2021 Football Opponent Previews: North Texas Mean Green

meangreen11 · June 18, 2021

Quote

North Texas as a school has an annual enrollment of over 40,000 students with a nice alumni base for donations and booster-corps. And it’s located in the football-crazed state of Texas, so of course on paper (and in the game) a solid Mean Green football team was a totally feasible outcome.

That’s rarely been the case, however. They were pretty good back when “Mean” Joe Green was leading a dynamite defense in the 60s but they dropped down to the FCS level in the 70s and weren’t really even competitive at that level. They came back to the FBS level in the 90s and only really saw success in two instances since then: Darrell Dickey’s four consecutive Sun Belt Championship runs of 2001-2004 and then current coach Seth Littrell’s back-to-back 9-win seasons in 2017 and 2018.

Since then the Mean Green have been in a bit of funk, including last year.

North Texas is vulnerable: their head coach is on the hot seat and making some desperate changes to save his job on the side of the ball that he’s never had success with. They have good players, yes, but the depth behind them absolutely sucks and their best offensive weapon last year is currently in the NFL.

read more: https://www.rockmnation.com/2021/6/17/22524398/2021-football-opponent-previews-north-texas-mean-green

ChiefTenBeers2015 · June 18, 2021

Sounds pretty accurate to me.

UNTLifer · June 18, 2021

His history of our program is wrong.

Christopher Walker · June 19, 2021

20 hours ago, ChiefTenBeers2015 said:

Sounds pretty accurate to me.

Yeah, that’s among the more thorough oppo scouting write ups I’ve ever read.

meangreen11 · June 19, 2021

It's the only one you need really. It's really complete and thorough.

Udomann · June 19, 2021

20 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

His history of our program is wrong.

How so? Seems pretty accurate. Maybe a tad generalized, but you can't cover every year of a historic program like ours

I think it was just about spot on

Edited June 19, 2021 by Udomann

meangreen11 · June 19, 2021

21 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

His history of our program is wrong.

In what way exactly?

greenminer · June 19, 2021

Off the top of my head, we didn't go to 1AA until the early 1980s.
Total nitpick here, but I don't recall the FCS/FBS labels coming into being until the BCS era.

@UNTLifer those are my initial thoughts. Are there more?

UNTLifer · June 19, 2021

2 hours ago, greenminer said:

Off the top of my head, we didn't go to 1AA until the early 1980s.
Total nitpick here, but I don't recall the FCS/FBS labels coming into being until the BCS era.

@UNTLifer those are my initial thoughts. Are there more?

This. During the 70's/Fry years we were Independent and nationally ranked at one time. We move down to 1AA/now FCS in the 80's and had success at that level, being nationally ranked as well, qualifying for the playoffs a number of years. He acts like we wandered in the desert from the late 60's until the Sun Belt success and early SL success. Lazy reporting bugs me.

PlummMeanGreen · June 19, 2021

EPISTLE #???...(I’m older so I repeat myself sometimes).🙄

Been following the Mean Green since Fry’s first game (1973) & it still amazes me those on this forum who seem to get off on kicking the school they say they attended in the nutsack every chance they get.

I once sat down with Texas colleges 1950’s integration pioneer Abner Haynes & Ron Shanklin on a couple occasions in Fort Worth & they both told me stories that made me damn proud of our school & it’s football program—even in the unfortunate era of Jim Crow. UNT in most all cases rose above all the hate that had been in America.
No, not exactly 100% perfect was our school especially when QB Andrew Smith & his educator father came up from Bay City for a visit when “some” from one of our white fraternities showed what assholes they were with their comments aimed at our visitors. (That fraternity was soon kicked off the UNT campus justifiably so).

I’m from Small Town, Texas, (Houston area) which had 1 black family In the entire town & the Carothers family were A-1 folk & very well liked. It was in most our culture not even to judge one by the color of skin, but to just follow the Golden Rule.

•••First time I ever saw an act of racism I was 12 & at national church convention for a Boy Scout-kind of group & in Washington D.C., August, 1963. President John F. Kennedy was supposed to speak to our group at the Mayflower Hotel but had to bow out at the last minute when Jackie & the President lost their baby, one Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
The ugly racist incident I witnessed was at a Washington diner (across from the Intercontinental Hotel) & that was when a white owner was getting all over a young black bus fella. At age 12 I was angry & ready to go kick some white ass but being at a church-related national convention made me tone it down lest my parents found out they’d raised a bad ass.😱
After almost a week in Washington our Texas delegation headed back home. •••The church denomination I was a member officially apologized to America’s Blacks decades ago & did so out of shame & embarrassment for their Deep South participation beginning with the Civil War. (That denomination was the same one Billy Graham was a member).

Move forward, America—we’re in overtime & it’s way past time to do so.

❇️🦅❇️

Edited June 20, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen