Surprise, surprise - this thread is about RV

[Tyler Maryak]

Following the loss to Portland State, I started hoping we would completely clean house, practically from the GAs to the AD (ok, especially the AD).  Outside of the 0-5 start, I had heard countless anecdotes related to the state of the Athletic Department under Rick Villareal's leadership.  My wife worked in that department for two years and took a significant pay cut to escape it.  My younger sister still interns there.  Basically, my reasons for wanting Rick V. gone boiled down to five points.

1.  He disrespected Coach Mac by firing him in front of the players.  
2.  He can't pick coaches.
2.b.  His scheduling is terrible.
3.  He can't fund raise at the level UNT should be fundraising.
4.  His ties to other schools diminishes his loyalty to UNT.
5.  He is just a plain ol' bad person whose personality permeates the department he leads.

However, after talking to my wife about it, I altered my perspective.  As much as she hated working for UNT's Athletic Department and as terrible of a leader as she saw RV to be, she did not agree with me that he should lose his job.  EDIT:  I STILL VERY MUCH WANT RICK V. GONE, AND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  JUST MAYBE, HE DOESN'T DESERVE AS MUCH FLAK AS WE'VE GIVEN HIM OR WITH THE VERACITY WITH WHICH WE HAVE DONE SO.

1.  We've already learned that this story was altered quite a bit.  Although it may not have been handled as well as it could have been, it certainly wasn't Hitler-esque evil.
2.  (I'll ignore how great all our other sports are doing and just talk about the big 3.)  Basketball may be a different story, but I know that when Coach Mac came in, I was more than happy to give him a shot.  And he did exactly what he said he would (or so it seemed).  Mac built up the program (apparently) and by Year 3 we had our first bowl game victory in over a decade.  I think very few people foresaw the falloff that followed.  I can understand criticizing an AD that gambles on a coach or picks poor coaches, but I'm feeling more and more like my criticisms stemmed more from being mad that RV wasn't a wizard who could predict that Mac wouldn't pan out after HoD.  Which leads us to...
2.b.  I'm looking at our schedule and trying to ignore the six straight Ls.  Season opener against SMU.  A game at Iowa and SoMiss followed by a homecoming against an FCS team before facing WKU at home.  Going away to Marshall before playing UTSA at home on Halloween.  On and on...I just imagine this schedule for our 2013 team.  And believe me, I know they are a different team.  But if we believed that Mac would continue to build our program, this schedule would be stellar.  Maybe pull an upset at Iowa, ride that into a victory at SoMiss, blow out Portland at home and ride that into a big W against WKU, which carries over to Marshall which carries over to UTSA (let's face it, our closest thing to a rival) on Halloween, which was HUGE in 2013.  If our program had kept growing, we would easily be 6-0 with two straight wins against SMU.  Who predicted that SMU, SoMiss, and LaTech would turn things around in two years since we wiped the floor with them in 2013?  If things had played out differently, I could very well be praising RV for this awesome schedule that highlights our awesome and growing team.
3.  I still think this one is true.  At this point, we need to grow more than I think he is capable of cultivating.  But I fear that, were he fired, the 17 (all we have right now) would be gone and it would be a painful journey to get back to where we are now.
4.  There's no beating around the bush on this one - I just felt that way because I was mad.  As an Eagle Ambassador, I got tons of opportunities to see RV speak and meet him across various venues.  When the guy speaks, he can get little kids excited about eating vegetables.  If that is what his spirit looks like when his passion is diluted, I can't imagine what he must be like at 100%.  Bottom line, I don't think he is disloyal to UNT in any way, even if his loyalties to other schools shine through from time to time.
5.  This one I still kind of believed.  I have no idea how the Athletic Department could be so dysfunctional without stemming from him.  My wife had a good point though - it is possible to be a terrible leader and not a bad guy.  She laughed when I showed her his email responses to our calls for him to be fired because she said that definitely came from his secretary.  Emails from him are filled with typos and grammar errors and omissions.  But she knows this because he would personally send emails around the holidays and special occasions to wish everyone a good time and tell little anecdotes.  Stuff a swell guy would do.  Bottom line, he may be an idiot, but he could very well be a lovable idiot.

