If Seth Littrell is back next season

[Wag Tag]

Seth will be back next year. That does not mean his DC has to be back.

[akriesman]

41 minutes ago, Side Show Joe said:

I agree. If Wren won't get Littrell out of here, than he needs to go too. Littrell has now gone 33 straight games without beating a winning program. Our defense is the worst I've seen since Mendoza, and Littrell hired the guy. Why he thought a DC from Kansas could build us a winner is beyond me. I'm ready to fire everyone. This garbage must stop.

I know you are pissed.   But, Wren is one of the best things to happen to North Texas athletics, regardless of the recent football failures.    Football results on the field excluded, there are a lot of athletic positives going on at North Texas.

Seth isn't going anywhere this year because of the potential talent coming up that he helped recruit, plus that contract.    If this team tanks again next year, different story.

Now about that defense....

The defensive coaching has to be addressed and it probably starts with changing DC's again.    Somebody has to be let go on the coaching staff.  Today may be the worst (or 2nd worst) defensive coaching job that I have seen.    How do you not eventually stop those long runs right up the gut.   Some of it may be player talent or fatigue.   But, when defensive players start tiring, it seems that they can't hold their ground and consistently give up 5 to 8 yards a pop.  They don't allow massive gaping holes in the middle like that.   Where were the LB's ?    I can't wait to watch the highlights on those runs again.    They all seemed to basically be the same play.    If your defense is getting gashed by a certain play, good coordinators adjust.   The adjustment may of cause problems elsewhere.   But, at least you are not repeating the same mistake over and over.    Appy State just kept taking advantage of it.

This game reminded me of Mendoza when we played OU.   After the game, the OU players and coaches were laughing at our high school schemes on defense.   I wonder if we will hear the same thing from Appy State this week.

I have never seen a defensive performance like that today with that many big runs.   It didn't necessarily seem to be from a lack of effort either.  

Appy State runs:

•  70 yd TD run
•  64 yd TD run
•  62 yd TD run
•  71 yd TD run (called back on penalty that had nothing to do with the play)
•  76 yd run (stopped at the 2).

Any one of those runs would be a season highlight for a running back.   We gave up 5 of them in 3 quarters.

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by akriesman

[El Paso Eagle]

8 minutes ago, outoftown said:

I am def not a blind WB fan. I think his contract making is akin on conflict of interest infringement. But he did improve the basketball program, and quite a number of other programs  are also improved or keep being conference championship contenders.

He just seems to not be very good at tackling failed coaches head on. Happened with benford. Happened with softball coach who kept running off players and already had a rep for player mistreatment. That said, I do not know if SL is a failed coach. What he definitely is however, is an overpaid one.

With the way he continually pads the stats on offense and not build depth it seems he is keeping his OC resume updated.

[TheColonyEagle]

1 minute ago, akriesman said:

  Football results on the field excluded, there are a lot of athletic positives going on at North Texas.

You're excluding 80% of an Athletic Department's life blood. Probably more like 90% but I'm being generous.

If football is bad....the rest doesn't matter. 

[UNTLifer]

SL is a good offensive coach.  I agree with @akriesmanpost above.  The DC has to be replaced along with Jennings our DB Coach.  We have just recruited some size for the DL but they will be young next year outside of Hutchings who has to contribute.  Man, I hope Novil returns.  Outside of that, or #2 gets pushed off the line ten yards on every play.  He is a liability at DE although highly rated coming in.  We need a DC with Chuck Mills' mentality.  Honestly, I don't know who I would keep from the defensive coaching staff.  It is an embarrassment and sad that the the young talent on that side of the ball isn't put in a better position to succeed.  Beyond ridiculous.

[UNTLifer]

5 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

With the way he continually pads the stats on offense and not build depth it seems he is keeping his OC resume updated.

What do you mean by "not build depth"?

[akriesman]

9 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

You're excluding 80% of an Athletic Department's life blood. Probably more like 90% but I'm being generous.

If football is bad....the rest doesn't matter. 

I agree that the football results are not good.   But, Wren and the rest of the administration have built some terrific facilities and are now willing to spend the money to raise our football program up.

It hasn't worked the last 2 years with Seth on the field.   And yes, they appear to have overpaid for him.   The last thing we need is for the school to start being cheap again when it comes to coaching.

I am still excited to see what happens when these recent recruiting classes start playing more.   I am fine with our top 10 nationally rated offense.    But, changes have to be made on the defensive side.   Maybe WB and a panel need to hire the next DC.   Seth may not be OK with that.   But, his choices have not worked to this point.

