Green Dozer

Shaft, Unless your guy gets the Utah St. gig, he is available. Bet I know where you would like for him to be the new head coach at?

And was fired by the Packers......these pro coaches, and I know he was at A&M before, for the most part don't seem to find success at the college level (Pete Carroll is an exception, Johnson & Switzer won Super Bowls, could argue Switzer's but a ring is ring). Callahan coached in a Super Bowl before taking over at Nebraska. I just do not see A&M getting enough of the great recruits to build much of a threat to OU and TX given the level those two programs are at right now. Trend and history seems to say coaches moving to different levels find the going tough. I will say, the Ags are showing great patience. (Anybody know of any other examples of coaches moving up or down, and having their setbacks? Hmmm.....D-O-D-G-E)

Hey Bone, Did not mean for this post turn into saying Dodge is failing at something else. Just pointing out how another program w/ similar resources is doing something out of a norm. I have never understood, with some top high school programs within 50 miles of our campus, why we do not have a huge walk-on program. Our admission standards are less stringent that TCU or SMU, so we have advantage there. Plus, a good player could walk on here and perhaps get some playing time as a freshman or sophomore. All of our coaches both past and present could improve in this area. Nebraska did good with walk ons for a number of years before Callahan all but shut it down. It has just never caught on here for one reason or another.

Is there a record of the # of logos a school has or has had? Agree, the one on the far left of your bar.

Your right 99, I have heard the same thing. But the only ones who get the limited amounts are the people, and I am sure their friends, in the athletic department. You should see what some of them wear to the coaches show. Nice stuff that we as fans cannot get our hands on.

And a brain at that......got into Rice. Nay, we could not have used him as it would not have helped our play on the field, and he probably could not keep up with the academic rigors of North Texas.

I have your back Quoner. This is a great story, and hats off to Mendoza and everybody at Nimitz and Cedar Hill. Did not miss a game or practice, sounds like a lot of players could pick up this kids habits. T.O. in NY this week promoting his book comes to mind.

Wrong. Dodge went to the ESPY's this year, courtesy of UA, not UNT. Guess who he went with? Mike Leach. Coaches with "kickback" don;t get to do that. We don't get that much stuff from them. They put him under contract because they viewed him as hot coaching commodity with a bright future, so they signed him early. Just like Nike picks up athletes sometimes before they are on the radar. He may well get the kickback, but UA is here because of him, plain and simple.

Tid bit from ESPN The Magazine, Ball St. has a junior ALL-MAC defensive end named Brandon Crawford. He is 32 years old, graduated from high school in 1996, worked three years in an automotive factory, and then spent four years in the Marines. Of course, Ball St. is the 16th ranked D in the nation, allowing only 15.4 ppg. Unfortunately, that is all details the story gives, no background as how he ended up at Ball St. I just thought it as a good example of how smaller programs have to sometimes do things out of the box to get a leg up. Would do good for our coaches to call up these programs and just ask some questions. I know we play them next year I think, but I bet we could still get some good ideas. Bet Crawford is not the only interesting story on their team.

It is disappointing that we cannot get the same team wear as the athletic department does. At most other schools, you can buy most of the sideline wear. FFR has shed light on the reasons behind this many times. I know he tried to get us access to the UA jerseys, but to no avail.

Is Graham Harrell's dad still the coach at Ennis?

Well, you are the only one I know reporting projects are getting financed and happening again. Many projects are just having to start, as part of the financial arrangements they made before this crisis and to keep the note from being called. I am in the construction equipment business, and all my Caterpillar dealer friends report very sluggish sales, yes, even now in Texas. My sales are off 60% from January. Finally, I just do not see where this alumni comes up with even half of their part, sorry. Anyway, lets leave it at that and thanks for the reply.

Would have been hard to play with robots at the pit. Anyway, the idea was to set an example what the pit should be like for opponents to play in. In its time, the snake pit was a loud, colorful place with great atmosphere. Hard for some to believe, but a mini Cameron.

I would think things like needing meeting admission requirements, enough credits to transfer, getting housing for next semester at this time of the year, money if they don't get a scholarship, grades, etc. all factor in. I do not attribute it all to "dumb recruiting". Why would the coaches not want them here if at all possible?

NT80, Please do not take this as an attack, but you keep alluding to this meeting where the BOR will sign off on the stadium. So, they want to do it, but the economy will put this project off for the foreseeable future. Dallas Green said that Dr. B has stated nothing will happen until the alumni commit to the other $30 million. A big project in downtown Denton was put on hold because Wells Fargo would not commit, and they were a partners on this project with Trammel Crow and the City of Denton. Jerry Jones having trouble getting a loan for $350 million in costs overrun at the new stadium. The auto industry is evidently going to be rescued and record foreclosures in our area. The bond market may have improved, but the door is just barely cracked. I just do not see how you think the athletic department is going to come up with the money to get this project off the ground. And corporate sponsors in the near future, forget it. NASCAR, the sport that depends the most on corporate sponsorship, has said no to testing next year on NASCAR tracks, which will save teams 4 million dollars a years. This is a big deal for that sport. The main reason was many teams are having trouble securing sponsorships for next year. And now, I believe, the alumni are going to use the quality of the product on the field as reason to hold back as well as their retirement accounts dwindling. Tell me why you still think we will have a stadium in 2011 or 2012. Thanks!

