stebo

4 different levels for giving - they have outdoor boxes, indoor boxes, premium seats and priority seats. All have different giving levels and all have access to "club" areas where they can.... BUY ALCOHOL. FAU has figured out that you can make a lot more money having 8,000 people in various levels of premium seats/suites/boxes rather than 1500 or so. They will make more money off of them by selling them beer and food and probably get a lot more commitments. They also have incentives to lock in for 5 years but will allow the customer to pay more for a lower commitment. I really think that these guys hit the nail on the head. There is something for every budget in their seating options. Check it out and let me know what you think. I am having a hard time justifying paying $6500 (plus $500 Mean Green Club donation, plus season ticket costs) to sit on the 10 yard line. One thing that I REALLY like - they are letting people group seats together so that they can join as groups AND they will let a group of fans purchase the rights to a 22 seat luxury box. I wish that we do this. If we can - why isn't it spelled out so easily like FAU? It is frustrating to see a start up program like FAU "get it"... faster than us. http://www.fau.edu/stadium/index.html

Not possible according to NCAA rules unless the WAC is really going to help with scheduling... You would be transitional for 2 years at a minimum. We have brought FAU and FIU into FBS and are working on USA, the transition is 2 years, during those 2 years you must play 5 FBS schools at home each year and average 15K in attendance. You are correct that the first year you would not be eligible for the playoffs and would have extra ships... and if you could get 5 FBS home games, that "could" be year 1; I just don't see how that is possible. Is the WAC going to supply those next year? If so - more power to you. I suppose they could send Fresno and Nevada to both San Marcos and San Antonio next year. Year 2 (2012) would be the tricky one - basically you would have to play 5 out of the 6 leftovers at home (both of you) to move up. Heck, maybe they will do that for you guys - they are in survival mode. I just don't see how it is possible.

Chris, how is that possible? The transition period is 2 years. You have to play a minimum of 5 Div I FBS teams at home during both of those transition years. After those 2 transition years, you would be able to petition the NCAA for inclusion as an FBS team. So the earliest that I could see Texas State or UTSA being a member (football playing, bowl eligble) member of the WACK would be 2013 or 2014. You can get around a lot of the rules now - basically if you want to be FBS and are willing to spend the money to fund it - you will be FBS, but there is still a protocol for moving up. You have to declare, you have to have 5 Div I FBS home games each year for two years, and you have to meet the 15K attendance requirement. A lot can be faked (i.e. the attendance requirement) but you can't add extra years. You will also need a total of 10 Div I FBS teams (5 each year) that will come TO San Marcos to play. The WAC will have limited membership in 2011 with 8 teams total... (your first transition year) and VERY limited membership in 2012 - 6 teams - your second transition year. It is really too late to schedule OOC teams for those games, most schools have filled up their schedules. I just don't see how you are going to hit the requirements. UTSA has already scheduled some teams but I would be a little bit leary about some of those big time schools honoring their return trips. I think that the WAC leftovers can make it happen - but you are going to need just about every member to travel to both San Marcos and San Antonio over the span of 2012 and 2013. That would make you eligble to apply for FBS membership in 2014.

Remember that you can vote 10 times per day.

I am (by no means) a football expert. I asked the question with a willingness to learn from all of you. I don't have an agenda in this, Harry summed up our situation better than i could. This is the biggest investment that NT has ever made for athletics and we have one chance to get it right. I put his opinion over most fans and tend to agree with him. I just question if Chico would be looked at differently if he didn't work for Todd Dodge for a half season. If he was just another available, out of work candidate, I think we would be having a different conversation about him.

My bad, for some reason I thought that Dodge and Jones were hired the same year. So over 3 years he is 1-11, 7-5, and 5-5. Total regular season record of 13-21. He has no conference championships, no has he played in the conference championship game, and has been to one bowl with one win. The point remains the same. I can't think of an example of a big name coach that went to a lower level FBS school and had great success... but I can think of several small name coaches that had the passion to turn teams around and become national players (Patterson, Koetter, Hawkins, Peterson, etc..) Jones has done a respectable (but expensive) job - but not to the level of these other men.

Ok, but Jones is in year 4 now. They did win 7 games last year but did not win their conference. They went 1-11 in Year 2. They went 1-11 in Year 1. This year they are 5-5. That is a four year record of 14-32 in the regular season, no conference championships and 1 bowl visit/win. Is that the model we want to emulate?

