Dear Rick Villarreal and Future New Athletic Director

filmerj · May 28, 2016

23 hours ago, Mo Green said:

Black- do we need as much black in our uniforms since out sports might not be on death watch with new coaches and new AD? I hope we get away from that color as much as we do use it! I hope the new AD makes us proud of Green again.

The kids go crazy for the black.

Arkstfan · May 29, 2016

I've dealt with RV and felt he was a class act in a business that needs more class acts. He got the significance of the internet before a lot of G5 types did.

But he never found his groove in scheduling from what I could see as an outsider and frankly how do you make a bowl and lose season ticket holders, how do you win four league titles and not get a serious capital campaign going? I don't know the politics at UNT and maybe some of that doesn't land on him or was only open to him with onerous restrictions.

I hope he has massive success and happiness in whatever happens next. Truthfully I think he'd be a helluva conference commissioner. Despite the constant message board harping on commissioners the reality is they carry very little power with the member schools having the real power and the Commissioner's role is one of providing advice and helping the members find consensus, my impression is he could be very good in that role for someone.

FirefightnRick · May 29, 2016

15 minutes ago, Arkstfan said:

I've dealt with RV and felt he was a class act in a business that needs more class acts. He got the significance of the internet before a lot of G5 types did.

But he never found his groove in scheduling from what I could see as an outsider and frankly how do you make a bowl and lose season ticket holders, how do you win four league titles and not get a serious capital campaign going? I don't know the politics at UNT and maybe some of that doesn't land on him or was only open to him with onerous restrictions.

I hope he has massive success and happiness in whatever happens next. Truthfully I think he'd be a helluva conference commissioner. Despite the constant message board harping on commissioners the reality is they carry very little power with the member schools having the real power and the Commissioner's role is one of providing advice and helping the members find consensus, my impression is he could be very good in that role for someone.

smh

Rick

UNT90 · May 29, 2016

9 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

I've dealt with RV and felt he was a class act in a business that needs more class acts. He got the significance of the internet before a lot of G5 types did.

But he never found his groove in scheduling from what I could see as an outsider and frankly how do you make a bowl and lose season ticket holders, how do you win four league titles and not get a serious capital campaign going? I don't know the politics at UNT and maybe some of that doesn't land on him or was only open to him with onerous restrictions.

I hope he has massive success and happiness in whatever happens next. Truthfully I think he'd be a helluva conference commissioner. Despite the constant message board harping on commissioners the reality is they carry very little power with the member schools having the real power and the Commissioner's role is one of providing advice and helping the members find consensus, my impression is he could be very good in that role for someone.

If that conference wants a guy that will divide the membership to ensure that he remains commissioner, a guy that will manipulate and suck up to the most powerful members of said conference while alienating the less powerful, a guy that will put his employment before anything else, a guy that will lie to protect himself and his job, they got the right guy.

GreenTexan13 · May 29, 2016

On 5/26/2016 at 4:31 PM, untjim1995 said:

I figured names like Texas Southern, "Let's get them while they're still kinda like an FCS team", Dajon's "pre-you're grounded", Mac's retirement check, and Bethune Cookman would help bring out the fans since I run a very clean program...//RV

FIFY ^

Edited May 29, 2016 by GreenTexan13

VideoEagle · May 31, 2016

On May 29, 2016 at 0:19 AM, Arkstfan said:

I've dealt with RV and felt he was a class act in a business that needs more class acts. He got the significance of the internet before a lot of G5 types did.

But he never found his groove in scheduling from what I could see as an outsider and frankly how do you make a bowl and lose season ticket holders, how do you win four league titles and not get a serious capital campaign going? I don't know the politics at UNT and maybe some of that doesn't land on him or was only open to him with onerous restrictions.