Not saying this to say I've changed my position and he should keep his job.  Actually, I really wish he would step down and let us move on.   I think, if he had done that, we might not lose the 17 and we could continue grow.  I just had a big change in perspective and thought I might give others (who are willing to sift through all my ramblings) the opportunity to do so.  It is easy to criticize him, given the circumstances.  But if the situation went the other way, I know I wouldn't be calling for his head.  So even though I wish he would step down, I'm reminding myself that he's just a guy.  I'm probably no smarter than him and if I were in his place I'd probably be fighting for my job too.  Maybe, just maybe, he is not concentrated evil. 

Edited October 22, 2015 by Tyler Maryak

[Christopher Walker]

I'm actually surprised that Katie came to that determination, especially for the hell I know she and you were put through. Kudos to her.

One point that I see differently: The 17 should know that whoever is the next AD will suck up to them as much if not more so than RV. We shouldn't lose them at all in this.

[UNT90]

So, RV is a terrible leader and bad at his job, but we should keep him because he is a nice guy? Seriously? 

And you are 100% completely wrong about scheduling. RV scheduled 2 games this team had zero shot to win this year. All because he has failed to increase season tickets and MGC donations to a level even semi-respectable for a school our size. 

So, if you want to keep him because he's a good guy and was nice to your wife, have at it. Just realize that you are playing directly into the personal manipulation game that this AD has been so good at for so many years.

[SilverEagle]

Following the loss to Portland State, I started hoping we would completely clean house, practically from the GAs to the AD (ok, especially the AD).  Outside of the 0-5 start, I had heard countless anecdotes related to the state of the Athletic Department under Rick Villareal's leadership.  My wife worked in that department for two years and took a significant pay cut to escape it.  My younger sister still interns there.  Basically, my reasons for wanting Rick V. gone boiled down to five points.
1.  He disrespected Coach Mac by firing him in front of the players.  
2.  He can't pick coaches.
2.b.  His scheduling is terrible.
3.  He can't fund raise at the level UNT should be fundraising.
4.  His ties to other schools diminishes his loyalty to UNT.
5.  He is just a plain ol' bad person whose personality permeates the department he leads.

4.  There's no beating around the bush on this one - I just felt that way because I was mad.  As an Eagle Ambassador, I got tons of opportunities to see RV speak and meet him across various venues.  When the guy speaks, he can get little kids excited about eating vegetables.  If that is what his spirit looks like when his passion is diluted, I can't imagine what he must be like at 100%.  Bottom line, I don't think he is disloyal to UNT in any way, even if his loyalties to other schools shine through from time to time.
 

 

You're kidding right? I've heard him speak on several occasions and he is one of the most uninspiring speakers I've ever heard. In fact, every time he gave a speech/talk I always thought he sounded exactly like this character that John Lovitz created......

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-segment---pathological-liar/n11037

 

Edited October 21, 2015 by SilverEagle

[Silent Eagle]

I'm actually surprised that Katie came to that determination, especially for the hell I know she and you were put through. Kudos to her.

One point that I see differently: The 17 should know that whoever is the next AD will suck up to them as much if not more so than RV. We shouldn't lose them at all in this.

The aforementioned 17 should understand that they are pledging their hard earned coin to the Athletic Department, not the athletic director. If they're the supporters we hope them to be, they will understand that while the face, name and approach may be different (and hopefully vastly improved), their support for the athletic department will put to much better use. 

My family and I donated as much as we could to the construction of the stadium (with the request that we remain relatively anonymous), have given to the scholarship fund and will continue to do so (at a significantly less amount until I see some visible changes and a new direction). My parents (my mother is a 1967 graduate) do the same and will continue. However, this was regardless as to whom was the face of the department. 

