This is probably the most important hire in our history

[Harry]

The more I think about this AD hire the more I am convinced it is the most important hire we have ever had in athletics.  We may very well be on the precipice of a golden age for North Texas athletics and we can't afford to mess this one up.  We need to get this right.

Landing Littrell and his staff appears to be a good, possibly great move.  I am very encouraged from what I am seeing thus far.  Realistically, Littrell and this staff will be heading to bigger  things if he is able to turn this ship around quickly.  This AD position may be here longer.  What I love about Littrell is he saw the potential here.  It would have been easy for him to wait it out at UNC where Fedora is building a potential national championship caliber program down the road.  He looked at North Texas, at Denton and all of our natural assets and saw the potential launching pad he needed.  I would like to see the same mindset from the new AD.

Do we need to have someone understand the history of this place?  Yes and no.  Sure, there needs to be a basic understanding of our history good and bad.  I also think a new, fresh approach needs to be considered as well.   What we absolutely don't need is someone who wants to feed the new AD with all of the pitfalls and past failures.  The past is the past.  I have maintained for some time now, that our new North Texas Athletic program started in 2011 with the unveiling of Apogee and when we finally paid a reasonable wage to Mac and his assistants.  Don't point to prior as we frankly were running a D-I facade.  Denton is a hot town now, the growth throughout DFW is just phenomenal and the university is making huge strides in terms of enrollment, academics and facilities.  It's just a different place a different time.  It offers a huge opportunity to the right candidate.  They need to realize that coming in.  Heck even our AD compensation appears to be in the competitive range based on the numbers I have seen.  As North Texas alums we have been conditioned over the years to have a chip on our collective shoulders.  Those days are over.    the new AD needs to clearly understand this.

I won't go through a laundry list of items I would like to see, but here are a few of the most important ones:

1).  Young(er) energetic, high achiever who has excelled in his athletic or business etc path thus far.  I am not beholden to hiring a pure athletic department path candidate per se, I would be open to a business savvy executive who is comfortable interacting with the MANY business and industry leaders we have throughout the metroplex, state and nation/world.  We can most certainly hire a support staff who is keen on compliance issues and has the operational experience of running an athletic department.  

2).  It needs to be a very presentable, charismatic figure who people are drawn to.  I frankly do not care if it is a man or a woman, I have come across many capable leaders in both categories.  I'm not asking for Jesus here, but if we are paying around 350K we ought to have someone who lights up a room.

3).  We need someone who could get the attention of the business community.   When we start turning this ship around, it will be paramount that we have a person who can relay a vision, not of where North Texas is but where it will be.  There are so many successful North Texas graduates in so many different areas.  We need a messenger who can deliver them a tangible vision they they will be compelled by.  There are more corporate headquarters here in the DFW area than just about any place in the country.  We should actively be reaching out to those who have North Texas grads in their leadership and encourage them to support the cause.  Start in Denton and work your way out.  Rack and stack the givers and tell the takers to hit the road.

4).  They need to understand how extremely important it is to support the coaching staff to achieve their goals of building the program and hold them accountable.  It's not enough to give them everything that you think they need, it requires knowing exactly what they need and delivering it with clearly defined expectations at delivery.

5).  Full transparency.  Donors and stakeholders are much more inclined to participate when they know what is going on and where you are trying to go. 

5b). Communication.  You cannot have full transparency unless you are communicating consistently with the stakeholders.

6).  Tie compensation to performance, but do it with realistic, achievable goals. 

That's it for now.  Feel free to add or subtract as you see fit.  I would like to hear other thoughts on this. gmg

 

[drex]

A person who understands the value of support staff being customer friendly and competent.  Customer service is a joke right now.   One who knows the importance of smart and popular scheduling for football, men's basketball and women's basketball.

[FirefightnRick]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

The more I think about this AD hire the more I am convinced it is the most important hire we have ever had in athletics.  We may very well be on the precipice of a golden age for North Texas athletics and we can't afford to mess this one up.  We need to get this right.

