MGB: Sounds like Smith is going to get his shot

[MDH]

If he wins 2+ games RV will present him with a 10 year contract.

[SilverEagle]

This.

The willingness to accept mediocrity... Strike that... FAILURE by this fan base never ceases to amaze me.

Its ok to like yourself, people.

Rob, you may be right. But I certainly hope that we don't send away the only medic in this battlefield who knew where the tourniquet needed to be applied, but was constantly ordered to go deal with someone's hangnail for the last seven years or so. 

90, that's an interesting comment. Because it was the exact first (and ongoing) message  that Hayden Fry delivered to this University's students, alumni, and staff, shortly after he was hired and had a few weeks to assess the situation. Only he added "because this is a great University" to the statement.

I certainly hope that both of you are not advocating that we just throw as much money as possible at the problem and think that that alone will solve the problem.

The problem all along for this athletic program, and with a few exceptions (Hayden Fry and Corkey Nelson) is that someone(s) in the administration or the BOR who knows nothing about hiring the right kind of coach for this University has always somehow been in charge of trying to figure out who should be next.

As I've pointed out many times before, the person responsible for hiring Hayden Fry (Jitter Nolan) was run out of town shortly after Hayden Fry moved on. And I don't know who in the administration finally woke up and decided to give Corkey Nelson a chance (he applied for the job when Bob Tyler was hired), but I bet they either came to the decision by accident or moved on themselves.......all the while hoping that Corkey Nelson didn't curse their name a few years down the line for giving him his wish..

We need the next young Hayden Fry to be our head coach and the next young Corkey Nelson to be his DC and recruiting coordinator.

And more than that, we need the next "Jitter Nolan" to be in charge of the process. 

 

 

If he wins 2+ games RV will present him with a 10 year contract.

If there is any common sense left in our administration, he won't be making the final decision.

[UNT90]

If RV doesn't make the final decision, why is he the AD?

Are we just paying him because he is so darn nice?

Hey, I'm nice (really, ask people who actually know me). Can I have a 300k plus job where I have no accountability? Please? 

[Greendylan]

If RV doesn't make the final decision, why is he the AD?

Are we just paying him because he is so darn nice?

Hey, I'm nice (really, ask people who actually know me). Can I have a 300k plus job where I have no accountability? Please? 

Yes, I know of 17 people who would love to offer you a lifetime contract.

[GOMG2013]

Should the team respond positively under Canales, should he be given the opportunity to interview and be a serious candidate?

no.  He is interviewing for his next OC job somewhere else.  If we fluke up and have some success it will be due to Demarcus smith being a better QB and wilson running the ball.  (If some reason we do start wunning) We still can't ignore that recruiting and qb development is on chico, and a juco had to bail us out.  Only thing it would prove is that he is a better play caller than when mac was here.

[meanrob]

Rob, you may be right. But I certainly hope that we don't send away the only medic in this battlefield who knew where the tourniquet needed to be applied, but was constantly ordered to go deal with someone's hangnail for the last seven years or so. 

90, that's an interesting comment. Because it was the exact first (and ongoing) message  that Hayden Fry delivered to this University's students, alumni, and staff, shortly after he was hired and had a few weeks to assess the situation. Only he added "because this is a great University" to the statement.

I certainly hope that both of you are not advocating that we just throw as much money as possible at the problem and think that that alone will solve the problem.

The problem all along for this athletic program, and with a few exceptions (Hayden Fry and Corkey Nelson) is that someone(s) in the administration or the BOR who knows nothing about hiring the right kind of coach for this University has always somehow been in charge of trying to figure out who should be next.

As I've pointed out many times before, the person responsible for hiring Hayden Fry (Jitter Nolan) was run out of town shortly after Hayden Fry moved on. And I don't know who in the administration finally woke up and decided to give Corkey Nelson a chance (he applied for the job when Bob Tyler was hired), but I bet they either came to the decision by accident or moved on themselves.......all the while hoping that Corkey Nelson didn't curse their name a few years down the line for giving him his wish..

We need the next young Hayden Fry to be our head coach and the next young Corkey Nelson to be his DC and recruiting coordinator.

And more than that, we need the next "Jitter Nolan" to be in charge of the process. 

 

 

If there is any common sense left in our administration, he won't be making the final decision.

There should be no confusion in this process Silver. The message should be "We're bringing in a new coach and we're letting him pick his coaches." No Lock the Gate and no public remarks about wanting the job. You thank Canales for his service and he has plenty of time to find another gig. I can't speak for others but I've seen enough from him over the past however many years to know that I want the offense going in another direction. This isn't the time for sentimentality. 

