UNT Is One of 15 Schools That Gives Its Football Coach Private Jet Access

[Harry]

I enrolled at the University of North Texas right in time to watch Darrell Dickey sink into the earth. The football coach would finish 2-9 that year, right after a 7-5 season—and almost 2,000 rushing yards from rookie Jamario Thomas—got them their fourth straight bowl berth. He’d lose his job two years later, and then Todd Dodge got brought up from Southlake and stunk up Fouts Field so bad that the sports program had to launch a dubiously-funded effort for a new stadium to get us to talk about something else. (Fouts was also really old.) When my friends and I would go to games, we’d spend more time in the parking lot than in Fouts. It was bad football. (But Tobe Nwigwe was on the team, and he is now terrific, and running back Patrick Cobbs got some years as a backup for the Dolphins and I think the Saints. OK, no more parenthesis, I promise.)

I bring this up because current coach Seth Littrell is apparently one of just 15 coaches at public universities who has personal access to a private jet written into their contract, according to USA Today. That’s use of a plane not for recruiting or work-related endeavors, but for “family vacations or other leisure trips.” In addition to his $1.865 million salary, Littrell gets $100,000 a year that goes toward “private aircraft charter flight services.” Not bad!

Littrell is among good company: six coaches are in the Big Ten and five are in the SEC. Littrell is … in Conference USA. He’s 26-21 since 2016, with three bowl appearances but no wins. That’s definitely a jump in quality, but is it worth shelling out $100,000 in university funds so he can take some trips?

Read more:  https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2019/10/unt-is-one-of-15-schools-that-gives-its-football-coach-private-jet-access/

[eagle2014]

Good for him.

[TheColonyEagle]

If LIttrell wins conference championships and gets the program in the national spotlight (for winning...not for access to a jet) this won't be an issue.

If he keeps doing what he's doing this kind of attention is going to get worse.

JUST WIN coach. I don't care about the rest of it.

[TheColonyEagle]

 

Here's some national pub....

[DeepGreen]

Personal vacation use?  Wish he would use that jet service to scour the country for top shelf OL and DL.

[Christopher Walker]

Again, I believe this situation is a particular line item funded by donors for use of their own private jet. Could be wrong, but I believe that is the case.

[UNT 90 Grad]

Tee it high and let him fly. 

[TheColonyEagle]

1 minute ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

Tee it high and let him fly. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

56 minutes ago, Christopher Walker said:

Again, I believe this situation is a particular line item funded by donors for use of their own private jet. Could be wrong, but I believe that is the case.

The jet, sure. But not the gas, depreciation of usage, etc. I am assuming that is what the $100,000 allowance is pushed into the pot for. Kind of crazy, all of the perks and salary, for what we're getting. Meanwhile, Skip Holtz keeps putting together success at less than half the price. 

[untjim1995]

Just now, NorthTexasWeLove said:

The jet, sure. But not the gas, depreciation of usage, etc. I am assuming that is what the $100,000 allowance is pushed into the pot for. Kind of crazy, all of the perks and salary, for what we're getting. Meanwhile, Skip Holtz keeps putting together success at less than half the price. 

Skip Holtz and La Tech always recruit better than we do 

[Brett Vito]

DRC from July

https://dentonrc.com/sports/football-littrell-signs-one-year-extension/article_f84d9b59-d123-5119-b037-26c80e6c2314.html

"UNT added an annual $100,000 payment for the use of a charter plane in his new contract."

[NorthTexasWeLove]

Just now, untjim1995 said:

Skip Holtz and La Tech always recruit better than we do 

OK? That's just not a shrug your shoulders kind of excuse. It's the most important job of a college coach's job, recruiting. 

Nonetheless, Holtz and Tech have more success than we do while recruiting better than we do all while getting paid less than half the amount of money paid. 

[TheColonyEagle]

I'm ready for the substance to be delivered for all this flash.....

[wardly]

I have a hard time believing that the La. Tech "Bulldog Club" or some such organization doesn't supplement Holt's official income. The same can probably be said for the So. Miss. coach.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

Just now, TheColonyEagle said:

I'm ready for the substance to be delivered for all this flash.....

