DRC: Former UNT coach Rod Rust has died, sources confirm to DRC

[Brett Vito]

 

[letsgiveacheer]

What a pity. Rust was the coach when I arrived at North Texas and while he did not do well for those final years here, he will be remembered as our only coach to become a NFL head coach.  Sympathies to his family.

[Brett Vito]

DRC: Rust's players remember him and his contributions to UNT's program

https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/former-unt-football-coach-rod-rust-dies-at/article_0ccdd4cb-7619-5bb6-b227-efc075974c2d.html

[GrandGreen]

Sorry to hear of Coach Rust passing, 

Rust should have been in the NT HOF a long time ago.  It is beyond me how the coach with the best football team NT ever fielded is given almost no credit.   It is either he did it with Mitchell's players or he was horrible at the end.   

Those were not all Mitchell players and why do we give more credit to who recruited a player than the coach they actually played for.  Blakeley for example, had most of his success with inherited recruits.   

Rust also faced massive budget cuts and lost nearly a full class because of juco recruiting rule changes.  Dickey and Blakeley both ended up being also fired and were still selected to the HOF.    

[SilverEagle]

90 huh.  That's a pretty long life for someone in such a stressful profession.

Interesting comment (Rust was tremendously honest) from Bill Mercer. A diplomatic way of saying what I had always heard about him. And that was that he was often abrasive. I had a short visit with Coach Rust when I worked for the University and we were both taking an afternoon break at "Zekes". He was very cordial to me. I guess it helped that I mentioned a player on his current team that I attended High School with, that he liked very much.

[VideoEagle]

I didn't get to NT till Fall of 76, so I never knew Coach Rust. I heard that he was a good Xs and Ox coach, but "couldn't recruit" and that's why the team eventually went down hill. I don't think it was that simple. First of all, recruiting changed dramatically during his time. NT has a decided advantage in that it would actively recruit African-American athletes from the late 50s onward. Fry broke the color barrier in the SWC in the early/mid 60 (I forget the exact year) but even then only the most exceptional athletes could were accepted in the SWC. But as time went on, more and more athletes were getting opportunities on the big SWC stage and had less reason to come to NT. I didn't know about the budget cuts and JUCO rule changes GrandGreen mentioned but I'm certain those had a negative effect as well. President Matthews had left behind a lot of staff and faculty that wanted to "win" in sports, but not so much that athletics would be bigger than academics. 

[letsgiveacheer]

It is difficult to believe now but freshmen were not allowed to play varsity football or basketball until the 1972 season. I believe North Texas maintained a junior varsity team up until 1973 when Fry joined us.   I was not aware of any juco rule change but perhaps someone can fill in the blanks. 

[SilverEagle]

2 hours ago, letsgiveacheer said:

It is difficult to believe now but freshmen were not allowed to play varsity football or basketball until the 1972 season. I believe North Texas maintained a junior varsity team up until 1973 when Fry joined us.   I was not aware of any juco rule change but perhaps someone can fill in the blanks. 

I don't know about any juco rule change either. But I do remember that I came across a historical article on "The Portal" from either the "Campus Chat" or the "DRC" about one of Coach Rust's last recruiting classes. It was almost all Juco's…...about 21 of them.  I also remember around the same time that there was a group of black players that had become disgruntled and were threatening a boycott. I think they all eventually left the program.

Since you were on campus during that time frame, maybe you remember something about it.

[GrandGreen]

3 hours ago, letsgiveacheer said:

It is difficult to believe now but freshmen were not allowed to play varsity football or basketball until the 1972 season. I believe North Texas maintained a junior varsity team up until 1973 when Fry joined us.   I was not aware of any juco rule change but perhaps someone can fill in the blanks. 

I don't remember the exact change, but Rust had signed a large group of JUCO's including several first team All Americans.    The new rule made them ineligible.   My assumption is that the new rule  required a  juco degree or at least finishing a semester in good academic standing.   Whatever, NT lost almost a full class.   

NT was the only D1 school in Texas and most of the South to recruit Afro-American athletes in the sixties and early seventies.   When that advantage went away, NT was left with a bare=bones budget and little chance to compete with the SWC.

I think part of the problem for recognition for Rust was that he happened to fall between the most popular coaches in NT football history,  Odus Mitchell and Hayden Fry.   

 

 

Edited October 24, 2018 by GrandGreen

[SilverEagle]

Here is an article that hints at some of the discord during that time.

 

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth326588/m1/4/zoom/?q=NTSU players disgruntled&resolution=3&lat=6626&lon=3704

[DallasGreen]

Mention of Rick Shaw in this article always rankles me. After his playing days which had no significant contributions to the program. There was an interview with Randy Galloway then of the DMNS in which Shaw was quoted as saying “ North Texas is a nothing school from a nobody league” That’s not the attitude that resonates with alumni who have given time and money to the program. Hopefully the players who now represent UNT have more pride and respect than to ever be associated wit such an obnoxious quote.

[SilverEagle]

1 hour ago, DallasGreen said:

Mention of Rick Shaw in this article always rankles me. After his playing days which had no significant contributions to the program. There was an interview with Randy Galloway then of the DMNS in which Shaw was quoted as saying “ North Texas is a nothing school from a nobody league” That’s not the attitude that resonates with alumni who have given time and money to the program. Hopefully the players who now represent UNT have more pride and respect than to ever be associated wit such an obnoxious quote.

Yeah, his statement applies more to his performance than anything else. 666 yards (33% completion rate) in 71 and 734 yards (25% completion rate) in 72. I'd have told him that I'm sorry all those recruitment letters from all those SWC schools got lost in the mail, thereby forcing him to come to NT.

His amusing name is still the only notable thing about him.

[ttunt1970]

Coach Rust was a great X’s & O’s coach both offensively and defensively, I do think there was something to JUCO policy change, but he came from Stanford and relationships with High School Coaches just wasn’t there.