Seth Littrell hoping to transform North Texas

Harry · January 18, 2016

The last University of North Texas head coach to leave the school with a winning record was Hayden Fry.

That was in 1978.

Seth Littrell intends to change that.

Littrell, the Muskogee product and former University of Oklahoma fullback, is just over a month into his first head coaching gig, and while every college football program has its own unique challenges, UNT’s got so bad last year Dan McCarney was fired midway through the season — right after a game.

In its first season in Conference USA, McCarney’s 2013 Mean Green squad went 9-4 and played in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. But the program quickly hit the skids, going 4-8 in 2014 and starting 0-5 in 2015 — which included a 66-7 to Portland State, the worst loss ever by an FBS school to an FCS program. Athletic director Rick Villarreal fired McCarney minutes later.

North Texas finished 1-11, and Littrell was hired Dec. 5 for what looks like a major cleanup project.

“I don’t know how much of a cleanup project it is,” Littrell said in a telephone interview. “I think the biggest thing is going in and whatever has happened in the past, everybody has to understand that everybody has a fresh start and we’re starting anew, and now it’s about going in and making sure we implement our program and implement our plan and making sure that everybody in that building understands that we’re accountable for what our core values will be, and we’re all gonna do it together.”

read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/sports/highschools/john-e-hoover-muskogee-product-and-former-sooner-seth-littrell/article_cc8a5f1b-e583-5247-afc3-924947e05bf6.html#.Vp09i6dUqSQ.twitter

rcade · January 18, 2016

54 minutes ago, Harry said:

... now it’s about going in and making sure we implement our program and implement our plan and making sure that everybody in that building understands that we’re accountable ...

If he's instituting a culture of accountability, I know who he should start with.

Edited January 18, 2016 by rcade

physics90 · January 18, 2016

1 minute ago, rcade said:

If he's instituting a culture of accountability, I know who he should start with.

Amen

UNT90 · January 18, 2016

1 hour ago, Harry said:

The last University of North Texas head coach to leave the school with a winning record was Hayden Fry.

That was in 1978.

Seth Littrell intends to change that.

Littrell, the Muskogee product and former University of Oklahoma fullback, is just over a month into his first head coaching gig, and while every college football program has its own unique challenges, UNT’s got so bad last year Dan McCarney was fired midway through the season — right after a game.

In its first season in Conference USA, McCarney’s 2013 Mean Green squad went 9-4 and played in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. But the program quickly hit the skids, going 4-8 in 2014 and starting 0-5 in 2015 — which included a 66-7 to Portland State, the worst loss ever by an FBS school to an FCS program. Athletic director Rick Villarreal fired McCarney minutes later.

North Texas finished 1-11, and Littrell was hired Dec. 5 for what looks like a major cleanup project.

“I don’t know how much of a cleanup project it is,” Littrell said in a telephone interview. “I think the biggest thing is going in and whatever has happened in the past, everybody has to understand that everybody has a fresh start and we’re starting anew, and now it’s about going in and making sure we implement our program and implement our plan and making sure that everybody in that building understands that we’re accountable for what our core values will be, and we’re all gonna do it together.”

read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/sports/highschools/john-e-hoover-muskogee-product-and-former-sooner-seth-littrell/article_cc8a5f1b-e583-5247-afc3-924947e05bf6.html#.Vp09i6dUqSQ.twitter

The biggest problem with the accountability statement is it rings hollow to those who know there has been zero accountability for Litrell's immediate supervisor. And that is the problem with the culture that is UNT. Only a new AD can call for accountability without being snickered at the moment he leaves the room.

It sucks for our new coach, who no doubt has the best intentions. But the players that are smart enough to know that the university ultimately doesn't care whether they win or lose aren't going to buy in, plain and simple.,

Edited January 18, 2016 by UNT90

rcade · January 18, 2016

4 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

It sucks for our new coach, who no doubt has the best intentions. But the players that are smart enough to know that the university ultimately doesn't care whether they win or lose aren't going to buy in, plain and simple.,

I think you overestimate how much the players think about the AD. The relationship they have to buy into is the one with Littrell.

