Things are looking up

[meanJewGreen]

13 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Beating Arkansas on the road is bigger than any bowl game we've played in. 

People put way too much importance on shitty bowl games. Sure, you want to win them, but they don't count for more than any other regular season game. 

They dont count for much but there is a national audience on them and every time we've played we've S*** the bed. 

[untphd]

Beating Arkansas was a lot of fun . Arkansas football was 2 and 10 that year. They beat Eastern ILL who were 3 and 8

and Tulsa who were 3 and 9. Watching the kick return over and over made my day, week and month. Sooner or later we need to win bowl games.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

Littrell got exposed after his first set of coordinators and coaches left, and after many swing and misses on other hires, he’s in a much different hole than many thought in 2019.

He is a very respectable coach, with a good recruiting ability, but I’m not sure he can officially bring this program into the national relevance North Texas needs.

Culture change needs to happen, and bringing in depth with guys who will compete and not flake out/not pan out (like most of the time) is almost necessary at this point in time for next year…

[RBP79]

6 hours ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Beating Arkansas on the road is bigger than any bowl game we've played in. 

People put way too much importance on shitty bowl games. Sure, you want to win them, but they don't count for more than any other regular season game. 

I was there and Arkansas was a Program win. Fun game for us.

But those "shitty" bowl games are normally nationally televised and the loss of those games don't move the sticks for me.

[Cr1028]

9 hours ago, eternalmtg said:

You lost me at Todd Dodge. The blowout loses we suffered on Saturdays under Dodge used to make me call in sick to work on Monday morning.

Check the UNT record books plus the UNT Hall of Fame and you’ll find the pages filled with Todd Dodge players and recruits.

The stadium doesn’t get built when it does if not for Todd Dodge’s fundraising from 2007-2010 and the 2013 bowl win does not happen without Todd Dodge convincing many of those legendary players to come to Denton. He did it without needing that contract extension someone was blaming for Littrell’s down recruiting year. If you look at the statistics, Todd Dodge’s teams got better every season he was here. 2009 was going to be the year but the Ohio game crushed everyone between the weather and the double overtime loss after a super high from the Ball State road win. In 2010 the ghost of Knute Rockne couldn’t have won 6 games with the season-ending injuries we faced so early in that season. We were down 11 starters by game 3 I believe. We were down to our 4th string quarterback, a walkon receiver, in the last game of Dodge’s UNT career. Dodge was better than most give him credit for. He was stuck with a program in shambles after Dickey left. As a first-time college head coach, he was given 3 seasons to learn how to find good college assistants, learn what schemes work against college defenses, and to rebuild a roster with very few star players outside of an oft-injured Jamario Thomas.

This is worth a read if you have time. https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/493894-unt-head-football-coach-todd-dodge-to-be-fired.amp.html

Most only see the wins and losses but there was legitimate improvement both in talent and stats as he became accustomed to being a college coach. I truly believe he could’ve gone bowling if given another year or two but I understand the optics would’ve been bad opening the new stadium with him still being the coach with the win-loss record he had. It was unfortunate. Dodge deserved a better athletic director than that pizza slingin snake oil salesman but it is what it is. Wren would’ve at least let him finish out the season with his players before firing him and preventing that whole “Lock the Gate” nonsense.

 

[SilverEagle]

13 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Littrell got exposed after his first set of coordinators and coaches left, and after many swing and misses on other hires, he’s in a much different hole than many thought in 2019.

He is a very respectable coach, with a good recruiting ability, but I’m not sure he can officially bring this program into the national relevance North Texas needs.

Culture change needs to happen, and bringing in depth with guys who will compete and not flake out/not pan out (like most of the time) is almost necessary at this point in time for next year…

That's what Hayden Fry said back in 73 when he took over the program. But he was not only talking about the sports teams, he meant the whole damn school as well. 

