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Welcome and I think you will find yourself in good company here. We have quite a few Longhorn fans that have adopted the Mean Green as their second team. I have to warn you... we have converted a few of them. I think it is the whole "Everyone loves an underdog" type of thing. As to your questions about the stadium... well, we have really already started on it... the Mean Green Athletic Center is the end zone deck for the new stadium. The stadium will need about $60 million to get built and at last count - the athletic dept has raised about $6 million of that. The stadium will probably have to be bonded out, all fund raising has been small donors with the excpetion for 3 (three) $1 million dollar gifts. I think that you will see the stadium break ground after the 2008 season to be opened by 2009 or 2010. We will probably be forced to build without full funding and hope for funding or a student service fee to bail it out. I know - not like things are done down south in Austin.. but it is the reality of a Non-BCS school. We do not have the same rules as a school like UCF. UCF was allowed to use state funds to build their stadium. FIU (in the Belt) is doing the same - along with a large student fee... and FAU has the same plans. In Texas, State law prohibits a school from using public money to pay for facilities unless they have classrooms in them. So I imagine that the stadium will be a multi-use facility like the Super Pit - where some classrooms are incorporated into the stadium's design. Now - those are all pesimistic views - but realistic at the same time. The fact of the matter is the stadium will be built... and it will not be a big erector set like UCF. UCF ran out of money doing that pre-fab stadium and costs were nearly double the estimate. If they had just spent the same amount on a brick and mortar stadium; they probably could have spent the same money and had something really special there. I think it is a nice, servicable stadium - but it is definitely lacking in cosmetic areas (I have read that they had to ditch public water fountains because it would have put the budget over another $5 million and they just didn't have it). But they got their 45K seats that were filled for that one game... I think that I would take a nice 35K seat stadium that will be 2/3 full most games and sold out for big games. Welcome aboard and thank you for your student service fees - you are helping to build the stadium and you don't even realize it

It looks like he has some experience in a start up. He resurrected the Birmingham Southern program in 2006 and coached there for two years at the Div III level. He was a high school coach before that... Seems like a good fit for the job... considering that he will not be paid that much and will be starting from scrath there. He played for Bear Bryant at Bama and seems to be a respected name in the area. Not a ton of experience but his main sticking point was that he wanted 5 assistants to help recruit and put this thing together and the USA admins wanted to give him only 3. Looks like they have worked things out and he will get his 5 coaches. Here is his bio from his last job: http://www.bscsports.net/roster.asp?player...66&sport=18

I don't have to recruit, I am a director... but I will pass it on to the counselors that you wish them luck. You see Plumm, when you are a leader and a winner... you move up in life.... and in jobs. Sorry that didn't work out for you, your opinion still counts though. But it would be REALLY helpful if you were to actually donate to the department that you compain has not spent other people's money yet on your stadium. Maybe if all the Plummy types out there would just buy season tickets and/or join the Mean Green Club.... we would probably have a stadium by now. But NO, we need the ever elusive BIG DONOR!!!! Those don't come until after ground has been broken dumbass. Usually about a year later in fact. There is no saviour... YOU are the one that can change the stadium situation. Invest in your degree Plummy. How about starting off with Season Tix and a low level Mean Green Club membership? Would that be tooooooo much to ask?

Oh Plummy... I have missed you so.

The suites are not so much about the game - they are about socializing and watching other games in comfort - and most importantly, having catered food and alcoholis beverages. Kinda like.... OUR DECK! Which is always full, despite our record. No difference in my opinion... and yes, we built it when attendance was very low. In fact, when you really think about it, our deck increased our capacity. We were at 30,500 and something before - we might seat another 200 or so on that deck during a good game... so our capacity is really about 30,700 now

Another victim of Title IX

I am going to guess that we are going to Lubbock...

I want to thank Harry and Evan for another excellent podcast. I really and truly appreciate those.

The deal is that we have to find a replacement for Miami to open up their new stadium... If we can't do that then we will owe them "x" amount of dollars. This is a particularly bad year to try and find a team an "extra" opponent... in fact there are 8 Div I schools that haven't been able to fill their schedules yet and might have to just not have a 12th game or pick up a IAA team... Until we replace our Miami date, LSU is up in the air. At least that was the story from when the switcharoo was being put together. I think that if we can find them an opponent - we would still get most of the guarantee - plus the money from LSU to play them - it would come out to about $850K to play LSU and we simply cannot turn down that kind of money. But if we can't replace the opponent for Miami - we will be going there to open the season for a more winnable game and I think our check will be about $450K. So.... both are pretty tough to win, one pays $850K and the other pays $450K... Which would you choose?