UNTexas · January 18, 2016

7 minutes ago, rcade said:

I think you overestimate how much the players think about the AD. The relationship they have to buy into is the one with Littrell.

100% true statement. Players only deal with the AD when he/she gives atta boy handsakes at practice, games, or events. The position coaches are the people in the players lives the most but the head coach runs everything that involves the players.

UNT90 · January 18, 2016

24 minutes ago, rcade said:

I think you overestimate how much the players think about the AD. The relationship they have to buy into is the one with Littrell.

I do think the players notice attendance, or lack thereof, game presentation, roster mistakes, and the general attitude toward athletic at UNT. The really smart ones see the cause and effect of lack of accountability in the ADs office as related to athletics as a whole, but obviously not every player, and certainly not new players.

untjim1995 · January 18, 2016

41 minutes ago, UNTexas said:

100% true statement. Players only deal with the AD when he/she gives atta boy handsakes at practice, games, or events. The position coaches are the people in the players lives the most but the head coach runs everything that involves the players.

RV isn't the players problem--he is Littrell's problem and the fans' problem.

The only reason that anyone can doubt if Seth Littrell can really make it work here is solely because of his AD--not his background, success as a play-caller, or his values. But his OOC scheduling will be horrible and the gameday marketing and promotion just sucks. Nobody has been able to overcome this, no matter the stadium or the conference we play in.

Maybe Littrell is the guy to really turn things around here and will join Hayden Fry as the next UNT coach to leave here as a winner for a better job--he certainly has the pedigree. But the odds are not on his side.

HarringtonFishSmeller · January 18, 2016

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

The biggest problem with the accountability statement is it rings hollow to those who know there has been zero accountability for Litrell's immediate supervisor. And that is the problem with the culture that is UNT. Only a new AD can call for accountability without being snickered at the moment he leaves the room.

It sucks for our new coach, who no doubt has the best intentions. But the players that are smart enough to know that the university ultimately doesn't care whether they win or lose aren't going to buy in, plain and simple.,

Not only that, but based on the excellent academic achievement of the team under McCarney, it rings even more hollow to me to just say there was no accountability before.

If there were no accountability, Dajon Williams would still be on the team. If the were no accountability, Damarcus Smith wouldn't have had the shouting tantrum at the coaches for not playing him because he wasn't prepared.

I don't think accountability was an issue. If anything, Mac's staff did a good job of having the player be accountable. The problems was, we had no quarterback on the roster who could play at this level.

What sunk Mac & Company wasn't lack of accountability; it was lack of the ability of correctly judge talent coming out of high school. And, look...when you are living in that area of recruiting where you are getting zero to two-star kids, it isn't easy to judge. Almost every kid you take in that group is a dice roll.

Even if you hit on one or two of those, you are still talking about nine/ten positions filled with zero to two-star kids who are not hits. And, that, my friends, is what did Mac & Company in. And, he's not alone...many a-G5 coach gets caught not being able to get their roster full of zero to two-star players to overachieve.

Wag Tag · January 19, 2016

4 hours ago, Harry said:

The last University of North Texas head coach to leave the school with a winning record was Hayden Fry.

That was in 1978.

Seth Littrell intends to change that.

Littrell, the Muskogee product and former University of Oklahoma fullback, is just over a month into his first head coaching gig, and while every college football program has its own unique challenges, UNT’s got so bad last year Dan McCarney was fired midway through the season — right after a game.

In its first season in Conference USA, McCarney’s 2013 Mean Green squad went 9-4 and played in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. But the program quickly hit the skids, going 4-8 in 2014 and starting 0-5 in 2015 — which included a 66-7 to Portland State, the worst loss ever by an FBS school to an FCS program. Athletic director Rick Villarreal fired McCarney minutes later.

North Texas finished 1-11, and Littrell was hired Dec. 5 for what looks like a major cleanup project.

