DallasGreen

There were many stars in the Joe Greene era at NT--- Steve Ramsey, Ron Shanklin, Willie Parker, Cedric Hardeman, Chuck Beatty, as well as Joe all made their mark in the pros as well. It was by no means a one man show. Don Meredith On MNF after seeing Shanklin, Greene , and Beatty all make plays for a stellar Pittsburgh Steelers team remarked " I'm certainly glad that when I was at SMU that we never had to play North Texas State"

Mack Brown had already told Riley that UT was not recruiting him to play QB because of his heighth ( remember the size of Vince Young @ UT ), and that he would be tried at DB. After one get together of UT verbals, I think he decided he wanted to stay on the offensive side. Also Elizabeth Dodge said the contagious excitement of the NT players that visited their home last preseason impressed Riley. After they started to play games he then probably also saw that TD needed his help. a win-win for both father and son. This is NOT unprecedented as Hayden Fry had 3 sons who all played for him at NT, and all three made major contributions to the program and have been great alums and ambassadors of UNT since.

From an April 1,2005 story in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel FAU students at that time paid $7.9 Million per year in student athletic fees. FIU student fees provided $10.1 Million to the athletic budget working out to about $300. per student. The fee at UNT is $40. per student. Get the correlation as to why we can't keep good people much less have the seed money to prime the pump by giving our coaches the opportunity to win, which will in turn open the door for donor funds. How many big time donors want to pour contributions into a 2-9? I have heard that today's figures @ FAU are more like $6.2 Million and FIU over $13 Million. I may not be brilliant, but it is obvious the "cushy" deal our students get as well as paying no admission to games. I'm not trying to pad it for the alumni as I thoroughly agree with donation surcharges going to the MGC for prime seating, etc. but the poor, non-traditional, working student card has been played far too long at this university. For students and alums alike it's time to "put up or shut up" or go back to a lower division that we are presently funding like. But it's the chicken or egg principle-- you can't get big donors w/o some progress toward winning, and you can't give coaches the oppotunity to win w/o giving them the $$$$ through the athletic budget. This athletic program can give the university the opportunity to be a window to all university programs, but right now we are only funding for a "peephole". Tell the admins you want more and that you'll dig even deeper yourself when they too show some committment.

Put a BETTER product on the field if you want more outside support. It took years for those programs to cultivate boosters that could supplement salaries, but in each case the university first showed a COMMITTMENT to D-1. What difference does it make being competitive in coaches salaries? How long do you stay at a job where those in similar situations make multiples of what you make?

SMU big time alums did "Pony Up" when they saw that SMU was serious about D-1. You can NOT have alumni donations without winning, and you can NOT win without internal funding--we have played this shell game for decades but until the admins show they are NOT just blowing smoke there will be no outside support. Ever heard of seed money? That is exactly what athletics needs from the admins YESTERDAY. Putting it entirely on the alums when you are not even provding the minimal funding that it takes to win is "dodging" the issue ( no pun intended).

I would refer you to the Strategic Plan for Athletics. You will not see any concrete numbers, and we have had some slight increases in recent years, but nowhere close to the amounts that would allow us to be competitive. The numbers on DeLoache and Jennings come from a reliable source. Our leaders talk about wanting to compete but are hesitant to put their money where their mouth is. Alums won't come forward until they see the university's committment. SMU is one example but so will be FAU,FIU, UCF, USF,etc. With winning comes outside $$, but you can't have winning w/o internal committment first unless you have a Schnelly or a Fry who can work smoke and mirrors and presently we have none of the above.

If you watched our defense at all this year, you could certainly see that speed was definately lacking!!!

People are quick to forget that Danny Meager had a much stronger arm before he sufferred a shoulder injury much less serious than Riley's early during his college career. Did not help Scott Hall either-- ask Southern Miss.

As in somewhere in a galaxy far, far away?

Very true. This kind of thing is what kept SMU in business at Ownby in the SWC days as they could not accomodate A & M and UT so those fans bought SMU season tickets in the year that they were to come to Dallas. Finally they got tired of subsidizing the metroplex privates. Sort of sad to see the empty but sold seats for the other games in Ponyland, but SMU was crying all the way to the bank, and still gives its creative "announced" attendance. Demand an athletic fee and increased athletic funding before the admins cause NT to be left in the dust of those whizzing by us in D-1, and I include the other members of the SBC in that group!!!

I just got back from Boca Raton and viewed the site of the new FAU stadium with student housing, retail space, and a beautiful new stadium with fountains out front ,etc. All Capt. K had to do was just say he wanted it, and the ball was rolling. Don't know how long it will take to complete, but it will definitely be the class of the SBC. All you naysayers on the FL schools better be ready to eat your words because unless our admins get a clue and increase athletic funding they are both going to pass us in every aspect of athletics. Of course there is no fear of a student fee down there unlike our gutless leaders. Stick the fee on the bill and let them find something cheaper, if they think they can. All you might lose is some parasite commuters who will never give back to NT anyway!!!

