Disappointed with Mac

Harry · November 21, 2015

I know after someone leaves a job, that person usually gets blamed for a lot of problems after they leave. So I try not to do that in most cases.

After watching this MUTS game, I can't help but feel a real sting of disappointment with Coach Mac. All the promises, all of the commitments, good assistant compensation, great facilities and yet under his reign we have fallen so far. We are getting beat in our own conference by middle of the pack teams as if we were playing body bag games. Honestly, I think Dickey and Dodge left us with more to work with and had MUCH less resources and compensation. And now we have to convince a good coach to come in and clean up this mess. Knowing that we will pay Mac 2.1 million in the buyout just makes it worse.

Sorry to vent but I feel he has been able to sort of disappear stage left without much taking much responsibility for this fiasco.

emmitt01 · November 21, 2015

Haven't you heard Harry? It was all that darn Chico's fault...

GreenTexan13 · November 21, 2015

It is fair to be disappointed in Mac. We can thank him all we want for 2013, but then we are taking away credit from Dodge (his recruits that played in 2013). Mac's lack of recruiting is really hurting us. He is a huge part into why we are 1-10 this season... The SMU and Rice game totally killed any possible momentum this season, the Portland State game put the nail in the coffin for what I fear will gloom over for us until we have another break out year. His stubbornness, refusal to adapt outside of the old style CFB, and his frustrations among players that were put into the dog house have taken it's toll. I honestly wish the season could end after today. We need to quit trampling over the team's integrity and confidence. Every time we get wailed on by a middle of the pack CUSA foe, is doing nothing but embarrassing us more and more.

Rick Villareal, should be ashamed of himself. He is just as much to blame for any problem in athletics.... (And I'll leave the dead horse at that).

I can only pray that our basketball team has a fluke (badass) season. I am so darn tired of getting crapped on every Saturday, and I just want something I can follow that brings me the winning mean green joy I have been missing for a little while now.

aahhh it feels good to vent!.....

UNTcrazy727 · November 21, 2015

Agreed, to a point. Really can't help but feel a lot of the issues stem from some of the selfish locker room players that have had hissy fits on Twitter and publicly ripped other players, coaches, the team or the school. But ultimately morale falls on the coach, so that's also Mac's fault.

I would blame the character issues on Mac and his coaches too since they're the ones who brought the players here.

And don't forget, according to Vito we should all be thankful for what McCarney accomplished at UNT...spare me.

rws69 · November 21, 2015

A question I have heard, but not on this site .... How much was Mac impacted by the stroke he suffered before the 2014 season? Yes, I get the recruiting and possibly not seeing any QB's except McNulty, but was the stroke a factor?

GrandGreen · November 21, 2015

To hear Canales post game speech again talking about other teams being just stronger and faster, has to make you wonder what is going on at NT. Canales knows he has no chance for this job, but he is basically throwing his ex-boss under the bus as well as himself.

These are almost exactly the same words McCarney used to describe the squad he inherited. Now five years later, the situation is substantially worse. Based on all factors including cost and resources, McCarney is easily the worst football HC hire in my experience and that includes two high school coaches and Bob Tyler who barely lasted a year.

Off topic, Today, I have listened to the football team being demolished, the girls basketball losing, and watched via computer the volleyball team be totally non-competitive although against a very good team.

eulessismore · November 21, 2015

A question I have heard, but not on this site .... How much was Mac impacted by the stroke he suffered before the 2014 season? Yes, I get the recruiting and possibly not seeing any QB's except McNulty, but was the stroke a factor?

I have thought about that, and what with that having been a problem with a family member, don't doubt it's a likelihood. Still, all those out there making a fraction of what Mac was getting paid by the time he left know that no matter how much a supervisor might like to cut some slack with a personal or family health issue, they can't let the organization go to hell because of it.

TheReal_jayD · November 21, 2015

He was just out dated. His gameplan. His playbook. His recruiting. His philosophy. Great speaker and great guy but other than that he drove thus program in the ground with his hard headed and stubborn ways

emmitt01 · November 21, 2015

Agreed, to a point. Really can't help but feel a lot of the issues stem from some of the selfish locker room players that have had hissy fits on Twitter and publicly ripped other players, coaches, the team or the school. But ultimately morale falls on the coach, so that's also Mac's fault.

Don't. Just...don't.

