Interesting stat

[emmitt01]

This program had had wide open offenses coached by the likes of Todd Dodge and now Seth Littrell.  
 

We’ve had gun slingers including Mitch “Air” Mayer, Scott Davis, Mason Fine, Todd Dodge, and Giovanni Vizza.  
 

But the two largest single game offensive outputs in North Texas history (721 and 768 yards) were both this year...and both had Jason Bean taking the snaps.  

[Hunter Green]

13 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

This program had had wide open offenses coached by the likes of Todd Dodge and now Seth Littrell.  
 

We’ve had gun slingers including Mitch “Air” Mayer, Scott Davis, Mason Fine, Todd Dodge, and Giovanni Vizza.  
 

But the two largest single game offensive outputs in North Texas history (721 and 768 yards) were both this year...and both had Jason Bean taking the snaps.  

 

[greenminer]

Congratulations to future CUSA POW!

He couldn't get it going vs. SMU, but I'm glad it appears he has done enough to earn the next start.

[BillySee58]

The talent on this offense is overwhelming. Then look at our high school skill player commits, we have:

- A 6’4” QB with 32 TDs/1 INT through 7 games this year and more arm talent than any QB commit I’ve seen us get, currently being coached up by Mason Fine

- Two wide receivers with P5 offers

- A running back with multiple SEC offers 

- A tight end who was offered by Texas and LSU at one point

- A 6’5” 325 lb offensive tackle with multiple P5 offers.

Defense still has some progress to make but I think the talent is not an issue there. Offense, we’re gonna be tough for the foreseeable future.

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

The talent on this offense is overwhelming. Then look at our high school skill player commits, we have:

- A 6’4” QB with 32 TDs/1 INT through 7 games this year and more arm talent than any QB commit I’ve seen us get, currently being coached up by Mason Fine

- Two wide receivers with P5 offers

- A running back with multiple SEC offers 

- A tight end who was offered by Texas and LSU at one point

- A 6’5” 325 lb offensive tackle with multiple P5 offers.

Defense still has some progress to make but I think the talent is not an issue there. Offense, we’re gonna be tough for the foreseeable future.

Which is great, but if we cannot do something about the D we will be in a position that will get us killed when we come up against a good defense 

[UNTLifer]

42 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Which is great, but if we cannot do something about the D we will be in a position that will get us killed when we come up against a good defense 

Leblanc and three DT commits, Dodson, Walker, Rausaw and Pickett at DE (Freshmen), The Twins, Brown, Wood, Johnson at LB, Gaddie, Stout, Norris, Murray, Johnson, Gibbs and Crosby at DB.  We are young and talented on D.  Now they have to adjust to the new system and mature.

[BillySee58]

24 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Leblanc and three DT commits, Dodson, Walker, Rausaw and Pickett at DE (Freshmen), The Twins, Brown, Wood, Johnson at LB, Gaddie, Stout, Norris, Murray, Johnson, Gibbs and Crosby at DB.  We are young and talented on D.  Now they have to adjust to the new system and mature.

Yeah, defense is gonna get there. Easy to see the path to them getting good with this group of young guys

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

You can’t overlook the youth on all sides of the ball. I know I’ve been harsh a lot so far, but getting some experience under their belts is gonna really help in the long run. Bean needed motivation to be better this time out, and clearly he was ready and MTSU wasn’t 

Edited October 19, 2020 by NorthTexasSportsNetwork

[Cr1028]

I’m confused, are we still firing Littrell this week or not?

[Matt from A700]

Let's hear it for.... the Meannnn Beannnn!

Green Bean?

[MrStrange18]

Look... we gotta ride with one of these guys.  I think Bean told himself that he saw the field again that he would make the most of it and he he did.

I think he has earned more than one start.  You have to let the kid stretch his legs for a couple games knowing that he is QB1.

I think there are folks on here who want a classic pocket passer like Aune and look for reasons to say Bean doesnt "pass the eye test". 

Lets support him... after Saturday, hes earned it.

[RBP79]

Keep this win in perspective....two of the worst teams in FBS played Saturday with Jason Bean coming out in relief to have his best game to date. No doubt he deserves to start against UTEP.

