MGB: Key questions UNT's new AD will face Part II -- Find a way to build support

UNT90 · May 30, 2016

28 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Label as me (and others) as accepting the status quo but you can easily make a bad situation worse by making a poor hire with a limited applicant pool.

This is far from a seller's market. I'd even go so far as to say it's not even a buyer's market. I believe NT would be the only school looking to make a hire this close to the start of the season. If we go this route, NT will be desperate for a coach and thus anyone that the new AD feels might be decent fit could name his price and we'd have little to no choice on what they will make. I hope the AD would only offer a three year contract that way if he doesn't work out after a year or two the financial exposure is minimal.

I just hope you don't get butt hurt when the new AD doesn't fire Benford as his/her first order of business.

Considering NT hasn't fired Benford yet, this is premature. If we have a new AD named before July 1st, I'll consider ourselves lucky. If we fire Benford before July 15th, I'd wind the clock at 30 days before a new coach is named, putting the new coach arriving on campus right when school starts back up.

I just see getting a new coach in right before school starts as a bad idea resulting in the tanking of the 2016-2017 season when there is some pretty good talent on the roster.

Official practices can begin on September 30th, so the new coach will have 45 or so days to build a new coaching staff and then I'm sure have to teach a whole new offensive and defensive system. Hopefully all the players agree to stay with the team.

If this is the path of the Men's basketball program, I won't expect much for the 16-17 season.

Again, this isn't 1992. The new AD will not have to travel by horse back to interview candidates.

July 30? Lol. If UNT is going to do this, they have known for a while and already have a plan in process.

Sure, they can wait, but doing that does nothing to affect what this thread is about and will cause some faithful to again wonder if it's new boss, same culture.

Dare to be bold. Dare to expect more. Dare to find the best candidate and make him want the job.

Daring has never described UNT athletics. I hope this changes with the new AD.

I expect zero from a Benford coached 16-17 UNT basketball team. That is THE worst scenerio available, as we all know the ending.

Edited May 30, 2016 by UNT90

FirefightnRick · May 30, 2016

Firing Benford ASAP and bringing in a young hungry coach from a successful lower division..(who knows, Billy Gillespie may even be ready to move back up by now?) can't do anything but improve our basketball team.

We have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. People are sick to death of sorry athletics. With the addition of SL,...our fanbase would have even more to be excited about if there were a change in men's BB..

Rick

Edited May 30, 2016 by FirefightnRick

greenminer · May 30, 2016

9 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

Let's be fair about something. There are a whole bunch of bridges to be mended and new relationships to build. Ain't gonna happen in a week.

There are over two years of burnt bridges to rebuild.

having said that, the right guy could come in and engage new bridges that we never knew we had. Those could easily be seen in less than 2 years.

side note: how many new alumni do we establish in a calendar year, on average?

there was a post a while back that looked at how many students we graduated during Ricks tenure, and compared that with new MGC/season ticket numbers during the same span. It was depressing and a huge black eye on RV. I think @Cerebus posted it.

Edited May 30, 2016 by greenminer

UNTexas · May 30, 2016

This whole topic is summed up pretty simply. UNT football has been ridiculous for a long time with glimmers of hope every once in a while. Average alumni pay zero attention because it's been a joke for so long. The last AD and coach pissed off most of the biggest fans of our team. Even long time donors walked.

So what do you do? Start with showing students and alumni that you are serious about the program. Last year the players even quit playing. Give people something to cheer for. Go win another HOD Bowl or make the tournament in basketball and repeat it annually. People want to cheer for their school and be proud of the athletic teams. Lately no one has had anything to cheer for and absolutely nothing to cheer for. Turn that around and people will open their wallets. No one is going to donate to a program that that just goes through the motions.

The AD needs to change the culture of that athletic department if they expect to bring people back on board. Some accountability would be a good start because the denial of the last AD didn't work.

Oh, start scheduling home teams that people want to see. Bethune-Cookman doesn't cut it.

Edited May 30, 2016 by UNTexas

NTXCoog · May 31, 2016

On Monday, May 30, 2016 at 0:39 PM, UNT90 said:

It's one of 128 jobs of its type that exist in America. Lack of interest will likely be much more related to recent athletic performance. The good thing is JJ proved you can parley UNT into a better job, something football didn't have going for it. So there is that.

Actually there are 351 D1 basketball jobs. Some of the D1 basketball jobs at schools without FBS football teams are better than jobs at FBS schools.

UNT90 · May 31, 2016

19 minutes ago, NTXCoog said:

Actually there are 351 D1 basketball jobs. Some of the D1 basketball jobs at schools without FBS football teams are better than jobs at FBS schools.

True.