When Benford came in and $hit the bed with a roster that was (in the words of the same athletic department that later threw them under the bus) "the most talented in North Texas history" people began to float the rumor that Chris Jones and Tony Mitchell were locker room cancers. Amazingly they became horrible citizens who were incapable of winning THE VERY NEXT season after going to 2 straight conference tourney finals. Benford was, inexplicably, let off the hook for his incompetence.

Now we want to suggest that it is AGAIN the fault of "selfish locker room players"? Jesus H. Christ, we have got to stop letting RV make coaching hires. Apparently every coach he hires recruits from the local juvenile detention center.

Or, it could just be that crappy coaches produced crappy results. Nah, that's just too logical...better to blamr 18-22 year olds.

Ryan Munthe · November 21, 2015

Don't. Just...don't.

When Benford came in and $hit the bed with a roster that was (in the words of the same athletic department that later threw them under the bus) "the most talented in North Texas history" people began to float the rumor that Chris Jones and Tony Mitchell were locker room cancers. Amazingly they became horrible citizens who were incapable of winning THE VERY NEXT season after going to 2 straight conference tourney finals. Benford was, inexplicably, let off the hook for his incompetence.

Now we want to suggest that it is AGAIN the fault of "selfish locker room players"? Jesus H. Christ, we have got to stop letting RV make coaching hires. Apparently every coach he hires recruits from the local juvenile detention center.

Or, it could just be that crappy coaches produced crappy results. Nah, that's just too logical...better to blamr 18-22 year olds.

Have you seen Harris's tweets? Have you seen Rentfro's tweets? Uh...I could go on.

aztecskin · November 21, 2015

Don't. Just...don't.

When Benford came in and $hit the bed with a roster that was (in the words of the same athletic department that later threw them under the bus) "the most talented in North Texas history" people began to float the rumor that Chris Jones and Tony Mitchell were locker room cancers. Amazingly they became horrible citizens who were incapable of winning THE VERY NEXT season after going to 2 straight conference tourney finals. Benford was, inexplicably, let off the hook for his incompetence.

Now we want to suggest that it is AGAIN the fault of "selfish locker room players"? Jesus H. Christ, we have got to stop letting RV make coaching hires. Apparently every coach he hires recruits from the local juvenile detention center.

Or, it could just be that crappy coaches produced crappy results. Nah, that's just too logical...better to blamr 18-22 year olds.

Yep. Agree.

Remember when Cardale Jones was tweeting 'disruptive' things and it held Ohio State . . . oh wait they won a National Title. Remember when Shaq and Kobe's inter-fighting squandered . . . oh wait they won 3 titles in a row. Remember when North Texas won a bowl game even though Derek Thompson was tweeting thing about 'fans' not knowing what he and his team goes through and how those self-proclaimed 'fans' could keep their criticisms to themselves? Remember how that was the same thing RR tweeted this season?

Remember how Dez Bryant ruined the 2014 Cowboys by being a diva, demanding the ball --- oh wait that didn't ruin things? They were a referee decision away from the NFC Championship despite all that? Well this year he's being a diva and demanding the ball and so that's why they must be losing.

---

Or maybe it is that every large organization has guys that can be negative when things aren't going positively. Maybe winning does do a lot to unite a locker room, a fan base, a school, a message board. And maybe 18-22 year old college students, on average, are only so mature and a staff of relatively highly paid guys should properly coach them up.

oldguystudent · November 21, 2015

We could hire Lou Holtz in his prime, and I don't expect much for next year. 32 walk-ons on this roster. 32. That's over one third. We couldn't fill a full roster with FBS players, and it's going to take time to reload from that. This next coach is going to have to be utterly tireless in his pursuits to get us some real players in to a program that has nothing to speak of for itself in recent years.

adman · November 21, 2015

Color me an optimist but I think you're going to see some pretty good things out of Mac's last two classes. Several RS and true freshmen already playing this season. I think a big issue for Mac was the staff he had the first two years weren't recruiters - Nelly, et al. Many of the current crew seem to be - Tommy Perry, KP, Lamarcus Hicks, Perry Carter to an extent. Someone remember to throw this back at me in 3 years.

Harry · November 21, 2015

We could hire Lou Holtz in his prime, and I don't expect much for next year. 32 walk-ons on this roster. 32. That's over one third. We couldn't fill a full roster with FBS players, and it's going to take time to reload from that. This next coach is going to have to be utterly tireless in his pursuits to get us some real players in to a program that has nothing to speak of for itself in recent years.