The big question is can he perform and motivate this team week after week. We've seen one game wonders before and I hope this was just the beginning for Bean. UTEP is a little more competitive than Muts and a good gauge to see if he can build off this win.

 

[UNTLifer]

3 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

Keep this win in perspective....

 

I would be concerned if we snuck by and show no signs of life.  Time to figure out our "bye week blues" and whip the Miner's.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

12 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

I’m confused, are we still firing Littrell this week or not?

[untjim1995]

The easy part of the schedule starts to show with three Texas CUSA West teams. Our year was always going to be about staying ahead of these three and it still remains possible. UTEP, UTSA, and Rice are just as bad as we are. I had us at 4-5 wins and we have 2. The other two or three I predicted were to come from this group. I see no reason for us to not at least get to 4. 
 

[KRAM1]

The ONLY stat I care about is the number of "W's".

[greenminer]

 

[TIgreen01]

17 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

This program had had wide open offenses coached by the likes of Todd Dodge and now Seth Littrell.  
 

We’ve had gun slingers including Mitch “Air” Mayer, Scott Davis, Mason Fine, Todd Dodge, and Giovanni Vizza.  
 

But the two largest single game offensive outputs in North Texas history (721 and 768 yards) were both this year...and both had Jason Bean taking the snaps.  

Actually, both games had BOTH Bean and Aune taking snaps.  Aune had 125 passing yards in one quarter of work on Saturday and our running game was working well even before Bean came in.  Yards weren’t the issue.  Aune just kept turning it over.

That said, Bean was far and away more effective in both of those two games.

[Christopher Walker]

14 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

I’m confused, are we still firing Littrell this week or not?

You jest, but I think the question is still relevant, and the whole situation can be reframed as such:

Our highest of highs feel amazing, but are predicated solely on Offensive success. Even then, the lack of Defensive production will always make these highs seem tenuous at best and we’re essentially still trapped in a violent roller coaster.

Seth knows offense through and through (3rd/4ths & short notwithstanding). That’s great. That’s rad. But it really feels like he doesn’t have a firm grasp yet on the other two phases of the game, and those he trusts to lead that which he does not know have had mixed results at best.

He needs to start exhibiting that he is the manager for the whole ball club and not just one aspect of it to make the $2M actually feel earned.

[BillySee58]

1 hour ago, Christopher Walker said:

You jest, but I think the question is still relevant, and the whole situation can be reframed as such:

Our highest of highs feel amazing, but are predicated solely on Offensive success. Even then, the lack of Defensive production will always make these highs seem tenuous at best and we’re essentially still trapped in a violent roller coaster.

Seth knows offense through and through (3rd/4ths & short notwithstanding). That’s great. That’s rad. But it really feels like he doesn’t have a firm grasp yet on the other two phases of the game, and those he trusts to lead that which he does not know have had mixed results at best.

He needs to start exhibiting that he is the manager for the whole ball club and not just one aspect of it to make the $2M actually feel earned.

We saw a taste of the young talent we have and the fruits of our recent recruiting. The talent level is only going to rise as these guys become upperclassmen and the guys from the subpar classes are replaced with more of the same recruiting we have seen from the 2019-2021 classes.

Firing Littrell just isn’t happening anytime soon because of his contract, so it’s a pretty pointless conversation in that regard. Then you factor in the health of our roster down the line and our recruiting situation, it would just be counterproductive. If things are still in bad shape come 2022 then it becomes more of a legitimate discussion. The talent we should have on our roster by then will likely make things a lot clearer as well. If things are working out we’ll probably be one of the top teams in the conference, or we’ll be underperforming and losing with top recruits. Both should make for easier evaluations of Littrell as a coach.

[greenminer]

52 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

We saw a taste of the young talent we have and the fruits of our recent recruiting. The talent level is only going to rise as these guys become upperclassmen and the guys from the subpar classes are replaced with more of the same recruiting we have seen from the 2019-2021 classes.

Firing Littrell just isn’t happening anytime soon because of his contract, so it’s a pretty pointless conversation in that regard. Then you factor in the health of our roster down the line and our recruiting situation, it would just be counterproductive. If things are still in bad shape come 2022 then it becomes more of a legitimate discussion. The talent we should have on our roster by then will likely make things a lot clearer as well. If things are working out we’ll probably be one of the top teams in the conference, or we’ll be underperforming and losing with top recruits. Both should make for easier evaluations of Littrell as a coach.