Absolutely. A lot of talk, bubbling potential, tweets, recruiting classes, inflated salaries, trivial perks, and still...nada to show for it. It's frustrating. And to be frank, it wouldn't be that frustrating if we weren't losing the best QB in our schools history. Not to say we shouldn't have a guy step in and perform, because we should. But if fills like the air is out of the balloon and we let a lot of successes go unfilled on the field. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

Just now, wardly said:

I have a hard time believing that the La. Tech "Bulldog Club" or some such organization doesn't supplement Holt's official income. The same can probably be said for the So. Miss. coach.

It being a public institution, it would have to be reported. 

[Wag Tag]

IS it an improvement for UNT to be disappointed with a 7-5 record and a bowl bid? Sound like it to me!

[untjim1995]

2 hours ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

OK? That's just not a shrug your shoulders kind of excuse. It's the most important job of a college coach's job, recruiting. 

Nonetheless, Holtz and Tech have more success than we do while recruiting better than we do all while getting paid less than half the amount of money paid. 

That’s what I was saying—he and they recruit much better than we do for half the money...

Of course, La Tech, has a lot of talent around it in Louisiana that plays much tougher football than TX Hs football does, as well as a legacy of winning for many many decades to aid that recruiting advantage. That campus in Ruston loves football, schedules well in OOC, and has skins on the wall from the scalps of some big time places over the years. Basically, their sales pitch is pretty convincing for recruits at this level. They put people into the NFL draft, too. We haven’t done these things in many cases, for years or forever. Don’t think the culture of Denton doesn’t still get sold against us on the recruiting trail just as much as never having had a player drafted into the NFL since returning to I-A, either. 

Frankly, our situation is very possibly turning from fear of losing a great young coach to having an overpaid coach that gets wins against lesser competition. That scenario ought to scare everyone to death around here...

[drex]

Admssion standards, grasshopper.

[tmjerm]

Lame article.  

[Pavlovs Eagle]

Glad to see people starting to be concerned about the value we're getting out of our coach's compensation package.

I'd guess whoever asked for that to be written into the contract didn't fully understand how to tie jet usage into a compensation package.  $100k is maybe 2-2.5 average length domestic round trips for a family of 4 on a small/medium private jet.  Littrell isn't exactly rolling up in a new Gulfstream 450/550/650 unless G Brint is giving him a hell of a deal on time in his personal or a Ryan Co. jet.  And I hope he's restricted against flying in anything prop driven that is too small (anything smaller than a King Air)... its just too dangerous in my personal opinion.  He is the "CEO" of our football program after all.

He should have asked for hours per month/year on a specific class/make of jet, not a dollar value of usage.  Or if it its dollar value since UNT doesn't have a jet to give him time on, I'd ask them to pay the yearly fractional membership fee in total and get X dollars a month/year toward usage.  He would have received more value out of that setup.

[RushnStudies]

6 hours ago, Christopher Walker said:

Again, I believe this situation is a particular line item funded by donors for use of their own private jet. Could be wrong, but I believe that is the case.

This is what I have been led to believe. 

[ChiefTenBeers2015]

The real nugget here is the 26-21 record with no bowl wins.   Not an SL hater but that needs to improve if the Mean Green are going to be relevant soon, or continue to be a .500 club through and through.  

[SilverEagle]

21 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

That’s what I was saying—he and they recruit much better than we do for half the money...

Of course, La Tech, has a lot of talent around it in Louisiana that plays much tougher football than TX Hs football does, as well as a legacy of winning for many many decades to aid that recruiting advantage. That campus in Ruston loves football, schedules well in OOC, and has skins on the wall from the scalps of some big time places over the years. Basically, their sales pitch is pretty convincing for recruits at this level. They put people into the NFL draft, too. We haven’t done these things in many cases, for years or forever. Don’t think the culture of Denton doesn’t still get sold against us on the recruiting trail just as much as never having had a player drafted into the NFL since returning to I-A, either. 

Frankly, our situation is very possibly turning from fear of losing a great young coach to having an overpaid coach that gets wins against lesser competition. That scenario ought to scare everyone to death around here...

And this is the latest item of the Denton culture that will be used against us.

I doubt if any burly O-linemen or D-linemen will be impressed with our "New Culture" item.

[untjim1995]

9 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

And this is the latest item of the Denton culture that will be used against us.

I doubt if any burly O-linemen or D-linemen will be impressed with our "New Culture" item.

No doubt...assuming we ever out a premium on linemen again.