Side Show Joe

I think it's great to have Indiana and Houston in home and gome series, but opening the new stadium with Houston is a terrible idea. I drink alot of green cool-aid, but the chances of us winning against a team that looks to be the next TCU, Boise, BYU, or Utah of college football, just don't seem good to me. I want to open the stadium with a win. Get the stadium built on time, and if we have to, schedule WKU for Sept. 3. I would think the Waters would rather us open this thing with a win. If the Houston game ends up being the opener, and they kick the crap out of us on ESPN (2, U, Classic, or the Ocho), many of you who are happy now will be calling for someones head.

I would think that Neinas will dedicate a segment of his report to our coaching situation and different scenarios. It would be interesting to see who he might recommend, and at what point he thinks a move might need to happen.

Great video. Would have liked to have seen some quick highlights cut into the footage. Maybe some big hits from last season, some great Dunber runs, some pancake blocks, great catches, and excited fans. I would have placed the "It is Saturday yet?" footage at the end of the video. I can't wait till September, even though it means I have to go back to work.

Not scared to play an FCS school. There just isn't an up side to it. If we beat them, like we should, no one will care, and it won't count toward bowl eligibility. If by some crazy circumstance we were to lose, everyone would report it. I can't see us scheduling an FCS team when there are FBS teams out there like Eastern Michigan, and Tulane with Sept. 3rd still open.

What about Canales' old line coach from South Florida? I would think the guy knows how to coach blocking for Chico's offense. The guy was a successful O line coach in the Big East. Lets not sell ourselves short. I'm not sold on Bryant being our best option just yet. I hope the people doing the hiring stop, take a deep breath, and make sure they have really covered all their bases before settling on this guy.

I understand the man had to do what is best for his family. I don't know if he left for job security or for the money. At this point it doesn't matter. The timing of all of this is terrible. I have no interest in viewing this as an opportunity to advance a possible up and coming coach. After finally replacing all of those high school assistants over the past few years, I don't want to add a guy with no experience as an O line coach at the FBS level. Why can't we go hire Canales' old O line coach from South Florida? Didn't someone post that he is at a FCS school. Can we not offer him more money then that school? I know UNT needs to make a quick decision with 2 a days about to start, but lets try to make a smart decision. Also, although I can't blame Leftwich for leaving, I wouldn't want him back here at North Texas. Has he burned this bridge?

I agree. We need to play an FBS school. Here are my top 3 choices: Eastern Michigan- Battle of the Eagles (EMU is worse then us) Tulane- King of the Green (always a bad team) Or we can see about moving our Western Kentucky game to the start of the season, and play an ooc game later in the schedule.

This is a sad day for North Texas. We didn't lose our O line coach to a BCS conference school, we lost him to another mid-major, not because he wasn't happy here, but because we couldn't match their offer. Until this terrible fact changes we can not consistently compete in FBS football. So we can forget about moving up the food chain. I can't see us finding a replacement of his caliber in time for this season. This is exactly why other schools won't take North Texas seroiusly. Someone at the Athletic Center needs to pull a rabbit out of their hat.

I like the product, but I've been wanting to buy a replica jersey and they don't make them. At this point I'd like to switch to Nike or another brand that would create a decent looking jersey fans could buy. What do you guys think?

I'd love to see North Texas play at the Cowboy's stadium, but not for one of our home games. We are building a $78,000,000 stadium, and we need to play there. If OU won't play in there, then lets play a diiferent quality team that will. I'd be perfectly happy playing Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa, Georga Tech, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado State, Army, Navy, Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State, Central Florida, South Florida, Boston College, Pitt, Utah, Louisville, and others. We don't have to play the best team in the Big 12 or SEC on the road every season. Last time we played Texas, it was the first game of the season, we got the crap kicked out of us, and Kirk Hurbstreet kept talking about how Texas would have had a tougher game if they would have just scrimaged their scout team. Watching that game on ABC did feel like an "opportunity" we needed. Not good marketing.

Bosie got in to the MWC. That is a success. Gonzaga is an entirely different type pf school. Do they even play football? If we didn't play football and our whole focus was basketball, we never would have needed to leave the Missouri Valley Conference. I need a better example. My point is we only draw 18,500 a game because we haven't been good, and we play in the Sun Belt. Even if we play well and win, playing in the Sun Belt will always hold back our ability to develop our fan base. I believe the long term success of North Texas athletics depends on our moving to a better conference. If we can't get in a better conference, it won't matter how many new athletic facilities we build. The better recruits will still go to the better conferences, our fans will still not show up in the numbers they should, and we will continue to envy the funding of other athletic programs, while trying to do more with less. If we are still in the Sun Belt in 20 years, they will still be calling us that school with lots of potential. I don't want that.

A new conference needs to be the reason he hired Chuck. For the last ten years we've had a hard time developing a fan base and marketing this program in the Sun Belt. I don't see a plan where Neinas can change that. North Texas is always described as a school with great potential. As long as we stay in the Belt we will keep that dubious title. This needs to end with North Texas moving to a better conference. Anything less, I see as failure.