When I read posts from members like @Side Show Joe, I get the feeling that they are to the point that it doesn't matter until we start winning big games.  I can be on board with that.  And they believe it won't ever happen under SL.  2019 and 2020 signees be damned.  I'm not on board with that.

I personally think consistent recruiting has been missing in Denton for a long time, up until the 2019 class, and this is the root of a lot of our problems.  I am excited to see how the program responds to this recent W, and moves forward through 2021.

[BillySee58]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

When I read posts from members like @Side Show Joe, I get the feeling that they are to the point that it doesn't matter until we start winning big games.  I can be on board with that.  And they believe it won't ever happen under SL.  2019 and 2020 signees be damned.  I'm not on board with that.

I personally think consistent recruiting has been missing in Denton for a long time, up until the 2019 class, and this is the root of a lot of our problems.  I am excited to see how the program responds to this recent W, and moves forward through 2021.

Yeah only a fraction of our fanbase follows recruiting anywhere near as close as they follow the actual team, so I get it. If you don’t, when you see the struggles it’s like Groundhog Day. Heck, even if you do it kind of feels that way. But this is different.

Littrell won those games, he built up the recruiting momentum, and he capitalized by signing better classes than we’ve seen since recruiting has really been tracked online. Firing him before those guys become upperclassmen would be counterproductive. Good chance we’d see a lot of our talent transfer with a one-time sit-out free transfer rule coming, and those good recruits we got would likely decommit. And the recruiting perception of UNT would likely go back to square one with HS coaches thinking it’s a losing program where the coach is destined to be fired rather than hired away. Long story short, we really want Littrell to work out and he’s about to get a shot with the best roster in terms of top-down talent he’s had.

[UNTLifer]

Thank you @greenminer and @BillySee58.  I ran through this in a post a week or so ago.  Littrell caught lightening in a bottle with the first class finding Fine, Bussey, Guyton, etc... but overall the first few classes reflected the lack of relationships UNT had with state HS coaches.  SL and staff spent the first couple of seasons building those relationships and changing the perception of North Texas and started signing better classes each year, this year included although it is yet to be signed.  The hitch in this is that the majority of our talent right now are sophomores and freshmen and they have to grow up a little.

I also wholeheartedly disagree that SL has checked out.  I don't think losing out on the KSU job caused that, in fact, I think that will be a blessing in disguise for our program.  SL is a high character person.  You may not like that he isn't a "rah-rah" type personality and that he isn't animated in his speech or demeanor, but he is a hell of an offensive coach, a good man and is addressing our defensive deficiencies with the current recruiting class as well as the previous one.  I don't know what he will do, but it would also be a blessing if Novil sticks around for one more year and allows these incoming DT's to not be thrown into the fire immediately.

A good program with great facilities is being built right now.  Let's not hamstring that process by running off a good young coach and starting over from scratch.

[drex]

Don't forget Steve Ramsey on our gunslinger list.

 

[Side Show Joe]

On 10/19/2020 at 4:43 PM, greenminer said:

When I read posts from members like @Side Show Joe, I get the feeling that they are to the point that it doesn't matter until we start winning big games.  I can be on board with that.  And they believe it won't ever happen under SL.  2019 and 2020 signees be damned.  I'm not on board with that.

I personally think consistent recruiting has been missing in Denton for a long time, up until the 2019 class, and this is the root of a lot of our problems.  I am excited to see how the program responds to this recent W, and moves forward through 2021.

You are not far from my thinking. I honestly believe Littrell will never lead us to consistently winning the bigger G5 games necessary to challenge for the new year's access bowl. It has been years since he has beaten a program that finished their season with a winning record. As for the '19 and '20 recruits... Yes, they are much better than the quality he was bringing in when he first got to UNT. But, he still isn't bringing in enough high ranking talent on our offensive and defensive lines, and he isn't utilizing the transfer portal as effectively as the better G5 programs. So, I believe we will continue to fail against the likes of SMU. I want more for North Texas. I know it isn't popular to make these remarks, but I have to be honest about where I feel we are headed.