My Coaching Wish List at the Moment

MeanGreenTexan · October 25, 2021

3 minutes ago, TheReal_jayD said:

I completely understand all those concerns. He is only 56. Not super old in terms of coaching age (for reference Skip Holtz is 57.) I understand the Pittsburgh/Arizona State situation was ugly. But at the same time I don't know very many people that would rather live in Pittsburgh over Arizona for less money. So I can't really hold that against. Also if he gets us over 8 wins and a couple bowls wins and bounces I say it was a great hire.

Sure.
I just like the other options you listed, as well as some other guys better.
Graham would immediately bring inroads to Allen with Morris there. Those guys are tight. And, I'm pretty sure he's still considered a god around there to folks who have lived in Allen a while.
Wouldn't be a horrible hire.

I think Fuente steps right in here and makes the team immediately better, and start bringing in some very nice players to set up the future due to his ties to Patterson and how revered he is with TXHSFB coaches. He's had some bad luck out in Blacksburg trying to replace a living legend. But with that failure, I'm not sure he'll get another P5 look for a while, which would allow him plenty of time to build up NT.

I think Brown would inject the kind of shot in the arm the team would need to win some games quickly. Might take him some time to get re-acquainted with TXHSFB contacts though as it's been a while since he was at Tech, and those were the Tuberville days, who isn't really looked upon favorably, so his support staff would need to be solid.

UNTLifer · October 25, 2021

29 minutes ago, Hookset said:

That bandwagon fan philosophy needs to stop.
A huge selling point for Hayden Fry going to Iowa was even though they were perennial losers, the fans showed up and were loud.

A loud crowd will make our home field a hostile place to play for visiting teams to play.

A fan base that only shows up when we win is not a good selling point for a potential new coach.

Withhold your big money gifts to the MGSF and send a letter to the AD with your reasoning. But show up for your team and be a part of its future.

I agree with your point.

The problem forever has been a lack of consistent winning. That is what draws the students in and the casual fan. Just the way it is. Win consistently and the fans will come, stay and support the program. The HOD Bowl is a perfect example. We go 9-4, get invited to the HOD Bowl, thousands show up in support of our team, we beat UNLV soundly, Mac states that this is only the beginning, we follow that up with a 5-8 season in 2014 and 1-11 in 2015 that included the Portland State disaster, Mac's firing, etc.

We have never had sustained success in the modern era.

El Paso Eagle · October 25, 2021

1 hour ago, untbowler said:

many want to ignore Colby Carthel, then these same should not anything to do with someone with losing record at ACU.

I'm still a fan of Carthel. I think if you take a look at what he had, and what he's doing at SFA it's impressive. This is also a person, I believe really looks at UNT as a place he wants to be. When the new coach is selected I will support whoever it is and I know many people feel that we should go with big names but sometimes those coaches who have been at smaller schools and have an established history of building and winning do pretty well. Been working out pretty good in basketball so far.

Hookset · October 25, 2021

22 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I agree with your point.

The problem forever has been a lack of consistent winning. That is what draws the students in and the casual fan. Just the way it is. Win consistently and the fans will come, stay and support the program. The HOD Bowl is a perfect example. We go 9-4, get invited to the HOD Bowl, thousands show up in support of our team, we beat UNLV soundly, Mac states that this is only the beginning, we follow that up with a 5-8 season in 2014 and 1-11 in 2015 that included the Portland State disaster, Mac's firing, etc.

We have never had sustained success in the modern era.

I agree with a definite lack of consistent winning. I was at last Saturday’s game. Student section was practically empty. They are a huge part of the funding for athletics (or the parents/banks are) and even they don’t support the team.

Would a loud crowd at that game made it harder for Liberty to call options at the line of scrimmage?

Instead it was more like a closed scrimmage for them.
No “12th man” support at all.

Fan support at games does matter.

Hookset · October 25, 2021

31 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I agree with your point.

The problem forever has been a lack of consistent winning. That is what draws the students in and the casual fan. Just the way it is. Win consistently and the fans will come, stay and support the program. The HOD Bowl is a perfect example. We go 9-4, get invited to the HOD Bowl, thousands show up in support of our team, we beat UNLV soundly, Mac states that this is only the beginning, we follow that up with a 5-8 season in 2014 and 1-11 in 2015 that included the Portland State disaster, Mac's firing, etc.

We have never had sustained success in the modern era.

