GREEN FLYING WORM

[SilverEagle]

30 minutes ago, wardly said:

So does anyone know why we gave up the "Flying Worm"? With so many schools having eagles as a mascot it was the only one that separated us from the crowd. While I like our "eagle wings" they look nearly identical to the Oregon Ducks.

My assumption is that when Hayden Fry left, and the "old nesters" closed ranks, and took us back to the good ol' days of Dr. Matthews (and his minions) they got rid of anything "Hayden Fry" as soon as they could.  The old nesters/Dr. Matthews-minions hated Hayden Fry......or anything that reminded them of him. 

[drex]

The 'Flying Worm' has been used off and on for decades, and yet Rick Spears (the creator) is not in the athletic hall of fame ......pitiful.

[UNTLifer]

7 minutes ago, drex said:

The 'Flying Worm' has been used off and on for decades, and yet Rick Spears (the creator) is not in the athletic hall of fame ......pitiful.

Agreed.  It was a shame he wasn't recognized prior to his passing.

Regarding the "Flying Worm", it seems to me that it figured prominently, along with the apple green, in our social media announcements of recruits/commits.  Any chance they are bringing it back as our logo for our football uniforms?  It seems our current eagle logo wasn't used much during the season.  

[97and03]

4 hours ago, tmjerm said:

Star Wars sucks 

[NT80]

1 hour ago, SilverEagle said:

My assumption is that when Hayden Fry left, and the "old nesters" closed ranks, and took us back to the good ol' days of Dr. Matthews (and his minions) they got rid of anything "Hayden Fry" as soon as they could.  The old nesters/Dr. Matthews-minions hated Hayden Fry......or anything that reminded them of him. 

Hayden Fry was a master at rebranding and changing a school's athletic image (and culture), both at NT and Iowa.  He was ahead of his time at NT.  Fry pushed to get NT into the SWC and almost did.  We had a new Super Pit in 1973 and were starting to use a new Texas Stadium in 1974 for our bigger games. 

But old nesters at NT and Denton, used to the small college scene, were not ready then for the bigger stage and Major College sports.  I believe it was either new school president Al Hurley or AD/coach Bob Tyler that made the decision not to fight the NCAA's demotion of NT to 1-AA status for football starting in 1983.  We were taken out of 1-A in football and changed back to Eagles for our logos, uniforms and nickname.  It was a truly sad time for NT fans overall.

But finally, common sense (marketing) prevailed many years later and the Mean Green nickname eventually returned.  The Flying Worm was and is our Texas Longhorn of logos.  It should return also!

While the new Son of Worm is fine, it is not unique nor actually ours like the Flying Worm is...someone found the SOW image pictured on an older Australian fighter jet before we ever started using it.

Yes, bring back the Worm, permanently!

[Jonnyeagle]

2 hours ago, drex said:

The 'Flying Worm' has been used off and on for decades, and yet Rick Spears (the creator) is not in the athletic hall of fame ......pitiful.

Any additional detail on this?  Have not heard this skeleton from the "Fred McCain Room" closet yet.

[NT80]

21 minutes ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Any additional detail on this?  Have not heard this skeleton from the "Fred McCain Room" closet yet.

 

 

[DeepGreen]

Anyone know if the flying worm is a registered trademark? ®   If not, it should be.

[Jonnyeagle]

18 minutes ago, DeepGreen said:

Anyone know if the flying worm is a registered trademark? ®   If not, it should be.

To my understanding they did not trademark it.  The only one they trademark was this one\

[UNTLifer]

I apologize for the "vomit vote" which is not fair to you @Jonnyeagle as I would be shooting the messenger.  I shall remove my vote and instead respond to that logo with this:

[UNT86]

Dr. Hurley killed our program.  Bob Tyler was only here one year.  Hurley wanted us to become an academic institution like the service academies.  He did not have a high regard for athletics.  Even simple things like tailgating were banned.

As far as the flying worm, we also suffered from letting each new coach and AD change the logo and shade of greed like we were a high school.  It especially chapped me when our AD did not get us a home playoff game when we were #4 in the nation because he wanted to go to Reno instead.

We suffered from lack of leadership, funding, and vision for a long time.

Thankfully, I believe those days are behind us.  Now we are just playing catch up for eternity.

[wardly]

1 hour ago, UNT86 said:

Dr. Hurley killed our program.  Bob Tyler was only here one year.  Hurley wanted us to become an academic institution like the service academies.  He did not have a high regard for athletics.  Even simple things like tailgating were banned.

As far as the flying worm, we also suffered from letting each new coach and AD change the logo and shade of greed like we were a high school.  It especially chapped me when our AD did not get us a home playoff game when we were #4 in the nation because he wanted to go to Reno instead.

We suffered from lack of leadership, funding, and vision for a long time.

Thankfully, I believe those days are behind us.  Now we are just playing catch up for eternity.

While Dr. Hurley was not a supporter of NTSU athletics, his replacement Frank Vandiver (sic?) really wounded the program by dropping to 1AA. However athletics had no money, so it was either drop down or drop football and it could have gone either way.

