Time For Wren Baker To Step Up

[BillySee58]

Wren has been here over 3 years now and in that time we’ve seen a lot of handshakes, smiles, checks being cashed, and extensions. The easy part of the job. Time for him to prove he can do the hard part and make the tough decisions to ensure the right people are in place instead of just approving raises.

Littrell hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record in 2 years and hasn’t won a bowl game, and Mccasland and Mitchell haven’t finished with a winning record in conference play in basketball in the 6 seasons between the two of them. There’s reason to believe that recruiting has improved for them, and there’s reason to believe they can win here, as they all have to some degree.

But real results have to start happening before raises and this internal back patting should stop. More importantly, there needs to be a bar and there needs to be consequence for not performing at that bar. I hate talking like this, but I hate seeing this type of stuff even more. Yes I’ve said over and over that this season is mostly a result of poor roster management and recruiting early on when Littrell took the job, but I also think we’ve been out coached a lot. And paying at the top of the conference for coaches who continuously get out coached can’t keep happening.

[TheColonyEagle]

Littrell got out coached and out prepared today by a 2nd year head coach of a program That has recruited at the bottom of the conference for the last 4 years. 

in 4 years, he’s never beat anyone with substance. 

[NTSU52]

1 minute ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Littrell got out coached and out prepared today by a 2nd year head coach of a program That has recruited at the bottom of the conference for the last 4 years. 

in 4 years, he’s never beat anyone with substance. 

Army in 2017?

[TheColonyEagle]

Just now, NTSU52 said:

Army in 2017?

That doesn’t help his case 

[NTEX91]

38 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Wren has been here over 3 years now and in that time we’ve seen a lot of handshakes, smiles, checks being cashed, and extensions. The easy part of the job. Time for him to prove he can do the hard part and make the tough decisions to ensure the right people are in place instead of just approving raises.

Littrell hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record in 2 years and hasn’t won a bowl game, and Mccasland and Mitchell haven’t finished with a winning record in conference play in basketball in the 6 seasons between the two of them. There’s reason to believe that recruiting has improved for them, and there’s reason to believe they can win here, as they all have to some degree.

But real results have to start happening before raises and this internal back patting should stop. More importantly, there needs to be a bar and there needs to be consequence for not performing at that bar. I hate talking like this, but I hate seeing this type of stuff even more. Yes I’ve said over and over that this season is mostly a result of poor roster management and recruiting early on when Littrell took the job, but I also think we’ve been out coached a lot. And paying at the top of the conference for coaches who continuously get out coached can’t keep happening.

You are spot on, but it won’t happen.  Not here.  We will be having the same conversations again this time next year.  Hope i’am wrong but just don’t see it.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

11 minutes ago, NTEX91 said:

You are spot on, but it won’t happen.  Not here.  We will be having the same conversations again this time next year.  Hope i’am wrong but just don’t see it.

I know we will be having these same conversations this time next year. This year feels very much like 2014, teetering on disaster. 

[Greenrex]

31 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Wren has been here over 3 years now and in that time we’ve seen a lot of handshakes, smiles, checks being cashed, and extensions. The easy part of the job. Time for him to prove he can do the hard part and make the tough decisions to ensure the right people are in place instead of just approving raises.

Littrell hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record in 2 years and hasn’t won a bowl game, and Mccasland and Mitchell haven’t finished with a winning record in conference play in basketball in the 6 seasons between the two of them. There’s reason to believe that recruiting has improved for them, and there’s reason to believe they can win here, as they all have to some degree.

But real results have to start happening before raises and this internal back patting should stop. More importantly, there needs to be a bar and there needs to be consequence for not performing at that bar. I hate talking like this, but I hate seeing this type of stuff even more. Yes I’ve said over and over that this season is mostly a result of poor roster management and recruiting early on when Littrell took the job, but I also think we’ve been out coached a lot. And paying at the top of the conference for coaches who continuously get out coached can’t keep happening.