[UNTLifer]

23 hours ago, JT Hammons said:

I know a lot of you seem down about things but there are a lot of us out here really excited about this team and especially this coaching staff and all of the experience they bring to the table.  The new offensive line coach Randy Clement is considered one of the top line coaches in the nation.  He will bring a lot of discipline and toughness to the offense.

Mike Bloesch is a young and bright offensive coordinator and QB coach.  Ask around, and you will find he is highly respected as a coach and man. Phil Bennett is possibly one of the top defensive minds in the country right now.  Patrick Cobb is a rising star in the coaching ranks and his affiliation with UNT is a plus.

But the biggest piece to all this is of course Seth Littrell.  Do you understand that in just 6 seasons, Seth Littrell has taken UNT to 5 bowl games?  That is almost a 100% bowl record folks!  That has to give him the highest winning percentage in the history of the program.   Littrell inherited Mcarney's 1-11 team back in 2016 and immediately took that team to a bowl game.  POssibly one of the greatest turnarounds in UNT history.  He's broken many ceilings for UNT in his time here, beating an SEC team on the road, recruiting future Hall of Famer Mason Fine to become a 4-year starter and breaking all kinds of records.  He is loved by his players as evidenced just recently as KD Davis returned to play for him despite being wooed by UT and A&M and wheel barrels of cash.   Littrell has never broken any rules and has never spoken a bad word about UNT as many past coaches like McCarney, Dickey and others have.  Littrell was offered the job at a Big 12 school and opted to stay at UNT even though all of his closest advisors thought he was crazy not to take it.

People say his recruiting has gone down, but the fact is he has not received the support he needs from the AD to be more successful.  He has not received an extension that he deserves and other teams we recruit against know this and use it against us.   With that he still managed to recruit some very good talent including QB Gunnell who may be a starter from day 1.

I see some of the negative posts on here and my message to all of you is be careful what you wish for.  You have a very good coach that is loyal and would like to stay here for a very long time.  How about we give him 100% support this year and tell the rest of the world he's our guy.

[meanrob]

11 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

Check the UNT record books plus the UNT Hall of Fame and you’ll find the pages filled with Todd Dodge players and recruits.

The stadium doesn’t get built when it does if not for Todd Dodge’s fundraising from 2007-2010 and the 2013 bowl win does not happen without Todd Dodge convincing many of those legendary players to come to Denton. He did it without needing that contract extension someone was blaming for Littrell’s down recruiting year. If you look at the statistics, Todd Dodge’s teams got better every season he was here. 2009 was going to be the year but the Ohio game crushed everyone between the weather and the double overtime loss after a super high from the Ball State road win. In 2010 the ghost of Knute Rockne couldn’t have won 6 games with the season-ending injuries we faced so early in that season. We were down 11 starters by game 3 I believe. We were down to our 4th string quarterback, a walkon receiver, in the last game of Dodge’s UNT career. Dodge was better than most give him credit for. He was stuck with a program in shambles after Dickey left. As a first-time college head coach, he was given 3 seasons to learn how to find good college assistants, learn what schemes work against college defenses, and to rebuild a roster with very few star players outside of an oft-injured Jamario Thomas.

This is worth a read if you have time. https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/493894-unt-head-football-coach-todd-dodge-to-be-fired.amp.html

Most only see the wins and losses but there was legitimate improvement both in talent and stats as he became accustomed to being a college coach. I truly believe he could’ve gone bowling if given another year or two but I understand the optics would’ve been bad opening the new stadium with him still being the coach with the win-loss record he had. It was unfortunate. Dodge deserved a better athletic director than that pizza slingin snake oil salesman but it is what it is. Wren would’ve at least let him finish out the season with his players before firing him and preventing that whole “Lock the Gate” nonsense.

 

I agree with most of this and always felt we were close to turning the corner but never did. Ohio game was a gut punch. 
 

But starting his tenure with high school assistants was inexcusable and he lost a lot of believers those early seasons. That Rice game was Portland State level bad. 

