Green Dozer

Well, it does seem they did not play that bad against Arkansas, and sure could have used him. Yes, lots of signs for a need in improvement, but we were not blown out. Wouldn't you hate to be Dennis tomorrow after Jones has had the plane/bus ride as well as tonight to stew on it? 6AM runs at the pit may get old.

P1, he would have move those big feet.

Well, they can't match Arkansas inside the 3 point line....guys can't gain 4 o4 5 inches in height in 15 or 20 minutes. JJ has them playing hard.

Read these, just for the fun of speculation: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/sha...s_to_denve.html http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/ar...-bob-stoop.html

90 and Green Machine, You are right, people aren't just going to show up and give money. But then again, how do you stay in touch with people who do not even care to update their contact info when they move over the years. People at other schools get jobs, new cars, and can't wait to get a Univ. of Whatever EX on the back windshield without any solicitation. I get stuff from UNT throughout the year pretty often. They have had campaigns for season tix including the family packages, etc. I do expect people to take some responsibility. I agree with you and Green Machine that communication could be a whole lot better. The athletic department's website is not very reliable either. There is room for improvement everywhere.

Every time Stoops gets the urge to coach in the NFL, Spurrier will remind him what a great time he had in Washington.

What #'s do you have to back this up? RV was an associate AD at Southern Miss and TCU before coming here. He also worked at LSU as a coach. As for being a district manager at Domino's, he owned the franchises. A MAJOR finance bust? RV has had a million dollar donor just like Dickey, and donations actually increased when Dodge was hired. Dickey found one donor, and we had to pimp ourselves to him. RV got us a pretty good basketball coach in Johnny Jones, our soccer has program has done well, we have a new womens' basketball coach, Mean Green Village, and quite a few other upgrades. Our womens' softball program is competitive. And as for as I am concerned, we would not have got to this point with the new stadium without him. Was he as visible for the student vote as many would have liked, probably not. However, there is always room for improvement in everything. RV has done more for UNT athletics than anybody before him, period. As 90 and a few others have said, if you don't aspire to be better, then you won't. And I agree with them, we should aspire to be better. However, there is the fact that this alumnae, for the most part, just don't give a damn about donating to the athletic program. Ask FFR about the telethon calls to the alumnae. Lunches before the season at various locations in the metroplex became a joke. 70000 alumnae and less than 20 show up. So, 69,980 of them were busy? Check out a similar lunch for the UT Exes or the Sooners Club in DFW. You need to quit pointing the finger at RV, and the head football coaches, and turn your ire toward your buddies that you attended UNT with and who don't come here for games nor donate money, or support their school in any way. That sir, is the problem.

JJ does not seem settled on a line up, ran several different ones this afternoon. We were right in it, and then it is just like a plug fell out, and the energy just drained. Good crowd who was really into it today.

90, Good thoughts. However, give FFR a call about how the last telethon type thing went. And how about asking them to just support the program in general. The stadium will not solve all of our challenges in making us competitive like a Div. 1 school in Texas should be.

What else can Dr. B and RV do? They can't hold guns to the alumnae. Dr. B is at most of the UNT athletic events, they got the stadium coming, coaches were changed, the Mean Green Athletic Village was built, etc. Not many programs where you can call the athletic director and actually get a call back. It is RV's job to promote UNT athletics, not the President's. Could he do better? Certainly, but at this point if we are to make any real progress, it up to the alumni who are not supporting this program to step up and do so. Dr.'s Pohl and B, as well as Rick, have done more to enhance UNT athletics than any of their predecessors. Again, I hear you, and understand. If this apathetic alumnae base truly wants better, then they need so show it with their faces at games and money from their pocket book.

Jamie Dixon is the name of the Univ of Pitt basketball coach, and who is a TCU graduate. Little Green Man is just stirring up trouble.

How about providing a link to the board you found this on? I just find this a little hard to believe. When I Googled "NewTCUFan", it brought me to your post here at GMG. HUM.

Lifer, I guess I would lump the discipline problems with academic issues. A Div. 1 coach cannot run practice, game plan, recruit, spring practice, camp, fall training, off season and properly counsel the guys on off field issues, somebody to help with the transition from high school to college (all the temptations, I think this might have prevented a Rucker problem), just teaching living skills a lot of these guys might lack. That is a long way to answer the question, i guess we have not had "further academic issues" as you are defining them. But HELL YES, I am excited to see us sign a big guy.

And we do not have the academic support staff like we should in place to see that he stays eligible, I mean somebody to stay after him. If we did, the would not continue to have the academic problems we seem to have. Why do we waste a spot?