You nailed it 100%

[Wag Tag]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

Wren has been here over 3 years now and in that time we’ve seen a lot of handshakes, smiles, checks being cashed, and extensions. The easy part of the job. Time for him to prove he can do the hard part and make the tough decisions to ensure the right people are in place instead of just approving raises.

Littrell hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record in 2 years and hasn’t won a bowl game, and Mccasland and Mitchell haven’t finished with a winning record in conference play in basketball in the 6 seasons between the two of them. There’s reason to believe that recruiting has improved for them, and there’s reason to believe they can win here, as they all have to some degree.

But real results have to start happening before raises and this internal back patting should stop. More importantly, there needs to be a bar and there needs to be consequence for not performing at that bar. I hate talking like this, but I hate seeing this type of stuff even more. Yes I’ve said over and over that this season is mostly a result of poor roster management and recruiting early on when Littrell took the job, but I also think we’ve been out coached a lot. And paying at the top of the conference for coaches who continuously get out coached can’t keep happening.

A LOT!!!

[ForneyGreen]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

Wren has been here over 3 years now and in that time we’ve seen a lot of handshakes, smiles, checks being cashed, and extensions. The easy part of the job. Time for him to prove he can do the hard part and make the tough decisions to ensure the right people are in place instead of just approving raises.

Agree 100% ... but I don't see it happening.  Now we have 3+ years of mediocre football to enjoy before the next regime change.  Wash, rinse, repeat at North Texas.  Being bad really gets old........

[BillySee58]

11 minutes ago, ForneyGreen said:

Agree 100% ... but I don't see it happening.  Now we have 3+ years of mediocre football to enjoy before the next regime change.  Wash, rinse, repeat at North Texas.  Being bad really gets old........

We started recruiting really well with the 2019 class. The 2020 class is really solid as well. I think we will be good again relatively soon, and will win again with this regime.

I just want our administration to stop acting like our coaches can do no wrong and we could never hope to get better coaches. We don’t need to keep these coaches at all costs, but that’s the message Wren and crew have sent. Stop with the unwarranted raises, put more emphasis on how well the coaches are recruiting against their peers when evaluating them, and make sure the coaches are making the tough decisions with their staff when necessary.

[FirefightnRick]

1 hour ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Littrell got out coached and out prepared today by a 2nd year head coach of a program That has recruited at the bottom of the conference for the last 4 years. 

Remember he gave us all we wanted for 3 1/2 quarters at The Ap with his 5th string QB last year.

Today he beat us with another unknown at QB who was the backup to start the year, only coming in after Wiley Green got hurt, and I believe this Rice team is young as well?

They seem to have found something in Bloomgren.

 

Rick

Edited November 24, 2019 by FirefightnRick

[Pavlovs Eagle]

I believe I was once told a few weeks ago that "a good measured AD would never waste time responding to the failures of coaching in a single game" even if some joker like myself got on a forum and demanded so.

I guess that period of measured composure has expired according to the current group think?

🙄

[Wag Tag]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

We started recruiting really well with the 2019 class. The 2020 class is really solid as well. I think we will be good again relatively soon, and will win again with this regime.

I just want our administration to stop acting like our coaches can do no wrong and we could never hope to get better coaches. We don’t need to keep these coaches at all costs, but that’s the message Wren and crew have sent. Stop with the unwarranted raises, put more emphasis on how well the coaches are recruiting against their peers when evaluating them, and make sure the coaches are making the tough decisions with their staff when necessary.

You can see a good part of the future of a program by the recruiting! His first 3 classes I believe was ranked in the 100’s and at the bottom of C-USA! Now we are in the top of C-USA rankings. Him holding this years class together is crucial. I hope the IPF helps, because our record with the preseason hype stunk. We have talked about in game and halftime coaching adjustments since he has been here. In the beginning it was called they are learning! The learning should of been over. Last year La Tech game is an example of an opposing coach making 1/2 time adjustments and winning the game. Clock Mgmt and time out usage is still an issue?   I don’t see how he can go into next year without coaching changes on both sides of the ball! Thank you Mason GMG!