This disappoints me too -- Mac used to talk up the walk-on program as a thing of pride. When we had Fouts and were in the Sun Belt it was critical. When he arrived here we had better facilities and conference so he had a better chance to build the roster with scholarship players. The goal was not supposed to make it 1/3rd of our roster. So instead of it being a thing of pride, it became a crutch to hide his recruiting deficiencies.

I know the way Mac was fired was tough and I know he handled the firing with class. But does that mean we have to give him a pass on this disaster? I don't think so. I am grateful for the bowl win in 2013. However, the more I think about it, the more I think he may have squandered more opportunities for the program than Dickey or Dodge did when they were here.

BillySee58 · November 21, 2015

Harry, you're right. He did leave us in a bad spot and make so many empty promises.

But maybe the biggest reason for frustration was how he sold us short, made excuses, and tried to leave fans to believe that many of the bad things were just a result of inherent occurrences.

Inability to win recruiting battles? It's hard to recruit to North Texas. Losing a bunch of starters you didn't recruit? It's absurd for them to expect us to win the division. Loss to Rice? That's the best Rice team since I've been here (they're sitting at 4-6). And we all know Rice wasn't our only opponent he hyped up. And of course, all the "before I got here," BS.

We're capable of more and it won't take a miracle to make that happen.

I would blame the character issues on Mac and his coaches too since they're the ones who brought the players here.
And don't forget, according to Vito we should all be thankful for what McCarney accomplished at UNT...spare me.

Exactly. This isn't the NFL where the coach may have to put up with actual locker room cancers against his will, if the GM and/or owner want a certain player(s).

Every player on this team was brought in under Mccarney. If the players are locker room cancers then that's on Mac for signing them.

Harry · November 22, 2015

Harry, you're right. He did leave us in a bad spot and make so many empty promises.
But maybe the biggest reason for frustration was how he sold us short, made excuses, and tried to leave fans to believe that many of the bad things were just a result of inherent occurrences.
Inability to win recruiting battles? It's hard to recruit to North Texas. Losing a bunch of starters you didn't recruit? It's absurd for them to expect us to win the division. Loss to Rice? That's the best Rice team since I've been here (they're sitting at 4-6). And we all know Rice wasn't our only opponent he hyped up. And of course, all the "before I got here," BS.
We're capable of more and it won't take a miracle to make that happen.
Exactly. This isn't the NFL where the coach may have to put up with actual locker room cancers against his will, if the GM and/or owner want a certain player(s).
Every player on this team was brought in under Mccarney. If the players are locker room cancers then that's on Mac for signing them.

Good post. Let me add to that the fact that he pretended like losing to UTSA was just another ball game... same thing when we were embarrassed on the road at Houston, UT, Tulane... or getting Georgio all riled up on the "SMU is not a rival" deal. the list goes on. Ugh...

GOMG2013 · November 22, 2015

Haven't you heard Harry? It was all that darn Chico's fault...

...our offense is still horrible so...

Yes the defense and special teams are horrible too, but mac's teams have shown they can play good defense and special teams with the right personell. Even over the last 2 years the defense shown flashes of being decent at times.

The offense has been consistently horrible for 4 years.

untjim1995 · November 22, 2015

For the purposes of talking about how Mac caused us to be in such a hole, talent-wise, his offensive strategy was completely unappealing to recruits. The only kids he could get here were either of two types: kids with questionable character or kids with less talent. That talent never got developed into anything better and the character of the roster showed its ass with the Portland State fiasco.

The sooner this roster is completely turned over, as well as the entire coaching staff, the sooner we will have a chance to move forward. And that isn't counting the colossal handicap of the worst AD in America. The next coach will need two seasons just to flush the $hit around here down the toilet. Maybe there are some usable parts, but our recruiting rankings tell us that what has occurred shouldn't be a surprise at all. When you finish dead-ass last in FBS recruiting, as we did in 2014, you should be awful. And have we ever seen just how awful we can be with these results. That's all on McCarney...