By no means are we T. Boone Pickens-esque with our level of contributions, however, I expect someone who is responsible for fundraising to be just as gracious with the dude who gives $100 to their face as the dudes who give millions. RV does not care. I don't expect to be warmly greeted in the sanctuary of the wildly rich and watch games next to the McNatt's of the UNT world. However, a handshake and an acknowledgement of my family's contribution would be enough. We don't get as much as a half-assed fill in the blank letter. 

He is caustic. His caustic nature sets the tone for the rest of his department. If he truly believes he has given the full measure of what is required of a man in his position, that alone is grounds for termination. Garbage scheduling, a defeatist attitude in general (I think the proof is in how Mac was not disciplined for his statements regarding the difficulties in recruiting here that he is a defeatist) and inability to maintain a sense of accountability (both personal and as a leader) is enough for him to be gone. 

Just an opinion, but I believe the corner has been turned and RV has been given an ultimatum- fix this or you're gone. I think we will get a coach that fits modern football that will galvanize  the community to garner more support from the community. The pipehitters have spoken and he knows they can pony up the dough to make president act if necessary. 

Edited October 21, 2015 by Silent Eagle
coherency

[Ben Gooding]

Following the loss to Portland State, I started hoping we would completely clean house, practically from the GAs to the AD (ok, especially the AD).  Outside of the 0-5 start, I had heard countless anecdotes related to the state of the Athletic Department under Rick Villareal's leadership.  My wife worked in that department for two years and took a significant pay cut to escape it.  My younger sister still interns there.  Basically, my reasons for wanting Rick V. gone boiled down to five points.
1.  He disrespected Coach Mac by firing him in front of the players.  
2.  He can't pick coaches.
2.b.  His scheduling is terrible.
3.  He can't fund raise at the level UNT should be fundraising.
4.  His ties to other schools diminishes his loyalty to UNT.
5.  He is just a plain ol' bad person whose personality permeates the department he leads.

However, after talking to my wife about it, I altered my perspective.  As much as she hated working for UNT's Athletic Department and as terrible of a leader as she saw RV to be, she did not agree with me that he should lose his job.
1.  We've already learned that this story was altered quite a bit.  Although it may not have been handled as well as it could have been, it certainly wasn't Hitler-esque evil.
2.  (I'll ignore how great all our other sports are doing and just talk about the big 3.)  Basketball may be a different story, but I know that when Coach Mac came in, I was more than happy to give him a shot.  And he did exactly what he said he would (or so it seemed).  Mac built up the program (apparently) and by Year 3 we had our first bowl game victory in over a decade.  I think very few people foresaw the falloff that followed.  I can understand criticizing an AD that gambles on a coach or picks poor coaches, but I'm feeling more and more like my criticisms stemmed more from being mad that RV wasn't a wizard who could predict that Mac wouldn't pan out after HoD.  Which leads us to...
2.b.  I'm looking at our schedule and trying to ignore the six straight Ls.  Season opener against SMU.  A game at Iowa and SoMiss followed by a homecoming against an FCS team before facing WKU at home.  Going away to Marshall before playing UTSA at home on Halloween.  On and on...I just imagine this schedule for our 2013 team.  And believe me, I know they are a different team.  But if we believed that Mac would continue to build our program, this schedule would be stellar.  Maybe pull an upset at Iowa, ride that into a victory at SoMiss, blow out Portland at home and ride that into a big W against WKU, which carries over to Marshall which carries over to UTSA (let's face it, our closest thing to a rival) on Halloween, which was HUGE in 2013.  If our program had kept growing, we would easily be 6-0 with two straight wins against SMU.  Who predicted that SMU, SoMiss, and LaTech would turn things around in two years since we wiped the floor with them in 2013?  If things had played out differently, I could very well be praising RV for this awesome schedule that highlights our awesome and growing team.
3.  I still think this one is true.  At this point, we need to grow more than I think he is capable of cultivating.  But I fear that, were he fired, the 17 (all we have right now) would be gone and it would be a painful journey to get back to where we are now.
4.  There's no beating around the bush on this one - I just felt that way because I was mad.  As an Eagle Ambassador, I got tons of opportunities to see RV speak and meet him across various venues.  When the guy speaks, he can get little kids excited about eating vegetables.  If that is what his spirit looks like when his passion is diluted, I can't imagine what he must be like at 100%.  Bottom line, I don't think he is disloyal to UNT in any way, even if his loyalties to other schools shine through from time to time.
5.  This one I still kind of believed.  I have no idea how the Athletic Department could be so dysfunctional without stemming from him.  My wife had a good point though - it is possible to be a terrible leader and not a bad guy.  She laughed when I showed her his email responses to our calls for him to be fired because she said that definitely came from his secretary.  Emails from him are filled with typos and grammar errors and omissions.  But she knows this because he would personally send emails around the holidays and special occasions to wish everyone a good time and tell little anecdotes.  Stuff a swell guy would do.  Bottom line, he may be an idiot, but he could very well be a lovable idiot.