[cogido]

4 hours ago, ForneyGreen said:

Wash, rinse, repeat at North Texas.  Being bad really gets old........

Amen brother.  

[Monkeypox]

I think the opportunity to move up in FBS has passed us by. And sadly  it really happened before Littrell got here. 

We really haven't gone anywhere since I started school in the 90s. The improvement in our facilities and game day experience and salaries and whatever haven't happened in a vacuum. They have to be measured against the whole of FBS, in which case we're still about 100 steps behind. 

The only difference between where we are as a G5 now and where we were in I-AA is our level of delusion. Nobody cares.  And we haven't passed any of the schools we needed to pass for positioning. 

When the reckoning happens, we are getting left behind again by the 50 or so semi-pro programs that people care about. It is what it is... UNT Athletics. 

[peanuts104]

3 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Remember he gave us all we wanted for 3 1/2 quarters at The Ap with his 5th string QB last year.

Today he beat us with another unknown at QB who was the backup to start the year, only coming in after Wiley Green got hurt, and I believe this Rice team is young as well?

They seem to have found something in Bloomgren.

 

Rick

The offense is nothing special old man.  They were shut out in the second half. Their defense is what bested us, which puts the blame squarely on Reeder or perhaps Littrell.  Or both.

[FirefightnRick]

1 hour ago, peanuts104 said:

The offense is nothing special old man.  They were shut out in the second half. Their defense is what bested us, which puts the blame squarely on Reeder or perhaps Littrell.  Or both.

Try keeping up young peanut.

I never said a thing about how special their offense was, I was responding to TheColonyEagle’s post above, 

...”Littrell got out coached and out prepared today by 2nd year head coach of a program That has recruited at the bottom of the conference for the last 4 years”.

.....in which he pointed out Bloomgren’s ability to make due with very little, and I simply offered my own example of that from last year.

 

Rick

Edited November 24, 2019 by FirefightnRick

[NT2019]

My Expectations for NT are low every year. We could be just as good with a coach costing TUSD 200 / annum vs. TUSD 1,200. If I was managing the AD I would focus on framing teams as an extension of the university and it’s willingness to interact with other institutions. There is no Snake oil that will catapult NT football to the top 25. It should just be a waiting game for the other programs to loose players out to the good education, capitalism environment and opportunities of NT.

[UNT 90 Grad]

11 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Wren has been here over 3 years now and in that time we’ve seen a lot of handshakes, smiles, checks being cashed, and extensions. The easy part of the job. Time for him to prove he can do the hard part and make the tough decisions to ensure the right people are in place instead of just approving raises.

Littrell hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record in 2 years and hasn’t won a bowl game, and Mccasland and Mitchell haven’t finished with a winning record in conference play in basketball in the 6 seasons between the two of them. There’s reason to believe that recruiting has improved for them, and there’s reason to believe they can win here, as they all have to some degree.

But real results have to start happening before raises and this internal back patting should stop. More importantly, there needs to be a bar and there needs to be consequence for not performing at that bar. I hate talking like this, but I hate seeing this type of stuff even more. Yes I’ve said over and over that this season is mostly a result of poor roster management and recruiting early on when Littrell took the job, but I also think we’ve been out coached a lot. And paying at the top of the conference for coaches who continuously get out coached can’t keep happening.

I’m tired of the rhetoric about whether or not Wren can pull the trigger on making personnel changes.  He’s already proven he can and will.  Ask if he will under the current situation, not if he can at all.  
 

How soon we forget. 

Edited November 24, 2019 by UNT 90 Grad

[untjim1995]

5 hours ago, Monkeypox said:

I think the opportunity to move up in FBS has passed us by. And sadly  it really happened before Littrell got here. 

We really haven't gone anywhere since I started school in the 90s. The improvement in our facilities and game day experience and salaries and whatever haven't happened in a vacuum. They have to be measured against the whole of FBS, in which case we're still about 100 steps behind. 

