What does the program need to move to the next level?

Coach Andy Mac · October 14, 2019

It seems like they have better facilities and coaches than they ever had. Dr. Smatrek seems to be supportive as does the BOR and faculty. Attendance seems to be trending up.

What specifically does Coach Littrell need to produce a better product?

Edited October 14, 2019 by Coach Andy Mac

NorthTexasWeLove · October 14, 2019

A. C. C. O. U. N. T. A. B. I. L. I. T. Y.

At ALL levels.

TheNewEra · October 14, 2019

Get an invite to the B12 is the only way the next step ever happens

GreenTexan13 · October 14, 2019

unable to adapt when something does not work and sticking with consistency is killing this year. In the offseason, we know what issues we are facing coming into next year. We knew the O-line was struggling, defense was not on par, etc, etc. This year, we get doubled up on in our final scores. I'm sorry, but when something is broke.. You fix it. It's hard to defend SL's ability to do right now.

Also, is it on anyone else's mind what we're going to do when Fine graduates? I am worried thinking about it. Is UNT going to follow the SMU model of transfers or are we going to stick with developing recruits out of HS. Because what we're doing right now does not advertise well to recruits..

Cr1028 · October 14, 2019

We don’t live in a vacuum so the “next level” is constantly moving. Catching up or “keeping up with the Jones’s” will never be enough. For North Texas to separate from a pack all striving to achieve the same success at one another’s peril, there must be something groundbreaking. We will need an Oregon/Oklahoma State level donor to create facilities and amenities that the bigs haven’t thought of yet OR we will need a gimmick. The gimmick could be some revolutionary new offense that DC’s haven’t considered yet or going back to our old school ways with some power running attack (maybe even something as rare as Army’s O) and a serious prioritization of the defensive side of the football.

If we could’ve built upon the 2013 team rather than letting the remnants slowly deteriorate into what played PortSt in 2015; we really could’ve had something.

I truly believe Skladany retired because he could see that no matter what he did with the defense, McCarney was going to let the offense lose football games and he couldn’t take it anymore.

Big Z · October 14, 2019

8 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

We don’t live in a vacuum so the “next level” is constantly moving. Catching up or “keeping up with the Jones’s” will never be enough. For North Texas to separate from a pack all striving to achieve the same success at one another’s peril, there must be something groundbreaking. We will need an Oregon/Oklahoma State level donor to create facilities and amenities that the bigs haven’t thought of yet OR we will need a gimmick. The gimmick could be some revolutionary new offense that DC’s haven’t considered yet or going back to our old school ways with some power running attack (maybe even something as rare as Army’s O) and a serious prioritization of the defensive side of the football.

If we could’ve built upon the 2013 team rather than letting the remnants slowly deteriorate into what played PortSt in 2015; we really could’ve had something.

I truly believe Skladany retired because he could see that no matter what he did with the defense, McCarney was going to let the offense lose football games and he couldn’t take it anymore.

I think in a BTG episode, Mac got Skladany out of retirement.

Cr1028 · October 14, 2019

Just now, Big Z said:

I think in a BTG episode, Mac got Skladany out of retirement.

Yes and he re-retired after 2014 because the offense was atrocious as we were force fed Iowa no-offers qb with a little Josh Greer mixed in. That is how we got stuck with garbage Chris Cosh which made the defense look just as bad as the offense

UNT Texas Hooligan · October 14, 2019

Consistency. Consistent winning

southsideguy · October 14, 2019

1 hour ago, Cr1028 said:

Yes and he re-retired after 2014 because the offense was atrocious as we were force fed Iowa no-offers qb with a little Josh Greer mixed in. That is how we got stuck with garbage Chris Cosh which made the defense look just as bad as the offense

nightmare on fry street, those were dark days yet I showed up expecting to lose and if won I was really shocked. I still remember that picture of the team with score in the background after the one win. I guess you have to celebrate the small victories.

FirefightnRick · October 14, 2019

18 more wide recievers.

Rick

817Fan · October 14, 2019

There's no commitment here to recruit size on the lines of scrimmage.