Not saying this to say I've changed my position and he should keep his job.  Actually, I really wish he would step down and let us move on.   I think, if he had done that, we might not lose the 17 and we could continue grow.  I just had a big change in perspective and thought I might give others (who are willing to sift through all my ramblings) the opportunity to do so.  It is easy to criticize him, given the circumstances.  But if the situation went the other way, I know I wouldn't be calling for his head.  So even though I wish he would step down, I'm reminding myself that he's just a guy.  I'm probably no smarter than him and if I were in his place I'd probably be fighting for my job too.  Maybe, just maybe, he is not concentrated evil. 

I saw the demise from miles away. Anyone that has any football IQ knew that 2013 and the philosophy of could not be maintained. We had 6 or 7 All CUSA caliber players on defense that year alone in which Mac did not bring in. Those players allowed us to win our games with defense in 2013 and beat mostly the bad teams on our schedule and lost to mostly the quality opponents. That is not normal for a CUSA team and was obvious to see in recruiting that we would not fill those voids. It was a ticking time bomb that started to tick on January 1, 2014 at around 3pm.  The extension was so, so premature and flat out stupid. Rick Villarreal saw an opportunity to do something that he doesn't get to do very often if ever, give one of his hires an extension and in doing so giving hinself a raise. He of course jumped all over it. The athletic department is out of 2.1M on that bad decision alone and that is just the known. Our opportunity revenue lost....countless, literally. For anyone to defend this lunacy is astonishing. 

[UNT90]

The aforementioned 17 should understand that they are pledging their hard earned coin to the Athletic Department, not the athletic director. If they're the supporters we hope them to be, they will understand that while the face, name and approach may be different (and hopefully vastly improved), their support for the athletic department will put to much better use. 

My family and I donated as much as we could to the construction of the stadium (with the request that we remain relatively anonymous), have given to the scholarship fund and will continue to do so (at a significantly less amount until I see some visible changes and a new direction). My parents (my mother is a 1967 graduate) do the same and will continue. However, this was regardless as to whom was the face of the department. 

By no means are we T. Boone Pickens-esque with our level of contributions, however, I expect someone who is responsible for fundraising to be just as gracious with the dude who gives $100 to their face as the dudes who give millions. RV does not care. I don't expect to be warmly greeted in the sanctuary of the wildly rich and watch games next to the McNatt's of the UNT world. However, a handshake and an acknowledgement of my family's contribution would be enough. We don't get as much as a half-assed fill in the blank letter. 

He is caustic. His caustic nature sets the tone for the rest of his department. If he truly believes he has given the full measure of what is required of a man in his position, that alone is grounds for termination. Garbage scheduling, a defeatist attitude in general (I think the proof is in how Mac was not disciplined for his statements regarding the difficulties in recruiting here that he is a defeatist) and inability to maintain a sense of accountability (both personal and as a leader) is enough for him to be gone. 

Just an opinion, but I believe the corner has been turned and RV has been given an ultimatum- fix this or you're gone. I think we will get a coach that fits modern football that will galvanize  the community to garner more support from the community. The pipehitters have spoken and he knows they can pony up the dough to make president act if necessary. 

