How long until we are competitive in C-USA?

Harry · March 10, 2017

I ask this question with the obvious exception of the great John Hedlund and the women's soccer program...

After Jalie's team was pretty much routed by WKU in the second round it dawned on me that we still have a long way to go in most of our sports.

Always here about how tennis is great but we are currently 4-6 with the majority of conference matches ahead of us.

We know football saw a huge turnaround but even the most optimistic fan would say we have a couple of years before we are challenging for the conference title.

Men's basketball we have a new coach on the horizon but it could take 2-3 years to be at or near the top.

My main question is what is it going to take to get us at the top of our standings in all C-USA sports and shouldn't that be our goal?

Personally - if that goal is just lip service and not intended to be supported at the necessary level, I would prefer that we focus on the sports we have the best chance of excelling in.

Part of the problem is we historically (other than soccer) have not had a consistently good program that we could build a tradition behind.

MeanGreenTexan · March 10, 2017

51 minutes ago, Harry said:

I ask this question with the obvious exception of the great John Hedlund and the women's soccer program...

After Jalie's team was pretty much routed by WKU in the second round it dawned on me that we still have a long way to go in most of our sports.

Always here about how tennis is great but we are currently 4-6 with the majority of conference matches ahead of us.

We know football saw a huge turnaround but even the most optimistic fan would say we have a couple of years before we are challenging for the conference title.

Men's basketball we have a new coach on the horizon but it could take 2-3 years to be at or near the top.

My main question is what is it going to take to get us at the top of our standings in all C-USA sports and shouldn't that be our goal?

Personally - if that goal is just lip service and not intended to be supported at the necessary level, I would prefer that we focus on the sports we have the best chance of excelling in.

Part of the problem is we historically (other than soccer) have not had a consistently good program that we could build a tradition behind.

Are you advocating the conversion of Apogee into a soccer stadium?

greenminer · March 10, 2017

I still think a turnaround in bball can happen very quickly.

shootermcgavin44 · March 11, 2017

7 hours ago, Harry said:

I ask this question with the obvious exception of the great John Hedlund and the women's soccer program...

After Jalie's team was pretty much routed by WKU in the second round it dawned on me that we still have a long way to go in most of our sports.

Always here about how tennis is great but we are currently 4-6 with the majority of conference matches ahead of us.

We know football saw a huge turnaround but even the most optimistic fan would say we have a couple of years before we are challenging for the conference title.

Men's basketball we have a new coach on the horizon but it could take 2-3 years to be at or near the top.

My main question is what is it going to take to get us at the top of our standings in all C-USA sports and shouldn't that be our goal?

Personally - if that goal is just lip service and not intended to be supported at the necessary level, I would prefer that we focus on the sports we have the best chance of excelling in.

Part of the problem is we historically (other than soccer) have not had a consistently good program that we could build a tradition behind.

Men's golf

4 NATIONAL TITLES

Recent History

Conference champs 2003, 2012, 2013, 2015

Been consistently ranked close to the top 25 the last 5 year or so

GrandGreen · March 11, 2017

I think plus programs right now are tennis, soccer and men's golf.

Most of the others including the big three are far from were they need to be. NT has relatively new coaches for women's golf, women's basketball, football, and an interim coach in swimming. These three coaches will be definitely given more time to build their program. Akers, the women's golf coach, has a great resume; but that program was awful when he took it over.

Sheffied's track program is almost embarrassing, but he will undoubtedly get to right the ship with new facilities. The cross country part of his program is actually a plus sport; but this can actually hurt the track team as more ships are given to distance runners.

Kee's softball team has been very competitive in the oc, but has barely been a factor in conference. I suspect she is on the hot seat and will have to prove herself with a much better finish in the conference. Only at NT under RV would she have survived the mass exodus of players she had two years ago.

The volleyball coach may also be feeling some pressure. He did fairly well early with the inherited best player in the conference, but the program was 13-19, 7-7 in conference last year. He also has largely failed signing the metroplex's better players. He will probably get a fifth year, but a bad season could send him packing.

In swimming, the team finished 4 out of 6 in the conference meet. Dykstra really got swimming at NT out of the embarrassing category. His successor Bray basically keep them in the same position. I don't know why a new coach was not named after Bray left, but the interim has probably done as well as him. All swimming coaches at NT have been basically unable to recruit high level local kids and rely heavily on international athletics. This may be a sport were NT's facilities are just not up to standard.