[Cougar King]

On 6/29/2022 at 10:37 AM, JT Hammons said:

I know a lot of you seem down about things but there are a lot of us out here really excited about this team and especially this coaching staff and all of the experience they bring to the table.  The new offensive line coach Randy Clement is considered one of the top line coaches in the nation.  He will bring a lot of discipline and toughness to the offense.

Mike Bloesch is a young and bright offensive coordinator and QB coach.  Ask around, and you will find he is highly respected as a coach and man. Phil Bennett is possibly one of the top defensive minds in the country right now.  Patrick Cobb is a rising star in the coaching ranks and his affiliation with UNT is a plus.

But the biggest piece to all this is of course Seth Littrell.  Do you understand that in just 6 seasons, Seth Littrell has taken UNT to 5 bowl games?  That is almost a 100% bowl record folks!  That has to give him the highest winning percentage in the history of the program.   Littrell inherited Mcarney's 1-11 team back in 2016 and immediately took that team to a bowl game.  POssibly one of the greatest turnarounds in UNT history.  He's broken many ceilings for UNT in his time here, beating an SEC team on the road, recruiting future Hall of Famer Mason Fine to become a 4-year starter and breaking all kinds of records.  He is loved by his players as evidenced just recently as KD Davis returned to play for him despite being wooed by UT and A&M and wheel barrels of cash.   Littrell has never broken any rules and has never spoken a bad word about UNT as many past coaches like McCarney, Dickey and others have.  Littrell was offered the job at a Big 12 school and opted to stay at UNT even though all of his closest advisors thought he was crazy not to take it.

People say his recruiting has gone down, but the fact is he has not received the support he needs from the AD to be more successful.  He has not received an extension that he deserves and other teams we recruit against know this and use it against us.   With that he still managed to recruit some very good talent including QB Gunnell who may be a starter from day 1.

I see some of the negative posts on here and my message to all of you is be careful what you wish for.  You have a very good coach that is loyal and would like to stay here for a very long time.  How about we give him 100% support this year and tell the rest of the world he's our guy.

 

For those of y'all wondering why UNT can't win anything. Posts like this are EXHIBIT A. Diehard fans with low standards. 

 

Going to a throwaway bowl game means NOTHING. At UH we fired TWO coaches who went 8-5 and to a bowl game. What UNT SHOULD be aiming for is a major bowl game an NY6 bowl.

When UNT goes to the Peach, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Cotton or Orange Bowl against a blueblood opponent THEN you can brag about a bowl game.

Yes, Mason Fine broke records at UNT but let's not pretend like UNT quarterback records were exactly lofty anyway. That being said, Fine is out of eligibility and we live in a "What have you done for me lately?" kind of world.

 

Littrell did not take the K-State job because he thought he would have better options next year. I guarantee you he regrets not taking it now.

 

 

Also, I'm pretty sure Davis came back to UNT because he waited too late and didn't think he would get his transfer waiver approved.

 

Lastly, the fact that you're bragging about beating a 2-10 Arkansas that went 0-8 in SEC play proves my point.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

12 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

Check the UNT record books plus the UNT Hall of Fame and you’ll find the pages filled with Todd Dodge players and recruits.

The stadium doesn’t get built when it does if not for Todd Dodge’s fundraising from 2007-2010 and the 2013 bowl win does not happen without Todd Dodge convincing many of those legendary players to come to Denton. He did it without needing that contract extension someone was blaming for Littrell’s down recruiting year. If you look at the statistics, Todd Dodge’s teams got better every season he was here. 2009 was going to be the year but the Ohio game crushed everyone between the weather and the double overtime loss after a super high from the Ball State road win. In 2010 the ghost of Knute Rockne couldn’t have won 6 games with the season-ending injuries we faced so early in that season. We were down 11 starters by game 3 I believe. We were down to our 4th string quarterback, a walkon receiver, in the last game of Dodge’s UNT career. Dodge was better than most give him credit for. He was stuck with a program in shambles after Dickey left. As a first-time college head coach, he was given 3 seasons to learn how to find good college assistants, learn what schemes work against college defenses, and to rebuild a roster with very few star players outside of an oft-injured Jamario Thomas.