The idea of RV trying to "fix" anything chills my blood.

[man-up UNT]

First, I have known Rick for over 10 years, I donated $50,000. to the stadium campaign and was happy to do it for my Alma mater; I've donated over $250,000 over the last 35 years, yes, it's been a long and frustrating road...Rick has done more than any of the athletic directors combined. Seriously, the only one that had a clue was Craig Helwig who became an asshole and combative to not only the alumni but to his bosses. That's why he got fired... 

Rick stayed the course through out his years at UNT and had the good fortune to have a much bigger budget than all the others. The student athletic fee change everything for UNT athletics, Rick had a major roll in getting that done, you should thank him. However, over the last few years he has become very negative in his approach to alumni and donors, myself included. Somehow he believes that the alumni should do their part by showing up in mass for games; this has frustrated him personally and that has trickled down to everyone else, I would assume his employees have gotten the brunt of his being in a bad mood all the time. I have explained to him, "you have to give a alumni/fans a reason to show up". You have to promote and advertise, plain and simple; he refuses to do this on any level. Not only has he made terrible choices for coaches which is the kiss of death for any athletic program. In these cases, like in the real world of corporate america, sometimes a change at the CEO level can make all the difference to the whole organization; I believe it's time for a change!

[UNTcrazy727]

First, I have known Rick for over 10 years, I donated $50,000. to the stadium campaign and was happy to do it for my Alma mater; I've donated over $250,000 over the last 35 years, yes, it's been a long and frustrating road...Rick has done more than any of the athletic directors combined. Seriously, the only one that had a clue was Craig Helwig who became an asshole and combative to not only the alumni but to his bosses. That's why he got fired... 

Rick stayed the course through out his years at UNT and had the good fortune to have a much bigger budget than all the others. The student athletic fee change everything for UNT athletics, Rick had a major roll in getting that done, you should thank him. However, over the last few years he has become very negative in his approach to alumni and donors, myself included. Somehow he believes that the alumni should do their part by showing up in mass for games; this has frustrated him personally and that has trickled down to everyone else, I would assume his employees have gotten the brunt of his being in a bad mood all the time. I have explained to him, "you have to give a alumni/fans a reason to show up". You have to promote and advertise, plain and simple; he refuses to do this on any level. Not only has he made terrible choices for coaches which is the kiss of death for any athletic program. In these cases, like in the real world of corporate america, sometimes a change at the CEO level can make all the difference to the whole organization; I believe it's time for a change!

Thank you for your courage.

[UNT90]

First, I have known Rick for over 10 years, I donated $50,000. to the stadium campaign and was happy to do it for my Alma mater; I've donated over $250,000 over the last 35 years, yes, it's been a long and frustrating road...Rick has done more than any of the athletic directors combined. Seriously, the only one that had a clue was Craig Helwig who became an asshole and combative to not only the alumni but to his bosses. That's why he got fired... 

Rick stayed the course through out his years at UNT and had the good fortune to have a much bigger budget than all the others. The student athletic fee change everything for UNT athletics, Rick had a major roll in getting that done, you should thank him. However, over the last few years he has become very negative in his approach to alumni and donors, myself included. Somehow he believes that the alumni should do their part by showing up in mass for games; this has frustrated him personally and that has trickled down to everyone else, I would assume his employees have gotten the brunt of his being in a bad mood all the time. I have explained to him, "you have to give a alumni/fans a reason to show up". You have to promote and advertise, plain and simple; he refuses to do this on any level. Not only has he made terrible choices for coaches which is the kiss of death for any athletic program. In these cases, like in the real world of corporate america, sometimes a change at the CEO level can make all the difference to the whole organization; I believe it's time for a change!

This is a very encouraging post.

[SilverEagle]

First, I have known Rick for over 10 years, I donated $50,000. to the stadium campaign and was happy to do it for my Alma mater; I've donated over $250,000 over the last 35 years, yes, it's been a long and frustrating road...Rick has done more than any of the athletic directors combined. Seriously, the only one that had a clue was Craig Helwig who became an asshole and combative to not only the alumni but to his bosses. That's why he got fired... 

