McCarney’s candid remarks about the situation at UNT

[Cerebus]

Dodge had one big season of recruiting because of his name...Dickey, because of upward momentum. Mac had a nice stadium, but so do most schools.

Dodge AND Dickey out recruited Mac in a worse conference, in Fouts. Dickey did his best recruiting before the AC was even built.

Dickey was able to pull in 10+ DaMN 100s while Mac has been able to pull in one? How is that acceptable? Does Mac have a harder job selling than Dickey did?

[emmitt01]

I am HIGHLY entertained by the comments in this thread. So quick to throw rose petals at the man's feet when he said (in more words) "this is the hardest job in America". That EXACT quote (and a few black jerseys) got a man who actually had conference titles under his belt proclaimed public enemy #1. Mac believes in running the football and strong defense to win games...where have we seen that before? He complains that it's tough to bring talent to North Texas...where have we heard that before (from a man who recruited, not inherited, NT HOF'ers)?

We get what we deserve around here it seems.

[MeanGreenTexan]

I am HIGHLY entertained by the comments in this thread. So quick to throw rose petals at the man's feet when he said (in more words) "this is the hardest job in America". That EXACT quote (and a few black jerseys) got a man who actually had conference titles under his belt proclaimed public enemy #1. Mac believes in running the football and strong defense to win games...where have we seen that before? He complains that it's tough to bring talent to North Texas...where have we heard that before (from a man who recruited, not inherited, NT HOF'ers)?

We get what we deserve around here it seems.

Fire McCarney? Bring Dickey back? What are you saying?

Is it not a tough job? Dickey certainly was right (especially when he coached here).

[Quoner]

Some of y'all are in denial. You expect a coach to come in and immediately turn around this program. I don't think some of y'all perceive how NT is, well, perceived, across Texas, much less around the nation. Few years ago, I wore a Mean Green jersey to the Houston Galleria, and had a guy stop me because he was stunned we still played football.

It's an uphill fight...I think we're winning. It's just a long process. For every comment I get negative to NT, I get a "Hey, go mean green" too.

Dodge had one big season of recruiting because of his name...Dickey, because of upward momentum. Mac had a nice stadium, but so do most schools.

Well crap. Our plan to blanket Mexico and take back the fan base from UT has clearly failed if we can't get Houston Galleria name recognition.

[Ben Gooding]

90 is right, it's the timing of all this. Every signing day Mac tells us he is happy with who they were able to bring into the program, now he is saying otherwise. Someone said this earlier and I agree with it, screw Texas recruiting. Go jump into other states for guys consistently. Most Texas guys come here fully understanding what has gone on here in terms of the last 10 years. Go get a ton of out of state players that are clueless to the situation and bring them in and try to build a winning mindset with people that haven't seen, heard, or even directly told that North Texas is people's last resort or that it's a losing athletic program. Change the mindset and everything changes. Right now, I am not sure what the mindset is. It sure as shit isn't winning.

Oh and Ryan, we have a coach that is 6 weeks away from going into his 5th offseason. That isn't "right away."

Edited October 14, 2014 by Ben Gooding

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Dan McCarney made what I thought was a pretty telling comment about the situation at North Texas earlier today. I mentioned it in my press conference notes, but this deserves its own post and its own discussion because I think McCarney really provides some good insight here

This isnt the easiest place in the world to recruit to. This isnt the easiest place in the world when you have a track record and a lot of years of losing. Just because you put up some cement and some bigger stands, that doesnt make it easy."

Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/10/mccarneys-candid-remarks-about-the-situation-at-unt.html/

I posted last week that there could be a point at which McCarney just says, "F*ck it. I gave it my best; but, this place and these people are impossible. I can make almost as much scratch as a DL coach at a bigger place and get much less crap for my effort."

I called long and loud for an experienced coach, and we got one. And, he led us to a bowl game. And, yet...

...the better recruits didn't seem to notice

...the city and county of Denton didn't seem to notice

...the perpetually apathetic alumni didn't seem to notice.

You can't say the man hasn't busted his ass for this place. He has. He's busted his ass more so, I'd stake, than Dickey and Dodge combined.

At some point, the closing years of his career staring him in the face, Dan McCarney will have to gauge whether this place is worth the long term effort...because, that seems to be what it will take here.

[TheColonyEagle]

Is it not a tough job?

It's not NEARLY as tough as the job Dickey had.

It's the easiest it's EVER been here.