Edited December 21, 2020 by akriesman

[El Paso Eagle]

1 minute ago, UNTLifer said:

What do you mean by "not build depth"?

Meant to focus on QB. Think about when Mason was here. keep him in games a lot longer than he should have. When Mason got hurt our backups were not ready. This year, if you were going to use two QB's then stay with the plan. Pulling Bean the way he did in the UTEP game was crazy. In today's game- if you took the bowl game to build for next year why not give other QB's some snaps in the 2nd half?

[wardly]

We can change defensive coaches every year, but it all goes back to LOFT. Lack Of F...... Talent.

[El Paso Eagle]

4 minutes ago, wardly said:

We can change defensive coaches every year, but it all goes back to LOFT. Lack Of F...... Talent.

The talent level is improving and it much better than what we are seeing on the field.

The problem is the coaching. We are not coaching up the talent we have. We have also not seemed to be flexible adjusting them schemes to the talents of the players we have. It seems like the coaching staff is hell-bent on the scheme without regards to having the manning. Best example is Defensive End. The twing should not be on both ends. Not enough size. This allowed Novil to be doubled, or triple teamed. This size imbalance was very clear when we faced physical o-lines. We helped several RBs have career games. Maybe dramatic gains can be made in the offseason.

On offense, if you know your defense is going to struggle why not try a little ball control. Not saying you cannot mix in up tempo series, but wait until there are under 5 seconds on the clock and keep our D on the sideline.

 

[untbowler]

2 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

What do you mean by "not build depth"?

He hardly plays any back ups unless forced too, even blow outs. So you get 2/3yr players who never see field because SL fixates on a player and never pulls them unless forced too 

[Wag Tag]

1 hour ago, El Paso Eagle said:

The talent level is improving and it much better than what we are seeing on the field.

The problem is the coaching. We are not coaching up the talent we have. We have also not seemed to be flexible adjusting them schemes to the talents of the players we have. It seems like the coaching staff is hell-bent on the scheme without regards to having the manning. Best example is Defensive End. The twing should not be on both ends. Not enough size. This allowed Novil to be doubled, or triple teamed. This size imbalance was very clear when we faced physical o-lines. We helped several RBs have career games. Maybe dramatic gains can be made in the offseason.

On offense, if you know your defense is going to struggle why not try a little ball control. Not saying you cannot mix in up tempo series, but wait until there are under 5 seconds on the clock and keep our D on the sideline.

 

You can’t ball control when you are giving up 45 pts  and 500 yards. We have to go to a 4 man front! Twins should only play DE in passing situations otherwise keep them at linebacker. I have always thought Seth is not good at game time or halftime adjustments and improve with experience. Have not seen it.

[southsideguy]

SL should do the right thing and resign and go be a OC for P-5.   I think he is over his head as a HC.

[ADLER]

6 hours ago, TIgreen01 said:

Defense is definitely in the Todge universe.  Two straight years of unbelievably bad, undisciplined football.  
 

Whatever happened to Selfless, Tough, Disciplined.  We are none of those things today.

It was funny today when the commentator said the App St coach was upset with his team for stupid, senseless penalties ... and then showed the chart where App had been penalized for 22 yards and North Texas for 66, yet we'll never see Seth barking at his team. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

6 minutes ago, ADLER said:

It was funny today when the commentator said the App St coach was upset with his team for stupid, senseless penalties ... and then showed the chart where App had been penalized for 22 yards and North Texas for 66, yet we'll never see Seth barking at his team. 

App State operates under the premise of the most important word in competitive athletics. This word permeates from the fans and it's the culture there regardless of who the coach is. Expectations. 

[cogido]

Look again to history...

The ONLY time North Texas has ever broken its ageless mold of statewide / national athletic inertia was when it brought in a lightening rod named Hayden Fry who reimagined NT into relevance. (Not talking Mason here, talking Coach/ADs)
Unfortunately this University’s leadership and alums have NEVER repeated the formula and have failed to bring in a big time mover/shaker.
 Until it does.....i n e r t I a.

Edited December 22, 2020 by cogido

[meangreen11]

6 hours ago, cogido said:

Look again to history...

The ONLY time North Texas has ever broken its ageless mold of statewide / national athletic inertia was when it brought in a lightening rod named Hayden Fry who reimagined NT into relevance. (Not talking Mason here, talking Coach/ADs)
Unfortunately this University’s leadership and alums have NEVER repeated the formula and have failed to bring in a big time mover/shaker.
 Until it does.....i n e r t I a.