Landing Littrell and his staff appears to be a good, possibly great move.  I am very encouraged from what I am seeing thus far.  Realistically, Littrell and this staff will be heading to bigger  things if he is able to turn this ship around quickly.  This AD position may be here longer.  What I love about Littrell is he saw the potential here.  It would have been easy for him to wait it out at UNC where Fedora is building a potential national championship caliber program down the road.  He looked at North Texas, at Denton and all of our natural assets and saw the potential launching pad he needed.  I would like to see the same mindset from the new AD.

Do we need to have someone understand the history of this place?  Yes and no.  Sure, there needs to be a basic understanding of our history good and bad.  I also think a new, fresh approach needs to be considered as well.   What we absolutely don't need is someone who wants to feed the new AD with all of the pitfalls and past failures.  The past is the past.  I have maintained for some time now, that our new North Texas Athletic program started in 2011 with the unveiling of Apogee and when we finally paid a reasonable wage to Mac and his assistants.  Don't point to prior as we frankly were running a D-I facade.  Denton is a hot town now, the growth throughout DFW is just phenomenal and the university is making huge strides in terms of enrollment, academics and facilities.  It's just a different place a different time.  It offers a huge opportunity to the right candidate.  They need to realize that coming in.  Heck even our AD compensation appears to be in the competitive range based on the numbers I have seen.  As North Texas alums we have been conditioned over the years to have a chip on our collective shoulders.  Those days are over.    the new AD needs to clearly understand this.

I won't go through a laundry list of items I would like to see, but here are a few of the most important ones:

1).  Young(er) energetic, high achiever who has excelled in his athletic or business etc path thus far.  I am not beholden to hiring a pure athletic department path candidate per se, I would be open to a business savvy executive who is comfortable interacting with the MANY business and industry leaders we have throughout the metroplex, state and nation/world.  We can most certainly hire a support staff who is keen on compliance issues and has the operational experience of running an athletic department.  

2).  It needs to be a very presentable, charismatic figure who people are drawn to.  I frankly do not care if it is a man or a woman, I have come across many capable leaders in both categories.  I'm not asking for Jesus here, but if we are paying around 350K we ought to have someone who lights up a room.

3).  We need someone who could get the attention of the business community.   When we start turning this ship around, it will be paramount that we have a person who can relay a vision, not of where North Texas is but where it will be.  There are so many successful North Texas graduates in so many different areas.  We need a messenger who can deliver them a tangible vision they they will be compelled by.  There are more corporate headquarters here in the DFW area than just about any place in the country.  We should actively be reaching out to those who have North Texas grads in their leadership and encourage them to support the cause.  Start in Denton and work your way out.  Rack and stack the givers and tell the takers to hit the road.

4).  They need to understand how extremely important it is to support the coaching staff to achieve their goals of building the program and hold them accountable.  It's not enough to give them everything that you think they need, it requires knowing exactly what they need and delivering it with clearly defined expectations at delivery.

5).  Full transparency.  Donors and stakeholders are much more inclined to participate when they know what is going on and where you are trying to go. 

5b). Communication.  You cannot have full transparency unless you are communicating consistently with the stakeholders.

6).  Tie compensation to performance, but do it with realistic, achievable goals. 

That's it for now.  Feel free to add or subtract as you see fit.  I would like to hear other thoughts on this. gmg

 

Agree.  I would like it to be someone who cared so much that it bothers them to the point that they are at home late on a Friday night thinking about this above.

Harry would, drex did, Emmitt would and so many others would too.

 It's just been another job to most, whereas to those who bleed green it would mean more than that.

Thats what I want.  We probably won't get it but I'm hopeful.

 

Rick

 

[southsideguy]

We also need someone who won't accept being crappy or mediocre. We need to start winning right away because the path we have been on has been a disaster. 