One more thing I honestly think is fortunate for UNT.

We have such a large band. After the halftime show, the band parents leave. If it wasn’t for the large and very good marching band, we might only have about 4000 fans at every game.

That does not look good to any potential new coach.

greenminer · October 25, 2021

49 minutes ago, Hookset said:

I’ll only show up if we are a winning team is wrong.

It's been a long-time discussion point in DFW, though. Historically, fans only show up for our local teams when they are winning.

It comes with a territory that offers so many entertainment options.

Hookset · October 25, 2021

2 minutes ago, greenminer said:

It's been a long-time discussion point in DFW, though. Historically, fans only show up for our local teams when they are winning.

It comes with a territory that offers so many entertainment options.

I do agree with that somewhat.
When I went to the Cal vs UNT game, it wasn’t a sellout, but there was a large crowd to see them play little old UNT. There are lots of options in that area.

Yet there was 3-4 times the largest crowd that has ever been in Apogee stadium.

Even when winning we barely get over 23,000.

Wag Tag · October 25, 2021

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Sure.
I just like the other options you listed, as well as some other guys better.
Graham would immediately bring inroads to Allen with Morris there. Those guys are tight. And, I'm pretty sure he's still considered a god around there to folks who have lived in Allen a while.
Wouldn't be a horrible hire.

I think Fuente steps right in here and makes the team immediately better, and start bringing in some very nice players to set up the future due to his ties to Patterson and how revered he is with TXHSFB coaches. He's had some bad luck out in Blacksburg trying to replace a living legend. But with that failure, I'm not sure he'll get another P5 look for a while, which would allow him plenty of time to build up NT.

I think Brown would inject the kind of shot in the arm the team would need to win some games quickly. Might take him some time to get re-acquainted with TXHSFB contacts though as it's been a while since he was at Tech, and those were the Tuberville days, who isn't really looked upon favorably, so his support staff would need to be solid.

Fuente as of 2020 has a $10m buyout. VT has been slashing budgets so maybe they keep him a little longer. He would be an awesome hire as would Graham who looks like is making in the $800,000 range.

Jonnyeagle · October 25, 2021

UNTLifer · October 25, 2021

1 minute ago, Wag Tag said:

Is that a misspell? Did they mean to say Sonny Dykes? Oil is booming they will back the truck up for Dykes. I think Garrett Riley will become the next SMU head coach and Seth will follow Dykes as OC in Lubbock. Drama

Interim

TreeFiddy · October 25, 2021

The list of quality candidates just keeps growing.

Cr1028 · October 25, 2021

On 10/21/2021 at 3:41 PM, Cr1028 said:

If Matt Wells isn’t on that list, I can’t believe it to be legitimate.

I rest my case.

UNTLifer · October 25, 2021

I trust WB is being proactive. Movement is now starting on the coaching front and we need to be positioned to go after who we want and not wait for leftovers.

MeanGreenTexan · October 25, 2021

Definitely not interested in Wells over several of the others in this thread. Wells did not do very well in recruiting around Texas, and him being fired at Tech is a little too close to home.

UNTLifer · October 25, 2021

Just now, MeanGreenTexan said:

Definitely not interested in Wells over several of the others in this thread. Wells did not do very well in recruiting around Texas, and him being fired at Tech is a little too close to home.

This was the knock on him when Tech hired him. No Texas ties.

MeanGreenTexan · October 25, 2021

1 minute ago, UNTLifer said:

I trust WB is being proactive. Movement is now starting on the coaching front and we need to be positioned to go after who we want and not wait for leftovers.

He kinda has to do something very critical in order to be "proactive". No coach worth their reputation (well, maybe Graham) would stoop to bargaining with a school that already has a Head Coach ("interim" tag withstanding).

Baker is too smart for this. As soon as Baker's people reached out to a guy like Wells or Fuente, word would immediately get to Littrell that he's looking to be replaced. Coaches are a tight knit community and they look out for each other (as they should). He cannot go looking around until he actually fires Littrell, or comes to some kind of public agreement like LSU did with Coach O (horrible idea).

Jonnyeagle · October 25, 2021

5 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Definitely not interested in Wells over several of the others in this thread. Wells did not do very well in recruiting around Texas, and him being fired at Tech is a little too close to home.

Well I think you may be being a tad picky. Jimbo and Nick Saban are not available. Let's be open minded.