I hope he has massive success and happiness in whatever happens next. Truthfully I think he'd be a helluva conference commissioner. Despite the constant message board harping on commissioners the reality is they carry very little power with the member schools having the real power and the Commissioner's role is one of providing advice and helping the members find consensus, my impression is he could be very good in that role for someone.

I'd certainly take RV over Karl. One of RVs strengths was working behind the scene to build consensus, although not so much with parts of our fan base. You can last as long As an AD without building support behind the scenes.

oldguystudent · May 31, 2016

I would really like to see more coach/fan fisticuffs in the stands. It doesn't violate any NCAA rules, gets publicity for the school, and presents a joint bad-ass image to potential recruits.

UNT90 · May 31, 2016

41 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

I would really like to see more coach/fan fisticuffs in the stands. It doesn't violate any NCAA rules, gets publicity for the school, and presents a joint bad-ass image to potential recruits.

Ramon Flanagan vs Silver Eagle really didn't provide much of a bump in attendance.

Just sayin...

oldguystudent · May 31, 2016

6 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Ramon Flanagan vs Silver Eagle really didn't provide much of a bump in attendance.

Just sayin...

Sounds like a real sweetheart of a guy. This from March, 2015:

Quote

With a shocking level of vitriol aimed directly at his boss, Ramon Flanigan resigned his post as Lincoln’s head football coach on Monday following a pair of highly disappointing seasons.

“ … Due to the professional ineptitude, organizational negligence and insufficient support of the athletic director, Darryl Pope, I am resigning my position effective March 16, 2015,” Flanigan wrote in his resignation letter, which was obtained by the Daily Local News.

In 14 career games against Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents, Flanigan’s Lions were 0-14, and outscored by a combined 673-212 – an average defeat of 48-15.

VideoEagle · May 31, 2016

6 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

Sounds like a real sweetheart of a guy. This from March, 2015:

Wow, I what a resignation. Not very bright on Ramon's part, but not surprising considering Ramon's past behavior. I would think even people who disliked his AD would be hesitant to hire him as a head coach as any level ever again.

Working in TV, I've seen some people go out with a blaze of glory but those people have a resume to find other work DESPITE the resignation style.

TreeFiddy · May 31, 2016

Sounds like the AD and Silver had similar opinions of his work output.

untjim1995 · May 31, 2016

28 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

Wow, I what a resignation. Not very bright on Ramon's part, but not surprising considering Ramon's past behavior. I would think even people who disliked his AD would be hesitant to hire him as a head coach as any level ever again.

Working in TV, I've seen some people go out with a blaze of glory but those people have a resume to find other work DESPITE the resignation style.

One of the absolute sorriest guys I've ever met. It still boggles my mind that he wasn't fired on the spot for getting into a huge argument with a fan while leaving the coaches' box before halftime. And that isn't even counting the fact that his days as an OC here were about as boring as an offense can get.

oldguystudent · May 31, 2016

3 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

his days as an OC here were about as boring as an offense can get.

Go on...I'm listening....

untjim1995 · May 31, 2016

4 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

Go on...I'm listening....

Oldguystudent, they are appallingly close...and I mean sleepy-time draw plays or bubble screens on third and 10...

MeanGreenTexan · May 31, 2016

1 minute ago, oldguystudent said:

Go on...I'm listening....

Think: sweep right, sweep-left, draw, punt... repeat. Hence you have some super-awesome RBs that came through here at the time.
The run was used to set up THE pass... as in 1 pass. Usually a home run to a streaking Johnny Quinn for a TD.

FirefightnRick · May 31, 2016

3 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Oldguystudent, they are appallingly close...and I mean sleepy-time draw plays or bubble screens on third and 10...

Hang on there,...have you forgotten what led to the "Throw The Ball!!" chant at TCU?

One of the funniest things I've ever witnessed at a live sporting event.

Rick

untjim1995 · May 31, 2016

7 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

Hang on there,...have you forgotten what led to the "Throw The Ball!!" chant at TCU?

