Littrell Hire Graded B+ by Bleacher Report

Harry · January 8, 2016

North Texas is not an easy place to win, but veteran coach Dan McCarney did have some initial success, including a 9-4 record and bowl win in 2013. Following an 0-5 start this fall, though, UNT officials had seen enough, canning McCarney with a 22-32 overall record.

North Texas is located in a bountiful recruiting area in the Dallas Metroplex, and the Mean Green has upgraded from the Sun Belt to Conference USA. Seth Littrell has solid experience with fast-paced offenses, spending the past six years as an offensive coordinator at Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina. The Tar Heels reached the ACC title game this season with Littrell’s system, averaging 40.1 points per game and ranking No. 11 nationally.

UNT is following the blueprint set by Houston, SMU and Tulsa, among others, by hiring a Power Five offensive coordinator with a fast-paced scheme. The Mean Green could have done a lot worse with their hire.

Grade: B+

Read more: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2606062-grading-every-new-college-football-head-coaching-hire/page/18

UNT90 · January 8, 2016

Bleacher report, eh?

Probably took the results from Cerebus's poll.

Ben Gooding · January 8, 2016

1 minute ago, UNT90 said:

Bleacher report, eh?

Probably took the results from Cerebus's poll.

Possibly. However, bleacher report is gaining a lot more credibility than it use to have a short few years ago.

UNT90 · January 8, 2016

Just now, Ben Gooding said:

Possibly. However, bleacher report is gaining a lot more credibility than it use to have a short few years ago.

Seems people only give it credibility when they want it to be credible.

Just sayin...

Ben Gooding · January 8, 2016

1 minute ago, UNT90 said:

Seems people only give it credibility when they want it to be credible.

Just sayin...

Regardless of this little report card they have been gaining credibility. They are also becoming the first to break many stories.

UNT90 · January 8, 2016

Just now, Ben Gooding said:

Regardless of this little report card they have been gaining credibility. They are also becoming the first to break many stories.

Until they report something you don't like, then it will be "any college kid can write for bleacher report."

I would actually give Cerebus's poll much more credibility.

Ben Gooding · January 8, 2016

Just now, UNT90 said:

Until they report something you don't like, then it will be "any college kid can write for bleacher report."

I would actually give Cerebus's poll much more credibility.

Regardless of what I like or don't like, they are breaking stories. That is my point.

UNTcrazy727 · January 8, 2016

20 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Until they report something you don't like, then it will be "any college kid can write for bleacher report."

I would actually give Cerebus's poll much more credibility.

Which is exactly what you're doing right now...

Ben Gooding · January 8, 2016

Just now, UNTcrazy727 said:

Which is exactly what you're doing right now...

The butthurt with 90 is strong. For him it was Wille Fritz or bust all along. Time will tell how he pans out at Tulane, by most accounts, is similar to UNT.

Of course 90 is still upset that RV is still here like we should all be. The difference with 90 is he can't point out and acknowledge a good job when a good job is taking place.

UNTexas · January 8, 2016

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

Seems people only give it credibility when they want it to be credible.

Just sayin...

Come on man! You are getting way to negative. Don't be Debbie Downer!!!

VideoEagle · January 8, 2016

There are fewer spelling and grammatical errors than most Bleacher Report articles. Maybe they are improving.

I doubt it though.

UNTFan23 · January 8, 2016

It helps that Bleacher Report is now owned by Time Warner (acquired in Aug 2012). That's an instant credibility bump right there.

UNT90 · January 8, 2016

1 hour ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Which is exactly what you're doing right now...

Except I would give them zero credibility if they said RV was resigning in February.

And we all know how bad I want that to be true...

rcade · January 8, 2016

1 hour ago, Ben Gooding said:

The butthurt with 90 is strong. For him it was Wille Fritz or bust all along.

If people are going to drag UNT90 out for a beating every time he makes a comment, they should get their facts right. He was never Fritz or bust. There were a few other potential coaches that met his criteria of having head coaching experience, experience in Texas and success in a place with limited resources. I think Chris Thomsen was another prospect he liked because of the seven seasons he led Abilene Christian and went 51-21.

UNT90 · January 8, 2016

1 hour ago, Ben Gooding said:

The butthurt with 90 is strong. For him it was Wille Fritz or bust all along. Time will tell how he pans out at Tulane, by most accounts, is similar to UNT.

Of course 90 is still upset that RV is still here like we should all be. The difference with 90 is he can't point out and acknowledge a good job when a good job is taking place.

Like what good job? No job has been done since the end of football season.

I acknowledged the Desoto kid was a good get. I'm waiting till signing day to go all gaga over something that hasn't materialized.

The pigeonholing is strong on this board. Don't fall victim. If critiquing the veracity of Bleacher Report is now considered being negative, you people have lost your damn minds!

Oh... Wait...

2 minutes ago, rcade said:

If people are going to drag UNT90 out for a beating every time he makes a comment, they should get their facts right. He was never Fritz or bust. There were a few other potential coaches that met his criteria of having head coaching experience, experience in Texas and success in a place with limited resources. I think Chris Thomsen was another prospect he liked because of the seven seasons he led Abilene Christian and went 51-21.

Yes, but don't fight the narrative.

Another lie is that I'm a triple option guy, even though I sad on multiple occasions I don't care what offense the new coach runs, as long as he has been a successful head coach in a Non-P5 that faced challenges.