Ben Gooding · November 22, 2015

He was just out dated. His gameplan. His playbook. His recruiting. His philosophy. Great speaker and great guy but other than that he drove thus program in the ground with his hard headed and stubborn ways

I don't get a part of this. He wasn't a great speaker. It was mumbo jumbo bs. If he was such a great speaker it would've translated into his recruiting.News flash, it didn't...ever. Ive been saying now for YEARS that his recruiting was going to catch up with us and we're seeing it play out. He was an absolute horrible recruiter, coach, and speaker. Nothing about him was even average. We are in shambles and our DA AD still has the audacity to hold true about him being a good hire. Oh, and, that AD is still sitting pretty. He doesn't even have a heating pad on his chair. Nothing. Why we still support isn't even borderline insanity. It's full blown kamikaze insanity.

This disappoints me too -- Mac used to talk up the walk-on program as a thing of pride. When we had Fouts and were in the Sun Belt it was critical. When he arrived here we had better facilities and conference so he had a better chance to build the roster with scholarship players. The goal was not supposed to make it 1/3rd of our roster. So instead of it being a thing of pride, it became a crutch to hide his recruiting deficiencies.
I know the way Mac was fired was tough and I know he handled the firing with class. But does that mean we have to give him a pass on this disaster? I don't think so. I am grateful for the bowl win in 2013. However, the more I think about it, the more I think he may have squandered more opportunities for the program than Dickey or Dodge did when they were here.

It is never a good thing to be bloating about walk-ons. It's actually a bad sign when a captain is a walk-on. They are feel good stories that should never be intrical parts of the team. If they are it should be a rare occurence.

BillySee58 · November 22, 2015

No bowl game this year for Rice, as they lose to UTSA and drop to 4-7, missing a bowl for the first time in 4 years. The same Rice team Coach Mac said was their best team since he took the North Texas job.

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2015/09/interesting-point-from-mccarney-this-could-be-rices-best-team.html/

Edited November 22, 2015 by BillySee58

hickoryhouse · November 22, 2015

No bowl game this year for Rice, as they lose to UTSA and drop to 4-7, missing a bowl for the first time in 4 years. The same Rice team Coach Mac said was their best team since he took the North Texas job.

well utsa wins another one. Back to the basement I guess.

When end the hell are we going to get rid of rv. This is becoming more than embarrassing and there is so much evidence showcasing his ineptitude. It just gets frustrating.

BillySee58 · November 22, 2015

well utsa wins another one. Back to the basement I guess.

When end the hell are we going to get rid of rv. This is becoming more than embarrassing and there is so much evidence showcasing his ineptitude. It just gets frustrating.

Who knows? Last year we weren't technically the worst team in or division, but we lost to every team in our division. Then we didn't make the women's CUSA basketball tourney en route to a 24-loss season, and got beat by 30+ in the first round of the men's tourney. We'll see what basketball season has in store, although I'm not sure where a line is drawn.

Cr1028 · November 22, 2015

...our offense is still horrible so...
Yes the defense and special teams are horrible too, but mac's teams have shown they can play good defense and special teams with the right personell. Even over the last 2 years the defense shown flashes of being decent at times.
The offense has been consistently horrible for 4 years.

Only with the right DC and he is retired.

Rudy · November 22, 2015

Haven't you heard Harry? It was all that darn Chico's fault...

To hear Canales post game speech again talking about other teams being just stronger and faster, has to make you wonder what is going on at NT. Canales knows he has no chance for this job, but he is basically throwing his ex-boss under the bus as well as himself.
These are almost exactly the same words McCarney used to describe the squad he inherited. Now five years later, the situation is substantially worse. Based on all factors including cost and resources, McCarney is easily the worst football HC hire in my experience and that includes two high school coaches and Bob Tyler who barely lasted a year.
Off topic, Today, I have listened to the football team being demolished, the girls basketball losing, and watched via computer the volleyball team be totally non-competitive although against a very good team.

Don't worry. According to our Baghdad Bob, everything is good.

aztecskin · November 22, 2015

Power football can still win. MSU, Iowa, Michigan, Alabama are this year's examples. They do innovative things within the power systems, but we didn't have the personnel nor the ability to recruit to it.

I say that only because I don't want us to think it's completely impossible and we should go full Airraid.

I mean, remember the call for the TE during the Dodge years? Offensive football is evolving to be more multiple. Even the full "spread" teams with 4-wide sets are incorporating more H-backs and TEs. Dana Holgorson runs 60% of the time, for chrissakes.

Mac's biggest problem was he was stodgy and unwilling to bend to circumstances. That affected his recruiting which is the lifeblood of a program.