“I don’t know how much of a cleanup project it is,” Littrell said in a telephone interview. “I think the biggest thing is going in and whatever has happened in the past, everybody has to understand that everybody has a fresh start and we’re starting anew, and now it’s about going in and making sure we implement our program and implement our plan and making sure that everybody in that building understands that we’re accountable for what our core values will be, and we’re all gonna do it together.”

read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/sports/highschools/john-e-hoover-muskogee-product-and-former-sooner-seth-littrell/article_cc8a5f1b-e583-5247-afc3-924947e05bf6.html#.Vp09i6dUqSQ.twitter

Wonder what coach Phil at U Tulsa thought of the article? Nice pub for UNT in the Tulsa area! GMG

Cr1028 · January 19, 2016

18 hours ago, UNT90 said:

I do think the players notice attendance, or lack thereof, game presentation, roster mistakes, and the general attitude toward athletic at UNT. The really smart ones see the cause and effect of lack of accountability in the ADs office as related to athletics as a whole, but obviously not every player, and certainly not new players..

I know he sux in a lot of areas but this season's attendance wasn't on him directly. Don King, Oscar de la Hoya, and Floyd Mayweather could've been promoting our attendance this season and it wouldn't have been a noticeable gain. The problem was the on-field product. Nobody wanted to watch our program disintegrating in real time. He took care of the problem by firing McCarney. Attendance will undoubtedly be substantially higher this year.

UNT90 · January 19, 2016

15 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

I know he sux in a lot of areas but this season's attendance wasn't on him directly. Don King, Oscar de la Hoya, and Floyd Mayweather could've been promoting our attendance this season and it wouldn't have been a noticeable gain. The problem was the on-field product. Nobody wanted to watch our program disintegrating in real time. He took care of the problem by firing McCarney. Attendance will undoubtedly be substantially higher this year.

It was DIRECTLY on him. He scheduled a crappy FCS that beat the F out of us by 59 points. On homecoming. That killed everything.

He scheduled TWO whore games where they beat the crap out of us.

No season attendance has ever been more on an AD more than 2015 was on Rick Villarreal.

I think you will be unhappily surprised at attendance next season, especially if RV is still AD come September 3rd.

SMU will bring their usual 100 fans. Lol.

Edited January 19, 2016 by UNT90

Cr1028 · January 19, 2016

26 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

It was DIRECTLY on him. He scheduled a crappy FCS that beat the F out of us by 59 points. On homecoming. That killed everything.

He scheduled TWO whore games where they beat the crap out of us.

No season attendance has ever been more on an AD more than 2015 was on Rick Villarreal.

I think you will be unhappily surprised at attendance next season, especially if RV is still AD come September 3rd.

SMU will bring their usual 100 fans. Lol.

Week 1 bye was boneheaded. We all agree on that. Nobody, including you and me, expected PSU to be good enough to beat us before the season began. I'm absolutely against scheduling FCS teams but from my recollection, that was a McCarney preference more than a RV preference. I enjoy opportunity or "whore" games as you put it. They put our name out there more than playing MTSU and LaTech. Besides, except for 013, 2009, and 2006, we've played a minimum of 2 P5s in every season for at least the past 15 years.

UNTLifer · January 19, 2016

Nice publicity and a good article in an area we should do well in recruiting.

Edited January 19, 2016 by UNTLifer

UNT90 · January 19, 2016

9 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

Week 1 bye was boneheaded. We all agree on that. Nobody, including you and me, expected PSU to be good enough to beat us before the season began. I'm absolutely against scheduling FCS teams but from my recollection, that was a McCarney preference more than a RV preference. I enjoy opportunity or "whore" games as you put it. They put our name out there more than playing MTSU and LaTech. Besides, except for 013, 2009, and 2006, we've played a minimum of 2 P5s in every season for at least the past 15 years.

Actually I warned that RV would schedule a FCS that would beat us, and I made that warning several years ago.

I had no idea it would be a record breaking beat down of the most embarrassing proportions.

I think you may be wrong about how often we played 2 P5s. And you need to amend that to how often we played 2 P5s on the road. (Indiana in 2011 and K St in 2010 were at home).