This is worth a read if you have time. https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/493894-unt-head-football-coach-todd-dodge-to-be-fired.amp.html

Most only see the wins and losses but there was legitimate improvement both in talent and stats as he became accustomed to being a college coach. I truly believe he could’ve gone bowling if given another year or two but I understand the optics would’ve been bad opening the new stadium with him still being the coach with the win-loss record he had. It was unfortunate. Dodge deserved a better athletic director than that pizza slingin snake oil salesman but it is what it is. Wren would’ve at least let him finish out the season with his players before firing him and preventing that whole “Lock the Gate” nonsense.

 

Very interesting read. You’re right

[ntmeangreen11]

2021: Victories over 1-11 FIU, 3-9 USM, & FCS Northwestern State

2020: Victories over 3-6 MTSU, 2-3 Rice, 3-5 UTEP & FCS Houston Baptist

2019: Victories over 1-11 UTEP, 4-8 MTSU, 4-8 UTSA & FCS Abilene Christian

2018: Victories over 1-11 UTEP, 2-11 Rice, 5-7 FAU, 3-9 UTSA & FCS Incarnate Word

Even without looking up the 2017 or 2016 season 16 of those wins in that impressive 37-38 losing record came against god awful bottom ten teams. Now let's look at every big game of Seth's tenure here.

2017: CCG vs. FAU curbstomped 17-41, bowl game vs Troy curbstomped 30-50

2018: 4-0 with top 25 in every other post on GMG and we shit the bed vs La. Tech at home and then, somehow shit the bed vs. a 4-8 ODU team costing us the conference championship game and then we got curbstomped by Utah State in the bowl game 52-13

2019: 4-8

2020: 4 wins again, but "covid year" let's give our shitty coach another year, curbstomped by App State in bowl game again, 56-28

2021: He did, after 5 years, finally win one game we really needed to win that made the fans happy, beating UTSA. So 1-5 in big games. I could be missing some.

Looking back at the schedules over the years I didn't even realize it had been 6 years. That is just depressing. Six years and not one bowl win? Six years and not one conference championship? Six years and countless defensive coordinators later there's still people with hope? Our defense performed okay, just okay, against teams in the worst conference in FBS when we were on that winning streak. We just lost the two most gifted pass rushers we've had in the last 20 years, that small showing of improvement will not be replicated in 2022.

We are not going to win more than 5 games this season and I would bet everything I had on that. 

 

[MGNation92]

1 hour ago, Cougar King said:

 

For those of y'all wondering why UNT can't win anything. Posts like this are EXHIBIT A. Diehard fans with low standards. 

 

Going to a throwaway bowl game means NOTHING. At UH we fired TWO coaches who went 8-5 and to a bowl game. What UNT SHOULD be aiming for is a major bowl game an NY6 bowl.

When UNT goes to the Peach, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Cotton or Orange Bowl against a blueblood opponent THEN you can brag about a bowl game.

Yes, Mason Fine broke records at UNT but let's not pretend like UNT quarterback records were exactly lofty anyway. That being said, Fine is out of eligibility and we live in a "What have you done for me lately?" kind of world.

 

Littrell did not take the K-State job because he thought he would have better options next year. I guarantee you he regrets not taking it now.

 

 

Also, I'm pretty sure Davis came back to UNT because he waited too late and didn't think he would get his transfer waiver approved.

 

Lastly, the fact that you're bragging about beating a 2-10 Arkansas that went 0-8 in SEC play proves my point.

Y'all hate on CK, but he's right here.

Wren has made some impressive hires in Softball and Basketball. Now it's time to prove he can do the same for football. 