Rick stayed the course through out his years at UNT and had the good fortune to have a much bigger budget than all the others. The student athletic fee change everything for UNT athletics, Rick had a major roll in getting that done, you should thank him. However, over the last few years he has become very negative in his approach to alumni and donors, myself included. Somehow he believes that the alumni should do their part by showing up in mass for games; this has frustrated him personally and that has trickled down to everyone else, I would assume his employees have gotten the brunt of his being in a bad mood all the time. I have explained to him, "you have to give a alumni/fans a reason to show up". You have to promote and advertise, plain and simple; he refuses to do this on any level. Not only has he made terrible choices for coaches which is the kiss of death for any athletic program. In these cases, like in the real world of corporate america, sometimes a change at the CEO level can make all the difference to the whole organization; I believe it's time for a change!

....and have you conveyed your sentiments to the President, along with your "giving" statement, which makes your "concerns" much more real to him.  Because, unfortunately, that speaks louder than just about any of us "minority" fans.

[Tyler Maryak]

I want to give you all upvotes, but I burn through them too quickly so I have none to give right now. 

So, RV is a terrible leader and bad at his job, but we should keep him because he is a nice guy? Seriously? 

And you are 100% completely wrong about scheduling. RV scheduled 2 games this team had zero shot to win this year. All because he has failed to increase season tickets and MGC donations to a level even semi-respectable for a school our size. 

So, if you want to keep him because he's a good guy and was nice to your wife, have at it. Just realize that you are playing directly into the personal manipulation game that this AD has been so good at for so many years.

I don't think you finished reading.  What you said comes across as kind of rude.  It seems like you're slamming me for wanting to keep him when I don't want to keep him at all.  It's unnecessary.

You're kidding right? I've heard him speak on several occasions and he is one of the most uninspiring speakers I've ever heard. In fact, every time he gave a speech/talk I always thought he sounded exactly like this character that John Lovitz created......

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-segment---pathological-liar/n11037

 

Lol, I guess it was just gullible ol' me as an undergrad then.

First, I have known Rick for over 10 years, I donated $50,000. to the stadium campaign and was happy to do it for my Alma mater; I've donated over $250,000 over the last 35 years, yes, it's been a long and frustrating road...Rick has done more than any of the athletic directors combined. Seriously, the only one that had a clue was Craig Helwig who became an asshole and combative to not only the alumni but to his bosses. That's why he got fired... 

Rick stayed the course through out his years at UNT and had the good fortune to have a much bigger budget than all the others. The student athletic fee change everything for UNT athletics, Rick had a major roll in getting that done, you should thank him. However, over the last few years he has become very negative in his approach to alumni and donors, myself included. Somehow he believes that the alumni should do their part by showing up in mass for games; this has frustrated him personally and that has trickled down to everyone else, I would assume his employees have gotten the brunt of his being in a bad mood all the time. I have explained to him, "you have to give a alumni/fans a reason to show up". You have to promote and advertise, plain and simple; he refuses to do this on any level. Not only has he made terrible choices for coaches which is the kiss of death for any athletic program. In these cases, like in the real world of corporate america, sometimes a change at the CEO level can make all the difference to the whole organization; I believe it's time for a change!

This.  100%.  

[UNTexas]

So, RV is a terrible leader and bad at his job, but we should keep him because he is a nice guy? Seriously? 

And you are 100% completely wrong about scheduling. RV scheduled 2 games this team had zero shot to win this year. All because he has failed to increase season tickets and MGC donations to a level even semi-respectable for a school our size. 

So, if you want to keep him because he's a good guy and was nice to your wife, have at it. Just realize that you are playing directly into the personal manipulation game that this AD has been so good at for so many years.

For some perspective, I've put nice guys in prison. They were guilty of their crimes though.

