DRC: Benford took over a loaded team on a roll. How did it all fall apart?

[Brett Vito]

DRC: Benford, current and former players cite a host of factors why UNT's program fell apart, causing boosters, fans to walk away

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20170301-as-benford-nears-end-of-fifth-year-many-are-left-wondering-what-went-wrong.ece

[Army of Dad]

Click bait:

Ernie has a great quote in that article.

[Green Lantern]

Such a depressing read for a myriad of reasons.

[CMJ]

Great piece.

[GRN-WHT]

Quote

“I like Tony personally,” Kuehne said. “But I supported him too long.”

For all those who questioned some of us when we called out Ernie for his support of Benford and said we don't know what he's thinking, there you have it. It was obvious to anybody with half a brain that if Benford didn't have Ernie's support he would have been gone.

As I said before, this one is on RV and Ernie. We got rid of RV, but Ernie shouldn't be involved in the coaching search. He got this one dead wrong.

This is what happens when personal relationships get in the way.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Going down memory lane like:

[Cerebus]

 

[Wag Tag]

30 minutes ago, GRN-WHT said:

For all those who questioned some of us when we called out Ernie for his support of Benford and said we don't know what he's thinking, there you have it. It was obvious to anybody with half a brain that if Benford didn't have Ernie's support he would have been gone.

As I said before, this one is on RV and Ernie. We got rid of RV, but Ernie shouldn't be involved in the coaching search. He got this one dead wrong.

This is what happens when personal relationships get in the way.

I don't know how you get that, but I am sure you have some inside connections!

I really believe Benford is not a game time coach! I was with the team for the first two years and I don't know if I have ever seen a frequency of substitutions that he incorporated! It was like he was looking instead of having a game plan!

[TheTastyGreek]

Shame on Vito. 

It's wildly irresponsible journalism to say at this point that things have 'fallen apart'. 

Doesn't he realize a rigorous evaluation is still underway? What if it turns out things have been fine, just fine? 

Be patient and wait for the evaluation to end, Brett. Or, kiss that parking pass goodbye. 

[EagleMBA]

This is one of Brett's best articles in a long time. It truly stirs the emotions and reminds me of things I had repressed. We in deep shit!

[Caw Caw]

I just read this and went huh, what a safe play to write this at the end of his contract instead of at the end of year three... Very few corrections needed to post this two years ago. I wish Benford all the best, but we need a little something different at good ol' UNT.

[UNTLifer]

The quote from Chris Jones says a lot, and the play of many players would confirm he wasn't the only one feeling that way.

[MeanGreenHoops]

This article would have been great after year 1, after year 5 it's silly.

[MeanGreenTexan]

16 minutes ago, MeanGreenHoops said:

This article would have been great after year 1, after year 5 it's silly.

Actually,
According to many on here, year 1's dropoff was due directly to Tony Mitchell's play/effort... or lack thereof.   It took many quite a while to have the scales removed.

[FirefightnRick]

4 hours ago, GRN-WHT said:

For all those who questioned some of us when we called out Ernie for his support of Benford and said we don't know what he's thinking, there you have it. It was obvious to anybody with half a brain that if Benford didn't have Ernie's support he would have been gone.

As I said before, this one is on RV and Ernie. We got rid of RV, but Ernie shouldn't be involved in the coaching search. He got this one dead wrong.

This is what happens when personal relationships get in the way.

Again...that quote means the 4th year.  Ernie never meant for or wanted him to get a 5th year.  

Someone needs to be a true friend to Tony Benford and tell the man as honestly as possible..."Tony, you cannot coach,...please do what you do best, go back to recruiting as an assistant".

 

Rick

Edited March 2, 2017 by FirefightnRick

[UNT90]

The quote from Tony Mitchell says a hell of a lot.

For players to be this critical (make no mistake, they were VERY critical) of Benford confirms everything any knowledgeable basketball fan knew to be true. He lost every team he coached every year. 

For 5 years.