It is sometime dangerous to rate the so called non-revenue sports performance. Often, it is not the coaching but a resource issue. However, assuming that all sports have a CUSA level budget and adequate facilities; any coach that doesn't consistency compete for championships should be changed. Obviously, he/she should be given the time and resources to turn around a bad program, but sports at the college level are about winning.

Edited March 11, 2017 by GrandGreen

shootermcgavin44 · March 11, 2017

20 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

I think plus programs right now are tennis, soccer and men's golf.

Most of the others including the big three are far from were they need to be. NT has relatively new coaches for women's golf, women's basketball, football, and an interim coach in swimming. These three coaches will be definitely given more time to build their program. Akers, the women's golf coach, has a great resume; but that program was awful when he took it over.

Sheffied's track program is almost embarrassing, but he will undoubtedly get to right the ship with new facilities. The cross country part of his program is actually a plus sport; but this can actually hurt the track team as more ships are given to distance runners.

Kee's softball team has been very competitive in the oc, but has barely been a factor in conference. I suspect she is on the hot seat and will have to prove herself with a much better finish in the conference. Only at NT under RV would she have survived the mass exodus of players she had two years ago.

The volleyball coach may also be feeling some pressure. He did fairly well early with the inherited best player in the conference, but the program was 13-19, 7-7 in conference last year. He also has largely failed signing the metroplex's better players. He will probably get a fifth year, but a bad season could send him packing.

In swimming, the team finished 4 out of 6 in the conference meet. Dykstra really got swimming at NT out of the embarrassing category. His successor Bray basically keep them in the same position. I don't know why a new coach was not named after Bray left, but the interim has probably done as well as him. All swimming coaches at NT have been basically unable to recruit high level local kids and rely heavily on international athletics. This may be a sport were NT's facilities are just not up to standard.

It is sometime dangerous to rate the so called non-revenue sports performance. Often, it is not the coaching but a resource issue. However, assuming that all sports have a CUSA level budget and adequate facilities; any coach that doesn't consistency compete for championships should be changed. Obviously, he/she should be given the time and resources to turn around a bad program, but sports at the college level are about winning.

Too much talent in DFW for UNT to not be a force in CUSA in individual sports.

blurbeard · March 12, 2017

C-USA Championships Won - UNT Sports

W. Soccer - 4
M. Golf - 1
M. Cross Country - 1
W. Cross Country - 0
Football - 0
M. Basketball - 0
W. Basketball - 0
W. Tennis - 0
Softball - 0
W. Volleyball - 0
W. Swimming & Diving - 0
M. Track & Field - 0
W. Track & Field - 0

Edited March 12, 2017 by blurbeard

wardly · March 12, 2017

I am 74. Hopefully in my lifetime we can ramp up men's football and basketball, but history is working against me.

outoftown · March 20, 2017

Overall I think the non-revenue sports are not that bad. Half of them are already regular contenders. However small moneys can make a much bigger difference here than in football. So here is my .02$ evaluation:

Womens soccer: 4 Titles. Enough said. The question is at the most what can be done to make them from C-USA upper echelon to regular top 25 team. Definitely the right coach.

W. Tennis is always contending, usually has a good seed and is essentially unlucky not to have won the conference yet. Adding a few resources and improve infrastracture could really help push things to the top here. Definitely the right coach.

Mens golf is always competitive, and womens golf has made a good jump back from awful to at least the middle of the pack this season. It could go fairly fast here too. I actually think that mens golf, which has been to several NCAA regional tournaments in the last few years, is the most likely to make a final NCAA tournament right now. We are planning to invest in infrastructure on top of that, so I expect great things here. Definitely the right coaches.

Cross country: Don't follow super closely, but tends to be contending on the mens side (won one title, usually top five, more often top 3), womens side could still use a small push I guess. I think this sport is among the more difficult to influence for the AD.

Softball... who knows, but I think WB will eventually have to intervene. I am not sure that RVs last hire there was the direction to go. This season might be improvement, but we cratered last season and did miss the conference tournament -which UNT hosted- so improvement should have to be more than marginal.

In Volleyball the current coach probably deserves a chance so show what he can build, but if it doesn't work out, throwing money at the gym etc is likely not enough. This is a sport where throwing money at the coach is quite essential and the jump from assistant to head coach is quite substantial. I think we are at best 2 years out.

Track: No need to evaluate until about a season or two after the new venue is created.

Swimming and Diving: I got no clue. Can't be interested in everything.

