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DRC Monday column: New coach must unite fractured fan base

Brett Vito

By Brett Vito
in Mean Green Football

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oldguystudent Newbie

oldguystudent

Posted
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McCarney stood in front of every freshman who came through the door at UNT and pleaded for them to come to games. He talked to boosters at events and high school coaches across the state.

Even he became discouraged at the end, when all that effort didn’t pay off the way he hoped it would.

 

I don't think the second part of that digs very deep or is very accurate as to what went down.  However, perhaps some things are better left unsaid and left to be in the past.

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rcade Veteran

rcade

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Because the bottom line is this isn't going to be a quick fix. UNT needs an overhaul on the field as well as off it.

The only way UNT will have an overhaul off the field is to change the AD. After 14 years, there's no reason to believe that RV is capable of doing things differently, or that his top subordinates can change it either. We need new leadership that comes from a program where they know how to win and grow the fan base, booster club and donors.

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Harry Grand Master

Harry

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I've stated this before, but I think  this really needs to be a hire that gets some attention.  I think you need that at UNT right now.  It's hard to be taken seriously when you look at the last decade of losing.  Things are pretty bad.  We need a Mean Green version of Jesus about right now.

Travis Mentor

Travis

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Coach Mac wouldn't have been so discouraged if he was able to recruit and win with his own players.  People would have showed up if he had put some wins together. Perhaps, not leave us in greater shambles than Dodge did...

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SilverEagle Mentor

SilverEagle

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It couldn’t be any clearer at this point that UNT needs more than a new football coach. UNT needs a glad-handing, baby-kissing, Denton-residing cheerleader to unify the troops who appear to be running to the exits.

Brett you just described the first 6 months of the Hayden Fry era at North Texas. One Star Telegram writer of that time described it as Hayden "dancing through the streets of Denton like the Music Man, talking to any group of people who would find time to listen to his message". 

I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS.........YEARS.  Hire the second coming of Hayden Fry!

But Hayden was acting as  both the AD and the HC. SO, we need a Hayden Fry-type head coach and we need a Hayden Fry-type AD.....who hires staff/minions who are just as energetic and positive as him, who can SELL!, SELL!,SELL!.  In other words, just like Oldguystudent said in another thread, they need to adhere to the ABC (Always Be Closing) credo.

As the late Yogi Berra might have said "It ain't rocket surgery folks". 

geez louise

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letsgiveacheer Rising Star

letsgiveacheer

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Turkey used to be known as "the sick man of Europe"

North Texas is the sick man of college football.

As I've posted before, I have seen about 15 winning seasons in 45 years of following UNT football. What reasonable person would still be a fan?

Hayden Fry could not build any great support. There were less than 300 at Fouts watch us beat San Diego State, ranked 18th at the time. The hiring of Todd Dodge was done with great fanfare. We were a feature story in Sports Illustrated. Look where that got us.

If we do hire the right coach and improve, I will go on record now and predict this momentum will not be sustained. Five years from now, we will be be posting similar complaints. We need to recognize that athletics is not a priority at North Texas nor has it never been a priority. And please, no comments about the College of Music stealing resources. Their success has nothing to do with the state of our athletics.

When Duke University got tired of losing at football, they convened a summit of past lettermen, university leaders, community leaders and donors. They developed a strategic plan and moved forward. If we are going to put 30 million into a program that makes us a laughing stock of college football, maybe we need to do the same thing? Either show a real commitment, or drop to D2 non-scholarship football and have a good time.

BTW, if I can get over the flu, I plan to make the trip to Middle Tennessee this Saturday. Anyone else going?

 

Edited by letsgiveacheer
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El Paso Eagle Grand Master

El Paso Eagle

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It isn't the coach, Brett, and you know it. The fan base won't be "healed" until this AD is gone.

So if we get a new coach who turns things around you will still have the same hate until the AD changes?

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EagleMBA Newbie

EagleMBA

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So if we get a new coach who turns things around you will still have the same hate until the AD changes?

A new coach treats the symptom. A new AD treats the problem. This University is going about this in reverse order. JMO.

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UNTFan23 Rising Star

UNTFan23

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A new coach treats the symptom. A new AD treats the problem. This University is going about this in reverse order. JMO.

Lets hope the disease wasn't terminal long before RV came in, otherwise he was just some designer drug that gave us a better quality of life until the next designer drug comes along.

Edited by UNTFan23
UNT90 Newbie

UNT90

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A new coach treats the symptom. A new AD treats the problem. This University is going about this in reverse order. JMO.

So much this. And it just another dysfunctional effort of a dysfunctional system when it comes to athletics.

Lets hope the disease wasn't terminal long before RV came in, otherwise he was just some designer drug that gave us a better quality of life until the next designer drug comes along.

Lol. Better quality?

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UNTFan23 Rising Star

UNTFan23

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So much this. And it just another dysfunctional effort of a dysfunctional system when it comes to athletics.

Lol. Better quality?

Well, we have gone to more bowl games under his tenure than any other AD in the history of the school, so there is that.

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UNTFan23 Rising Star

UNTFan23

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Helwig hired Dickey.  

And if RV had fired DD like he had wanted to in 2001, would we still have gone to those 4 bowl games in New Orleans?

Edited by UNTFan23
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UNT90 Newbie

UNT90

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Well, we have gone to more bowl games under his tenure than any other AD in the history of the school, so there is that.

Lol.

Could it be because the amount of bowl games exploded since 1982?

We moved back to FBS in 1995. RV took over in 2001. He didn't hire the coach that took us to4 of those bowls, and in fact wanted to fire him right before that run started. 

He is responsibly for one bowl win. He is also responsible for the worst loss in college football history. 

Edited by UNT90
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TheTastyGreek Collaborator

TheTastyGreek

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Turkey used to be known as "the sick man of Europe"

North Texas is the sick man of college football.

Wait... Does this mean RV, Smatresk, and the new football coach are going to slaughter my whole family? 

UNTFan23 Rising Star

UNTFan23

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Lol.

Could it be because the amount of bowl games exploded since 1982?

We moved back to FBS in 1995. RV took over in 2001. He didn't hire the coach that took us to4 of those bowls, and in fact wanted to fire him right before that run started. 

He is responsibly for one bowl win. He is also responsible for the worst loss in college football history. 

Would you be willing to concede that under RV we saw 2 NCAA bids under a coach he hired?

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letsgiveacheer Rising Star

letsgiveacheer

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Wait... Does this mean RV, Smatresk, and the new football coach are going to slaughter my whole family? 

That's right and the last I heard, they were all on their way to Cyprus!

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UNT90 Newbie

UNT90

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Would you be willing to concede that under RV we saw 2 NCAA bids under a coach he hired?

And then when faced with the most crucial hire in that program's history, he screwed the pooch in every position possible.

And then refused to acknowledge and correct a mistake. 

We can do this all day long.  

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FirefightnRick Experienced

FirefightnRick

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It's been said before that we just can't replace an AD at such a crucial time.  That's BS.  Dr. Pohl canned Helwig in November of 2000' and hired RV in March or April of '01.

I feel for any coach who comes here while this current regime is in charge.

 

Rick

Edited by FirefightnRick
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