Why not bring Dickey back?

[untjim1995]

Dickey's waterloo--and UNT's, for the matter--was that Tulsa game at Fouts in 2005. Up to that point, we were dominating the Sun Belt Conference, to a point that national outlets thought we were going to be one of the mid-majors that had the chance to really spring forward to a higher place in the college football landscape. That year, before the season, out of 110 or so FBS program at the time, we were rated by Sports Illustrated one spot below TCU, something like 54th to 53rd. And in one fail swoop, it was over and done, basically for good. We had a regional mid-major in town, in front of a large (for us) crowd at Fouts and just got prison-raped 54-2 by Steve Kragthorpe's Tulsa team. Tulsa went on to have a fine season, TCU finished in the top 10, beating Dan McCarney's Iowa State team in a bowl game, and we fell thru the floor.

It became apparent at that point, that the "progress" we were making was only because the SBC sucked, as a mid major came in and just annihilated us. Then the SBC losses started mounting for the first time in our history in the league, where we lost more than a conference game. Then we got crushed at La Tech, another mid-major we thought we were ahead of. Darrell Dickey thought he was going to get hried away from this place after the 2003 season, as well as after 2004. Recruiting, gameplans, and fan/media interactions after 2005 pretty much showed that. He thought somebody at another university would just be super impressed with what he had down at UNT in that championship run and come after him--the problem was that absolutely no one gave that SBC run any credence outside of Denton because it was (still is) viewed so lowly and they knew that his offense was so boring it would never translate into butts-in-seats anywhere else. Plus, his demeanor was not one that anyone with a decent fanbase would feel connected to in any way, shape, or form.

The Dickster was made to be an OC at a mid-major with an offensive-minded head coach to dictate his play-calling to the OC. Its worked well for him at Memphis, but it didn't work so much at Utah State, UNM, or Texas State, where the head coaches weren't exactly throwing advocates. If he ever gets to be a head coach again, I suspect it will be at a FCS school somewhere...

[GrandGreen]

Dickey's waterloo--and UNT's, for the matter--was that Tulsa game at Fouts in 2005. Up to that point, we were dominating the Sun Belt Conference, to a point that national outlets thought we were going to be one of the mid-majors that had the chance to really spring forward to a higher place in the college football landscape. That year, before the season, out of 110 or so FBS program at the time, we were rated by Sports Illustrated one spot below TCU, something like 54th to 53rd. And in one fail swoop, it was over and done, basically for good. We had a regional mid-major in town, in front of a large (for us) crowd at Fouts and just got prison-raped 54-2 by Steve Kragthorpe's Tulsa team. Tulsa went on to have a fine season, TCU finished in the top 10, beating Dan McCarney's Iowa State team in a bowl game, and we fell thru the floor.

It became apparent at that point, that the "progress" we were making was only because the SBC sucked, as a mid major came in and just annihilated us. Then the SBC losses started mounting for the first time in our history in the league, where we lost more than a conference game. Then we got crushed at La Tech, another mid-major we thought we were ahead of. Darrell Dickey thought he was going to get hried away from this place after the 2003 season, as well as after 2004. Recruiting, gameplans, and fan/media interactions after 2005 pretty much showed that. He thought somebody at another university would just be super impressed with what he had down at UNT in that championship run and come after him--the problem was that absolutely no one gave that SBC run any credence outside of Denton because it was (still is) viewed so lowly and they knew that his offense was so boring it would never translate into butts-in-seats anywhere else. Plus, his demeanor was not one that anyone with a decent fanbase would feel connected to in any way, shape, or form.

The Dickster was made to be an OC at a mid-major with an offensive-minded head coach to dictate his play-calling to the OC. Its worked well for him at Memphis, but it didn't work so much at Utah State, UNM, or Texas State, where the head coaches weren't exactly throwing advocates. If he ever gets to be a head coach again, I suspect it will be at a FCS school somewhere...

I agree with your facts, but not your conclusion.  DD's success was all tied to one great unexplainable recruiting class, once those players left; that was it for Dickey.   I take great exception to those that think that NT's early Belt success was only due to being in a poor conference.  There were some good teams in the Belt during that period, and it is my belief that the Kennedy, Buckles, Hall etc. team would have easily beat McCarney's bowl team.  

As far as Dickey himself, he was his own worst enemy eventually destroying the NT program with his constant complaining and lazy recruiting.  IMO other teams were not interesting in him became of that more than anything to do with the Sun Belt. 

[untjim1995]

I agree with your facts, but not your conclusion.  DD's success was all tied to one great unexplainable recruiting class, once those players left; that was it for Dickey.   I take great exception to those that think that NT's early Belt success was only due to being in a poor conference.  There were some good teams in the Belt during that period, and it is my belief that the Kennedy, Buckles, Hall etc. team would have easily beat McCarney's bowl team.  

As far as Dickey himself, he was his own worst enemy eventually destroying the NT program with his constant complaining and lazy recruiting.  IMO other teams were not interesting in him became of that more than anything to do with the Sun Belt. 

Troy was the only other SBC team to go to a bowl game during our 4-year reign as the SBC champ...some of that had to do with bowl tie-ins, but most of the time, the SBC Champ was the only one with a winning record from 2001-2004.

[MeanGreenNC]

Sorry, I've got to agree with untjim!  The SBC really didn't start taking shape until the 2004-2010 time frame.

[greenminer]

I don't think Dickey was receiving any interest from other programs.  Does anyone else wonder if he got frustrated at the end of his tenure because interviews were not coming?

I don't remember many media outlets gushing over us during our run.  We made a few TV appearances and got some favorable sentiment, but I don't remember any articles about us being the next Boise State or potential staples in the T25.

Just my speculation here, but I think his NCAA peers and the media - for the most part - saw straight through those title runs and recognized one great recruiting class, splashed with 1 or 2 playmakers in each of the other 3 - 4 surrounding classes.  And that's a bit of a beating to say, too, because he was probably our best recruiting HC since I have been a part of this program since 1999.

Unless Dickey reveals himself as a better recruiter, I think he should remain a successful OC.

[GrandGreen]

No the Belt didn't magically get better and leave NT behind.  The Belt got marginally better, but NT got a lot worse.    Here are the top 2 records in the Belt during NT's reign and right after:

2001 8-3, 5-7 NT

2002 8-5 NT, 7-5

2003 9-4 NT, 5-7

2004 7-5 NT, 7-5

2005 6-6, 6-5

2006 8-5, 7-6

2007 8-5, 8-4

2008 8-5, 7-6

The league didn't get better; NT just moved way down.   Also more conference games as the league expanded obviously created better overall records.   

[ADLER]

Bring back Dickey?

Really?

Why will a dog that has eaten something noxious later go back and eat its own vomit?