[Ben Gooding]

I agree with just about everything Harry says. Some say that having green in the AD is irrelevant. I wholeheartedly disagree. More green, the better. There is a certain understanding of what it is to be an alum from this school and the struggles that are associated with. They are fully aware of the downfalls and the obstacles. I'm not advocating for a Joe Schmoe on GMG, but I am advocating for someone that has followed the program even from a far and knows the necessary steps to rid the weeds in order to plant fruitful seeds. I would honestly prefer a business minded person that has sat in a much higher chair than a pizza shop owner. That is the direction I would personally go. I do not want a former athlete that played x, y, or z at some school 600 miles away during the 90's and comes here because he's been putting deodorant on a standing  AD the last 5 years. Not to be hateful or critical at all, but academic standards are dropped for athletes all around the country for a reason. Give me a business minded person. 

Edited June 4, 2016 by Ben Gooding

[SilverEagle]

11 hours ago, Harry said:

The more I think about this AD hire the more I am convinced it is the most important hire we have ever had in athletics.  We may very well be on the precipice of a golden age for North Texas athletics and we can't afford to mess this one up.  We need to get this right.

Landing Littrell and his staff appears to be a good, possibly great move.  I am very encouraged from what I am seeing thus far.  Realistically, Littrell and this staff will be heading to bigger  things if he is able to turn this ship around quickly.  This AD position may be here longer.  What I love about Littrell is he saw the potential here.  It would have been easy for him to wait it out at UNC where Fedora is building a potential national championship caliber program down the road.  He looked at North Texas, at Denton and all of our natural assets and saw the potential launching pad he needed.  I would like to see the same mindset from the new AD.

Do we need to have someone understand the history of this place?  Yes and no.  Sure, there needs to be a basic understanding of our history good and bad.  I also think a new, fresh approach needs to be considered as well.   What we absolutely don't need is someone who wants to feed the new AD with all of the pitfalls and past failures.  The past is the past.  I have maintained for some time now, that our new North Texas Athletic program started in 2011 with the unveiling of Apogee and when we finally paid a reasonable wage to Mac and his assistants.  Don't point to prior as we frankly were running a D-I facade.  Denton is a hot town now, the growth throughout DFW is just phenomenal and the university is making huge strides in terms of enrollment, academics and facilities.  It's just a different place a different time.  It offers a huge opportunity to the right candidate.  They need to realize that coming in.  Heck even our AD compensation appears to be in the competitive range based on the numbers I have seen.  As North Texas alums we have been conditioned over the years to have a chip on our collective shoulders.  Those days are over.    the new AD needs to clearly understand this.

I won't go through a laundry list of items I would like to see, but here are a few of the most important ones:

1).  Young(er) energetic, high achiever who has excelled in his athletic or business etc path thus far.  I am not beholden to hiring a pure athletic department path candidate per se, I would be open to a business savvy executive who is comfortable interacting with the MANY business and industry leaders we have throughout the metroplex, state and nation/world.  We can most certainly hire a support staff who is keen on compliance issues and has the operational experience of running an athletic department.  

2).  It needs to be a very presentable, charismatic figure who people are drawn to.  I frankly do not care if it is a man or a woman, I have come across many capable leaders in both categories.  I'm not asking for Jesus here, but if we are paying around 350K we ought to have someone who lights up a room.

3).  We need someone who could get the attention of the business community.   When we start turning this ship around, it will be paramount that we have a person who can relay a vision, not of where North Texas is but where it will be.  There are so many successful North Texas graduates in so many different areas.  We need a messenger who can deliver them a tangible vision they they will be compelled by.  There are more corporate headquarters here in the DFW area than just about any place in the country.  We should actively be reaching out to those who have North Texas grads in their leadership and encourage them to support the cause.  Start in Denton and work your way out.  Rack and stack the givers and tell the takers to hit the road.

4).  They need to understand how extremely important it is to support the coaching staff to achieve their goals of building the program and hold them accountable.  It's not enough to give them everything that you think they need, it requires knowing exactly what they need and delivering it with clearly defined expectations at delivery.

5).  Full transparency.  Donors and stakeholders are much more inclined to participate when they know what is going on and where you are trying to go. 

5b). Communication.  You cannot have full transparency unless you are communicating consistently with the stakeholders.

6).  Tie compensation to performance, but do it with realistic, achievable goals. 

That's it for now.  Feel free to add or subtract as you see fit.  I would like to hear other thoughts on this. gmg

 

Harry I'm right there with you regarding the type of AD we need to have, and how important it is that we give that new AD both moral and financial support. 