Wag Tag · October 25, 2021

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

He kinda has to do something very critical in order to be "proactive". No coach worth their reputation (well, maybe Graham) would stoop to bargaining with a school that already has a Head Coach ("interim" tag withstanding).

Baker is too smart for this. As soon as Baker's people reached out to a guy like Wells or Fuente, word would immediately get to Littrell that he's looking to be replaced. Coaches are a tight knit community and they look out for each other (as they should). He cannot go looking around until he actually fires Littrell, or comes to some kind of public agreement like LSU did with Coach O (horrible idea).

You contact agents not coaches. I thought it was interesting that Wren and Neil hired a consultant 18 months ago to help prepare for conference realignment. Wren has his list

MeanGreenTexan · October 25, 2021

1 minute ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Well I think you may be being a tad picky. Jimbo and Nick Saban are not available. Let's be open minded.

Only so far my open-mindedness will go when you have dudes like Justin Fuente, Mike Norvell, & Neal Brown about to come available, as well as dudes who are ready for the next step like Lebby, KBriles & Yurcich.
@TheReal_jayD is already stretching my mind to consider Graham.

Cr1028 · October 25, 2021

2 hours ago, TheReal_jayD said:

I completely understand all those concerns. He is only 56. Not super old in terms of coaching age (for reference Skip Holtz is 57.) I understand the Pittsburgh/Arizona State situation was ugly. But at the same time I don't know very many people that would rather live in Pittsburgh over Arizona for less money. So I can't really hold that against. Also if he gets us over 8 wins and a couple bowls wins and bounces I say it was a great hire.

The Rice fans I know refer to him as Toad Graham. He is a real greaseball, like a younger version of June Jones. Just say no. Your other two I have less problem with although there are others I’d prefer.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Cr1028

MeanGreenTexan · October 25, 2021

Just now, Wag Tag said:

You contact agents not coaches. I thought it was interesting that Wren and Neil hired a consultant 18 months ago to help prepare for conference realignment. Wren has his list

Agents are pretty tight too. And CAA (Littrell's agency) is an extremely connected group of agents. Word would get back to him that way too.

If Wren's gonna shop around, he needs to go ahead and cut Littrell loose. It's the right thing to do. It would send a horrible message to whoever he reaches out to (again, with the exception of Graham) that, "Hey, if we hire you, be ready for me to go shopping behind your back too!"

All About UNT · October 25, 2021

49 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

This was the knock on him when Tech hired him. No Texas ties.

And this is my knock on Neal Brown. In his 4 years at Troy he recruited three Texas players and two were from JUCO... none made an impact.

Same with WVU only just one Texas player (also from Navarro).

Absolutely zero ties with Texas except for one JUCO... That's a no from me on Neal Brown.

MeanGreenTexan · October 25, 2021

5 minutes ago, All About UNT said:

And this is my knock on Neal Brown. In his 4 years at Troy he recruited three Texas players and two were from JUCO... none made an impact.

Same with WVU only just one Texas player (also from Navarro).

Absolutely zero ties with Texas except for one JUCO... That's a no from me on Neal Brown.

Definitely a knock on Brown. But I think if he could surround himself with great assistants with TX ties, and retain Walerius, he would be a great Head Coach.

TheColonyEagle · October 25, 2021

I think Wells lack of connections in Texas hurt him. If I have boxes to check:

1. HC experience

2. Past success (FCS, G5, P5)

3. Recruiting / Texas ties

Fuente definitely checks the boxes. Todd Graham does too.

I'm not looking for someone that we can "hope wants to be our Patterson" If it works out that way great...but I want this coach to set the foundation for the next coach. If our new coach gets a big job in 3 years...awesome. We need to turn this coaching grave yard around. Getting this to be a launching pad has been seen as a bad thing in the past but I've changed my mind on that.

Just because our infrastructure is so solid. I am so excited to see who we get in here next season.

All About UNT · October 25, 2021

9 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Definitely a knock on Brown. But I think if he could surround himself with great assistants with TX ties, and retain Walerius, he would be a great Head Coach.

Fuente definitely recruited Texas far stronger than other names mentioned while he was at Memphis (sans his first year). Quite a few of those Texas players were starters for many years on the Tiger's squad as well. Seems like his main focus was around the Houston area but he had some DFW players as well... of course this is some time ago so the HS head coaches of those teams might have moved on.