I understand the argument that we cann afford to gamble with this hire... but I cannot think of a single example of a lower level school (WAC, MAC, Belt, etc..) hiring a "big time" coach and doing so well that they elevated the school. What model are we wanting to follow? Schnelly at FAU? I suppose that Mike Price has done "ok" down at UTEP. And I suppose you could argue that O'Leary has seen some success at UCF. But the BEST mid-major teams find very energetic coordinators that are HUNGRY and let them work their buns off. Let's go over some success stories... Boise - they had Hawkins, Koetter, and now Peterson. None of those coaches were "big name coaches" when they were hired... they have scheduled to help the coaches and that is why they have remained sucessful (in my opinion). Look at TCU, they brought in Frnachione from New Mexico, that is what turned them around from an 0-12 season - he was not a high profile hire at the time - New Mexico was just a crappy WAC 16 school back then. Fran turned them around and he handed it off to Gary Patterson. By the way - when that handoff occurred, the TCU fans were up in arms because they wanted a "high profile coach" to replace Fran. The AD knew better. June Jones - after being a loser with the Chargers, he had success in Hawaii (his alma mater) by playing a very weak schedule (much like Boise). He also had PASSION for the school because it was his alma mater. Jones has done a good job of elevating SMU; but they were rock bottom and are far from being world beaters. After a great last year - this year they are back to struggling... They are right on the bubble for bowl eligibility - maybe they will make one, maybe not. We shall see. At $2 million a year, I think that the jury is still out on his success. I guess that the point I am making is that I do not know of a precedent for a "big name" coach to come to a school like North Texas and do exceptionally well. Some of them have had acceptable outcomes; but I can think of plenty of examples of coaches that are unknown (but solid) coaches that come in, work HARD, and elevate the programs that hired them. I keep seeing people say that we should hire either a big name coach OR hire a sucessful coordinator from an auto-bid BCS school. How about a sucessful Offensive Coordinator from the Big East? Our interim head coach coached a team that reached as high as #2 in the BCS rankings while at South Florida. Now saying that I have chosen Chico - because this is RV's choice to make, not mine. But I think it is a possibility that we have what we "need" right here already. He might be the big name hire that we want. Think about this seriously, if Chico was not at NT right now - but was still out of work (like all of these other candidates that are being tossed around - every name that I have seen are unemployed coaches) - would we consider him even more so? I think we would. I think that it is very possible that he could be the big name hire that we need.

I think that the thread is referring to a start up program. Last year was USA's first "year" to play games - they played all prep schools and one Div II school. This year they moved to a harder schedule - mostly FCS teams with a couple of Div II teams scattered about. Next year will be the first transition year - they will play a Div I schedule next year with a few FCS games (but mostly FBS). 2012 will be the second and final transition year - 2013 will be the first year as a Belt member. They have never lost a game. They are averaging over 20K in attendance this year (and averaged over 24K last year playing prep/high school teams. They beat UC-Davis on the road, a week after UC-Davis beat FBS WAC member San Jose State. I think that they are doing it right - they are not rushing into anything... they are building this program slowly and with the right mix of winnable games/competitive games. As for opening the new stadium with USA? Heck no! They haven't lost a game yet (in two years!) and I would be thoroughly embarrased to have them extend that winning streak in Denton, lol.

Tony makes one of the best burgers in the world. And when I say that he makes it - he makes it from beggining to end. He grinds the meat himself and makes these huge patties - then cooks them medium rare. They freaking melt in your mouth. Great burgers - great atmosphere. Thanks for feeding us Tony and being such a good host! Steve

I have always wondered why our band always sounds so muffled and unenthusiastic. The Sound of the South showed the Green Brigade up last night, plain and simple. The were louder, more excited, into "the game", and just sounded better. They had fun - and when they played their version of the ESPN song, it really was original and I took it as - they will be on ESPN over that last play,etc... We played over them right before the half - they were playing and here our band comes with the 5,000,000th try at Fly Like an Eagle or something... This comes up every year and every year someone says that our band is using better "technique" or some crud.... I don't care about technique, I just want a loud, fun, into-the-game marching (or standing) band...

I have it on good authority that a high dollar UNT alum is behind this, the same anonymous donor that bought out Dodge's contract and has demanded that we hire a 'name' coach. This guy is so rich that he gave over 250 bucks last year.

