If You Were the Head Coach, Who Would be Your Starting UNT QB?

Mean Green 93-98 · April 20, 2015

Just for funsies and out of curiosity.

Mean Green 93-98 · April 20, 2015

Personally, I picked Demarcus Smith. More out of wishful thinking than anything else. Because if he is able to come in and beat out all those other candidates in just a few weeks of fall camp, that will hold more promise for the 2015 season than just about anything else that could realistically happen.

MeanGreenTexan · April 20, 2015

If you're asking me, RIGHT NOW, I have to go with McNulty, and that's not good.

If you're asking me what I'm hoping for, it's that Mr. Smith can play. If so, he's my starter.

Hunter Green · April 20, 2015

I would start McNulty and make Smith and Williams prove themselves. Once they do, stand back and let them make plays. Something McNulty can't do.

TIgreen01 · April 20, 2015

I haven't seen Smith, in person, yet....so I can't pick him. So I'm going with DW. On talent it's not even close. I didn't really even think it was close in game action this past Saturday, either. He went against the 1's and consistently made plays, moved the chains and didn't turn it over. He definitely doesn't have the pocket feel that McNulty has, but McNulty is so bad on the run that I think I'd just rather take a sack (what DW tends to do) than risk a bad throw.

greenjoe · April 20, 2015

I was thinking Scott Davis.

UNT90 · April 20, 2015

Don't like any of the options, but give me DW, as he gives you the best chance to win.

He also may give you the best chance to lose.

Ben Gooding · April 20, 2015

Going strictly off JUCO film and my desire to win right now this year I went with D. Smith. Dude can make the throws, extend plays with his feet, decent accuracy and above average arm strength.

Also, we better not get fed BS by Mac about him not knowing the playbook come fall in Mac's attempt to protect AM. This offense is very, very simplistic. For that matter, for all the slack that DW catches he seemed to know the playbook very well on Saturday. 0 confusion took place from my vantage point.

Harry · April 20, 2015

Smith was Charlie Strong's 1st commitment as head coach at Louisville. More info on Smith for those who are interested:

http://www.cardchronicle.com/2010/7/20/1578866/damarcus-smith-might-be-very-very

GMG24 · April 20, 2015

Maybe Soso Jamabo will commit to UNT when he gets out of Jail in 2 years, he'd be a convicted felon though are those allowed on campus?

untjim1995 · April 20, 2015

It doesn't matter--McNulty is Mac's guy, so he will start. End of story. It sucks, but there's nothing we can do about it. Yeah, Dajon is probably the best QB on the team, but he doesn't have Mac's trust--at all. With coaches like McCarney, once trust is broken, its almost impossible to get it back together. That old-school thought process is just very different from today's laid-back, more hip coaches. For example, I doubt very seriously that Andrew McNulty would start over Dajon Williams in Lubbock for Kliff Kingsbury or at SMU with Chad Morris. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, either, as I think Kingsbury is in waaaayyyy over his head at tech and Morris will find out that SMU is just a cemetary for coaches to go and try to lead that program back up. But to old school coaches like McCarney, George O'Leary, Dennis Franchione, or Larry Coker, they aren't letting the leash get to far ahead of the dog...Unfortunately, of all those listed, Mac's offense is like Dickey's was--pretty much as boring as hell to watch and only effective with a strong defense and a strong running game. For those two coaches, the best QB you can get is a solid busdriver. Hall was that for Dickey, while Derek Thompson morphed into that in his senior year for McCarney. Other than that, giving Andrew Smith some sway since he passed away before we truly could see his skill set on the field as an upper classman, our best QBs here since we moved up to FBS in 1995 were Vizza, who got the $hit beat out of him becasue of a porous line and terrible gameplan, and Woody WIlson, who got all of about one game to show off his skills as a great freelance QB and beat SMU only to get yanked by Dickey for too much freelance in his mundane offense that managed to win a whopping 5 games after Hall graduated. Everyone else has basically gone from meh to suck in the last 20 years here.

adman · April 20, 2015

Also, we better not get fed BS by Mac about him not knowing the playbook come fall in Mac's attempt to protect AM. This offense is very, very simplistic. For that matter, for all the slack that DW catches he seemed to know the playbook very well on Saturday. 0 confusion took place from my vantage point.

Firstly, I think you mean "flack" - One "catches flack" and then asks to be "cut some slack", but I digress.

