RV Fire Watch

[greenit]

I wish Smastresk could somehow manage to go big time at AD.  Get someone with a big name with big time connections.  Someone like a Mack Brown (insert other name as appropriate) as AD.  Give him an incentive laden contract tied to MGC and ticket sales that allows him to make big time $'s if he builds this thing up.  Stop thinking small time.  Get creative.  Hire an AD like that, along with a up and coming coordinator, it should get the ball rolling.  Once the buzz starts, recruits will follow.  Once the recruits are here winning starts.  Once winning starts all boats will rise and you can start affording to pay for proven commodities at coach and not buy potential.

Do you think Mack Brown, with his connections, could pull in more money than RV?  Mack would more than pay for himself with the donations and extra notoriety it would bring.  Maybe a $500k per plus incentives?  Maybe a million per plus incentives?  I have no idea of the guaranteed money it would take to get him here, but once he is here leverage his connections and influence.

If within a couple of years we were selling out Apogee every game and talking of expansion, kids viewing UNT as a destination and not a backup, wouldn't it be worth it?  Think big and get creative.

[TheFranchise]

Dude, I love it . . .

Begins drafting an e-mail suggesting @greenit receives consideration as V. P.

[UNT90]

Bump

[EagleD]

You cant judge RV solely on FB HC hires. He has done a TON for this University, including some other good coaching hires. Sadly, I'm not sure our new Prez is aware of how pathetic the athletic dept was before RV. My 2c.

[EagleMBA]

You cant judge RV solely on FB HC hires. He has done a TON for this University, including some other good coaching hires. Sadly, I'm not sure our new Prez is aware of how pathetic the athletic dept was before RV. My 2c.

Most people I know give RV props and are grateful for many things he has accomplished. That is no reason to give him a pass on the horrendous hires on his watch. The multiple hiring failures are an indicator that he lacks judgment in the most critical area for an AD. If you're too sentimental to run him off, at least reassign him to some place in the system where the proven talents he has can be productively and fully utilized. The full scope of the job has outgrown him.

Edited November 1, 2015 by EagleMBA

[greenit]

Most people I know give RV props and are grateful for many things he has accomplished. That is no reason to give him a pass on the horrendous hires on his watch. The multiple hiring failures are an indicator that he lacks judgment in the most critical area for an AD. If you're too sentimental to run him off, at least reassign him to some place in the system where the proven talents he has can be productively and fully utilized. The full scope of the job has outgrown him.

I hear UNT-Dallas is looking to build some stuff.  UNTHSC also.

[DeepGreen]

RV would be perfect for the soon-to-be Frisco campus!

[UNT90]

I hear UNT-Dallas is looking to build some stuff. 

Bad suggestion. Dallas Lee may move all the athletic programs down there just to get them in Dallas County. 

[rcade]

You cant judge RV solely on FB HC hires. He has done a TON for this University, including some other good coaching hires. Sadly, I'm not sure our new Prez is aware of how pathetic the athletic dept was before RV. My 2c.

RV hasn't made any good hires in football or basketball in 13 years. The last was Johnny Jones in basketball, assuming he was hired in 2001 after Villarreal became AD the same year.

[GreenEggs&Ham™]

If RV is not fired, then the President must go.  Athletics and academics go hand in hand.  Not firing RV would send a message to mediocre programs like physics that the status quo is ok.

Agree with you about RV or the President must go. Accountability starts at the top and this athletic program is an embarrassment to the entire UNT community. But I have a BSP from UNT that has served me well in my career. Never thought of the UNT physics program as mediocre. That is...unless you compare UNT physics to Cal. Berkley, M.I.T. or Princeton. Then I might agree.

[physics90]

Agree with you about RV or the President must go. Accountability starts at the top and this athletic program is an embarrassment to the entire UNT community. But I have a BSP from UNT that has served me well in my career. Never thought of the UNT physics program as mediocre. That is...unless you compare UNT physics to Cal. Berkley, M.I.T. or Princeton. Then I might agree.

l compare the physics program to UT Dallas, UT Arlington, TCU, and SMU.  UNT was better that them in the late 70's.  Hurley killed us in the early 80's,  We should be better than them

[EagleMBA]

RV hasn't made any good hires in football or basketball in 13 years. The last was Johnny Jones in basketball, assuming he was hired in 2001 after Villarreal became AD the same year.

I once had a boss who told me "If you wade around in $chidt long enough, you will get some inside your shoe."