Harry - did you see the two QB's on his team? Buck Pierce from NMSU and Gino Guidolino (sp?) from Cinci... what a weird place for those three to end up together.

Ok, someone posted (when this kid committed) that he would bring immediate help to the team and be a starter for 2008. Everyone seemed to agree - but one poster said that he would have to sit out 2008 before playing in 2009. I don't think that is the case... He has used up his freshman redshirt in 2005 (Auburn), played in 2006 (for Auburn) - didn't like it there or had problems (can't tell by the page) and transferred down to a JUCO. Then he committed orally to play for Miss but when their coach was fired he decided to look elsewhere... at that time he narrowed it down to NT and Kansas State. He went to Kansas State last weekend along with 16 other recruits and either gave the impression that he would oral or Rivals just assumed that he would pick KSU over NT. Then he picks NT... which is just awesome in my book. But I am wondering a couple of things - how many years can he play and will he have to sit out a year. I don't think so... he did what most other players are too proud to do, he went down to the JUCO ranks for a year making his eligible for the next year if offered a scholrahip at a IA school. I think that he has 2 years of eligibilty left because he is coming from the JUCO and I think that he should be able to play THIS year... The rules is that you have 5 years to play 4.... Horton's timeline: 2005, Redshirt Freshman - rode the pine his RS his Frosh year at Auburn. 2006, Auburn - played sparingly 2007 - played one year for NW Miss Comm College 2008 - Signs with NT - should be able to play in Fall of 2008 and 2009 Is this right? He won't have to sit out will he? If so, why? Isn't his year at JUNO the same thing as sitting out a year at a IA school? Here is the limited info that I could find for him - Alonzo Horton DE | 6'4" 260 Hometown: New Orleans, LA School: Northwest Mississippi Comm. College Region: South Status: Undeclared You are signed into Insider and have access to the exclusive recruiting content below. Last Updated: 11/26/2007 Data provided by Scouts, Inc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Considering: 1-Mississippi , 2-Southern Miss , 3-Memphis , 4-Troy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evaluation: No evaluation available at this time. Notes: Decommitted from Mississippi following the firing of Ed Orgeron. Originally attended Auburn where he redshirted in 2005 and played in 2006.

Hahaha, very funny. Yep, it was my first job after selling the bar. And I can say without a doubt that dealing with 6th graders is easier then dealing with Fry Street drunks at last call. Their parents on the other hand... well, let's just say there is a reason why I only taught for one year

Hey '61 - do you have an inside source at Rivals... I just checked their site and they have upped Franklin to a 3 star player... we now have 7 "3 star" players... That is so weird that you posted that last nght and it was fixed today. So weird, lol http://rivals100.rivals.com/commitlist.asp...&School=163 SIGNED LETTER OF INTENT Pos Stars Ht Wt 40 RR Video Hometown Adryan Adams DB 6-1 185 - 5.2 Miami, OK Kylee Hill DB 5-10 190 4.5 5.5 Miami, OK COMMITTED/NOT YET SIGNED Pos Stars Ht Wt 40 RR Video Hometown Brandon Akpunku LB 6-0 200 - 5.2 Cedar Hill, TX Kenny Barrett WR 6-4 190 - 5.3 Mart, TX Desmond Brigham WR 6-0 169 4.55 5.4 Caddo Mills, TX Tevinn Cantly DT 6-4 292 - 4.9 Arlington, TX DaWaylon Cook ATH 6-2 187 4.5 5.5 Dallas, TX Riley Dodge ATH 6-0 183 4.67 5.7 Southlake, TX Lance Dunbar RB 5-9 185 - 5.4 Haltom City, TX Justin Edwards DB 6-1 185 4.5 5.6 Thatcher, AZ Coleman Feeley OL 6-4 287 5.27 5.4 Austin, TX Troy Franklin OL 6-5 270 5 5.5 Celina, TX <-------------------------------Now a 5.5 rating which has moved him to 3 star level... James Hamilton ATH 5-10 180 4.5 5.5 Cedar Hill, TX Joe Hawthorne DT 6-4 250 4.9 5.1 Arlington, TX Royce Hill DB 5-11 170 4.52 5.3 Houston, TX Alonzo Horton DE 6-4 260 4.65 5.6 Senatobia, MS Jeremy Knott K 6-4 180 - 5.2 Miami, OK Nick Leppo OL 6-2 245 5.04 5.1 Southlake, TX Jeremi Mathis RB 6-1 205 - 5.2 Arlington, TX Jeremy Phillips QB 6-3 184 4.6 5.3 Waller, TX Forrest Rucker WR 6-5 198 4.56 5.3 Hearne, TX John Shorter DB 5-11 177 4.5 5.3 Richardson, TX Willie Taylor ATH 5-10 157 4.5 5.2 Dallas, TX Darien Williams DB 5-11 180 4.5 5.2 Vernon, TX