The only difference between where we are as a G5 now and where we were in I-AA is our level of delusion. Nobody cares.  And we haven't passed any of the schools we needed to pass for positioning. 

When the reckoning happens, we are getting left behind again by the 50 or so semi-pro programs that people care about. It is what it is... UNT Athletics. 

Preach it, brother...

Ive said this for years now. We quarter-assed it until around 2010. We started kicking things into higher gear, with Apogee, other facilities, and coaches’ salaries. Even buying out DMac showed commitment. 

But in the end, all we are is a lower level FBS program, We offer no new market to any conference we want to be in. And we will most certainly be left behind when they future culling occurs. And when it happens, people will complain about attendance and fundraising. But that woeful decision in 1982 to settle as an FCS program for 12 years was basically the death knoll. It killed off hundreds of thousands of students, alumni, and local fans that have either walked away or never even tried to care. That’s like seeing someone who was comatose for 12 years wake up and have to try and relearn everything. As neat as that story is, anyone who can reasonably look at this situation and realize that it’s probably not going to happen here for us to be even a good Upper Level G5 program. We don’t have the full resources that they have, not to mention a culture that overwhelmingly is apathetic to athletics here. As you said, it is what it is. 

For those who choose to follow the program, it’s fully because it’s yours, not for any other reason....

[Army of Dad]

1 hour ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I’m tired of the rhetoric about whether or not Wren can pull the trigger on making personnel changes.  He’s already proven he can and will.  Ask if he will under the current situation, not if he can at all.  
 

How soon we forget. 

How are you using Benford for this argument?! 

Wren let him coach out every game on his contract and then fed some BS line about how players can get in trouble after in season coaching changes...which was also total BS (felony charges).

If anything Wren’s total inaction on Benford is evidence he will do nothing.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Army of Dad

[NorthTexasWeLove]

10 hours ago, Pavlovs Eagle said:

I believe I was once told a few weeks ago that "a good measured AD would never waste time responding to the failures of coaching in a single game" even if some joker like myself got on a forum and demanded so.

I guess that period of measured composure has expired according to the current group think?

🙄

I know, right? Lol

[Wag Tag]

To state the program has not advanced in the last 4 years is moronic!

[Coffee and TV]

11 hours ago, Pavlovs Eagle said:

I believe I was once told a few weeks ago that "a good measured AD would never waste time responding to the failures of coaching in a single game" even if some joker like myself got on a forum and demanded so.

I guess that period of measured composure has expired according to the current group think?

🙄

A single game? 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

If leadership does not step up and make changes this off-season, I will not attend a single game next season. I would even be hard pressed to watch on TV.

I am honestly sick and tired of going into seasons and games with blind optimism, only to constantly get disappointed or crushed. We have all the resources to be successful at North Texas, yet coaches continue to fail to live up to expectations, then give us the excuses or coaches speak as a result.

Football was a pre-season pick to win the conference, we aren't even going to a bowl game. Basketball had a lot of optimism due to a jump in offseason recruiting, but the wheels are falling off that bus nice and early into the season.

We as the fans deserve better as we have given so much of our time, energy, money, resources, etc. for the love of our school, only to be force fed excuses and failed expectations. The Littrell coaching staff has reached a new low. Some happy clappers may still say "Well, at least Rice isn't Portland State" but this is damn near close and an absolute embarrassment for our team and university. 

There is no turning back from the absolute shit show this season has turned into, and if sweeping changes aren't made in the offseason, why the hell would I come back and continue to put up with this product? I have seen that show before. This leadership needs to be under a much bigger microscope than ever because with increased salaries come increased expectations and there is no way coaches for either sport have earned theirs. 

Wren Baker, step up and do the right thing. You still have the fans in your corner, but if there is a failure to take action after the nose dive this season has taken and players and coaches quitting on each other, expect to be writing out more tweets next season calling out fans for a lack of attendance.