shoulder prevents him from having any kind of arm strength. FAU will probably put 9 men in the box and force NT to beat FAU with the pass. With that being said, I hope that our boys come out and play hard. But, if we play like we did at Army after Thompson was hurt, it will get very ugly for us.

Yep. In my 35+ years of watching football, I have NEVER seen this kind of thing happen at any level. The number of injuries is bad. But, it is the severity of the injuries that is just so shocking. All of these injries are either season and/or career ending.

I think a lot of it should depend on how he handles the situation. Can he keep the team from completely imploding ? It is the QB position that is going to just kill us. We went into this season with 2 quality starters at QB. That should be enough, even by NFL standards.

I am absolutely stunned. I thought that this team has had its share of bad luck coming into this season. This year, our luck was going to turn. It has turned....but only worse. Lady luck has stolen any chance this team had of making a run this season. You can't lose 9 starters and keep any kind of cohesiveness. Bill Walsh couldn't turn this thing around quickly at this point. What has taken place these first 3 games is beyond belief. We are losing an average of 1 starter per quarter. Riley is definately not the answer. He cannot throw with that shoulder and the defense knows it. I feel so awful for our coaches and kids. Nobody should have to endure this kind of treatment.

Based on the personality of the forum lately, I am probably going to get drilled for this comment. However, I agree with everything this gentleman from Rice said. Am I happy with a 5-33 record ? Hell no. The last 2 seasons have been as frustrating as any sports period during my 49 years on this earth. But, I see a very gradual progression in this team, even if it doesn't show in wins/losses yet. If a coaching staff seems to hit a brick wall, I am all for change. This was true for most NT coaches in the past that have been let go (I did like Matt Simon). Yet, there is something about this staff that I am not ready to give up on yet. TD has made some major gaffes in the past 3+ seasons. And, he seems to have underestimated what it takes to win at this level. But, Dodge has not been afraid to admit fault and correct the mistakes (i.e. DeLoach, Canales). I admit that wins and losses are the #1 priority. But, outside of experience, our coach has a lot of highly desirable traits. I really believe that all that he lacks is more experience at this level and a little bit of luck for once. The man is 5-33 and we can still put 24k+ fans in the stands. I honestly believe that a lot of those fans attend because they still believe in this coaching staff and team. I know the feelings of the majority around here. But, be careful what you wish for. Let's just see how this season turns out, before we jump to any conclusions. When the season is over, try and look at things objectively before making any snap judgements. FWIW, I am not okay with winning 1 or 2 games again this season. But, I am willing to let the season finish and then look at the big picture. If the program is not improving, then I am all for cutting our losses. Right now, it is way too early. Go Mean Green ! Let's get this thing started at Army this weekend.

Right now I am concerned. But, I refuse to start discussing things like other coaching options unless we start 0-4. Dickey turned it around at the last possible moment, this team can do it also. However, we need to STOP losing any more players.

Agree. Give me a passionate AD that makes mistakes over an apathetic one any day. Sometimes you have to take a risk, especially when you don't have UT-like money to throw around on known quantities. Thanks for all the hard work Rick. True, sometimes you get what you paid for. But, sometimes you find a gold mine. A coach like Don Carthel may have been a choice 3 years ago. But, a coach like that is still a risk, especially when it comes to the recruiting base. The fact is, we can all bitch like hell about finding a top-notch, proven coach with strong recruiting ties. But, until the alumni in the DFW area start "Ponying up", UNT just won't have the resources. I was stunned to recently find out my relatively high spot on the donor list, considering the fact that I don't consider myself a high end donor. TD was a feast or famine hire. It was a risk, with a huge potential upside due to his high school ties. At that time, most of us (but not all) here were excited about the hire. With the clock ticking down, I still hope that Todd can turn it around. Yeah, the coaching staff makes me want to pull my hair out a lot of the time. But, our best hope of turning this thing around quickly is leading our team on the field right now. Just MHO. And please team, beat ULL at the next home game. My kids are just dying to see the fireworks again

FWIW, the guy was at the end of section D, maybe row 13 or 14 (a few rows ahead of us). I can't say that I agree with him blaming only the coaches. But, he is just a frustrated fan, like the rest of us.

How many games have we lost over the last 3+ years because of special teams ? In the end, it just may cost our head coach his job. Our offense was better tonight. Our defense was better. But, our special teams were a complete joke (again).

I hate to say it. But, outside of their kicker and punter, I was not very impressed at all with Rice. I really thought that we had more talent and speed on both sides of the ball. But, our special teams are just atrocious.

I really hope that Nathan is OK. He looked really good leading the team again tonight (only 1 bad pick). Get well Nathan !

Our best chance for success next year is for this staff to start winning games. Instability hurts recruiting. The new stadium will definitely help. But, we have to start winning some games NOW !

Good crowd and we drop the ball again with a chance to impress them. The students and alums are trying very hard to support this team. Any other Belt team would be struggling with attendance if they had won only 5 games in 3+ seasons.

Yep. Stunning upset. Turnovers killed VT.

It looks like we are the Sun Belt champs....

It is obvious that we have 2 quality guys who can play QB. We should enjoy what we have. I thought Nathan showed outstanding poise, under some heavy pressure. His performance far exceeded my expectations.

Yep. Overall, a really good effort until the final gun. Our offense was extremely poised. Lance is just a stud against any team. Nathan did a fantastic job. The WR's made some nice yardage after the catch at times. The OL did a decent job against a massive DL. It has been a long, long time since we were this competitive against an upper-echolon school in their house. Initially, I just hoped that we could keep it close. Now, after seeing the game, we could have took this one with some better tackling and a couple of key breaks. I can't wait for next weeks opener. Keep it up Mean Green !

Great points. The defense keeps on teasing us with some nice stops. Then, they just completely meltdown at times.

Yep.

Big plays, big plays, big plays. Dammit, we just can't stop them.

A TD sure would have been nice there. But, this team sure does look better overall than anything we have seen in some tim Improve the tackling and we could make some noise this year.

Defense wearing down now ?