Well, I taught for a year- in TEXAS - and I know the system a little. It is done on a series of points. I believe that the number is 80. You get a point for each year that you teach/coach/contibute - and a point for each year older that you get. So a 55 year old that has been teaching for 25 years would be eligible... that would equal to 80. From what I understand, Deloach has 27 years teaching in Texas under the system and is at something like 78 points when his age is factors in.... or something like that. It could be that he has 76 points... I was told that he was two years away from being eligible and that a pay cut woulf be worth it simply to be elgible for the benefits. You are correct, Texas Teachers are not required to use Social Security so their pensions are much more secure. They can also pull their money out without penalty at any time. I only taught for one year thus accumulating one point for teaching and then my age was factored in... I think I was like 30, so I had like 31 points. I knew that there was no way I would ever come back so they cut me a check for everything that I had paid in. It is actually a much more secure system than that of SS. Anyways, I think that Deloach has levels that he can hit - 80 points is mininum and probably doesn't include health care. A lot of older teachers qualify for this first round of early retiremement quickly (after about 15 years) because of their age... Most go for the 90 point goal, it basically asks for 5 more years of service (because for every year that you put in, you also grow older a year thus accumluating 10 points only takes 5 years)... and I believe that level has some health benefits. And then I think the highest paying, most beneficial level is 100+ points. I believe that Deloach is a couple of years away from the 80 point level. Not sure about that but that is what I was told. What you say makes sense - if his health insurance can be covered by California and his retirement by Texas then his pay cut would be worth it... because it was looking like they were going to keep him on at UCLA. The only difference between 80-90 points is the health coverage and it is Blue Cross/Blue Shield and kinda sucks... very smart move for him to get his health coverage set up for life through Cali and then come back to cover his retirement/pension. As for Social Security - well, it doesn't opt you out of it automatically. It just reduces your payout level. You aren't paying into it while employed by the State of Texas... by I think that you are in California. Most teachers there need both to retire. So whatever he did before he started to teach/coach in Texas combined with his stay in Cali will have some level established in the SS system... probably not even close to being relflective of his salary, but he should get a little something when that time comes (which is more then I can say for my generation - SS will be bankrupt by then). I really wish someone would start talking about that damn lock box again, as funny as it was to SNL, Gore had one thing right during his idiotic run for President and that was securing our SS for my generation. Every 2 weeks they yank money out and I know that they money will be gone by 2014, well before my retirement age. So I thank you for answering my question... it looks like Deloach played this really smart. He can do two years and have his pension established complete with Health Care from the State of Cali - or he can keep going.... I guess we will have to see how the Mean Green are doing. He definitely wanted to be back at NT, and had a specific offer to counter ours from what I understand from a nearby school. I am glad that Coach Deloach loves NT as much as we all do - and I am thrilled to have him back.

So Tasty, I am going to guess that you knew about this ahead of time? I didn't doubt it - but I am curious about one thing. I had heard through the grapevine that DeLoach really wanted to come back to Texas because he was very close to making enough points for the Texas Teacher's Retirement Fund... then I read that he couldn't sign his contract with NT until AFTER the 21st because he needed 5 years of California credit to qualify for their pension fund... Sooooo, is Deloach just being really smart about this whole thing? Is he going to be able to triple dip come retirement? Texas Retirement Pension + California Teacher's Retirement Pension + Social Security? Was one of the stories wrong, both wrong - or are they all true? Just curious... if its none of my business - just tell me so, I am just wondering why he had to wait until after the 21st.

Wow, that was quick. Rivals has switched his commitment from KSU to NT. They now have NT listed as a solid verbal. That brings us up to six 3 star players. That is absolutely huge. I cannot believe this class, I really can't. This is better then any class that we ever had with Dickey- including the wonder years.