As regards what historical information the new AD needs, here are a couple of items.

1. Giving back to the University, both financially, and goods-and-services-wise, has been a pretty new phenomenon. Financial "giving" to the athletic department was not allowed until 1973 when Hayden Fry was hired as AD/HC. I don't know when financial "giving" to the general University was started. That part of our "culture" has been changing, on and off, since then. But don't be dismayed, the voices of the "old guard" don't have the influence they once had. So just smile and ignore them when you hear them. Unfortunately the kids and grand-kids of those "old guard" are still around. Don't let them distract you either. 

2. North Texas has a history, albeit not grand and glorious like TCU, or even SMU, but we were the first D-1 University in the State of Texas that recruited and gave scholarships to players of color. 

Now my main concern that I've stated over and over in past postings.

I've never observed a sense of community/universal connection/school spirit by people who show up to North Texas games. I stated this concern when I was invited to a focus group in 1990 right before Corky Nelson was fired(to those who have heard this umpteen times before, bear with me).

What I said in that group was that my observation of North Texas games were that they looked more like "contracted events" by the University, than a spirit celebration of a great University by it's alums/students. I said that all the appropriate groups show up (football team, Band, Cheer leaders, Talons/ cannon crew etc) but it doesn't look like they are really connected to one another. They all show up wearing (for the most part) the correct color uni's, and they did what they are contractually obligated to do, but really nothing more. Maybe in a hotly contested big game, everyone would get excited and make noise, but there was no traditional method to keep that going when the contest was not so hotly contested. 

I said that the football team shows up and (at that time) plays their heart out. The Band shows up and plays their standard list of spirit music. That then gives them permission to play the stuff that amuses them and their crew.The Cheerleaders do their gymnastics and generic cheers. And the Talons make sure (at that time anyway) that the Cannon gets fired an appropriate amount of time. 

But there didn't appear to be any family/cultural connection between all those groups and the assemblage of alumni/students/fans in the stands. All of those aforementioned groups appeared to be there for themselves, not necessarily for the Glory of the Green and White.

[NorthTexan95]

1 hour ago, SilverEagle said:

Harry I'm right there with you regarding the type of AD we need to have, and how important it is that we give that new AD both moral and financial support. 

As regards what historical information the new AD needs, here are a couple of items.

1. Giving back to the University, both financially, and goods-and-services-wise, has been a pretty new phenomenon. Financial "giving" to the athletic department was not allowed until 1973 when Hayden Fry was hired as AD/HC. I don't know when financial "giving" to the general University was started. That part of our "culture" has been changing, on and off, since then. But don't be dismayed, the voices of the "old guard" don't have the influence they once had. So just smile and ignore them when you hear them. Unfortunately the kids and grand-kids of those "old guard" are still around. Don't let them distract you either. 

2. North Texas has a history, albeit not grand and glorious like TCU, or even SMU, but we were the first D-1 University in the State of Texas that recruited and gave scholarships to players of color. 

Now my main concern that I've stated over and over in past postings.

I've never observed a sense of community/universal connection/school spirit by people who show up to North Texas games. I stated this concern when I was invited to a focus group in 1990 right before Corky Nelson was fired(to those who have heard this umpteen times before, bear with me).

What I said in that group was that my observation of North Texas games were that they looked more like "contracted events" by the University, than a spirit celebration of a great University by it's alums/students. I said that all the appropriate groups show up (football team, Band, Cheer leaders, Talons/ cannon crew etc) but it doesn't look like they are really connected to one another. They all show up wearing (for the most part) the correct color uni's, and they did what they are contractually obligated to do, but really nothing more. Maybe in a hotly contested big game, everyone would get excited and make noise, but there was no traditional method to keep that going when the contest was not so hotly contested. 

I said that the football team shows up and (at that time) plays their heart out. The Band shows up and plays their standard list of spirit music. That then gives them permission to play the stuff that amuses them and their crew.The Cheerleaders do their gymnastics and generic cheers. And the Talons make sure (at that time anyway) that the Cannon gets fired an appropriate amount of time. 