We are waaaay off the radar as far as athletic budgets go. I know that TCU outbid us by $40K on Clay Jennings and he still took a $60K pay cut from what he had been making @ BU. DeLoache waited a long time to committ because the only way he could afford to come was to be sure his CA pension stayed vested along with a buy out clause from UCLA.Without those two things he could not have come for what NT offerred. Not that he did not want to be here just like Jennings wanted to be here. We are just so way off the mark in what we pay they can't afford to do it. I'm not comparing to T$M or UT, I mean with other SBC schools ala FAU,etc. Probably only ULM has a lower pay scale. We should approach our administration, i. e.,Batille and Jackson as well as BOR to allocate a competitive athletic budget if we are serious about being 1-A. Right now it's just lip service. Show me the $$$$$$

WINNERS WIN NOW!!! LET SOMEONE ELSE BE ON THIS 3 OR 4 YEAR PLAN. NOTHING LESS THAN 6 OR 7 WINS IN 2008 IS ACCEPTABLE

Very good point as our OOC schedule for 2008 guarantees at best 1-3 out of the gate. We have zero chance on the road at LSU or KSU and remember when Tulsa last came to Fouts. Only Rice in Houston gives us any chance at all for a win. Meanwhile TCU opens in Ft. W with SFA!!

There was NO "shifting of home field advantage" by playing @ TX Stadium. DD chose to "forfeit" that game on Monday by starting Richard Bridges in a ludicrous attempt to punish Scott Hall. Hall would have made it a great, competitive game as he showed when he was finally let play in the second half. DD even had the 5-a offensive player of the year @ QB on the bench and wouldn't use him because he was a Matt Simon recruit, but RB was DD's pick so the fans were basically defrauded who bought tickets to that game!!

You mean the "Field of Dreams" pass that koolaide--no stadium until we get a decent athletic budget first!!!

Also 40K difference in salary offer from TCU vs NT, and he still took a $60K pay cut from his BU salary. NT wanted him to cut it $100K. We are not even remotely competitive in coaches' salaries. The admins need to decide to fund this program if they want to SEIOUSLY COMPETE IN D-1. And no unlike SMU it did not take well healed alums to make a competitive offer for a good assistant, their administration knows where they want their program to go and backs it up with a real athletic budget not just lip service. Ours even fears its' students when it comes to doing the right thing and raising the athletic fee., but has no problem surcharging alums for season tickets, even though this should have been done long ago. You still get what you pay for, if you don't think so watch June Jones NEXT YEAR @ SMU---no 3 to 5 year plan for Mustangs. Unlike NT they plan to win NOW!!

You just hit bingo---THE WHOLE UNT PROBLEM BEING HAPPY WITH 4-8 OR 5-7 WHY?

Negativity or realism? BTW how does that equate to class and how many of these 2007 butt kickings did you attend and what did you see so awe inspiring?-- we need to get serious about FB or get out. Seeing all sunshine when you look at this season is a LOSER'S perspective. We should expect much more NOW!

Take a look at our OOC schedule --three certain loses ( LSU,KSU,& Tulsa--one maybe in Rice @ Houston--remember they beat SMU which we lost to by 2 TDs). We didn't exactly waltz through the SBC either--whippings by both FL schools, Lafayette, Troy, and MTSU were all sound butt kickings. Take Off the green colored glasses--we are 4-8 at the very best while SMU will be 8-4 and in the hunt in C-USA, but we find it much easier to lose than most and tend to give a three or four year plan rather than expecting results NOW!!!

You might want to also miss it this year from what I saw in attending the 2007 game in Troy where we were totally ouplayed, outcoached, and outclassed --7 turnovers result in 7 points that came when the game was nearly over!!!!!!

Consider that you can sell stadium bonds now and use student fee and donations to retire these over a multiyear period as well as get state funding for say a kineseology dept. or sports medicine within the stadium and it can be done tommorrow. You just need the combination of stadium bonds, student fee increase, state funding for educational facilities in the stadium, and donations. It's not rocket science--bonds will still be outstanding on Texas Stadium long after it's torn down. We just need admins with the guts to implement all these initiatives and dirt can turn NOW not waiting 15 years for naming rights or the infamous big time donor on the white horse to ride to our rescue.

Best and truest quote ever seen from a student on this board. Kudos to you sir!!

Don't be so naive to think that county $$ are not there. The Barnett Shale has greatly increased the tax base. It's certainly not all based on residential values, commercial is growing as well and it gets better every year. Take a look at how the smaller ISDs like Krum or Ponder are building quality new facilities and tell me that the natural gas discovery hasn't greatly increased the tax base.

Well they certainly aren't coming to Fouts anytime soon---that's why if we get the chance for a 1 for 2 do it at Jerry's World or the CB if need be.