[Stan R]

First, I have known Rick for over 10 years, I donated $50,000. to the stadium campaign and was happy to do it for my Alma mater; I've donated over $250,000 over the last 35 years, yes, it's been a long and frustrating road...Rick has done more than any of the athletic directors combined. Seriously, the only one that had a clue was Craig Helwig who became an asshole and combative to not only the alumni but to his bosses. That's why he got fired... 

Rick stayed the course through out his years at UNT and had the good fortune to have a much bigger budget than all the others. The student athletic fee change everything for UNT athletics, Rick had a major roll in getting that done, you should thank him. However, over the last few years he has become very negative in his approach to alumni and donors, myself included. Somehow he believes that the alumni should do their part by showing up in mass for games; this has frustrated him personally and that has trickled down to everyone else, I would assume his employees have gotten the brunt of his being in a bad mood all the time. I have explained to him, "you have to give a alumni/fans a reason to show up". You have to promote and advertise, plain and simple; he refuses to do this on any level. Not only has he made terrible choices for coaches which is the kiss of death for any athletic program. In these cases, like in the real world of corporate america, sometimes a change at the CEO level can make all the difference to the whole organization; I believe it's time for a change!

Thank you so much for your contributions! I feel your frustrations (all of us do) but what I really want to do is sincerely thank you for sticking around through all of this.  If you haven't received some sort of award you damn sure deserve one for this level of support. I've been here a long time and have invested time but investing this kind of money is on a whole 'nother level. I realize this sounds like ass kissing but I don't care because I realize the only thing that will really launch this program to the next level is $$$$$.  As for you comments here I realize this does take some level of courage to put this out on a public board like this so again, slow refined clapping time for you man(up). 

 

[untjim1995]

 

Just an opinion, but I believe the corner has been turned and RV has been given an ultimatum- fix this or you're gone.

If true, that is oh, I don't know, about 12 months too late...that ultimatum should have been issued after last football season and during another lackluster Benford season, along with a cluster in women's hoops. In other words, somewhere around December of last year, RV should have been told this: We are firing your women's coach as soon as we can because its not going to cost too much (the UNT way). We will go ahead and keep Benford on for another year, but if he falls apart again OR if the football team doesn't improve at all this year above the 4 wins we got in 2014, your ass is done as the AD here. You gave us 5 home games and no bye week for our football team, with the one OOC game being against an FCS school from the Pacific Northwest, all while we now play in a stadium that can attract better opponents that are FBS.

If an ultimatum got issued now to fix this, it would be the equivalent of a homebuilder, whose shoddy work caused a home to burn down to the ground, getting told by the owner to rebuild it better this time or else...the homebuilder already proved he couldn't do the job correctly the first time and it led to complete and utter destruction. If you give that guy a chance again, its more of a "shame on me" deal than anything else at this point. That's exactly how I feel about us right now. To trust RV with hiring a janitor is being too trustworthy of him at this point...hell, I'd trust the janitor more on picking a head coach for a revenue sport than I would RV and I'm not even kidding.

[BillySee58]

I'm tired of people making it sound like the drop off after the bowl game is some unexplainable mystery. Look at our 2011, 2012, and 2013 recruiting classes. Terrible offer lists, especially in 2012. Over half of our 2012 signees had no other FBS offers. It was completely foreseeable. I convinced myself Mac was some great developer until the UAB game last year. Then I realized he was a below-average coach and a disastrous recruiter.

People may have been excited about the extension, but that's because it was an exciting time. It was a bad move on RV's part AT THE TIME (not just knowing what we do know) because no one was going to hire him away, he hadn't proven he could develop a QB, defensive line, or offensive line, or with his own recruits in general, and you can't win games like that. As evidenced by this year.

Also, funny hearing he has a lot of typos and grammatical errors when he types. I've never heard him speak and thought "that is an intelligent human being."

[Ryan Munthe]

because no one was going to hire him away

There was a LOT of online talk about McCarney being a candidate for a lot of jobs elsewhere.

[UNT90]

For some perspective, I've put nice guys in prison. They were guilty of their crimes though.

Grifters are only nice to your face.