If you enjoy whorin our young men, you are definitely a fan of the right program.

Edited January 19, 2016 by UNT90

emmitt01 · January 19, 2016

11 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

Week 1 bye was boneheaded. We all agree on that. Nobody, including you and me, expected PSU to be good enough to beat us before the season began. I'm absolutely against scheduling FCS teams but from my recollection, that was a McCarney preference more than a RV preference. I enjoy opportunity or "whore" games as you put it. They put our name out there more than playing MTSU and LaTech. Besides, except for 013, 2009, and 2006, we've played a minimum of 2 P5s in every season for at least the past 15 years.

Hmmm , now what else has been the same for the last 15 years?

Please, tell me, what was the best promotions push you saw last year? What awesome "outside the box" idea did you see employed by this athletic department that made you sit up and take notice? Because if you can't think of one that is ENTIRELY on RV.

We are in no position to let "home openers sell themselves" or to depend on winning to "cure all". We don't have the built in fanbase to sit back, do nothing, and expect attendance. Yes, weather events happen to us. The first game is generally hot and one game a year is usually rainy or cold. Last I checked NT has always been in Denton, TX so a smart man would plan for these things and promote accordingly. Do we ALWAYS seem to play on TX/OU weekend? Yep, so why have we never turned that strength to a weakness? Would discounted wingzone tickets with a TX/OU ticket stub be impossible? Or, and I know this just crazy talk, why couldn't we set up a jumbotron that shows the TX/OU game in the Fouts lot (our fans are watching it at their tailgates anyway). Think one or two people might show up to a watching party and then wander across the bridge...especially if you had dancers or Talons selling cheap tickets AT the watching party? We know many would show up in orange or red, so perhaps you find a sponsor willing to spring for t-shirts to get them appropriately dressed for the remainder of their day. Nah, why would we ever want to get families off their couch and onto our campus that day.

We can sit back and use the same ol' North Texas logic and be pacified by the same fruitless promises...and get the same results.

"People will come when we leave Fouts"

"People wil come when we win"

"People will come when we leave the Sun Belt"

"People will come when this coach or that coach is gone"

Let me make this clear, we will NEVER, not ever, sell out our stadium and gain the interest and respect of Denton (much less the state or nation) by waiting for them to come to us and not putting forth the effort. Losers sit across the bar from the gorgeous woman and mutter to their friends "she'd date me if I were richer" or "I bet she'd sleep with me if I looked like Brad Pitt" or "wait until after I've made something of myself, THEN I'll go talk to her". That guy she's going home with tonight walked over to her, showed his interest, sold himself, and closed the f'ing deal! Under RV we are not closers...so I hope we enjoy a sports lifetime of online Halo tournaments.

MeanGreenTexan · January 19, 2016

13 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

Hmmm , now what else has been the same for the last 15 years?

Please, tell me, what was the best promotions push you saw last year? What awesome "outside the box" idea did you see employed by this athletic department that made you sit up and take notice? Because if you can't think of one that is ENTIRELY on RV.

We are in no position to let "home openers sell themselves" or to depend on winning to "cure all". We don't have the built in fanbase to sit back, do nothing, and expect attendance. Yes, weather events happen to us. The first game is generally hot and one game a year is usually rainy or cold. Last I checked NT has always been in Denton, TX so a smart man would plan for these things and promote accordingly. Do we ALWAYS seem to play on TX/OU weekend? Yep, so why have we never turned that strength to a weakness? Would discounted wingzone tickets with a TX/OU ticket stub be impossible? Or, and I know this just crazy talk, why couldn't we set up a jumbotron that shows the TX/OU game in the Fouts lot (our fans are watching it at their tailgates anyway). Think one or two people might show up to a watching party and then wander across the bridge...especially if you had dancers or Talons selling cheap tickets AT the watching party? We know many would show up in orange or red, so perhaps you find a sponsor willing to spring for t-shirts to get them appropriately dressed for the remainder of their day. Nah, why would we ever want to get families off their couch and onto our campus that day.