Protecting AM is nonsense. And I don't think it's so much about knowing the playbook as it is the other things that DW seemingly has failed to do. You can't let a kid dictate what he will or will not do no matter if he is the second coming of Tom Brady. You do that and you quickly risk anarchy within your team. As an example there was a game last season in which DW refused to wear a headset during the second half and send in signals. Refused. I can't imagine any coach rewarding that kind of behavior no matter how good a player is.

When coaches talk about maturity etc it's things such as the above that I think they are talking about. And until DW buys in completely Id wager his role is limited.

Edited April 20, 2015 by adman

meangreendork · April 20, 2015

Right now, Little Mac is my choice. In September, it'll probably be Smith or Williams. But Williams will have to grow up a lot because whatever he's doing off the field is keeping him from starting when he's clearly the superior athlete.

Edited April 20, 2015 by meangreendork

GrandGreen · April 20, 2015

It doesn't matter--McNulty is Mac's guy, so he will start. End of story. It sucks, but there's nothing we can do about it. Yeah, Dajon is probably the best QB on the team, but he doesn't have Mac's trust--at all. With coaches like McCarney, once trust is broken, its almost impossible to get it back together. That old-school thought process is just very different from today's laid-back, more hip coaches. For example, I doubt very seriously that Andrew McNulty would start over Dajon Williams in Lubbock for Kliff Kingsbury or at SMU with Chad Morris. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, either, as I think Kingsbury is in waaaayyyy over his head at tech and Morris will find out that SMU is just a cemetary for coaches to go and try to lead that program back up. But to old school coaches like McCarney, George O'Leary, Dennis Franchione, or Larry Coker, they aren't letting the leash get to far ahead of the dog...Unfortunately, of all those listed, Mac's offense is like Dickey's was--pretty much as boring as hell to watch and only effective with a strong defense and a strong running game. For those two coaches, the best QB you can get is a solid busdriver. Hall was that for Dickey, while Derek Thompson morphed into that in his senior year for McCarney. Other than that, giving Andrew Smith some sway since he passed away before we truly could see his skill set on the field as an upper classman, our best QBs here since we moved up to FBS in 1995 were Vizza, who got the $hit beat out of him becasue of a porous line and terrible gameplan, and Woody WIlson, who got all of about one game to show off his skills as a great freelance QB and beat SMU only to get yanked by Dickey for too much freelance in his mundane offense that managed to win a whopping 5 games after Hall graduated. Everyone else has basically gone from meh to suck in the last 20 years here.

If all this is true, why did both Greer and Williams start before McNulty last year? McCarney hates turnovers and free lancers, but I expect he hates losing a lot more. It seemed to me, that when Williams did start last year, that the offense was a lot difference than with Greer and McNulty. That indicates to me, McCarney is tailoring the offense around the team he has, more than just running a plain vanilla game plan.

GOMG2013 · April 20, 2015

dajon needs to mature. plain and simple. he has the talent, but not enough talent to overlook nonsense and immaturity.

TIgreen01 · April 20, 2015

That's the beauty of Armchair Quarterbacking---we don't deal with any of the issues that the coaching staff does and just watch the product on the field. Ignorance is bliss. Give me DW, all day.

Green P1 · April 20, 2015

I'd probably just name my old pal from Iowa's kid the starter. That's probably the best way to handle it.

MeanGreenTexan · April 20, 2015

Going strictly off JUCO film and my desire to win right now this year I went with D. Smith. Dude can make the throws, extend plays with his feet, decent accuracy and above average arm strength.
Also, we better not get fed BS by Mac about him not knowing the playbook come fall in Mac's attempt to protect AM. This offense is very, very simplistic. For that matter, for all the slack that DW catches he seemed to know the playbook very well on Saturday. 0 confusion took place from my vantage point.

I think we can all hope that DW matures, both on & off the field. But, when you look at his track record, the dude straight dominates when the defensive talent he's up against is inferior, or he's in practice.

When he gets on the field against another C-USA team (let alone Iowa or Tennessee), he can't seem to make good decisions with the ball. He's a turnover machine both via interceptions and fumbles. I've seen enough of him to know he's not the answer we're so desperately wanting him to be. He's going to be trying to out-athlete everyone else on the field (which he's likely been able to get away with his whole life), but it doesn't fly when the other team is on his level. The only times we've ever seen DW look good is at practice, garbage time against 2nd/3rd stringers, or FCS/Idaho. Think about it.