Womens Basketball: Well theres a whole forum for Basketball. I guess most will agree with me, that coach Michel has things pointed in the right direction (improvement from previous seasons), but we could argue that it was slow progress this season and we are still in the lower middle of C-USA. Feels like no need for intervention in either direction right now, but like it is at least two or three more season until we are C-USA contenders.

Mens B-Ball: Has a whole forum to itself. Completely (and predictably) cratered this season. We all know we just threw some real money at the problem and I guess we should be hopeful that things will improve fast. There will be a decent bit of pressure on the new coach, given the money that was invested.

Football: Also has a whole forum to itself. Here we can't outspend the other C-USA schools to a degree where the sheer money will guarantee us outcomes . I guess we are currently trusting our young HC to build and trying to improve the surroundings including infrastructure and recruiting (and maybe assistant pool), to give him the best chance to succeed.

Edited March 20, 2017 by outoftown

untbowler · March 23, 2017

tennis needs to finally take that next step and Coach Lama has them on the cusp but not quite there. They ruled the Sun Belt the last years there, but CUSA is a step up in competition mainly due to Rice and FIU resurging, now #30 ranking. Team looks to be around #4-6 right now. FIU #1, Rice #2, #3 ODU

In their defense though Tennis is playing a very tough schedule with a few ranked teams. Ga. State and Old Dominion are bad losses IMO

Zeleny' Orel · March 25, 2017

It seems like we are always one player away from making a serious challenge at the CUSA title...can't get out of the semis. I think we are too young to do it this year. Very strong at #1 and #2, but weaker in spots #3-#6. Doubles tends to give us a chance if we pull an upset in the #3-#6 positions. Playing the conference tournament in Denton might give us an edge this year. I will be glad to finally see a scoreboard...it has been embarrassing not to have one! Also, indoor courts are needed to keep up with other teams. Rain causes us to have to give up home advantage by moving matches to Dallas club sites (or even SMU!). We need the indoor courts so we can practice when it rains.

Need to up the recruiting a notch and better develop players we have to have a serious chance at the CUSA championship on a consistent basis.

GO MEAN GREEN!

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 0:16 PM, untbowler said:

tennis needs to finally take that next step and Coach Lama has them on the cusp but not quite there. They ruled the Sun Belt the last years there, but CUSA is a step up in competition mainly due to Rice and FIU resurging, now #30 ranking. Team looks to be around #4-6 right now. FIU #1, Rice #2, #3 ODU

In their defense though Tennis is playing a very tough schedule with a few ranked teams. Ga. State and Old Dominion are bad losses IMO

It seems like we are always one player away from making a serious challenge at the CUSA title...can't get out of the semis. I think we are too young to do it this year. Very strong at #1 and #2, but weaker in spots #3-#6. Doubles tends to give us a chance if we pull an upset in the #3-#6 positions. Playing the conference tournament in Denton might give us an edge this year. I will be glad to finally see a scoreboard...it has been embarrassing not to have one! Also, indoor courts are needed to keep up with other teams. Rain causes us to have to give up home advantage by moving matches to Dallas club sites (or even SMU!). We need the indoor courts so we can practice when it rains.

Need to up the recruiting a notch and better develop players we have to have a serious chance at the CUSA championship on a consistent basis.

GO MEAN GREEN!

Matt from A700 · April 11, 2017

Our softball team is currently 21-17, a win away from tying their win total from all last year. They're also second in the West Division just behind LA Tech. And our core are freshmen! I attended my first game Sunday and it's really exciting! This team will be a conference contender in the next few years with the Gregory twins, Rebar, etc. etc. 10 of the 15 players on the roster are freshmen and sophomores.

On 3/11/2017 at 6:24 PM, blurbeard said:

C-USA Championships Won - UNT Sports

W. Soccer - 4

These are just conference tournaments right?

Harry · April 12, 2017

On 4/10/2017 at 10:56 PM, Matt from A700 said:

Our softball team is currently 21-17, a win away from tying their win total from all last year. They're also second in the West Division just behind LA Tech. And our core are freshmen! I attended my first game Sunday and it's really exciting! This team will be a conference contender in the next few years with the Gregory twins, Rebar, etc. etc. 10 of the 15 players on the roster are freshmen and sophomores.

These are just conference tournaments right?

You make a good point on softball. She seems to be getting things on track.

blurbeard · April 14, 2017

Rings speak volumes!

The long wait is over. The Mean Green soccer team received their conference championship rings last night. The seniors finished their careers with four titles and three rings.