The D line rotation is too small. The LBs are too small. The O line is average on their good days.

The team who wins CUSA will have the best line play.

NorthTexasWeLove · October 14, 2019

Yeah. I've been pointing out D-line discrepancies in recruiting for a year or so. I was told, in some version of, "...In Littrell we trust..."

the office dwight GIF

UNTexas · October 14, 2019

An offensive line that doesn't get your QB destroyed after every pass?

Charlie NT 73 · October 14, 2019

How does that old saying goes ?

It is about Johnny and Joe’s not x’s and o’s

The OL and DL for Smu, Cal, Houston, and Southern Miss were massive and quick!

Line play is where winning begins, IMPO

jtm0097 · October 14, 2019

I’m not bashing anyone that plays for the team. I am glad we have kids that want to come here and play. However, it is discouraging to see the development of some kids after they come here. Maybe there is a reason their only other offer was Liberty or New Mexico State? I am not mentioning any specific player, just a trend I have seen.

NorthTexasWeLove · October 14, 2019

3 minutes ago, jtm0097 said:

I’m not bashing anyone that plays for the team. I am glad we have kids that want to come here and play. However, it is discouraging to see the development of some kids after they come here. Maybe there is a reason their only other offer was Liberty or New Mexico State? I am not mentioning any specific player, just a trend I have seen.

Yah. Dah.

Sunshine pumpers will say, "In Littrell I trust".

I mean, we can't expect to pull OL/DL with minimal to 0 offers and be good. The pumpers will say it's the most difficult position groups to recruit. And they're right. But other teams are doing it. SL and Co are not. It's a problem. A big one. And it's a problem that will continue to grow due to NONE of his classes really having any noteworthy OL/DL and neither does this 2020 class.

Mean Green Matt · October 14, 2019

Like it or not, the correct answer is fan support. If we were putting in 60k a game, it would be impossible for the P5 to ignore us.

And before you say “but we are in CUSA, we could never draw those types of crowds”. I say why not. All it requires is for our people to have pride and support for our school. Opponent shouldn’t matter.

NorthTexasWeLove · October 14, 2019

Just now, Mean Green Matt said:

Like it or not, the correct answer is fan support. If we were putting in 60k a game, it would be impossible for the P5 to ignore us.

And before you say “but we are in CUSA, we could never draw those types of crowds”. I say why not. All it requires is for our people to have pride and support for our school. Opponent shouldn’t matter.

I can get behind this sort of campaign, seriously. The Nebraska mantra. No matter how mediocre we get or downright bad, let's not let it be because of the fans and sell out Apogee for 30 straight years. People would eventually take notice. And it would boost recruiting. But that's not realistic, unfortunately. Too many band and art folk (let's be real, liberal folk) go or went to this school. And for the people that care about football, they put their maroon or orange shirt on long ago.

meanrob · October 15, 2019

20 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

I can get behind this sort of campaign, seriously. The Nebraska mantra. No matter how mediocre we get or downright bad, let's not let it be because of the fans and sell out Apogee for 30 straight years. People would eventually take notice. And it would boost recruiting. But that's not realistic, unfortunately. Too many band and art folk (let's be real, liberal folk) go or went to this school. And for the people that care about football, they put their maroon or orange shirt on long ago.

Yeah, and if you were a Nebraska fan you would have lost your f'n mind the past ten years. They just got run out of the building by Minnesota.

Welcome to being a G5. If you're name isn't Boise State it is always a roller coaster. I have no problem with people complaining about individual events (recruiting, coach's decisions, losses) but if you have a magic wand that can make a G5 a 9-10 game winner every year, about 99.9% of G5 programs would love to talk to you. Attendance won't change that, firing a coach after a bad year won't change that, I'm not sure even a Boone Pickens type donation would change it (see OSU's Bball program and the trending downward football team).

If it were as easy as accountability, everybody would just fire everybody when they hit a rough spot. I'm not saying this is North Texas, just suck it up and take it, I'm saying this is college football, especially at the G5 level, so suck it up and take it.