But there didn't appear to be any family/cultural connection between all those groups and the assemblage of alumni/students/fans in the stands. All of those aforementioned groups appeared to be there for themselves, not necessarily for the Glory of the Green and White.

Great description of what happens.  

[FirefightnRick]

Silver is dead on.."contractually obligated to do" is exactly how it feels at home.

Away games are a little different in that when your surrounded by the opposition you feel a connection to anyone in green who yells out a "Go Mean Green" and you get some comfort from that.

Why we can't expand on that at home I have no idea?

 

Rick

[Ben Gooding]

3 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Silver is dead on.."contractually obligated to do" is exactly how it feels at home.

Away games are a little different in that when your surrounded by the opposition you feel a connection to anyone in green who yells out a "Go Mean Green" and you get some comfort from that.

Why we can't expand on that at home I have no idea?

 

Rick

Bc we have had 1 winning season over the span of a long time. Did you go to the wku game this past season? Sitting in the stands as far away from ppl that I probably couldn't accurately hit them with a football, let alone give them a chippy "Go Mean Green." My 5 years of UNT fandom has been a beat down so far. I can't imagine how some of you feel. 

[EagleMBA]

37 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

Bc we have had 1 winning season over the span of a long time. Did you go to the wku game this past season? Sitting in the stands as far away from ppl that I probably couldn't accurately hit them with a football, let alone give them a chippy "Go Mean Green." My 5 years of UNT fandom has been a beat down so far. I can't imagine how some of you feel. 

Lower than a whale turd at the bottom of the Marianas Trench would come close to describing it. My obit was drafted and waiting but was saved from publication by the timely announced departure of The Hattiesburg Hustler.

[rws69]

Wish I could give Harry a plus 1 for a great description of what we need. I do, however, prefer somebody with UNT roots.

[emmitt01]

I agree on transparency and I want it to include full disclosure.  

If we only have 2,000 people in the MGC or 500 season ticket holders I want to know that...and I want to know WHAT your goal is for these two things and WHEN you think you can get there.  

This current AD and his department have hidden the true depth of the problem so that they can't be pinned down on how badly they've failed to fix it.  That MUST change with the new AD.

[Cerebus]

I think that if the new AD hasn't raised ten million dollars by the end of his first day on campus, then we must fire Johnny Jones immediately.

[GrandGreen]

No doubt, it is a critical hire.  However, I don't think it is the most critical.   AD's just like coaches can be terminated if they don't perform, there doesn't have to be a fifteen year evaluation period.  

The Helwig hire for example, was at a time that could have launched NT into a much brighter future if he had performed.  Likewise hiring someone more capable than RV could have keep almost every startup from equaling or passing NT a couple of years out of the gate.  

Professional AD's are a more recent development.  The position used to be almost exclusively filled by current or ex-coaches.  I really hope that NT gets someone with the experience that neither RV or Helwig had. As far as I know neither had ever hired a coach or played a significant part in running an athletic department.     

[Silent Eagle]

3 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

Professional AD's are a more recent development.  The position used to be almost exclusively filled by current or ex-coaches.  I really hope that NT gets someone with the experience that neither RV or Helwig had. As far as I know neither had ever hired a coach or played a significant part in running an athletic department.     

The nature of collegiate athletics forced universities' hands in ensuring that you had a CEO like individual to run the organization.  It requires someone with vision, the ability to inspire, create a mission and a message that speaks to the customers- which in our case is the DFW metroplex.  RV apparently had a vision, but he had a complete inability to articulate his mission and sell his message to that customer.  Thus our current state.

I'm not sold on us having to have one of our own as the AD.  I think we need to hire one of Houston's minions.  Given their current success (especially with the H-Town takeover campaign, which I absolutely love) I think they might be the template which we need to follow.

[Got5onIt]

It is for me because I'm on the verge of not supporting NT athletics anymore. I know I'm not the only one who's standing at that fork in the road.....

[UNT90]

7 hours ago, Got5onIt said:

It is for me because I'm on the verge of not supporting NT athletics anymore. I know I'm not the only one who's standing at that fork in the road.....

