Littrell press conference thoughts

[FirefightnRick]

I feel bad for you.  Why not have some hope?  This guy will turn the program around you can save this thread if you want. 

Don't feel bad for me.  I don't require sunshine pumping to understand the reality of the situation.

 

Rick

Edited December 7, 2015 by FirefightnRick

[Cerebus]

Incomplete grade for me.  

We'll know a more when he completes his staff.  Getting someone like Graham Harrell as an OC?  Good first step.  Getting a veteran coach to bring in an aggressive D?  Even better.

We'll know A LOT more when the first class signs.  Yes, it is a short turn around, but lets see what he and his staff can do under pressure.  If everyone he signs has FBS offers I'll be happy, if he gets a three star or two I'll be impressed, if he can convince a DaMN State Top 100 to come here in this short amount time then lets start raising money to fend off future suitors.

 

PS: I was very happy to hear he expected O/D starters to play on special teams, a very big component for the success on the Dickey teams.

[Army of Dad]

Trying to think about what he said that stands out to me the most.  A lot of things did stick out, particularly regarding recruiting like "they will know us" and "I will be going to them."  But the one thing that sticks out the most for me, I think..."I'm going to do it the right way, not the quick way."  I am extremely pleased by that, but it was a reminder for me to temper my expectations a little...we may not go bowling his first year in (although our odds are exponentially better now, IMO).  I just need to steel my resolve and allow some time for his program to develop.

I took that as being related to filling out his staff. Get the right guys and worry less about getting coaches quick.

[Cr1028]

Trying to think about what he said that stands out to me the most.  A lot of things did stick out, particularly regarding recruiting like "they will know us" and "I will be going to them."  But the one thing that sticks out the most for me, I think..."I'm going to do it the right way, not the quick way."  I am extremely pleased by that, but it was a reminder for me to temper my expectations a little...we may not go bowling his first year in (although our odds are exponentially better now, IMO).  I just need to steel my resolve and allow some time for his program to develop.

This was my rationale for arguing to wait for Littrell over snapping up Meacham because he was already available.

[UNTcrazy727]

He reminds me a lot of Jeff Banister

[SHOSS]

You can't tell much from this...  He doesn't come across as an ars head or anything.  He seems like a decent enough dude.  Gracious and eager...

But of course, none of this means s....  until we see something happen.

I would expect us to be able to steal a couple recruits committed to other schools, and yes, most recruits need to have offers from other fbs schools for me to start getting excited.  None of this takes shape until the spring game, but I will be front and center checking for staff updates and recruiting updates because I'm a sucker...go mean green

 

[ColoradoEagle]

My favorite part was at 48:30 and his response to Brett Vito was basically, "shut up, Brett." 

[Tyler Maryak]

I took that as being related to filling out his staff. Get the right guys and worry less about getting coaches quick.

Good point.  I subconsciously heard it as his approach to his entire plan, broadly.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Tyler Maryak

[Army of Dad]

My favorite part was at 48:30 and his response to Brett Vito was basically, "shut up, Brett." 

His next response to Vito should be 'here's your parking pass'.

Best way to get media on his side...

[untjim1995]

Don't feel bad for me.  I don't require sunshine pumping to understand the reality of the situation.

 

Rick

There's not much sunshine to pump these days, but hope springs eternal...

Littrell has to overcome A LOT of hurdles, but maybe he can achieve something good here. He is hamstrung with a terrible AD and culture of apathy, both of which will be very hard to defeat. But he might just be the guy to do it. Its hard to imagine that he will, based on the previous 35 years worth of football coaches, but I hope he does and I wish him luck.

 

 

[BigWillie]

My favorite part was at 48:30 and his response to Brett Vito was basically, "shut up, Brett." 

And there will be many more moments like this, that I can guarantee!

[MeanGreenTexan]

And there will be many more moments like this, that I can guarantee!

Why?  

Whenever you win, Brett writes great, flattering articles about your team and your coaching ability.   When your team sucks, he writes articles questioning your team's abilities and your coaching ability.   If there are going to be more moments of "shut up, Brett", that means there is going to be more bad football...

[Tree]

Two thoughts from the presser:

1. Coach Littrell, on Texas high school coaches: "They won't have to come by and see me at the facility. I'm coming to see them."
2. His daughter with him on the podium.  Recruiting trail is tough on the family and he needs to keep that a priority.

[Ben Gooding]

He turns us into TCU and gets Gary Patterson money I bet he would take a long look! Not much distance for travel between here and Muskogee where he is from.  I am just saying.  

 

Wow I can't believe we actually got this guy!! Incredible, I can't wait for Spring ball and to have the chance to watch this teams improvement! He pretty much avoided the Mid-term signee thing and said evaluating QB's etc etc and we would see more after Christmas.  That is encouraging.  

Not to jump to conclusions because this could end up being a very meh hire. His potential, much like North Texas, is boiling over. If he can take us to the promise land we have to stick with this guy - multi million dollar a year contract. 

[GrayEagle]

Meh, I understand that.  However, just looking at what this guy has done at every single college he has been to and the endorsements he has received from each player and coach he worked for?  He is a winner.  He will not accept no for an answer and will get results.  Call me a homer all you want but I can see us being bowl eligible next season.  He is that good of a coach and will bring in the same caliber of guys. 

While that may be a little strong for optimistic me, there's a lot of truth in what you say.  