[GreenGonzo]

In my opinion, the stylized eagle (flying worm) will always be the best emblem on our helmets and uniforms because of its originality and uniqueness.  That emblem symbolizes the winning culture that came with Coach Fry.  It should never have been discarded.  I'm glad it has been somewhat resurrected.  Bring it back to its former glory. Thank you Rick Spears for your awesome contribution to UNT! 

[CMJ]

I know it is uniquely ours and we have some great history with it from 40+ years ago, but I've never much liked the Flying Worm and never will.

[greenminer]

21 minutes ago, CMJ said:

I know it is uniquely ours and we have some great history with it from 40+ years ago, but I've never much liked the Flying Worm and never will.

I prefer the SOW.

[MCMLXXX]

58 minutes ago, wardly said:

While Dr. Hurley was not a supporter of NTSU athletics, his replacement Frank Vandiver (sic?) really wounded the program by dropping to 1AA. 

Hurley replaced Vandiver. Vandiver was President from 1980-1981 when he left to become President at Texas A%M. Hurley was President from 1982 until 2000 and was replaced by Norval Pohl.

UNT Presidents | UNT History and Traditions

Edited February 5, 2022 by MCMLXXX

[NT80]

10 minutes ago, MCMLXXX said:

Hurley replaced Vandiver. Vandiver was President from 1980-1981 when he left to become President at Texas A%M. Hurley was President from 1982 until 2000 and was replaced by Norval Pohl.

UNT Presidents | UNT History and Traditions

Yes, Hurley was Prez when NT got demoted to 1-AA for 1983.  I don't think funding was the mandated reason for NT being dropped down, although I'm sure funding for a 1-AA program was less expensive.  Fouts didn't meet the criteria for stadium size for 1-A.  But we could have designated Texas Stadium as our primary home facility since we used it often anyway then and could have remained in 1-A had the AD sent in the paperwork.  

[NT80]

1 hour ago, GreenGonzo said:

In my opinion, the stylized eagle (flying worm) will always be the best emblem on our helmets and uniforms because of its originality and uniqueness.  That emblem symbolizes the winning culture that came with Coach Fry.  It should never have been discarded.  I'm glad it has been somewhat resurrected.  Bring it back to its former glory. Thank you Rick Spears for your awesome contribution to UNT! 

[UNTLifer]

Best logo we've ever had and uniquely North Texas.  It should have never been discarded.

[NT93]

7 hours ago, Jonnyeagle said:

To my understanding they did not trademark it.  The only one they trademark was this one\

Good thing we trademarked this or every “Eagles” team in America would be using it.  I mean, who wouldn’t want that as their logo?

[wardly]

3 hours ago, MCMLXXX said:

Hurley replaced Vandiver. Vandiver was President from 1980-1981 when he left to become President at Texas A%M. Hurley was President from 1982 until 2000 and was replaced by Norval Pohl.

UNT Presidents | UNT History and Traditions

Thanks for the correction. I can't remember who dropped us to 1AA  but Vandiver refused to give a group of alumni authority to raise money for athletics. The idea was that Abner Haynes was to be paid by this group to lead this endeavor. When Frank said no it killed an opportunity that might have changed the history of our football program. We will never know.

[SilverEagle]

8 hours ago, wardly said:

Thanks for the correction. I can't remember who dropped us to 1AA  but Vandiver refused to give a group of alumni authority to raise money for athletics. The idea was that Abner Haynes was to be paid by this group to lead this endeavor. When Frank said no it killed an opportunity that might have changed the history of our football program. We will never know.

I used to work with the wife of former Kansas City Chief linebacker Sherill Headrick...Sherrill Headrick - Wikipedia, she was a case aid at CPS (where I worked) and when we both found the time we talked about football. She (Mary Dell Headrick) and her husband used to often go to Kansas City Chief reunions....as did Abner Haynes. Mary Dell was very fond of Abner and told me how charming and engaging he was. On more than one occasion she said, " you know, North Texas would greatly benefit by hiring Abner to do promotions and/or interact with North Texas alumni and local businesses...the guy could sell ice to Eskimos". I just smiled and said, "that would take administrators who had vision and imagination. And we haven't had that since the days of "Jitter Nolan and Hayden Fry". 

[greenminer]

14 hours ago, MCMLXXX said:

Hurley replaced Vandiver. Vandiver was President from 1980-1981 when he left to become President at Texas A%M. Hurley was President from 1982 until 2000 and was replaced by Norval Pohl.

UNT Presidents | UNT History and Traditions

Is there a similar source list where I can see our history of Chancellors?

[FirefightnRick]

On 2/4/2022 at 2:15 PM, NT80 said:

 

 

The great RIck Spears, possibly one of our most talented Alumn around.  He should be in the NT Athletic Hall of Fame for his vision when he invented the “Flyin’ Worm”, which he first drew on a restaurant napkin while having lunch with coach Fry.

Rick hated the term “Flyn’ Worm” btw but he understood how perfect that unique nickname fit a unique design.  He loved North Texas and the Mean Green with all his heart and would do anything for any of us.  He was a great man.  I sure miss him.

 

Rick

Edited February 5, 2022 by FirefightnRick

[Aquila_Viridis]

The current eagle is the best logo we've had or ever will have. They just need to STOP attaching the letters UNT to it and make it bigger wherever it appears. If I was good with graphic arts I'd make a tiny longhorn with a UT attached to the corner of it to show how stupid this current combination looks.