I think that Boise probably thanks you as well!

Haha, calm down there partner. I am in complete agreement with you. I just believe that we can have both

Whatever the choice - one thing is certain (for me) - whomever is hired must have the characteristics of Todd Dodge as a man. He has set the bar for what we should expect - class act, ability to change, ability to put ego aside, fan of North Texas, ability to concede defeat. A lot of our alumni point to Hayden Fry as a class act and I can see that. The landscape of college football was drastically different back then. Corporate sponsorships really did not exist. There were only a handful of bowl games. The college football world was a much more "clean" business back then. I keep reading all these requirements for a new coach - winning record, FBS Head Coaching experience, name recognition - etc... And I agree with a lot of those traits. But the one thing that I have not seen is that our new coach must have the personality of Todd Dodge. What I mean - our new coach should understand and love North Texas (like we all do). Our new coach must run a clean ship. Our new coach must not badmouth our school, our players, or our fans. Our new coach must demand excellence in the classroom. Basically - we need a Todd Dodge that can win games. In my opinion - Todd Dodge has set the bar for the type of "man" we should want and expect. His exit has been a breath of fresh air compared to the Simon and Dickey exits. I remember a football player telling me a story about how Simon was driving through the desert on his way out of town (headed to El Paso or something) and he called this player in a frenzy - just bad mouthing the school like a jilted teenager would. We all know what happened when Dickey was let go and RV probably went into the Dodge hire looking for a guy that was a "yes" man and would not challenge authority. I am sure that RV wanted someone that would never pull those stunts again. It was a shame because both coaches could have left here with legacies intact. Simon guided us through the ranks from IAA to IA and Dickey showed the fans how good we could be. They could have been legends that had statues eventually erected in their honor. But the manner in which they both left the program fractured the fan base and the alumni. I hope that whomever is chosen - wherever he is from - has the traits of Dodge, the man. As we are throwing around names - like Leavitt and Leach and Bower - please do your research and see how they left their positions (despite the circumstances). How you carry yourself during and after the job is very important. I am fairly ignorant to the college football world (outside of North Texas) - so maybe you can all fill me in on how these coaches handled themselves during their dismissals.

Class act to the end. Very refreshing.

I am pretty sure that he would just be guaranteed the 7 mil despite his new salary. That is how ULM got Weatherbie so cheap, his salary was 1 dollar for his first year and Navy continued to pay him the remaining 1:999999.99 million. His second year salary went up to like 25k and eventually his Navy contract ran out and they paid him what they could afford..he did this for two reasons, to stick Navy with the bill for being fired and so that the extra money could be used to bring in assistants. I could not believe that we didn't have a similar contract with double D but I assume he would have just done the same thing. Then you are helping your competition by paying their coach's salary. Anyways, I am going to assume that Leavitt would get the rest from USF and we would pay the difference. Right? Or does it really pay for these guys to not work at all?

I think this is a very interesting idea... Also - for Shaft, I was thinking that this move could be made on an interim basis to see what the results look like.

I get the feeling that this won't be a popular post. That being said, I think that Mr Mosely made some compelling points. How would the fan base feel with Deloach as the HC and Canales as the Asst HC? Do we need to tear the whole thing down or are the parts in place already with a change at head coach?

I run a team at work. I am a manager and am in charge of that team. Sometimes people go out on FMLA for various reasons. They are sick - or they get pregnant - or they get in a car accident - or whatever. It is my job to make sure that I have enough people working for me and that I have a bench so deep that I can handle any adversity. Sure - you have tip performers on your team. But the other players should be competent and able to perform the job. The results of last week's game shows that we do have a competent team and they can win. Coaching will get them through this weak spot. They can still win and Dodge can still show why he was hired. The same business priciples apply to the football program. But you are ranting like it is over - it is not over. There is not one single team left on the schedule that we cannot beat. Want Dodge to save his job? Go out there and win some football games! There are plenty of games left! If not, this is a business and the CEO is responsible for the ship that is going down. There is not a SINGLE coach in the history of North Texas (don't just go back to Fry - go back to the start of the program) - but there is not a single coach EVER at North Texas that has failed this much to win games. It is not personal, it is just business. I think that people start to confuse that "family" feeling with business. We feel like a family at work - but when it comes down to it, sometimes I have to fire a family member. It's not personal - its just business.