I think Neinas is a great hire. I saw a profile on him about a year ago on Real Sports. It was about his consulting firm and its influence on the college football landscape. The major point was that he knows everyone, and he is able to bring parties together. I see this leading to a few possible outcomes. The most likely is when he is done he tells us, we need to increase attendance, increase athletics funding, and increase our national presence. This would be bad, because we already know these things. Second, he can talk C-USA into adding us be convincing them we are moving in the right direction and the conference will be better in the long run with UNT in it. Third, and my favorite scenario, Neinas convinces the C-USA west teams, and Memphis that breaking away and starting a new conference with North Texas and MTSU is more profitable then staying in C-USA. North Texas, Houston, SMU, Rice, UTEP, Tulsa, Tulane, Memphis, and Middle Tennessee. This conference would feature several competitive teams, and only large media markets. Dallas, Houston, El Paso, Memphis, Nashville, Tulsa, and New Orleans would be the media markets for this conference.

I wear North Texas shirts all the time. My wife says that's all I wear. I tell her we need all the exposure we can get. People ask if I am a student, or if I play for the team, but I never get negative comments. I work down in Fort Worth, out by TCU, and many of those students give me dirty looks for wearing UNT shirts at and around their campus. I live in Argyle and when I'm in Denton I see more and more people wearing Mean Green shirts. Many more then I did just 2 years ago, and serveral more then 5-7 years ago.

Texas, Penn State, BYU, Temple, Georgia Tech, and Bama.

Benny Hill is awesome! I'd love to have his theme song as our intro music. I think we'd become a favorite on Sportscenter.

Harry, Thank you for creating one of my favorite sites on the net.

I agree. The old uniforms were classic. I've never seen a better looking uniform. Maybe someone can talk RV into letting the team wear them for a few games. If we win and the fans have a positive response then we can stick with them.

Leach is a great coach, but he is also comes off as a real jerk on T.V. I just don't like him. Under a worst case scenario (6-6 or worse) where we had to hire a new coach, this would be my top 5, and why: 1. Mark Mangino- .510 winning percentage- took a bottom feeder of the Big 12 and made them respectable. Not as annoying as Leach. Mangino also knows how to recruit Texas, and would bring lots of free publicity to North Texas. On the downside- scandal, but maybe we could get him cheap. 2. Jim Leavitt- .625 winning percentage- built South Florida from nothing into a Big East power. A proven winner at the highest level. Maybe reunite him and coach Canales. Leavitt would also bring publicity to our school. On the downside- same as Mangino. *3. Jerry Kill- .642 winning percentage- has built winners everywhere he has been and kept them winning at a high level (by season 4 every team he has coached has won 9 games a season or better for every season while he was their coach). Inherited a 2-10 Northern Ill team and turned them into a 6-7 team in his first season, and 7-6 in his second. In his coaching carrier, Kill has never had a losing season after recording a winning season with a team. Makes $344,773 a season, so he should be in our price range. My favorite of the lesser known coaches. On the downside- can't find a downside. 4. Pat Hill- .642 winning percentage- solid coach with a history of winning. On the downside- Hasn't had Fresno as an elite non-AQ power in about a decade, and make almost $1,000,000 a season. 5. Dave Clawson- .541 winning percentage- Like Kill, Clawson has won everywhere he has coached. On the downside- hasn't won for as long or as much as other coaches on this list.

If we are using superstition as our basis for selecting our helmets then we need to go back to the original flying worm helmets that we wore when Hayden Fry was the coach. Wearing those helmets and uniforms under Fry we were 40-23, with wins over Tennessee, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati, Louisville, Houston, SMU, Southern Miss, UTEP, and San Diego State. During those years we also had some really close loses to Texas by 3, and Florida State by 1. In 1977 North Texas went 10-1. If we could win like that I say lets bring back the entire uniform.

I'd rather have white helmets with the original flying worm. I never liked the green helmets.

I hope UNT does something different. Our athletics department should focus on marketing in areas other then Denton. When the people of Denton see other communities getting excited about North Texas, they will too. DFW, Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Chicago, New York, and LA; lets market nationally. We are the largest public university in the center of the United States, in the fifth largest media market. Lets become a household name.

Serving beer would have helped to cope with most of the scores the last few years. After many of those games I needed a drink.

The article talked about North Texas being able to build rivalries in the Sun Belt. After a decade in the Belt, I don't see it happening. If it ever does, it could take 20 or 30 years, because the average UNT fan doesn't care about the other teams in the Belt. Dismissing the WAC and trying to label it a bad option for North Texas will not change that.

I called and asked about that too. They have a link to TCU, SMU, UTA, and most of the Big 12 south, but not UNT. I was told that they had cut backs and the UNT guy had to go. The guy I spoke with said they would still cover big UNT events when they came up. At the time I was looking for results for the Sun Belt track and field conference tournement, which UNT was hosting. When I told him this his response was "oh". I don't know if it would be any better if we were in the WAC, but I really doubt it could be worse. Everyone who has 3 minutes during the week should call the sports department and explain how we feel about being left out of their paper.