I agree with some of what you are saying but Hayden also put us ina bad way.  He left us without a conference and pissed a lot of the faculty and administration off.  He was a good coach but he did a lot of long term damage to football.  

[MeanGreenSig]

LSU just fired DC Pellini, COVID or not.

I agree EXPECTATIONS, I heard the announcer talk about how Appy State is similar to Bama or LSU in that they EXPECT to win, and the pressure is the same to do so, just like at the big/successful schools.

Growing up in a LSU household, we started to win much more when the coaches and AD knew they were always on the hotseat and would be removed quickly. If we want to be "bigtime" we have to start acting as if. 

[CMJ]

15 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

You're excluding 80% of an Athletic Department's life blood. Probably more like 90% but I'm being generous.

If football is bad....the rest doesn't matter. 

Tell that to Duke, Kansas, and plenty of other schools known for their basketball programs.

[TheColonyEagle]

15 minutes ago, CMJ said:

Tell that to Duke, Kansas, and plenty of other schools known for their basketball programs.

[UNTcrazy727]

16 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

I know you’re frustrated and I am assuming you’ve been around the program for a while now. This is the normal thing we do here. SL isn’t getting fired anytime soon and absolutely zero is the chance that Wren Baker will get fired.

Look, at North Texas, you have exactly two choices as a fan. Accept this and keep following because they are your team...or walk away like the other 98% of UNT alumni do. Sadly, that’s the only choice you’ll get here, at least from my perspective—I’ve only been following since 1990, though.

You're also the guy who boldly claimed RV would never be fired. Forgive me if I give zero credence to anything you say. You'll never be happy with anything UNT accomplishes. 

It's also INSANE some of you are calling for Wren's head when he's completely turned our athletic department around in just a few years. Bunch of clowns. 

[TheColonyEagle]

Just now, UNTcrazy727 said:

It's also INSANE some of you are calling for Wren's head when he's completely turned our athletic department around in just a few years. Bunch of clowns. 

So at what point do you expect the AD to address our football coach? He's been here for 5 years...is one of the highest paid coaches in G5. He's never won ANYTHING. Five years.

when would you expect Wren Baker to address it? All those shiny buildings have to be paid for...and if no one is buying tickets or donating to the program....is that not Wren Baker's responsibility? Don't give me Covid. Everyone dealt with Covid. 

[TheColonyEagle]

Here's another issue.....we can talk about how great Littrell's recruiting has been. But at this point....UTSA and their first year head coach (who blew out Littrell this year) is ranked higher. 

First year HC, shit facilities, no stadium. He's out recruiting Littrell.

[UNTcrazy727]

32 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

So at what point do you expect the AD to address our football coach? He's been here for 5 years...is one of the highest paid coaches in G5. He's never won ANYTHING. Five years.

when would you expect Wren Baker to address it? All those shiny buildings have to be paid for...and if no one is buying tickets or donating to the program....is that not Wren Baker's responsibility? Don't give me Covid. Everyone dealt with Covid. 

So you're counting his entire 5 years a failure?? He won 5 games his first season, a year after we went 1-11! He then followed that up with back-to-back 9 win seasons. Sure, they ended in disappointment, but you can't completely discount how big a deal that is around these parts. Wanting a coach fired because he's not winning conference championships is asinine for a program like UNT. And I'll take a 9 win season every time if it means we lose a bowl game no one cares about. 

His seat is warm for sure. I just think the screaming for his head is premature and questioning Wren is laughable. Unless we totally tank next year with only >3 wins, Seth is going to get a couple more years to get us back to 8+ wins. 

And not sure where you're coming from calling out Wren's fundraising abilities? Things were going great until COVID hit. Even the biggest programs are having trouble this year. 

[TheColonyEagle]

4 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

So you're counting his entire 5 years a failure?? He won 5 games his first season, a year after we went 1-11! He then followed that up with back-to-back 9 win seasons. Sure, they ended in disappointment, but you can't completely discount how big a deal that is around these parts. Wanting a coach fired because he's not winning conference championships is asinine for a program like UNT. And I'll take a 9 win season every time if it means we lose a bowl game no one cares about. 

His seat is warm for sure. I just think the screaming for his head is premature and questioning Wren is laughable. Unless we totally tank next year with only >3 wins, Seth is going to get a couple more years to get us back to 8+ wins. 

And not sure where you're coming from calling out Wren's fundraising abilities? Things were going great until COVID hit. Even the biggest programs are having trouble this year. 

You seem to have a HORRIBLE opinion of The University of North Texas. But one that has kept us right where we are for a looooong time. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by TheColonyEagle