 

[CMJ]

RV hasn't made any good hires in football or basketball in 13 years. The last was Johnny Jones in basketball, assuming he was hired in 2001 after Villarreal became AD the same year.

RV was brand new to the job and did actually hire JJ.  I was at the press conference when Coach Jones was hired.  I think there were about a fifteen people there including Emmitt and myself.  RV even came over and talked to us.  I think we were the only non DRC or Athletic Department employees there.

[Side Show Joe]

I wish Smastresk could somehow manage to go big time at AD.  Get someone with a big name with big time connections.  Someone like a Mack Brown (insert other name as appropriate) as AD.  Give him an incentive laden contract tied to MGC and ticket sales that allows him to make big time $'s if he builds this thing up.  Stop thinking small time.  Get creative.  Hire an AD like that, along with a up and coming coordinator, it should get the ball rolling.  Once the buzz starts, recruits will follow.  Once the recruits are here winning starts.  Once winning starts all boats will rise and you can start affording to pay for proven commodities at coach and not buy potential.

Do you think Mack Brown, with his connections, could pull in more money than RV?  Mack would more than pay for himself with the donations and extra notoriety it would bring.  Maybe a $500k per plus incentives?  Maybe a million per plus incentives?  I have no idea of the guaranteed money it would take to get him here, but once he is here leverage his connections and influence.

If within a couple of years we were selling out Apogee every game and talking of expansion, kids viewing UNT as a destination and not a backup, wouldn't it be worth it?  Think big and get creative.

In theory this sounds great. The problem is Mack Brown was making about $5.5 million when he left Texas. There is no way we can get anywhere close to paying him that much money. If we had that kind of cash laying around we could poach a quality P5 coach. Just can't see Brown giving up his cushy seat at ESPN for what we are able to pay, but I like the way you think.

Deloss Dodds is probably a better and more affordable option. He's old as dirt, but if he came in and accomplished half of what he did at Texas, it would still be much more then any other possible AD could achive. In his prime he was earning about $630,000 a year. That's a little over twice what RV gets. In my opinion it would be money well spent.

[rcade]

RV was brand new to the job and did actually hire JJ.  I was at the press conference when Coach Jones was hired.  I think there were about a fifteen people there including Emmitt and myself.  RV even came over and talked to us.  I think we were the only non DRC or Athletic Department employees there.

Thanks for the info. A pity we couldn't keep him from those velveeta-colored devils in Baton Rouge.

[MeanGreenTexan]

You cant judge RV solely on FB HC hires. He has done a TON for this University, including some other good coaching hires. Sadly, I'm not sure our new Prez is aware of how pathetic the athletic dept was before RV. My 2c.

All of this is correct.  

BUT, would you prefer to continue moving UP?  
Or, would you prefer we just hang our hat on all of the buildings that came up on the old golf course & LCS campus, a few nice b-ball years, Dickey's SBC run & McCarney's 1 year, and the Olympic sports' success?  
Because if the threshold is where we were 15 yrs ago, then we're not going anywhere... ever.  

The bar is now higher than ever thanks in large part to RV's efforts.  Unfortunately, it appears RV has fashioned a nice noose for that bar, instead of finding a way to get over it and raise it again.

[GreenEggs&Ham™]

l compare the physics program to UT Dallas, UT Arlington, TCU, and SMU.  UNT was better that them in the late 70's.  Hurley killed us in the early 80's,  We should be better than them

Yeah..I heard back this back in the 80s.....NTSU had the top ranked optics program in the country until Hurely ran off the profs. They all ended up at Arizona and propelled them to #1 overnight. But I went to grad school at another University for physics, and I can tell you that UNT blows their program away in almost every regard.

[ColoradoEagle]

You cant judge RV solely on FB HC hires. He has done a TON for this University, including some other good coaching hires. Sadly, I'm not sure our new Prez is aware of how pathetic the athletic dept was before RV. My 2c.

[untjim1995]

Pretty simple for a lot of us. You keep RV around as the AD and allow him to help in hiring another revenue sports coach, you lose us, probably for good.

In my line of work, 5 years is considered a full business cycle. You'll see a lot of ups and downs in that timeframe, but you'll also get an idea of who knows how to manage money in both good and bad times.

The AD has had 15 years to build up a program from the ashes in 2001. And in his first 5 years, he did a pretty good job of this with football. The next 5 years were a solid improvement in basketball for the men, even as the football program began to fall apart. The last 5 years have seen the bottom fall out and now we are back to where we were in 2001 in wins and losses and in recruiting.