We can sit back and use the same ol' North Texas logic and be pacified by the same fruitless promises...and get the same results.

"People will come when we leave Fouts"

"People wil come when we win"

"People will come when we leave the Sun Belt"

"People will come when this coach or that coach is gone"

Let me make this clear, we will NEVER, not ever, sell out our stadium and gain the interest and respect of Denton (much less the state or nation) by waiting for them to come to us and not putting forth the effort. Losers sit across the bar from the gorgeous woman and mutter to their friends "she'd date me if I were richer" or "I bet she'd sleep with me if I looked like Brad Pitt" or "wait until after I've made something of myself, THEN I'll go talk to her". That guy she's going home with tonight walked over to her, showed his interest, sold himself, and closed the f'ing deal! Under RV we are not closers...so I hope we enjoy a sports lifetime of online Halo tournaments.

Oh heck no. I don't want my University sanctioning an event based on 2 other Universities.

There are alot of great ideas out there to implement, and you have some (and have had some in the past)... but this one, no.

GreenTexan13 · January 19, 2016

41 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Oh heck no. I don't want my University sanctioning an event based on 2 other Universities.

There are alot of great ideas out there to implement, and you have some (and have had some in the past)... but this one, no.

I agree, keep the burnt orange fans and Crimson red fans out. Yes its a good idea, to get bodies in the stadium. But that dilutes the whole purpose of the day... And that is UNT. UNT always struggles with people just going to tailgate outside the stadium, I think that adds to the dilemma.

1 hour ago, emmitt01 said:

Hmmm , now what else has been the same for the last 15 years?

Please, tell me, what was the best promotions push you saw last year? What awesome "outside the box" idea did you see employed by this athletic department that made you sit up and take notice? Because if you can't think of one that is ENTIRELY on RV.

We are in no position to let "home openers sell themselves" or to depend on winning to "cure all". We don't have the built in fanbase to sit back, do nothing, and expect attendance. Yes, weather events happen to us. The first game is generally hot and one game a year is usually rainy or cold. Last I checked NT has always been in Denton, TX so a smart man would plan for these things and promote accordingly. Do we ALWAYS seem to play on TX/OU weekend? Yep, so why have we never turned that strength to a weakness? Would discounted wingzone tickets with a TX/OU ticket stub be impossible? Or, and I know this just crazy talk, why couldn't we set up a jumbotron that shows the TX/OU game in the Fouts lot (our fans are watching it at their tailgates anyway). Think one or two people might show up to a watching party and then wander across the bridge...especially if you had dancers or Talons selling cheap tickets AT the watching party? We know many would show up in orange or red, so perhaps you find a sponsor willing to spring for t-shirts to get them appropriately dressed for the remainder of their day. Nah, why would we ever want to get families off their couch and onto our campus that day.

We can sit back and use the same ol' North Texas logic and be pacified by the same fruitless promises...and get the same results.

"People will come when we leave Fouts"

"People wil come when we win"

"People will come when we leave the Sun Belt"

"People will come when this coach or that coach is gone"

Let me make this clear, we will NEVER, not ever, sell out our stadium and gain the interest and respect of Denton (much less the state or nation) by waiting for them to come to us and not putting forth the effort. Losers sit across the bar from the gorgeous woman and mutter to their friends "she'd date me if I were richer" or "I bet she'd sleep with me if I looked like Brad Pitt" or "wait until after I've made something of myself, THEN I'll go talk to her". That guy she's going home with tonight walked over to her, showed his interest, sold himself, and closed the f'ing deal! Under RV we are not closers...so I hope we enjoy a sports lifetime of online Halo tournaments.