Easier than Florida? No

Easier than UAB, ULM, ULaLa, Ark St, TX State, etc? Absolutely.

[Censored by Laurie]

I posted last week that there could be a point at which McCarney just says, "F*ck it. I gave it my best; but, this place and these people are impossible. I can make almost as much scratch as a DL coach at a bigger place and get much less crap for my effort."

I called long and loud for an experienced coach, and we got one. And, he led us to a bowl game. And, yet...

...the better recruits didn't seem to notice

...the city and county of Denton didn't seem to notice

...the perpetually apathetic alumni didn't seem to notice.

You can't say the man hasn't busted his ass for this place. He has. He's busted his ass more so, I'd stake, than Dickey and Dodge combined.

At some point, the closing years of his career staring him in the face, Dan McCarney will have to gauge whether this place is worth the long term effort...because, that seems to be what it will take here.

I can't believe I'm saying this about a TFLF post...but...this is one of the most astute posts I've read in some time.

[TheTastyGreek]

At some point, the closing years of his career staring him in the face, Dan McCarney will have to gauge whether this place is worth the long term effort...because, that seems to be what it will take here.

If he decides to go out like the Chief, I just hope Mac fluffs Benford's pillow for him before escaping.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

UAB, I'd wager, is the toughest FBS football job in North America and the Western Hemisphere.

Texas State...2nd. You've got no chance to keep the players' attention with all of that bikini mess along the rafting thingy right in front of the school!

"Welcome to San Marcos, son. Grab a locker and try to find your playbook. F*ck it. Just show up at practice every once in a while, okay? And, if you're not going to wrap that rascal, mix in a little penicillin for the cause."

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Heh. Fourth girl from the left didn't get the flip-flop memo.

San Marcos Wal-Mart has got to make a mint in flip-flop and styrofoam cooler sales. Not to speak of koozie sales.

[Travis]

I am torn about all of this. Because, I agree with most points of contention.

If there is frustration from the athletic department about support from the area, it is on them because support comes with trends. Not some flash in the pan-one hit season wonder type thing. There needs to be a regular building momentum that has a little staying power. We haven't had that and the university needs to look at itself for that.

However, it is hard to recruit well when that foundation isn't already there.

What I see though is that others have been able to do it. So, why not us?!

What I also see is that we could model other schools like TCU and BSU by having a well balanced schedule playing patsies and slowly riding to higher teams AT HOME more often instead of seeing the program as a cash-cow. I feel like we are merely going to stack our own cards to work against us. I hope we work with intentionally here on out to slowly and steadily get this thing going on track. It really is funny that we had an 8 win season and party like its 1999. And now that i live in Boise, they refer to last season as a dark year. You know, when they won 8 games in the regular season.

This is probably one point of a million to bring in as the problem. But, our athletic department can control only what they can control. and this seems like one of them.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Travis

[southsideguy]

Tt sounds like the fans have given up. Yes, I am frustrated on how this seasons has gone.

Coach Mac is right in what he is saying. Look at the 3rd and 4th string QB's on the power houses. They could be starting at UNT, UTSA, USM ....etc etc. This is true in all positions. Look at what Trice did after leaving Oklahoma and enrolling at UNT. Why do these kids want to sit on the bench at big schools when they could be playing somewhere else? It is mystery to me and I would rather play then sit on a bench.

We lost a lot of key people last year and next year we lose the offense line.

I still have faith in Coach Mac and think brighter days are ahead for us. I will be at the game Saturday cheering for the Mean Green. If we lose saturday we need to find out what players want to play for us next year.

You guys a like rats leaving a the ship!

Look at the UTSA board and they handling their season better than we are. So everyone take one step back from the edge of the building.

Edited October 14, 2014 by southsideguy

[gradumacated]

I think McCarney's remarks are closer to the mark then not. I think part of the issue is player development, and that's at the feet of the coordinators. I think we see both Skladeny and Canales gone in the off season - Skladeny because he's retiring and Canales because he can't recruit or develop a QB (with Thompson he was lucky and had Dunbar/Byrd to lean on) and his playcalling is pathetic. I'm not surprised that meangreensports.com ran a column about how "difficult" it is to call an offensive game plan.

Having Mac as headcoach is better than not having him, but our coordinators need to be and do better, and I just don't think it's the case.

If recruits/coaches/schools won't even talk to you, I can't see how you can blame Mac for saying recruiting is hard in Texas. Vito has perpetually said for as long as I can remember how it's astounding that UNT doesn't have a pipeline to the Denton ISD schools, especially when they're as successful as a program like Guyer has been recently.