One of the funniest things I've ever witnessed at a live sporting event.

Rick

Oh I remember...while sitting with the TCU fans who graciously brought my wife and I to the game in their seats on the TCU side. I laughed--as did the other TCU fans around us. I'll never forget how hard our defense played that day. We literally kept LaDanian Tomlinson completely in check--he may have gotten a 100 yards, but barely. We were losing by 10 points, 13-3, in going into the 4th quarter. We scored our FG in the 2nd quarter on a fake punt that got us into TCU territory--the only time we got there. We literally never threw the ball, so the crowd finally started the famous chant. It was as big of a giveup as the Dickster ever showed us--we literally handed the ball off every down just to run out the clock. I believe we finally lost that game like 23-3, but it was so there for the taking.

And, IIRC, this was the same season that you and few hearty fans watched us beat NMSU at Fouts in the last game of the year. And when I saw a few hearty fans, I'm thinking there were almost 250 of you in the stands for a Division 1-A football game.

Cerebus · May 31, 2016

17 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

It still boggles my mind that he wasn't fired on the spot for getting into a huge argument with a fan while leaving the coaches' box before halftime.

At Fouts the coaches had to walk from the pressbox through the stands, down to the field and then across the field to the locker rooms. They had to leave a few minutes before the half was over to meet the players. What was he supposed to do? Teleport? Climb to the top of the pressbox so Scrappy could swoop down and carry him over?

untjim1995 · May 31, 2016

4 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

At Fouts the coaches had to walk from the pressbox through the stands, down to the field and then across the field to the locker rooms. They had to leave a few minutes before the half was over to meet the players. What was he supposed to do? Teleport? Climb to the top of the pressbox so Scrappy could swoop down and carry him over?

Here's a crazy thought...oh, I don't know...maybe ignore the fans yelling at you and DO YOUR JOB by getting to locker room as soon as possible.

There is nothing good from yelling back at a fan, much less confronting him in a f2f match.

Cerebus · May 31, 2016

14 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Here's a crazy thought...oh, I don't know...maybe ignore the fans yelling at you and DO YOUR JOB by getting to locker room as soon as possible.

There is nothing good from yelling back at a fan, much less confronting him in a f2f match.

RF was a fault for arguing with a fan no doubt. I read your post as faulting him for leaving the box before halftime, which is what they had to do.

untjim1995 · May 31, 2016

Just now, Cerebus said:

RF was a fault for arguing with a fan no doubt. I read your post as faulting him for leaving the box before halftime, which is what they had to do.

I understand your post now. Yeah, that was the only way out of Fouts' press box.

He was just a sorry guy, IMO. He should have been fired on the spot for that, or at least suspended after the game, at a bare minimum. But, nope, nothing wrong with that behavior, not to the Dickster, who openly hated the fans, especially the MFers here from gmg.com, the only group of people who followed his teams all the way thru his tenure here.

GangGreen · June 2, 2016

Didn't someone get in a scrap with Mendoza after a game, as well?

FirefightnRick · June 3, 2016

2 hours ago, GangGreen said:

Didn't someone get in a scrap with Mendoza after a game, as well?

...raises hand.... :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Rick

untjim1995 · June 4, 2016

These are two examples of just how small time we were back then. Fouts was terrible, the SBC was the lowest conference on the totem pole, and we had several losing seasons in a row while being led by coaching staffs that openly fought and argued with fans in the stands.

We may be #128, but we ain't that pathetic anymore...

UNT90 · June 4, 2016

11 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

These are two examples of just how small time we were back then.

Back then? We just let an AD hang on for at bare minimum a year after his expiration date. We fired a head coach who simply stopped recruiting and was supposedly guilty of pretty bad for cause contract violations. Of course, we didn't fire him for cause.

And we are worse at sports than we were back then.

I'm hoping that major change is about to come, change that is about 10 years overdue. I'm hopeful, but very leery that it actually occurs.