McNulty is the guy who has the experience & mental tools (although it takes him a while to sit in the pocket & use them), but his arm strength/accuracy leave alot to be desired. He's going to be driving a bus, plain & simple. Sometimes our defense/STs are going to be able to help him. Otherwise, we can't lean on him to win any games for us.

I was hoping Greer was going to be Thompson 2.0. A bus driver still, but a better one than McNulty. That just isn't in the cards for him.

Just gotta hope Smith is a player who has both the physical AND mental tools to make plays while protecting the ball.

TIgreen01 · April 20, 2015

I think we can all hope that DW matures, both on & off the field. But, when you look at his track record, the dude straight dominates when the defensive talent he's up against is inferior, or he's in practice.
When he gets on the field against another C-USA team (let alone Iowa or Tennessee), he can't seem to make good decisions with the ball. He's a turnover machine both via interceptions and fumbles. I've seen enough of him to know he's not the answer we're so desperately wanting him to be. He's going to be trying to out-athlete everyone else on the field (which he's likely been able to get away with his whole life), but it doesn't fly when the other team is on his level. The only times we've ever seen DW look good is at practice, garbage time against 2nd/3rd stringers, or FCS/Idaho. Think about it.

McNulty is the guy who has the experience & mental tools (although it takes him a while to sit in the pocket & use them), but his arm strength/accuracy leave alot to be desired. He's going to be driving a bus, plain & simple. Sometimes our defense/STs are going to be able to help him. Otherwise, we can't lean on him to win any games for us.

I was hoping Greer was going to be Thompson 2.0. A bus driver still, but a better one than McNulty. That just isn't in the cards for him.

Just gotta hope Smith is a player who has both the physical AND mental tools to make plays while protecting the ball.

We've seen him look terrible in one game (UAB), right? Am I missing another?

Mean Green 93-98 · April 20, 2015

We've seen him look terrible in one game (UAB), right? Am I missing another?

I don't think "terrible" would be the word, but he wasn't great against Indiana. Mediocre, maybe. He did throw 3 TDs, though, the last 2 in garbage time.

untjim1995 · April 20, 2015

If all this is true, why did both Greer and Williams start before McNulty last year? McCarney hates turnovers and free lancers, but I expect he hates losing a lot more. It seemed to me, that when Williams did start last year, that the offense was a lot difference than with Greer and McNulty. That indicates to me, McCarney is tailoring the offense around the team he has, more than just running a plain vanilla game plan.

He started both of them because he thought they could win games. When they proved they couldn't, he went back to what QB he knew would run the bus the way he wanted. He gave Greer 3 games. He then gave Dajon 3 games, which included Nicholls State. Both went 1 and 2. After that, McNulty started every game and went 2-4, beating both F-Us. He definitely wants to win, so he uses the QB that is the best on the roster to run his offense. Its just very telling that Andrew McNulty is your best QB option at an FBS university in the state of Texas and that your offense has an almost negative appeal to any decent QB prospect in the area you recruit.

I agree completely on gameplans, but it was as clear as day that Coach Mac was never comfortable with the offense that Dajon had in place, so he went back tot he more conservative gameplan, but went with Minimac instead, since it was obvious to everyone that Greer cannot play FBS football.

MeanGreenTexan · April 20, 2015

We've seen him look terrible in one game (UAB), right? Am I missing another?

Indiana.

Cr1028 · April 20, 2015

Adman, if I had put my heart into leading my teammates to victory and then let them down because of my mistakes, I would probably refuse to send in signals as well. Football is an emotional game and you should have a clear head if you are sending in the signals and I doubt very seriously Williams had a clear head after getting benched for his terrible play that game.

adman · April 20, 2015

Adman, if I had put my heart into leading my teammates to victory and then let them down because of my mistakes, I would probably refuse to send in signals as well. Football is an emotional game and you should have a clear head if you are sending in the signals and I doubt very seriously Williams had a clear head after getting benched for his terrible play that game.

So you're saying you'd quit. Im glad you aren't out there.

You are right though, football is emotional (like all sports) and it takes maturity to keep those emotions in check in order to help your team win.

Edited April 20, 2015 by adman

Cr1028 · April 20, 2015

We have plenty of people to send in signals. There is no need for Mac to require a pissed off player to send in signals that may not even be sent in properly because that player is pissed off. It is just asking for problems. Let him go cool off, regroup, and then come give signals. You must not deal with hot-tempered or emotional people much.