And if for some reason he can't abide by that and be professional, you send him packing early and it's next coach up.

RV should have met with both the coaches and players and explained to both that yes this is a crappy situation but you have to man up and finish out the season the best you can. There's still seven games left for crying out loud. If anything, play hard for the guy next to you.  

 

 

[Cr1028]

4-3 or 5-2 warranting a coach of the year or coach of the century?  Only at North Texas I guess.

With what we've seen over the last few weeks and sitting at 0-5 with 5-1 WKU, 5-1 Marshall, 1-5 UTSA, 4-2 LaTech, 3-3 Tenn, 2-4 MTSU, and 2-4 UTEP left on the schedule.

We've lost to 1-5 SMU(by 18), 3-3 Rice(by 14), 6-0 Iowa(by 46), 3-3 SoMiss(by 35), and 4-1 Portland(by59) by a combined 246 points (49.2 per game). We have not only been beaten, we haven't even been competitive. We lost by 2 TDs in our closest game.

If he beats UTSA, MTSU, and UTEP, I'd sure appreciate it but that wouldn't enough to win any awards. However, if he were to beat 4-2 LaTech(who lost by 3 to WKU and 6 to Kansas State), 5-1 WKU, 5-1 Marshall, or the other UT? He would definitely deserve an award because the team that would've been out there under Mac would've lost by 6TDs to any one of those 4.

[SilverEagle]

There should be no confusion in this process Silver. The message should be "We're bringing in a new coach and we're letting him pick his coaches." No Lock the Gate and no public remarks about wanting the job. You thank Canales for his service and he has plenty of time to find another gig. I can't speak for others but I've seen enough from him over the past however many years to know that I want the offense going in another direction. This isn't the time for sentimentality. 

And if for some reason he can't abide by that and be professional, you send him packing early and it's next coach up.

RV should have met with both the coaches and players and explained to both that yes this is a crappy situation but you have to man up and finish out the season the best you can. There's still seven games left for crying out loud. If anything, play hard for the guy next to you.  

 

 

That's just the thing. Have you really seen him? You want him to keep his head down and just keep doing his job and not make the subsequent hiring process any more complicated/difficult. But there is a strong possibility that that's what he HAS been doing, both under Dodge and subsequently under Mac. His lobbying for the job after Dodge was fired was somewhat off-putting to a lot of people, and obviously you are one of them. And I have to admit that I wasn't too comfortable with it either. But at the same time I remembered what my mother used to tell me and my siblings, "you never get what you really want in life unless you ask for it......or in some cases demand it".  And then other times she said (and this really applies to the North Texas coaching job)..... "be careful of your hearts desire, because one day you might get it". 

Once again, this coaching situation should not be resolved by our current immediate decision maker. We should start with that re-hire first, then move on to getting our next football coaching staff. I think fresh, and more competent eyes, can sort this out much better than what's currently in place.

[VideoEagle]

I don't think the decision should be made quickly. We have time to look at a lot of candidates and still select someone right after the end of the regular season. It's too early to automatically rule out people, not if you want a pool of the best candidates. Get a nice, large pool - larger the better - see who your choices are and THEN start ruling people out. I don't think Chico is the right guy, not sure if he even wants the job, but let's see who does want the job before saying no. 

[Cr1028]

no.  He is interviewing for his next OC job somewhere else.  If we fluke up and have some success it will be due to Demarcus smith being a better QB and wilson running the ball.  (If some reason we do start wunning) We still can't ignore that recruiting and qb development is on chico, and a juco had to bail us out.  Only thing it would prove is that he is a better play caller than when mac was here.

Hugh Freeze was OC when he replaced the fired Steve Roberts at Arkansas State. Now Freeze is HC at Ole Miss.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Cr1028

[Travis]

That may be true, but these 7 games are important for both Coach Chico and our program.  We have never gone winless at North Texas.  Chico's legacy here and at future places could well be defined by this 7-game stretch.   I for one am pulling for him to be successful.  As fans we will again get to see the real Chico offense and that should be fun.

Me too Harry. I want him to do well. hopefully this whole thing can have these players playing inspired football.  Hopefully Chico will get the best out of them.

[greenminer]

No

I don't get some of you guys. The athletic program is probably at its lowest point in terms of competitiveness in its history and some of you want to put a band-aid on a bleeding open wound. 

