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Trivia: Last North Texas coach to start with winning record

ChristopherRyanWilkes

By ChristopherRyanWilkes
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ChristopherRyanWilkes Enthusiast

ChristopherRyanWilkes

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I guess you can look this up and cheat, but Seth Littrell has a shot to start his North Texas coaching career with a winning record by winning the last two games of the season (UTEP & Bowl Game). Who was the last North Texas (football) head coach to do so? First one to answer gets absolutely nothing. 

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ChristopherRyanWilkes Enthusiast

ChristopherRyanWilkes

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1 minute ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

DD

Started off 3-8 in the old Big West conference 1998 season. 

 

2 minutes ago, MeanGreen13 said:

Odus Mitchell?

Corkey Nelson? 

Theron Fouts?

IDK man... it's whatever!  

None of the above were the most recent to do it.

The answer surprised me, so I was wondering if anyone had an educated guess. Also maybe someone can correct me because my information is missing FCS seasons. 

MeanGreen13 Collaborator

MeanGreen13

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1 minute ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

None of the above were the most recent to do it.

Then I am going coach Moore? 

I honestly am guessing... I am relatively new to UNT football. I got to NT in 2009. 

Cerebus Experienced

Cerebus

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2 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

I thought Fry would be it too, but the great Rodney Rust is the answer. 1968, been a long, long time. 

Fry didn't have a winning season until his third year.  I would have guessed Odus Mitchell if he hadn't already been picked and proven wrong.  

ChristopherRyanWilkes Enthusiast

ChristopherRyanWilkes

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12 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

Fry didn't have a winning season until his third year.  I would have guessed Odus Mitchell if he hadn't already been picked and proven wrong.  

Would be correct but Rod Rust was more recent. Anyone have any memories or anecdotes about him, as a young fan I haven't heard much about him. 

Also, someone feel free to correct me because I don't know Corkey Nelson's first year record as it's hard to get FCS era info from the 80s. Right now I have SL joining the ranks of Theron Fouts, Odus Mitchell, and Rod Rust. If he pulls it off, of course.

Edited by ChristopherRyanWilkes
Cerebus Experienced

Cerebus

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1 minute ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

Would be correct but Rod Rust was more recent. Anyone have any memories or anecdotes about him, as a young fan I haven't heard much about him. 

He was before my time.  I remember him being the coach of the Patriots team that got trucked by Ditka and Da Bears:

JOVORt5.jpg

DeepGreen Grand Master

DeepGreen

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2 minutes ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

Would be correct but Rod Rust was more recent. Anyone have any memories or anecdotes about him, as a young fan I haven't heard much about him. 

I think rod Rust did really well with Otis Mitchells' recruits.  After Rust's first year(?) it was all downhill.

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ChristopherRyanWilkes Enthusiast

ChristopherRyanWilkes

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1 minute ago, DeepGreen said:

I think rod Rust did really well with Otis Mitchells' recruits.  After Rust's first year(?) it was all downhill.

So the opposite of Seth Littrell, because he's doing this with McCarney recruits and a less than full scholarship roster. I guess what you said goes to show first year record isn't always indicative of future success if you are just riding on the former coach's recruits.. Like I see Baylor going downhill very quickly after this season. 

ChristopherRyanWilkes Enthusiast

ChristopherRyanWilkes

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9 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

For those wanting an excellent source for historical data on UNT (and elsewhere on the same site, every other D1 team), check out this. 

Thanks, and this confirms Rod Rust is correct. Jerry Moore started 5-6 and Corkey Nelson was 2-9. That was the gap in my information.

oldguystudent Newbie

oldguystudent

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5 hours ago, VideoEagle said:

For those wanting an excellent source for historical data on UNT (and elsewhere on the same site, every other D1 team), check out this. 

Great site.  I was amused that they rank the best to worst five-year periods of UNT football.  Here are the five worst five-year periods.  There's a common theme in four of them:

FX7V4U1.png

letsgiveacheer Rising Star

letsgiveacheer

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6 hours ago, ChristopherRyanWilkes said:

Would be correct but Rod Rust was more recent. Anyone have any memories or anecdotes about him, as a young fan I haven't heard much about him. 

Also, someone feel free to correct me because I don't know Corkey Nelson's first year record as it's hard to get FCS era info from the 80s. Right now I have SL joining the ranks of Theron Fouts, Odus Mitchell, and Rod Rust. If he pulls it off, of course.

Rust was our coach for my first two years at North Texas with records of 3-8 and the record trying 1-10. Interestingly enough, when Fry took over in 1973, he took the previous 1 win team to a 5-5-1 record. 

eulessismore Collaborator

eulessismore

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4 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

Great site.  I was amused that they rank the best to worst five-year periods of UNT football.  Here are the five worst five-year periods.  There's a common theme in four of them:

FX7V4U1.png

Well, I guess it's good to know that one has to go back over a hundred years to see the kind of futility you and I witnessed here recently.  Also, it's reassuring to know that (barely, after those years), we still have an overall winning record.  This season has been very important in so many ways.

Green Nightmare Newbie

Green Nightmare

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Awhile back in the dodge era i believe Tasty or someone posted a thesis on coaching new hires and their records in year 1 and years 1-3. 

Basically it outlined that successful hires usually outperformed the past coach in year 1 a large amount of time and by year 2-3 if it wasn't trending up, it never would.

That is the reason for my extreme optimism with Seth and why I completely understand UT firing of Strong.

Can someone find that post?

Edited by Green Nightmare
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