And UNT did nothing to stop him. 

That is the biggest news from this story. The university not caring one bit about a major program or the student athletes inside that program.

But there are 2 games left for that to change, right? 

Right?

1 hour ago, Caw Caw said:

I just read this and went huh, what a safe play to write this at the end of his contract instead of at the end of year three... Very few corrections needed to post this two years ago. I wish Benford all the best, but we need a little something different at good ol' UNT.

Those players were still in college and couldn't comment after year 3,  but it certainly could have been done after last year. 

I guess that's parking pass means a lot to Vito. 

[Caw Caw]

7 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

The quote from Tony Mitchell says a hell of a lot.

For players to be this critical (make no mistake, they were VERY critical) of Benford confirms everything any knowledgeable basketball fan knew to be true. He lost every team he coached every year. 

For 5 years.

And UNT did nothing to stop him. 

That is the biggest news from this story. The university not caring one bit about a major program or the student athletes inside that program.

But there are 2 games left for that to change, right? 

Right?

Those players were still in college and couldn't comment after year 3,  but it certainly could have been done after last year. 

I guess that's parking pass means a lot to Vito. 

I'm still good friends with one of the Bball players from that time. They are indeed critical.

[untjim1995]

Great article.

So our attendance is basically half of what it was before Bumford got here. I figure that has to be 50% revenue loss, at a minimum, probably much more because donors left with their checkbooks, too.

And, yet with all of this, UNT refused to pay out $400k-$800K to fix this thing, knowing it could've gotten those revenues back up. For the umpteenth time, the reality that its always about known costs here, unless the boosters pay the tab, which they did with McCarney, will always be the prevailing thought when it comes to revenue athletics.

Wren Baker and Neal Smatresk either have their hands full in turning this around against an administration and culture that don't care about athletics or they are the perfect people for that apathetic view to continue, just as it was with RV and Gretchen Bataille while they were in charge.

Make a good hire, here in the next few weeks, Wren...it just might get some long lost fans to consider coming back to Denton again. And by good hire, it would go a long way towards bringing people back into the fold if you hire someone people have heard of before that has been a successful head coach in the NCAA Division 1 level or even in the NBA.

 

[KingDL1]

We need a GREAT hire ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[UNT90]

I would bet my retirement that this next hire under performs. THAts what happens when you don't give a crap about something. That don't give a crap rolls downhill.

[EagleMBA]

8 minutes ago, KingDL1 said:

We need a GREAT hire ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[untjim1995]

38 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

I would bet my retirement that this next hire under performs. THAts what happens when you don't give a crap about something. That don't give a crap rolls downhill.

It has become a massive downhill avalanche called apathy...

What I'm interested in seeing is how this affects our recruiting with Texas HS coaches and parents. I've always been amazed at how little interest these people have in our football program, but basketball hasn't suffered as much as I'd have guessed it would under Benford. I kind of figure that a new coach can still make some nice in-roads with the TX HS Coaches and parents for recruits, just because basketball is a different animal than football is here in Texas. Plus, we didn't drop basketball down to a lower level for over a decade while being surrounded by one of the best football conferences in its heyday.

[DeepGreen]

6 hours ago, Caw Caw said:

I just read this and went huh, what a safe play to write this at the end of his contract instead of at the end of year three... Very few corrections needed to post this two years ago. I wish Benford all the best, but we need a little something different at good ol' UNT.

You beat me to it.  This article should have come out two years ago.  But the basketball program and fans had to suffer until........Benford is gone.

[outoftown]

3 hours ago, UNT90 said:

I would bet my retirement that this next hire under performs . THAts what happens when you don't give a crap about something. That don't give a crap rolls downhill.

Define "underperform" (so we know when that bet could be cashed). What odds would you give ? Also, how much have you saved up for your retirement? ;)

Edited March 3, 2017 by outoftown

[Green P1]

"Right now, I am in the trenches doing everything I can to give us the best chance to win.”

 

Liar.