NorthTexasWeLove · October 15, 2019

5 minutes ago, meanrob said:

Yeah, and if you were a Nebraska fan you would have lost your f'n mind the past ten years. They just got run out of the building by Minnesota.

Welcome to being a G5. If you're name isn't Boise State it is always a roller coaster. I have no problem with people complaining about individual events (recruiting, coach's decisions, losses) but if you have a magic wand that can make a G5 a 9-10 game winner every year, about 99.9% of G5 programs would love to talk to you. Attendance won't change that, firing a coach after a bad year won't change that, I'm not sure even a Boone Pickens type donation would change it (see OSU's Bball program and the trending downward football team).

If it were as easy as accountability, everybody would just fire everybody when they hit a rough spot. I'm not saying this is North Texas, just suck it up and take it, I'm saying this is college football, especially at the G5 level, so suck it up and take it.

Udomann · October 15, 2019

12 minutes ago, meanrob said:

Yeah, and if you were a Nebraska fan you would have lost your f'n mind the past ten years. They just got run out of the building by Minnesota.

Welcome to being a G5. If you're name isn't Boise State it is always a roller coaster. I have no problem with people complaining about individual events (recruiting, coach's decisions, losses) but if you have a magic wand that can make a G5 a 9-10 game winner every year, about 99.9% of G5 programs would love to talk to you. Attendance won't change that, firing a coach after a bad year won't change that, I'm not sure even a Boone Pickens type donation would change it (see OSU's Bball program and the trending downward football team).

If it were as easy as accountability, everybody would just fire everybody when they hit a rough spot. I'm not saying this is North Texas, just suck it up and take it, I'm saying this is college football, especially at the G5 level, so suck it up and take it.

I'm inclined to agree except for one counter point: Seth's ass MUST be in the hot seat. Accountability is everything. He has no fear of his job, he's got 6+ mil guaranteed coming in, and it shows. We shouldn't fire a coach after a bad season, but the coach needs to fear for his job after a bad season. The power is all on with the coaches (in g5) at the moment. We are treating them like p5 materials, and that's where their eyes are

Edited October 15, 2019 by Udomann

FirefightnRick · October 15, 2019

Appalachian State gives the Sunbelt the exact same number of teams in the Top 25 as the ACC..1.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fbs/associated-press

Rick

meanrob · October 15, 2019

26 minutes ago, Udomann said:

I'm inclined to agree except for one counter point: Seth's ass MUST be in the hot seat. Accountability is everything. He has no fear of his job, he's got 6+ mil guaranteed coming in, and it shows. We shouldn't fire a coach after a bad season, but the coach needs to fear for his job after a bad season. The power is all on with the coaches (in g5) at the moment. We are treating them like p5 materials, and that's where their eyes are

27 minutes ago, Udomann said:

I'm inclined to agree except for one counter point: Seth's ass MUST be in the hot seat. Accountability is everything. He has no fear of his job, he's got 6+ mil guaranteed coming in, and it shows. We shouldn't fire a coach after a bad season, but the coach needs to fear for his job after a bad season. The power is all on with the coaches (in g5) at the moment. We are treating them like p5 materials, and that's where their eyes are

So you threaten him but don’t have any intention of firing him? I don’t understand how that works. Coaches everywhere have the upper hand because after any success they get extended.

greenminer · October 15, 2019

How do you acknowledge you’re on the hot seat at the same time you acknowledge you’re not gonna get fired?

I think we’re splitting hairs about responsibility/accountability, vs the decision to actually terminate.

Seth is def responsible, always should be. But a sub-9 win season shouldn’t default him into termination.

Udomann · October 15, 2019

28 minutes ago, meanrob said:

So you threaten him but don’t have any intention of firing him? I don’t understand how that works. Coaches everywhere have the upper hand because after any success they get extended.

Well that's misinterpretation if I've seen one. You 100% fire the man if he doesn't deliver

So your suggestion is we just keep paying the man for mediocrity? I'm not sure what the end game of your argument is, but it seems like we should just accept the inevitable and hope for the best, but not make plans for it? We call that Mccarney Ball around these parts. It's not a big hit.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Udomann