I realize that he can't improve every year, as he has in the past, but I believe that he'll have them performing a lot better next year because of 1) he will instill the attitude of a winner and 2) he'll have players playing the same style of ball that they cut their teeth on. 

As to being bowl eligible, that's possible.  The schedule will be much more conducive next year.  This year we lost to seven bowl teams and the 6th seed in the BCS playoffs.  Next year, only Florida and maybe Southern Miss are certain losses.  The other ten are winnable although we should be the underdog against Louisiana Tech and SMU as of now.  But, we catch both at home so I'm thinking that we can beat one of them.  We will likely catch the three weakest teams in the Eastern Division, which should be ODU, Charlotte and one of the F_U's.  That leaves B-C, Army, Rice, UTEP and UTSA.  I believe that most of those are wins.  Voila!  Bowl eligible.

I just hope that everyone who sees this thread will be present on September 3, 2016.  At least give Coach Littrell a great sendoff.

[greenit]

The spread was designed to be effective even when you don't have the best athlete at each position, much like the triple option.  Each offense seems to live and die by the guy running the show (QB).  We don't have to have a team full of 3+ star athletes, but we do need the right guys at a few key positions on offense, especially QB.

On defense, it will be interesting to see what he does.  Most of the offensive gurus give defense lip service, but don't normally put up great numbers on D.

[Mean_Green09]

Meh, I understand that.  However, just looking at what this guy has done at every single college he has been to and the endorsements he has received from each player and coach he worked for?  He is a winner.  He will not accept no for an answer and will get results.  Call me a homer all you want but I can see us being bowl eligible next season.  He is that good of a coach and will bring in the same caliber of guys. 

I wont make any predictions until I see how he fills out his staff and what type of recruits he can round up by signing day. 

[MeanGreenTexan]

The spread was designed to be effective even when you don't have the best athlete at each position, much like the triple option.  Each offense seems to live and die by the guy running the show (QB).  We don't have to have a team full of 3+ star athletes, but we do need the right guys at a few key positions on offense, especially QB.

On defense, it will be interesting to see what he does.  Most of the offensive gurus give defense lip service, but don't normally put up great numbers on D.

But we'll be able to find more QBs in Texas that will be able to execute this offense, because it's all they've run their whole life.  They won't be trying to learn a pro-style offense, or a run-heavy offense... so they'll be more interested in coming here.

[greenit]

Anyone notice when RV dropped a nugget during the PC implying that their 'top 3' guys all received a HC gig.  It seemed to me he was implying Meacham was not a finalist and that what was being written was not very factual.

If he is telling the truth, then the three guys would have had to be:

1. Seth Littrell (UNC) hired by UNT
2. Mike Norvell (Arizona) hired by Memphis
3. Scott Frost (Oregon) hired by UCF

 

[HarringtonFishSmeller]

Can't make a prediction on his first year until we see who will be vying for the starting QB spot.  Also, keep an eye, in particular, on whom the DC will be.

[UNTFan23]

I'm just gonna leave this here ...

 

[EagleMBA]

Anyone notice when RV dropped a nugget during the PC implying that their 'top 3' guys all received a HC gig.  It seemed to me he was implying Meacham was not a finalist and that what was being written was not very factual.

If he is telling the truth, then the three guys would have had to be:

1. Seth Littrell (UNC) hired by UNT
2. Mike Norvell (Arizona) hired by Memphis
3. Scott Frost (Oregon) hired by UCF

 

For the sake of discussion, I took that comment to mean that the list of interviewees included three head coaches. I'll have to replay that. I remember thinking Fritz, Withers and ? someone else when that comment was made.

Added: I checked, and my impression was correct. See the replay shortly after the 22:35 mark.

 

Edited December 7, 2015 by EagleMBA
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[greenit]

For the sake of discussion, I took that comment to mean that the list of interviewees included three head coaches. I'll have to replay that. I remember thinking Fritz, Withers and ? someone else when that comment was made.

 

I went back and found it at the 22:50 mark of the press conference.  He did not say they were the top 3, he just mentioned that the quality of the search can be demonstrated by the fact that 3 of the candidates that they interviewed were named FBS HC.  "We weren't just interviewing anybody". 

We know they interviewed Littrell and Frost, the most likely other new HC that they would have interviewed is Norvell.

Edited December 7, 2015 by greenit

[EagleMBA]

Based on memory, I thought he mentioned that they all three got FBS HC gigs.  With that as the basis, Withers wouldn't qualify.  I know they said they interviewed Frost, of course Littrell interviewed, never saw anything about Norvell being interviewed, but that would certainly be the implication based on the now FBS HC comment. 

As I remember it, he was trying to reinforce how strong 'the top 3 candidates' were as evidenced by them all now being FBS head coaches. He certainly made mention of how wrong the media was in what they were reporting, which could have been a reference to Meacham.

Ooops! I was posting while YOU were posting. Again, anything after 22:00 puts it all in context. The comment itself is about 22:40.

http://www.meangreensports.com/collegesportslive/?media=515797

 

Edited December 7, 2015 by EagleMBA

[GreenTexan13]

He didn't give any details in response to the question about whether any staff will be retained, but I got the impression from his expression that he's going to clean house.

I hope so... This program is going to require demolishing the old rickety house and rebuild from the ground up. Granted that there are a couple good coaches that should stay, but the house needs to be new in 2016.