I thought about that - but the Athletic Department is the parent group and the Football Program is the company. Todd Dodge is the CEO of the football team, making all decisions regarding the personel (both players and coaches). At least that is the way that I see it. The parent company will demand the CEO to step down. You could even call him the COO - but I would give that title to the Asst Head Coach (and we don't have one of those)... That was my line of thought. steve

This is a business. The CEO of the business has not produced the results needed. We are going out of business. I posted a request after the FAU win for some extra homecoming tickets and a couple of our greatest fans let me know that they could help out. I have now been offered more than 2 dozen tickets and 6 parking passes for HOMECOMING. Homecoming is when fans come back to the school and this is crucial to growing the business for the future. The football program IS the window by which the world views The University of North Texas. I am probably one of the biggest fans of Dodge - but I really had no opinion when he was hired - but he has carried himself in such a way that I can't help but WANT for him to succeed. But he still has to succeed. Injuries or not - we still have to win. We cannot afford to lose any more fans, especially headed into a fund raising campaign to pay for the other half of the stadium. We just cannot afford it. Harry said it best - the stadium is the single biggest investment that the University has made to date. The thing has yet to be paid for. We have fans - very good, very loyal fans - that pay into the program year in and year out. Those fans are telling me that they will not pay for another year of Dodge ball. I have been told that only 15% of the club seats have been bought. Our loyal sponsors have bought suites but we have plenty of them left. This is business and you simply cannot let emotion get in the way of smart business. I also think that you have to look at this in another way - Dodge hasn't been working for free this entire time. He has turned around the program, gotten rid of some disturbing behaviour, and brought in some excellent assistant coaches to right the ship. It takes a big man to lay his ego aside and let others do the work in the "specialty" that he was brought here to carry out. His son has given up his body for the team. The players have not given up - I don't think that they have - and I don't think that they will. But he has been paid to do this, he wasn't working pro-bono. This isn't a charity or a non-profit entity - this is a business and we cannot afford to lose another customer. The team needs to win, plain and simple. The Sun Belt is having one of its worst years to date - maybe THE worst. We are currently ranked (as a conference) behind 6 FCS conferences, including the Southland. A coach should be able to win in this conference - at least half of his games. RV only scheduled one body bag game this year (and has done an outstanding job of only scheduling one "money" game for the entire Dodge tenure). All of the excuses have been used up - and I do believe that we should be able to win in this conference with our back-ups. The season is not over. Dickey was staring down the barrel of a 1-4 record when he rolled off 5 straight wins to save his job. Dodge can still do it - and I really believe that. If he does that, he will have a job. If not - its just business. Nothing personal.

When I say that Dodge is a class act - I am only referring to his comments about the school and the fans. It is a direct contradiction to our last two head coaches that went out with guns a blazing. Nothing more, nothing less. If you can find a comment that Dodge has made to the press where he spoke badly of the school, the opportunity, the fans, or of the administration - I might reconsider my stance. I have yet to see one. I really don't want hearsay - anything about a friend or some distant relative happened to know someone that Dodge wronged any comments resembling "my sister's cousin's best friend's mom heard that his uncle heard that Ferris was going to donate his eyes to Stevie Wonder type of comment" - I would like to see something in print, where he put down his school (any of the schools that he has been at) - or their fans - or the other coaches - or the players - or the administration. If you can show me an example of this, I would rethink my stance. But as far as I am concerned - he is a fine ambassador for the program, even if he can't fight his way out of a paper bag.

Excellent post

Come on man, that was 5 years ago. Dodge probably didn't even make that decision. I am sure that RV told him - we want as little to do with Dickey ball as possible, rid us of this poison. The guy did end up going to play somewhere else (I think it was West Texas State?)... Dodge had his hands full with trying to figure out how to become a college football coach, he has one bad PR move from his first month on the job - i will never count the pot smoking and "racism" stuff as a Dodge problem... those were problems that Dodge FIXED when he came to town - I think we can cut him some slack. You have no idea how out of control this program was, unfortunately we lost a life because it was so out of control. He is about to be fired and he is choosing to take the high road when talking about his employer - that is integrity bro. He is taking responsibility for what a head coach should - the W's and L's. And there was no way to tell how many kids would show up from that first recruiting class. Hindsight is definitely 20/20 but is it really neccesary to be bitter about every aspect of Dodge? Outside of the wins and losses, he is a very good man. You can say a lot of things about him - but don't try to take his good name from him.