Very good post Mr. emmitt. One thing I want to nit pick is the winning part. RV could walk around all season with his underwear on his head and I guaran-damn-tee you people will come when there is consistent winning. 1-11 is not going to get the chick across from the bar. 12-0 or even (2013's) 9-4 will get the chick's attention. We have established such a terrible reputation as a loser football program. To me, the only medicine that will fix that is winning. RV could drink a magic potion and become the best AD in the world tomorrow... And he ain't going to convince people to give up their time to pay attention and watch NT football with the likes of 1-11. The damage is already done by the man and the lack of effort. Losing is just fueling the dumpster fire.

untjim1995 · January 19, 2016

To Emmitt's point, tell CUSA headquarters that we won't play a game that starts before 6:00 on Texas/OU weekend. Nobody else in our conference deals with this phenomenon in their backyard, so we need help.

And when you make a schedule, a game in Denton, TX after Thanksgiving is retarded. That should always be a road game or a bye week. Play the week after, if needed.

We do stupid stuff in scheduling that doesn't even require us to talk about the ridiculous OOC scheduling. First game of the season in Apogee needs to be at night. No day game on Texas/OU weekend. No more bye weeks to open the f-ing season. And no home games on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I get that CUSA has a TV deal and all, but our AD needs to be going to the commissioner and showing the real data here for those games. It can be fixed and it should be eagerly helped by your conference commissioner. If they won't help you with it, you really have to ask yourself why they won't and what recourse you have, if any. If its just a simple, "Too Bad...this is what you'll do and that's it", you have to remember that and get better to move away or help get rid of that commissioner. An AD who wasn't lazy and content would do that kinda stuff here...instead we get #UNTADforlife who is good for nothing.

MeanGreenTexan · January 19, 2016

7 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

To Emmitt's point, tell CUSA headquarters that we won't play a game that starts before 6:00 on Texas/OU weekend. Nobody else in our conference deals with this phenomenon in their backyard, so we need help.

And when you make a schedule, a game in Denton, TX after Thanksgiving is retarded. That should always be a road game or a bye week. Play the week after, if needed.

We do stupid stuff in scheduling that doesn't even require us to talk about the ridiculous OOC scheduling. First game of the season in Apogee needs to be at night. No day game on Texas/OU weekend. No more bye weeks to open the f-ing season. And no home games on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I get that CUSA has a TV deal and all, but our AD needs to be going to the commissioner and showing the real data here for those games. It can be fixed and it should be eagerly helped by your conference commissioner. If they won't help you with it, you really have to ask yourself why they won't and what recourse you have, if any. If its just a simple, "Too Bad...this is what you'll do and that's it", you have to remember that and get better to move away or help get rid of that commissioner. An AD who wasn't lazy and content would do that kinda stuff here...instead we get #UNTADforlife who is good for nothing.

Anyone/Everyone who bi***es about scheduling... you do realize that the conference schedules are put together by C-USA, not Rick V, right? RIGHT??
Sure, Rick is responsible for non-conference schedules, but he has no say on the C-USA slate.

To the 1st bolded point: I think we could possibly have an argument there. Heck, we could even plead that weekend to be an away-game weekend for us. It is definitely a special circumstance for UNT in C-USA. Surely C-USA has some sort of request vetting process for this type of thing. And while he's at it, I would hope Rick would also request to break up the "All 3 TX schools @Apogee, then All 3 TX schools away" schedule. That is really dumb.

Now to the 2nd bolded point: The time of year when Thanksgiving games take place is during conference play. So 1/2 of the conference is going to have to play a home game during that weekend. Please tell me you understand. If UNT were to petition to make that an away game EVERY SINGLE YEAR (as I'm sure EVERY C-USA school would like), he would get laughed at by the C-USA office. Did you really not know this?

untjim1995 · January 19, 2016

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Anyone/Everyone who bi***es about scheduling... you do realize that the conference schedules are put together by C-USA, not Rick V, right? RIGHT??
Sure, Rick is responsible for non-conference schedules, but he has no say on the C-USA slate.

To the 1st bolded point: I think we could possibly have an argument there. Heck, we could even plead that weekend to be an away-game weekend for us. It is definitely a special circumstance for UNT in C-USA. Surely C-USA has some sort of request vetting process for this type of thing. And while he's at it, I would hope Rick would also request to break up the "All 3 TX schools @Apogee, then All 3 TX schools away" schedule. That is really dumb.