This is why this hire is so important. It will determine whether UNT moves forward or inevitably falls back to he FCS level.

Yes, it is that critical...

[GreenTexan13]

This hire is important because, we are all tired of the disappointment. No offense Harry, But I had to prepare myself mentally and emotionally every time I open up this forum. I went from shaking my head at UNT90, to actually agreeing with a lot of what he said. I have only been a UNT fan for 5 years myself and like Mr. Gooding, I can feel the sheer depression of our athletic program taking a toll on me. I now live on the other side of the country, but I will vow UNT fandom forever.. This AD has got to make some changes

Edited June 6, 2016 by GreenTexan13

[Harry]

42 minutes ago, GreenTexan13 said:

This hire is important because, we are all tired of the disappointment. No offense Harry, But I had to prepare myself mentally and emotionally every time I open up this forum. I went from shaking my head at UNT90, to actually agreeing with a lot of what he said. I have only been a UNT fan for 5 years myself and like Mr. Gooding, I can feel the sheer depression of our athletic program taking a toll on me. I know live on the other side of the country, but I will vow UNT fandom forever.. This AD has got to make some changes

No offense taken.  As I have stated, the entire fanbase is shell shocked right now.  One fan, aptly stated he feels like he is at a fork in the road.  I fear many have already taken the fork away from following and supporting UNT athletics.  It takes something to make an emotional and financial investment in a program like this.  We aren't Texas or A&M who has decades of winning and financial support to lean on.

Some of us are so deep into this thing that it is hard to even think of veering away.  Instead, you just start to put less importance and time into it.  Others have to make a break quickly.  Some will judge the fan base and criticize them for not remaining loyal.  I appreciate and respect our most loyal fans but they are not the ones who will take this program to the next level.  Our strength as a program is in our numbers and we have to start addressing the real issues as to why we aren't more appealing to our alumni base.

[MeanGreenHoops]

Interesting post and some good points.

I'm not sure this needs to be in the DNA of the AD, but if its not it needs to be part of their plan if they get the job.

We have a brand problem. The brand is weak and tarnished. You change the brand and everything else falls into place including wins. So I want the person who is hired to either have experience with that, or want to spend the money to make that the 1st thing they hire to change.

[ColoradoEagle]

There are a lot of qualities that would be nice to have in an AD. When it comes down to it, though, I want someone who makes smart coaching hires and has a good work ethic. They should demand that same work ethic from their staff.  There's no reason any restaurant or shop around Denton and especially in Denton shouldn't have at least a football schedule in the window. It never seemed to bother RV's AD that volunteers from this board often did more local promotion than they did.

[untjim1995]

My only fear with the new AD is that the reputation of the university's views toward athletics for so long cannot get older alumni reconnected, even though things have changed greatly on that front in the last few years. It means that the MGC doesn't grow like we want and that season ticket base doesn't increase. 2014 was a real downer for a lot of us when we found out that our season ticket base dropped AFTER a 9-4 season that featured a huge HoD Bowl win in front of 35k MG fans in Dallas on NYD. Then we saw that the MGC wasn't even growing 2% of the alumni that graduated in RV's tenure.

The I-AA fiasco wiped out generations of fans, but it feels like those who have graduated since we moved up to I-A in 1995 have had more interest in athletics here, even though we have sucked mightily for most of that time. But I also feel like RV's ineptness and accepted laziness for so long hurt a lot of those alumni, too.

For now, its really easy to see this being all on RV--and a I think that is mostly correct. But I just hope that whoever comes in next can make headway with alumni and local citizens near here that RV couldn't or didn't make any traction with. RV will say that we didn't win so that hurt his ability to grow the MGC and season ticket holders, but he was the one who hired all of them. I will say this--if Littrell cannot turn the football program around and if the next AD cannot measurably fix our meager MGC and season ticket numbers, we are really going to have ask ourselves if this can get fixed here. And that is why Harry is dead-on to say this is the most important athletic hire of our last 35+ years.