In 2015, we have 300k alumni in the region (guesstimate), 36k students, and thousands of faculty and employees at the university. This isn't even factoring in people who live in and around Denton. And we draw on average, right now, about 12k for a football game at a stadium that seats 30k and about 2k for a game at the Super Pit, which seats 10k. So whatever facilities have been funded and built and donors that have been cultivated in 15 years, its not bringing in fans to games. 5 years into the tenure of an AD anywhere else, that kind of attendance and the lack of winning would have gotten you fired. Here, after 15 years of it, the same guy is still in charge and looks to be getting at least another few years and hires to make. Eventually, at some point, you just cannot be surprised when the fact that only about 2% of you potential fanbase cares to attend and follow your program actually dwindles to even less than that when you watch over three revenue programs with a  combined record of 465 and 560 under your watch, including 65 and 114 in your main sport of football, of which RV has hired, extended, and eventually fired every coach he has worked with here.

[rcade]

In 2015, we have 300k alumni in the region (guesstimate), 36k students, and thousands of faculty and employees at the university. This isn't even factoring in people who live in and around Denton. And we draw on average, right now, about 12k for a football game at a stadium that seats 30k and about 2k for a game at the Super Pit, which seats 10k. So whatever facilities have been funded and built and donors that have been cultivated in 15 years, its not bringing in fans to games. 5 years into the tenure of an AD anywhere else, that kind of attendance and the lack of winning would have gotten you fired. Here, after 15 years of it, the same guy is still in charge and looks to be getting at least another few years and hires to make. Eventually, at some point, you just cannot be surprised when the fact that only about 2% of you potential fanbase cares to attend and follow your program actually dwindles to even less than that when you watch over three revenue programs with a  combined record of 465 and 560 under your watch, including 65 and 114 in your main sport of football, of which RV has hired, extended, and eventually fired every coach he has worked with here.

Well said.

The losing bothers me, but the acceptance of losing bothers me more. Upgrading our facilities should have made losing less acceptable, because millions in student fees and donations were spent on those with the expectation of better days ahead. Instead, RV asks that we accept his losing records in football and basketball because we have better facilities.

[10Eagle10]

RV was brand new to the job and did actually hire JJ.  I was at the press conference when Coach Jones was hired.  I think there were about a fifteen people there including Emmitt and myself.  RV even came over and talked to us.  I think we were the only non DRC or Athletic Department employees there.

Allow me to paint a plausible scenario, especially since JJ is RV's only decent hire on his record. 

When NT hired RV, he had been an admin in the Southern Miss AD. Isn't it possible that Louisiana native and former Memphis interim head coach, Johnny Jones name came out during that time as a possible future candidate at Southern Miss as James Green continued to hover around .500, but then Southern Miss actually made the NIT in 2001 and so James Green bought himself some more time. RV gets the job at North Texas, needs to hire a new coach, and knew that a more competent AD had been thinking about Alabama assistant, Johnny Jones. RV then hires Johnny Jones and for the next 15 years, some Mean Green fans hold the hire up as a shining beacon for ol' Rick when in actuality sneaky sneaky Ricky actually didn't even have the original idea to hire JJ. Isn't it possible? Especially when one considers all of his other major hires

[MeanGreenTexan]

Allow me to paint a plausible scenario, especially since JJ is RV's only decent hire on his record. 

When NT hired RV, he had been an admin in the Southern Miss AD. Isn't it possible that Louisiana native and former Memphis interim head coach, Johnny Jones name came out during that time as a possible future candidate at Southern Miss as James Green continued to hover around .500, but then Southern Miss actually made the NIT in 2001 and so James Green bought himself some more time. RV gets the job at North Texas, needs to hire a new coach, and knew that a more competent AD had been thinking about Alabama assistant, Johnny Jones. RV then hires Johnny Jones and for the next 15 years, some Mean Green fans hold the hire up as a shining beacon for ol' Rick when in actuality sneaky sneaky Ricky actually didn't even have the original idea to hire JJ. Isn't it possible? Especially when one considers all of his other major hires

Who cares how he did it.  He did, and he deserves credit for it.  
Just like I wouldn't care how the next AD hires the next JJ equivalent.   Just find the right guy.

Edited November 5, 2015 by MeanGreenTexan

[GRN-WHT]

Hold on.....you're telling me that RV got to make this hire??? Crap.