Buford, they only need to look back to 2006 and our game against UTA. Small crowd then.

Green Mean, I respectively agree and disagree. Yes, we need a competitive coach that can win. Other schools, ones in our own conference, South Florida, UCF had no program and the alumnae stepped up. They are doing so at Georgia Southern, UAB and other places where there is no tradition. My point is I believe we have somehow got to get those 70,000 alumnae in DFW alone to take ownership. One man cannot do it. A significant raise or salary is not up to the university, it is up to the athletic department to raise the money from us to pay these coaches.

Yep, you are right. And think what Wed's crowd will be against Middle Tn.

Does anybody know if the Mean Green room will be open tonight at the UTA game? Got some friends coming, and thought I would treat them to some cheap eats. Checked the athletic website, but it did not have any info. Thanks!

Gray Eagle, What if we had not fired Blakely and also had hired Brashear? Or had a chrystal ball concerning Snyder? Blakely sure made for some fun times at the pit, and a UNT basketball game was an event.

Good points about the crowd. I was kind of ticked when I saw we play Middle Tenn and UTA over the break, yet played some less meaningful games when the students were here. But then, I put it in perspective that we as fans do our part by showing up on a consistent basis, Bill Foy might schedule the Cameron's over the break. Just a a thought.

More awesome would be at least the bottom of the stands filled with fans from both teams. TV is cool, but getting fans to the games is better.

I think it is really cool when any of our teams are on tv. However, it is a home game for us and UTA fans don't have very far to drive. Isn't the name of the game butts in the seats and revenue? Or do we make more with it being on tv?

Tech has good attendance. As for ULL, I think it is the great conference they are affiliated with that kept them out of this one.

Wonder if Tuberville did not want the spread, but the powers that be did. Anyway, Malzahn leaving Tulsa for Auburn: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3796147

I think it is good to think big. I am in sales, so I have to stay positive, especially in today's environment. And just like any organization, the buck stops at the head guy's desk, and Dodge is that guy. But to just continue to change this position, and not take time to build a program is just taking a few steps forward, and then backing up several at a time. Lifer has made some good points concerning this, and he has been around this program long enough for that opinion to have a lot of credibility. You know, the drug thing and as Quoner has pointed out, the other police type problems did not develop overnight. I cannot help but think that the drug problem cost us at least one win, maybe two because I can only imagine what a big distraction it was, and the players knew about it long before we did. That said, would you rather have these problems addressed at the beginning of rebuilding the program or in the middle of a bowl run? I am of the opinion the sooner the better. Because these types of traditions on teams keep going as well, unfortunately. I admire Dodge for taking a stand. The coach who is the most responsible is the coach that overlooks it and does nothing. Other things for a coach to be successful here, today, are not in place. The strength coach is the most recent example. When Jimmy Johnson took over the Cowboys, they were training in Thousand Oaks, Calif. and most players did not darken the doorway at Valley Ranch during the off season. He instigated mandatory mini camps (i know that is not possible at the college level), and they went to 100 degree heat of Austin to train. We know the results then, and what they are now. They were not only the most talented, but the best conditioned. The triplets missed very few games over their careers due to nagging injuries. Many seem surprised we did not have a dedicated strength coach. We have the facility, just not somebody popping the whip. If it is a Dodge homey, as somebody said it might be, I do not care as long as we get one and have successful results. It can Mrs. Dodge for all I care. We also need a stronger academic support team for our athletes to keep these guys successful in the classroom. There have been just to many players losing eligibility to say what we are doing is the best we can do. I would also argue that we need a stronger counseling/mentoring staff to help these kids transition from high school to college, help them see some of the challenges they may face, and how to make responsible decisions. Other programs have it, not just the big boys. The coaches cannot game plan, recruit, and baby sit in today's environment. I know some of you took 20 hours and worked 80 hours at the local coal mine while here, but there are some who need some support and motivation. And, after reading Silver's post, we have got to get the graduates of the 80's and 90's back on campus to support the program. For the most part, they overlooked athletics while they were here because of lack of importance the administration during that time placed on it. It will take a new stadium, a lot of success, and a change in conference affiliation for that to happen. Four Sun Belt Conference championships did not get them back as was and is needed. I think and know things could be a lot better. I do not like to lose! But these are just a few of the bullets for the big gun our coach needs to have a success here at UNT. As 90 says, we need to think big. But we need to also take care of the little details so we can do so. *Fact to Ponder- 13 NFL teams have played in the Super Bowl this decade. Of the men who coached those teams, only two had been at the helm less than 5 years. Sometimes, patience does pay.