Mac's comments disappointed me, but only because the truth hurts. I hope in the offseason that begins to change, hopefully with coordinator changes.

[Mean_Green09]

You guys a like rats leaving a the ship!

Look at the UTSA board and they handling their season better than we are. So everyone take one step back from the edge of the building.

They aren't getting blown out by average teams. They have beaten teams that will win another game this year. Coker will most likely out recruit Mac.

[justintime43]

Ugly football... u mean old school power football? This helps with the lack of talent not the otherway around... spread attacks reveal the lack of speed and speeds up the game putting our often times less talented defense on the field more...

[justintime43]

I think last years recruiting class will shine after a couple of years.. and if we can hold on to cody wheeler from allen that would be huge for our o line he is a monster and plays center.. could easily play any position on the line and looks bigger then the tackles we have now.

[SilverEagle]

I posted last week that there could be a point at which McCarney just says, "F*ck it. I gave it my best; but, this place and these people are impossible. I can make almost as much scratch as a DL coach at a bigger place and get much less crap for my effort."

I called long and loud for an experienced coach, and we got one. And, he led us to a bowl game. And, yet...

...the better recruits didn't seem to notice

...the city and county of Denton didn't seem to notice

...the perpetually apathetic alumni didn't seem to notice.

You can't say the man hasn't busted his ass for this place. He has. He's busted his ass more so, I'd stake, than Dickey and Dodge combined.

At some point, the closing years of his career staring him in the face, Dan McCarney will have to gauge whether this place is worth the long term effort...because, that seems to be what it will take here.

I've been saying that for over a year. In fact, on more than one occasion when utubes of Mac giving the fans and alumni a good pep talk appeared on this board I said "this is great BUT HE CAN'T DO THIS BY HIMSELF. PROMOTIONS ARE NOT HIS JOB!"

There needs to be promotions going on by anyone and everyone that has to do with North Texas athletics and game day at North Texas.

What the hell does the Talons do besides man/woman the cannon?

What other spirit organizations are there besides the Talons? We used to have the Green Jackets. Where did they go?

Does the Green Brigade participate in any sort of promotional event besides showing up to the game.....and treating the game as a lab for later competition?

How many times have any of the promotions people and spirit organizations shown up at various events in Denton and Denton county. Or any of the local communities and their events.

[JesseMartin]

Heh. Fourth girl from the left didn't get the flip-flop memo.

San Marcos Wal-Mart has got to make a mint in flip-flop and styrofoam cooler sales. Not to speak of koozie sales.

Why would you be looking at their footwear?!

[Censored by Laurie]

Why would you be looking at their footwear?!

I think Green P1 can answer that

[Green P1]

I'm having a hard time finding something inaccurate in what McCarney said.

Speaking accurately is a terrible idea for Mac. It's a terrible job for most anyone involved with North Texas Athletics. I was under the assumption that RV forbade it.

[Green P1]

I think Green P1 can answer that

I really wish I could.

[JesseMartin]

I think Green P1 can answer that

I should have thought of that before. That being the case, I have some porn...er, New Balance catalogs here somewhere to sate the beast....

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Why would you be looking at their footwear?!

Any chance Rex Ryan ever ends up at Texas State, given the propensity of the females estudiantes to eschew full foot coverings? Rexy like him some soft feet.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Ugly football... u mean old school power football? This helps with the lack of talent not the otherway around... spread attacks reveal the lack of speed and speeds up the game putting our often times less talented defense on the field more...

Yes. That's true. But, the fandom here...some of it...want "exciting" football, yes, even to the detriment of winning football.

I give Dan credit for sticking Dajon in there to see what would happen. The blow out at Indiana? Not surprising. Kevin Wilson, former Big Ten OC, back in the Big Ten after a stint at OU...you knew his 2014 team would be better than his initial 2011 group.

UAB? This is a whole different story. They have been just flat out awful. They just changed coaches for the second time in what, three/four seasons? And, yet, they whipped us like Adrian Peterson in a pecan tree grove.

That ain't right.

Now, Southern Miss is worse than a bad case of asian persuasion. If they give us the Peterson Pecan Grove treatment, I fear a Jonestown scenario in way of donor check writing.

One: Something's got to give.

Two: Something's got to give.

Three: Something's got to give

Now: Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the flooooooor!