Now to the 2nd bolded point: The time of year when Thanksgiving games take place is during conference play. So 1/2 of the conference is going to have to play a home game during that weekend. Please tell me you understand. If UNT were to petition to make that an away game EVERY SINGLE YEAR (as I'm sure EVERY C-USA school would like), he would get laughed at by the C-USA office. Did you really not know this?

Wow--condescend much?

If CUSA schools cannot draw people to games after Thanksgiving, it would seem that, again, they could go to their TV partners--with some fairly telling data--and show them that this is a weekend we will take a bye.

For the second part, where you were not being condescending, everything you hit on would be very appropriate to do as the AD.

MeanGreenTexan · January 19, 2016

2 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Wow--condescend much?

If CUSA schools cannot draw people to games after Thanksgiving, it would seem that, again, they could go to their TV partners--with some fairly telling data--and show them that this is a weekend we will take a bye.

For the second part, where you were not being condescending, everything you hit on would be very appropriate to do as the AD.

Indeed I was. You needed a stern talking-to.

So now you're saying we should make the Thanksgiving weekend a bye week for the entire conference?
This will either take away the existing byes (which I don't think any University AD/President will condone)
Or,
Insert 2 byes per season, therefore extending the season by an extra week. This would cause the C-USA championship game to be played the weekend between everyone else's championship games & the week before bowls start.
I'm sure ESPN would be extremely upset with C-USA because they don't want to wait around for the C-USA championship game to shake out their bowl schedule... and that could cause several bowls cutting ties with C-USA.

We're just going to have to deal with playing a home game during the weekend after Thanksgiving every other year, just like everyone else. This is a silly discussion.

untjim1995 · January 19, 2016

5 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Indeed I was. You needed a stern talking-to.

So now you're saying we should make the Thanksgiving weekend a bye week for the entire conference?
This will either take away the existing byes (which I don't think any University AD/President will condone)
Or,
Insert 2 byes per season, therefore extending the season by an extra week. This would cause the C-USA championship game to be played the weekend between everyone else's championship games & the week before bowls start.
I'm sure ESPN would be extremely upset with C-USA because they don't want to wait around for the C-USA championship game to shake out their bowl schedule... and that could cause several bowls cutting ties with C-USA.

We're just going to have to deal with playing a home game during the weekend after Thanksgiving every other year, just like everyone else. This is a silly discussion.

Fair enough...

And I totally forgot about the CUSA Conference Championship Game--I wonder why...

You got me, MGT--seriously, you got the best of me on this one...

GMG24 · January 19, 2016

34 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Anyone/Everyone who bi***es about scheduling... you do realize that the conference schedules are put together by C-USA, not Rick V, right? RIGHT??
Sure, Rick is responsible for non-conference schedules, but he has no say on the C-USA slate.

To the 1st bolded point: I think we could possibly have an argument there. Heck, we could even plead that weekend to be an away-game weekend for us. It is definitely a special circumstance for UNT in C-USA. Surely C-USA has some sort of request vetting process for this type of thing. And while he's at it, I would hope Rick would also request to break up the "All 3 TX schools @Apogee, then All 3 TX schools away" schedule. That is really dumb.

Now to the 2nd bolded point: The time of year when Thanksgiving games take place is during conference play. So 1/2 of the conference is going to have to play a home game during that weekend. Please tell me you understand. If UNT were to petition to make that an away game EVERY SINGLE YEAR (as I'm sure EVERY C-USA school would like), he would get laughed at by the C-USA office. Did you really not know this?

He can sure ask and go to bat, to fix issues such as always playing all the texas schools either on the road or at home and never a combination. Or drawing the 3 toughest East teams in back to back years. There are things he can do but you are correct in that CUSA people set those schedules.

MeanGreenTexan · January 19, 2016

3 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Fair enough...

And I totally forgot about the CUSA Conference Championship Game--I wonder why...

You got me, MGT--seriously, you got the best of me on this one...

I respect you sir.

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