Thomasen fit the bill, and I preferred him over Littrell. Still do.

It's gonna be really tough for Littrell to win at UNT. I hope he does it and proves me wrong, but I have my doubts.

Rudy · January 8, 2016

So far, this hire has been an instant upgrade. Granted, we have yet to see the results on the field, however, I would compare the Littrell hire to the Jim Nill hire as GM for the Stars. In both cases, you saw an immediate upgrade in talent and interest over their predecessors (McCarnney and Neuweindyk).

Edited January 8, 2016 by Rudy

Ben Gooding · January 8, 2016

2 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Like what good job? No job has been done since the end of football season.

I acknowledged the Desoto kid was a good get. I'm waiting till signing day to go all gaga over something that hasn't materialized.

The pigeonholing is strong on this board. Don't fall victim. If critiquing the veracity of Bleacher Report is now considered being negative, you people have lost your damn minds!

Oh... Wait...

It's not just the criticism of bleacher report. It's the sideways comments about everything.

I'm waiting until signing day too because I want to see what kind of high school guys we can actually land. Getting transfers interested is great and all, but we have only landed two of those. We need to land all 4 of our desired transfers in English, Morris, Kincade, and Stevenson for this 2-year transfer scenario to work out golden. Until then, I too will wait and see what we have coming in from the high school ranks.

GrandGreen · January 8, 2016

Bleacher report is apparently good enough to be quoted at every NT home football game. That's were that best band and drum line in the nation came from.

Bleacher report is not very different form any other sports commentary. It is someone's opinion based on generally limited knowledge. If people agree it is fine, if not it is only the "Bleacher Report".

UNT90 · January 8, 2016

1 minute ago, Ben Gooding said:

It's not just the criticism of bleacher report. It's the sideways comments about everything.

I'm waiting until signing day too because I want to see what kind of high school guys we can actually land. Getting transfers interested is great and all, but we have only landed two of those. We need to land all 4 of our desired transfers in English, Morris, Kincade, and Stevenson for this 2-year transfer scenario to work out golden. Until then, I too will wait and see what we have coming in from the high school ranks.

So negative, Ben Gooding.

Any post about wait and see is going to come off negative right now. A bunch of people are pissed I'm not jumping up and down about this hire. Well, sorry. I've taken a results oriented approach, and, believe it or not, would have with Fritz. He would have gotten a little more leeway because of his prior results, but I still wouldn't be going gaga over a third team Alabama QB and a DT transfer. Because there is a lot left to do.

And we still don't know how Littrell will be as a head coach. Dodge had some mighty good recruiting classes, but couldn't develop and coach at the college level. We have zero idea if Littrell is a good FBS head coach. We will have a pretty good idea about 8 games in.

GrandGreen · January 9, 2016

5 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

So negative, Ben Gooding.

Any post about wait and see is going to come off negative right now. A bunch of people are pissed I'm not jumping up and down about this hire. Well, sorry. I've taken a results oriented approach, and, believe it or not, would have with Fritz. He would have gotten a little more leeway because of his prior results, but I still wouldn't be going gaga over a third team Alabama QB and a DT transfer. Because there is a lot left to do.

And we still don't know how Littrell will be as a head coach. Dodge had some mighty good recruiting classes, but couldn't develop and coach at the college level. We have zero idea if Littrell is a good FBS head coach. We will have a pretty good idea about 8 games in.

No one expects anyone to go "gaga" until games are won. Likewise, there is no significant reason to be disappointed. New coaching hires generally fire up the fan base and most are happy until games are actually lost.

Dodge's hiring of a predominately high school coaching staff and McCarney's failure to generate any bump in recruiting were bad signs to me, I commented on both at the time. However, I didn't think all was lost and didn't numb everyone with continued comments.

With the state of NT's recruiting, I am almost certain; it will be better. NT will have newcomers at the most three important coaching positions. Higher risk but good upside and the supporting staff looks very promising. Far more experienced than Dodge's staff, and not dominated by "old school veterans" as McCarney's.

You are right it is too early to tell, but that works both ways.

NT93 · January 9, 2016

I don't care if it's Cerbus's poll or Bleacher Report and I don't care that 's it's early January, B+ beats a lot of alternatives . I agree the grade really means nothing and it means little more than nothing after NSD, but at this point in time UNT has reason for optimism and that's something we haven't had in while.

UNT90 · January 9, 2016

40 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

No one expects anyone to go "gaga" until games are won. Likewise, there is no significant reason to be disappointed. New coaching hires generally fire up the fan base and most are happy until games are actually lost.

Dodge's hiring of a predominately high school coaching staff and McCarney's failure to generate any bump in recruiting were bad signs to me, I commented on both at the time. However, I didn't think all was lost and didn't numb everyone with continued comments.

With the state of NT's recruiting, I am almost certain; it will be better. NT will have newcomers at the most three important coaching positions. Higher risk but good upside and the supporting staff looks very promising. Far more experienced than Dodge's staff, and not dominated by "old school veterans" as McCarney's.

You are right it is too early to tell, but that works both ways.

My continued comments are not directed at this coaching staff, they are directed at an AD who deserves every single one of them. As a matter of fact, the AD's dismissal will probably determine whether or not Littrell is successful. He would have a MUCH better shot with a professional AD above him.

So again, it's wait and see with the coaching staff (youth and experience of assistants is slightly concerning), but hammer down on an AD that has consistently lied to this fan base.