When can we financially get out of SL contract

El Paso Eagle · December 6, 2020

1 hour ago, TIgreen01 said:

The reason is Todd Dodge and Tony Benford. We weren’t paying Dodge much, but were continually floated the rumor we couldn’t afford to get out of that deal. We kept him around for 4 LONG years when it was obvious in year 1 that he was out of his depth. Same thing with Benford. Two games into his tenure it was OBVIOUS that we made a bad hire. He was kept for all 5 years of his contract because, again, we are told, we can’t afford to get out of the deal.

Ma

I know it's a little off the topic, but I will always believe we lost the opportunity to change the culture of football with the way Dodge's hire was handled. I think hiring him was a great move at the time. We were getting recognition from all over the country; then, IMO, the screw-ups started.

If and what's .... had he hired true college-ready coordinators, especially on defense, history might have been much different. I wish the AD would have stepped in on this. Who knows, maybe Dodge was so set he would not have come if he was not allowed to bring "his" coaches. And yes, money was a big issue, but there were plenty of coaches with college experience who would have jumped at the chance to join Dodge's staff. Sadly we will never know. I'm not sure if we will ever have the chance again for the buzz that Dodge's hire generated.

Edited December 6, 2020 by El Paso Eagle

DeepGreen · December 6, 2020

He did creat a buzz in Denton. Over 5,000 for the Spring game.

UNT 90 Grad · December 6, 2020

Just now, DeepGreen said:

He did creat a buzz in Denton. Over 5,000 for the Spring game.

We did have a lot of loyal Dodge fans from Southlake start attending UNT games. It was evidenced by the Carroll bumper stickers in the Fouts parking lot. Not sure how many then grew roots with the athletic department.

SilverEagle · December 6, 2020

10 hours ago, Arkstfan said:

I think schools tend to overpay. Let’s say you are Eli Drinkwitz. You are making $750,000 at App State. Of course you accept $4 million a year from Missouri but what are the odds he would have turned down $1.5 million to coach Mizzou? App showed some sense. They elevated OL coach and instead of paying him $750,000 like Drink they paid him $425,000 more than tripling his salary as OL coach.

How many FCS coaches making $250,000 would turn down $400,000 to coach an FBS?

As a friend says ADs are playing with the house’s money and don’t pay the salary the coach has the leverage to demand but just throw out a number that is intended to convince fans they are serious.

I totally agree with this. The problem isn't so much about how much a coach is payed, it's who does the hiring.

Historically we have had some of the most inept administrators in the USA as it regards hiring coaches. The absolute best administrative hire was by C.C. "Jitter" Nolan. He knew exactly what North Texas needed in a coach/AD and he brought him in......Hayden Fry.

Coach Fry could do it all. He could recruit, coach, and promote (sell refrigerators to Eskimos) the hell out of our school to recruits, their parents, and the general population.

We'll never see anyone like that again. But what we definitely need is a Head Coach that does a superior job of assessing talent, who understands what they are selling to recruits, and hire assistant coaches who can do the same.

The only other coach that I've seen here that could assess, recruit, and develop players similar to Hayden Fry was Corkey Nelson and his assistant, Chuck Mills.

Edited December 6, 2020 by SilverEagle

El Paso Eagle · December 6, 2020

12 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

I totally agree with this. The problem isn't so much about how much a coach is payed, it's who does the hiring.

Historically we have had some of the most inept administrators in the USA as it regards hiring coaches. The absolute best administrative hire was by C.C. "Jitter" Nolan. He knew exactly what North Texas needed in a coach/AD and he brought him in......Hayden Fry.

Coach Fry could do it all. He could recruit, coach, and promote (sell refrigerators to Eskimos) the hell out of our school to recruits, their parents, and the general population.

We'll never see anyone like that again. But what we definitely need is a Head Coach that does a superior job of assessing talent, who understands what they are selling to recruits, and hire assistant coaches who can do the same.

The only other coach that I've seen here that could assess, recruit, and develop players similar to Hayden Fry was Corkey Nelson and his assistant, Chuck Mills.

@SilverEagleSadly our athletic standards, at least for football, have had the bars set at very low levels. One only needs to take a look at some of the "HOF" choices from the football side.

UNTLifer · December 6, 2020

15 hours ago, Udomann said:

Are we going to blatantly ignore the massive underperforming? I don't think anyone said we are against paying coaches. Just against overpaying bad ones.

Is that even close to what my statement was about? I didn’t say anything about ignoring underperformance.

Arkstfan · December 6, 2020

4 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

I know it's a little off the topic, but I will always believe we lost the opportunity to change the culture of football with the way Dodge's hire was handled. I think hiring him was a great move at the time. We were getting recognition from all over the country; then, IMO, the screw-ups started.

If and what's .... had he hired true college-ready coordinators, especially on defense, history might have been much different. I wish the AD would have stepped in on this. Who knows, maybe Dodge was so set he would not have come if he was not allowed to bring "his" coaches. And yes, money was a big issue, but there were plenty of coaches with college experience who would have jumped at the chance to join Dodge's staff. Sadly we will never know. I'm not sure if we will ever have the chance again for the buzz that Dodge's hire generated.

Most ADs when interviewing a coach ask who they intend to hire for their staff. Odds are it was known from the get go.