I don't get this logic either, though I agree with some of the sentiment that has since been posted.  If we applied this guilty-by-association logic to everything, then we'd need to get rid of everyone from our trainers to major donors.

The coach is here to win.  That is his role in the scheme of this machine...this, bleeding open wound.  You're telling me, if this team goes 7-0, you don't think he should even be considered? Not at all?

We might have a guy who is cushy with his job and needs to ousted, or we might have a guy that has stuck through it all because he 1) wants this job really bad, and 2) sees exactly what screws up have been made and just needs the authority to fix them.  

There are a handful of posters here much more in-the-know than I who are convinced we will not even have to cross this bridge.  So, it seems, Canales supporters will just have to suck it up and move on.  It just seems illogical to not consider him at all.

[meanrob]

Hugh Freeze was OC when he replaced the fired Steve Roberts at Arkansas State. Now Freeze is HC at Ole Miss.

Check the stats of Freeze's offenses against ours. Not even close. Freeze had been a HC previously as well. 

And if you want to speculate Canales wasn't the true OC go ahead, but that is pure speculation. 

I don't get this logic either, though I agree with some of the sentiment that has since been posted.  If we applied this guilty-by-association logic to everything, then we'd need to get rid of everyone from our trainers to major donors.

The coach is here to win.  That is his role in the scheme of this machine...this, bleeding open wound.  You're telling me, if this team goes 7-0, you don't think he should even be considered? Not at all?

We might have a guy who is cushy with his job and needs to ousted, or we might have a guy that has stuck through it all because he 1) wants this job really bad, and 2) sees exactly what screws up have been made and just needs the authority to fix them.  

There are a handful of posters here much more in-the-know than I who are convinced we will not even have to cross this bridge.  So, it seems, Canales supporters will just have to suck it up and move on.  It just seems illogical to not consider him at all.

I'm telling you if I'm in charge I'm not wasting my time waiting on the incredibly ridiculous idea that he goes 7-0 and I'm out there looking for our next coach. 

Edited October 12, 2015 by meanrob

[Aldo]

I think my first question is: who will be calling the plays on Thursday? Will it be Canales, or will it be someone else? Will it be out of Canales' playbook/system? If it fails, who am I supposed to blame then? Canales, or the interim OC? Was the interim OC's hands tied?

Sorry I am getting ahead of myself.

[MGNation92]

Hell if I were Chico, I'd have Smith throw the ball 60 times on Thursday. We know what we have in the running backs and WKU is probably gonna hang 60 on us. Why not sling it from the gun(AKA what Smith is best at) and see what happens? Maybe he throws 5 picks and is abysmal. Maybe we pull the upset behind his arm. Never know until you try.

[meanrob]

I think this team wins 4 games with Chico at the helm. 

The defense is not nearly as bad as they've been, and neither is the offense. Quite frankly, the offense has a ton of playmakers and I think Smith will invigorate them.

Tee, Smiley, Harris, Wilson, DaMarcus...I like the talent. Chico is a HUNH spread guy (remember Dodge brought him in to run his insane HS offense) and I think that will help the offense to actually run a wild spread offense.

I think Mac had lost the players, and they simply didn't care. I think the McNulty debacle  made the players quit. Why would the defense give any effort knowing that the offense was going to go 3 and out? It didn't even matter what they did, McNulty couldn't get it in the end zone. Their play was irrelevant. 

If we immediately scored versus PSU that would've been a different game.

Mac is an awesome guy and someone who can build the solid foundation of a house, but uses cheap material to construct it in the middle of tornado alley. Essentially, when things work, Mac is a winner and can coach a winner. But he can't handle the adversity and it showed. Not to mention I also think that North Texas is the hardest place in FBS to recruit to. Moving back to Houston opened my eyes to how we are perceived no differently than SFA across the state. Half of our student body and alumni holds outright disdain for the athletic department and to a point the university. And I can understand why, tbh.

Mac built a team that by all means is 6-6 quality and I think will win a few games with new blood and an offense not from 1980 behind the wheel.

I'm a Mac apologist and I don't care.

That being said, Mac needed to go and so do others.

All I'm saying is that if you think fixing this problem is as easy as firing Rick and throwing money down on the table, it's way more difficult than that. If we fire Rick, who hired him? Lee Jackson, who by all accounts doesn't want us to compete with SMU? 

It's a culture problem. It's a university problem. It's an administration problem from the top to the bottom.

Because personally, I think Smatresk is the best thing to ever happen to this university. That's exactly why I can't see him here in a year.