Rivals has him committing to Kansas State - at least it appears that way... so are you guys saying that he visited KSU this last weekend, committed, then decommitted today and committed to North Texas? http://rivals100.rivals.com/viewprospect.a...766&sport=1

DeLoach to return as UNT defensive coordinator 01:07 AM CST on Thursday, January 24, 2008 By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle bvito@dentonrc.com DENTON – Gary DeLoach is returning to UNT as defensive coordinator, a source close to the program said Wednesday. DeLoach spent five seasons as an assistant coach at UNT from 1998 to 2002, and was the Mean Green's defensive coordinator his last three seasons. UNT led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring defense and total defense in each of DeLoach's last two seasons in 2001 and 2002. An announcement could be made Friday. DeLoach spent the last five years as defensive backs coach at UCLA under Karl Dorrell, who was fired. Last season, UNT's defense finished last nationally, allowing 45.1 points per game under Ron Mendoza, who was fired. Briefly ... Robert Peachey, an offensive lineman who would have been a junior in the 2008 season, said he has left the team. Peachey, who started one game last season at left tackle, said he was not a good fit in coach Todd Dodge's offensive system. He plans to finish the semester, then decide if he wants to transfer to another school or stay and finish his degree. ... Freshman guard Josh White, UNT's leading scorer at 14.4 points a game, returned to practice Wednesday. White suffered a concussion and a cut above his right eye in a loss to Florida Atlantic on Saturday. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...nt.305852c.html

Man, Schnelly really is the media darling. UCF and USF have really paved the way for the smoke and mirrors aproach down in Boca.

Players cannot automatically leave the school if the coach gets fired - the school has to agree to release them from their ship. Remember the kids that left when Jones cam here? The ones from Trilli's regime? I don't remember his name but there was one guy that wanted to go to Okie State and we would not release him - so he had to pay his own way for one year up there.

Oh - semantics! He got a conference championship ring, which shows that h played in a Super Bowl - gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, they got beat - but he got one for just going.

Umm, did you not read? Yes - the football team charters flights. The non-revenue sports actually do use those "SuperSaver" fares. Football pays its own way, and the way of everybody else... so travel is indeed measured in terms of "cost" - not miles. Still, we do not have any other options other then the WAC and that is not an option. We cannot afford it and it would be a step backward. We also wouldn't be able to compete in it right now. And lets say that we do get better, our reward would be a bowl that none of us can travel to. Please refer back to every single post circa 2001. Why bitch about the Belt when it is our home? I just don't understand the rationalle. Why would you piss where you currently sleep? Makes zero sense.

Football pays the bills and therefore gets to charter planes. If we were Western Kentucky - our football team might be bussing to far off places and the basketball team getting the chartered planes, lol. Travel costs for football are the most expensive because of the amount of players - but it is still less to charter a plane to FL then it is to about 90% of the WAC. The charter that we use is essentially Southwest Airlines. They simply use one of their planes, three of their pilots, and a couple of helpers for the ride. I am not sure if we are using Southwest anymore, I had heard that we switched to a more private carrier - but we used to use them. Heck, I was fortunate enough to fly on a couple of the team flights thanks to the DD when I was a radio sponsor with the bar. I have no idea why we aren't playing FIU and FAU in the same trip - but we aren't adding extra miles because of it. I am sure that it has to do with scheduling. How would you like to be told by the conference that you have to always play ALL of your home games two days after FIU or FAU? It just doesn't work that way. But we aren't making two trips to FL - just one. I think what WW said was that we wouldn't fly there twice in a year and we aren't. The Belt cannot make the entire conference schedule to guarantee every single team that they will get a swing through FL to fit both teams in a two day stretch. It would be a scheduling nightmare for the the FU's and for the Belt. They have to be treated as two individual members. What the Belt can do is TRY to do that... and if they cannot get it done then they can guarantee that we won't fly there more then once a year for men's basketball. I mean - if it was that simple - we would just schedule double headers for all mens and womens basketball anywhere around the country and save even more. That is just not a realistic expectation.

I believe that our last player to get a Super Bowl rung was Jon Baker... when he was the punter for the Rans. Is that right? Of course, the Rams didn't do much punting that year - that team could score at will and Jon's career really got cut short. But I am pretty sure that he is the most recent Mean Green player to get a Super Bowl ring..