 

[SilverEagle]

3 hours ago, Harry said:

No offense taken.  As I have stated, the entire fanbase is shell shocked right now.  One fan, aptly stated he feels like he is at a fork in the road.  I fear many have already taken the fork away from following and supporting UNT athletics.  It takes something to make an emotional and financial investment in a program like this.  We aren't Texas or A&M who has decades of winning and financial support to lean on.

Some of us are so deep into this thing that it is hard to even think of veering away.  Instead, you just start to put less importance and time into it.  Others have to make a break quickly.  Some will judge the fan base and criticize them for not remaining loyal.  I appreciate and respect our most loyal fans but they are not the ones who will take this program to the next level.  Our strength as a program is in our numbers and we have to start addressing the real issues as to why we aren't more appealing to our alumni base.

Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner here folks!

[GreenTexan13]

41 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

My only fear with the new AD is that the reputation of the university's views toward athletics for so long cannot get older alumni reconnected, even though things have changed greatly on that front in the last few years. It means that the MGC doesn't grow like we want and that season ticket base doesn't increase. 2014 was a real downer for a lot of us when we found out that our season ticket base dropped AFTER a 9-4 season that featured a huge HoD Bowl win in front of 35k MG fans in Dallas on NYD. Then we saw that the MGC wasn't even growing 2% of the alumni that graduated in RV's tenure.

The I-AA fiasco wiped out generations of fans, but it feels like those who have graduated since we moved up to I-A in 1995 have had more interest in athletics here, even though we have sucked mightily for most of that time. But I also feel like RV's ineptness and accepted laziness for so long hurt a lot of those alumni, too.

For now, its really easy to see this being all on RV--and a I think that is mostly correct. But I just hope that whoever comes in next can make headway with alumni and local citizens near here that RV couldn't or didn't make any traction with. RV will say that we didn't win so that hurt his ability to grow the MGC and season ticket holders, but he was the one who hired all of them. I will say this--if Littrell cannot turn the football program around and if the next AD cannot measurably fix our meager MGC and season ticket numbers, we are really going to have ask ourselves if this can get fixed here. And that is why Harry is dead-on to say this is the most important athletic hire of our last 35+ years.

 

One of my biggest fears as well. I firmly believe that RV was a huge problem though. He was here for 15 of the last 35 years.... So in essence, 20 years is actually so severely unexplainable.... We will see a big difference with the new AD right off the bat. It's like with any of us starting a new job somewhere. We want to make that great first impression and do things that a more tenured employee might not do because of his time put in. RV just settled and years.. .Upon years of failed coaching hires/constant losing with repercussions to him gave UNT what they were asking for. I'm a little more scared on an RV repeat and I agree with a lot of people on someone who is dedicated to UNT for UNT... And not here to collect just a paycheck.  

 

The hardest part about this whole situation, is this waiting game we're in. There are two outcomes to our future and sitting here waiting for the Littrell prognosis, AD hire, and what will happen with our basketball coaching situation. It is like wearing a blindfold with our hands tied behind our back, and hearing that gun hammer push back... Wondering if that gun will fire or not. 

Edited June 6, 2016 by GreenTexan13

[GreenTexan13]

3 hours ago, Harry said:

Our strength as a program is in our numbers and we have to start addressing the real issues as to why we aren't more appealing to our alumni base.

• Losing 
• The fact that we are shunned for supporting UNT sports by our own family, friends, peers
• When the higher powers of UNT athletics turns their head when the die hard's point to problems
• UNT sitting in their own mess, while upcoming programs such as TCU and Houston take the cake
• Listening to this god awful past coaching hires tell us to F off or that UNT is to hard to recruit
• Losing to FCS teams 
• The lack of customer service to the alumni and potentially interested in becoming ticket holders
• Lack of respect through media in the country
• How we lean on 2013 and the early years as the good ol' days (I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan, I already have a hard time arguing why my team can't repeat from years ago)  

I could go on and on... But I am so darn tired of arguing with people about supporting UNT football and being severely embarrassed when I put the mean green on the TV and seeing them get smoked in front of my friends. I have no way of promoting to potential fans, when the proof is in the pudding....