Our BOR is perpetually holding us back, and have created a multifaceted complex issue. Firing Rick is cutting the head off the hydra, just to have more pop up in its place.

I'm cynical, worn down and tired of the dysfunction that goes on at an administrative level above the AD. At this point, I think North Texas will always be NTSU. Excited about 20,000 in attendance, a 6-6 record and being a "sleeping giant" in athletics and academics.

My apologies for the rant. I'm just almost done with this university. I WORKED for the AD and have never received any Alumni Association or MGC correspondence. Never even gotten a call. The only person pushing me to buy season tickets was my old boss. All I read across the Internet is us being the usual "lol pUNT" and listening to our own students call us a commuter second choice school. I could've gone to any public school in this state but I did the research that wasn't BS online lists and discovered UNT has the ONLY accredited journalism program in the nation because they don't advertise their strengths. I've seen UNT refuse to go after Tier One while Arlington High passes us up. I've seen UNT commit felonies in the administrative funding office with the scandal. I've seen UNT become WORSE THAN TROY IN SPORTS. UNT doesn't even submit documents to USNews so that we can get the well deserved Top 200 ranking.

If my university doesn't care about me or itself, why should I them?

If anyone important is reading this, send me a correspondence that shows you give a flying F about the 5 years I spent at your university working and being a student at. Show me you care about the weekends and obscene amounts of money I've spent watching us embarrass ourselves against UH, UT and SMU.

Give me some correspondence other than an overzealous brown noser. Official. Please. I'm just really. Tired.

Apologies for the weird random rambling. Needed to vent.

 

Great post except we differ on the quality of this team. I think it's 3-9 at best. No QB (at least no proven QB), bad secondary, and many other problems. How much of it was coaching? I don't know but stacked up against previous UNT teams, this roster doesn't fare well. I'm hoping we play with a lot of heart the rest of the season but from what I've seen we don't have near talent to be 6-6. Not it this year's CUSA. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

No, I think we will win 4 games now. I mean the talent is 6-6 quality.

VS who?   UTEP/UTSA obviously (even though what we've seen so far says "no")...  who are the other 2 wins?

[EagleMBA]

Yes, I know of 17 people who would love to offer you put out a lifetime contract.

Fixed it.

[Cerebus]

I think WKU will be a toss-up. 

Seek.  Help.

[MeanGreenTexan]

I think UTEP, UTSA, LTech and I think WKU will be a toss-up. The reason I think that is because Smith has motivation and WKU will have nothing to game plan against. If we get waxed at home by WKU I still think this is a 6-6 quality team that faceplanted over the McNulty thing. I played sports, and  if my coach wasn't giving my team the best opportunity to win, I can't say I wouldn't have quit either.

Louisiana Tech: 

WKU:

[EagleMBA]

Me too Harry. I want him to do well. hopefully this whole thing can have these players playing inspired football.  Hopefully Chico will get the best out of them.

I wish Chico the best, Travis, but I am reminded of what a CEO I worked with for years told me whenever I used the "H-word"; "Hope? Hope? Hope is for church!"

[greenit]

I think UTEP, UTSA, LTech and I think WKU will be a toss-up. The reason I think that is because Smith has motivation and WKU will have nothing to game plan against. If we get waxed at home by WKU I still think this is a 6-6 quality team that faceplanted over the McNulty thing. I played sports, and  if my coach wasn't giving my team the best opportunity to win, I can't say I wouldn't have quit either.

Would you like to play football for UNT? 

I think UTEP, UTSA, LTech and I think WKU will be a toss-up. The reason I think that is because Smith has motivation and WKU will have nothing to game plan against. If we get waxed at home by WKU I still think this is a 6-6 quality team that faceplanted over the McNulty thing. I played sports, and  if my coach wasn't giving my team the best opportunity to win, I can't say I wouldn't have quit either.

Would you like to play football for UNT? 

[UNTLifer]

No

I don't get some of you g program is probably at its lowest point in terms of competitiveness in its history and some of you want to put a band-aid on a bleeding open wound. 

I was just throwing out a question.  I am not for or against him, but I was only curious about other's thought.  It is amazing how some of youu jump to conclusions based on one hypothetical question.

[GRN-WHT]

Essentially, when things work, Mac is a winner and can coach a winner.

 

78-117. Mac isn't a winner.

[mgfan]

Vito with some good write ups lately. Giving opinions that may not sit well with the athletic office, asking real questions, seems like a different vito..... #Whereistherealvito

Edited October 13, 2015 by mgfan