I would love to have a fluke season around here. I remember us playing Boise here at Fouts. Wow, isn't it amazing how some programs that we have seen here have gone and what has happened to ours.

Well, at least she has been consistent in her message. This was what she has stated, even before the vote. I do not believe it has anything to do with a controlling faculty. Denton, like all cities, is facing the same problems as other cities in meeting the delivery of city services. Unfortunately, Denton does not have the tax base like Arlington, and we are not going to bring near the dollars, major events (multiple college games, Final Four, Super Bowl, NBA All Star Game, Cotton Bowl, etc.) like Jerry World. The argument of Denton not supporting this stadium, and Arlington doing so is an unreasonable argument. Fouts, even in its hay day, has not exactly had a major impact on tourism on game days. Many on this board chose to ignore Dr. B's statements, instead saying we would attract a corporate donor, funding with bonds, etc. would be no big deal. One poster said all that was needed to begin construction was the "yes" vote for the athletic fee, that was it. Read today in the Dallas Morning News that the Cowboy Stadium has had an overrun in construction costs, which is not unusual in a big project like that, but Jerry Jones is really scrambling to find a loan in the amount of $350 million. Understandable given what has been going in the financial markets. Seems nobody is immune, and UNT won't be either.

If this guy is the ref, then Dodge will just have to go.

I don't have a clue why he left, I don't keep up with cow pool unless a Tiger is prowling in the pasture. Just had to have something to put with the pic.

Guess the team was not playing at a high enough level for the former golf coach so he packed his cart for greener greens.

Shaft, I understand you could go their and have a beer with your favorite wrestler after his matches.

Shaft, You told me you were the "wrestling heal" of this board. I think we may have to settle the "Dodge Debate" in a cage match. If I win Dodge stays, if you win, he goes. No time limit, there must be a winner.

Shaft, Sunbelt don't you want better? I know that is where we play, but come on, we should be with our university, its age, and location in a better conference plain and simple. The Sun Belt is the bottom of the food chain in college football. Since most of the Belt seems to have caught us, it will take a miracle to pull off 4 championships in a row. Again, yes more resources for Dodge, but costs have increased substantially in just the past couple of years (travel, clothes, food, supplies, etc) and not to mention the other low revenue or non revenue sports teams that still have to travel. You think Southwest is charging the team the same to fly as it did in 2004 or heck, even in 2006 when Dickey was here? And by the way, the promise of the stadium is just that, a promise. There are some challenges to overcome before dirt flies, so we still have a toilet bowl to play in. And until some other changes are made before we bring in the next Bob Stoops of college football as you want, that is the only bowl we will be playing in. And by the way, one full year of recruiting is not a fair measure to any coach as to his usefulness and popularity. I just cannot believe that you cannot understand that blue chippers, all district players, even just guys who fly under the radar and are walk ons at the big programs (who would like the playing time) are not beating down the door to play here, and the reason has not been just who happens to have the head coaching title. It is all part, as I believe Adler has called it, a part of the "bigger problem". So you bring in another coach, you still cannot afford any real experienced, solid assistants. Sorry, but Deloach is the exception. Most, that could make an immediate impact, can do better elsewhere. You and I have no knowledge of it being Dodge's stipulation to bring his assistants if he came here. Maybe there just is not enough salary money to spread around. We have had some great ones come through here, Flannigan comes to mind, and also that receiver (i think it was Kelvin Martin) who liked nose candy from the Cowboys. See, Dickey didn't have a bunch of preachers on his team and staff either! Yea, that is the sign of a program that pays coaches enough so they want to come here and grow their career. I want better than the Sun Belt, I do not like the argument that the other programs in the conference is our bar. It can and should be higher, the alumni should not stand for it, and should take as much pride as is taken at plenty of other schools. Compared to other programs at schools our size in this state (Rice, UH, TCU, UTEP, etc), we are a poorly funded football program and so is the rest of our athletic program. The third largest school in the second largest state in the US and the Sun Belt is the bar? Please! If you want to stay where we are, get maybe a championship every 7 years if we are lucky, then you are rooting for the right team in the right conference. Getting rid of Dodge is just going to lead to most of the same success we enjoyed since Fry. Oh boy!

I liked your joke, no harm . All great points, I agree with you. Thanks!

1855, Just one more thing. When the other programs were being developed, they were unproven as well. But the alumnae and adm at those schools pulled together. This university had a real good chance to turn the corner with this program with Fry. He did the best he could why he was here, and left because there was no real commitment from either the university nor the alumni. When he left, they did not go out and get the next Hayden Fry as Silver pointed out in another post. The alumni must not have cared, because they did not exactly rise up and tell the administration that decision and a few others they made would not stand. Yes, the university leads, but the alumni have got to make their voice known, and be loud about it.