 

[Cr1028]

2 hours ago, meanrob said:

But starting his tenure with high school assistants was inexcusable and he lost a lot of believers those early seasons. That Rice game was Portland State level bad. 

We don’t know the full story. Did he have a budget for assistants that was worthwhile or did he go with cheap familiarity because the sorry AD couldn’t get the necessary funding. Also, an AD worth more than involuntary retirement would have never allowed an offensive minded coach to hire a high school DC with zero college experience to coach against FBS OCs. You blame Dodge but this was all new to Dodge, he was learning on the fly, and did the best he could with what he available to him. He moved the needle in fundraising far more than RV ever could. Hell, that fundraising may have been why RV was able to fire Dodge a year before his contract was set to end and pay McCarney almost double what Dodge was getting. And where did that get us? As soon as Dodge’s last recruiting class graduated our offense went straight into the toilet and 2 seasons later it was up to Littrell to rebuild this disaster all over again with another true freshman quarterback. Littrell is good recruiter but Dodge was a great recruiter. His last class (that he only got to coach for a single season) included Antonio Johnson, Mason Y’Barbo, Zach Orr, Brandin Byrd, Will Wright, Richard Abbe, and Brelan Chancellor. All 2 stars and all UNT greats. Add in Derek Thompson and Ryan Boutwell from the 2009 recruiting class and you have 9 out of the 22 starters on our 2013 bowl winning team that some say was our best ever. Dodge doesn’t get the credit he is due for his time here and he never will because RV set him up to fail and the win/loss record reflects that. He used Dodge and his connections to get a stadium built that he couldn’t fundraise on his own. In the season he got fired we were 10 points short of being 4-3 when he was fired rather than 1-6 while missing 11 starting players.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Cr1028

[southsideguy]

That is impressive list of names he brought in.

Brelan Chancellor: one of my all time favorites.  Whenever he touched the ball there was a good chance he was gone.

 

[meanrob]

1 hour ago, Cr1028 said:

We don’t know the full story. Did he have a budget for assistants that was worthwhile or did he go with cheap familiarity because the sorry AD couldn’t get the necessary funding. Also, an AD worth more than involuntary retirement would have never allowed an offensive minded coach to hire a high school DC with zero college experience to coach against FBS OCs. You blame Dodge but this was all new to Dodge, he was learning on the fly, and did the best he could with what he available to him. He moved the needle in fundraising far more than RV ever could. Hell, that fundraising may have been why RV was able to fire Dodge a year before his contract was set to end and pay McCarney almost double what Dodge was getting. And where did that get us? As soon as Dodge’s last recruiting class graduated our offense went straight into the toilet and 2 seasons later it was up to Littrell to rebuild this disaster all over again with another true freshman quarterback. Littrell is good recruiter but Dodge was a great recruiter. His last class (that he only got to coach for a single season) included Antonio Johnson, Mason Y’Barbo, Zach Orr, Brandin Byrd, Will Wright, Richard Abbe, and Brelan Chancellor. All 2 stars and all UNT greats. Add in Derek Thompson and Ryan Boutwell from the 2009 recruiting class and you have 9 out of the 22 starters on our 2013 bowl winning team that some say was our best ever. Dodge doesn’t get the credit he is due for his time here and he never will because RV set him up to fail and the win/loss record reflects that. He used Dodge and his connections to get a stadium built that he couldn’t fundraise on his own. In the season he got fired we were 10 points short of being 4-3 when he was fired rather than 1-6 while missing 11 starting players.

This take is so revisionist history you’d think Dodge was a plumber who got offered the head coach position, not one of the most successful high school coaches ever in Texas who also had college and pro involvement during his coaching past. 
 

[peanuts104]

On 6/29/2022 at 10:37 AM, JT Hammons said:

Mike Bloesch is a young and bright offensive coordinator and QB coach.

Fixed that for you.

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

2 hours ago, Cougar King said:

 

For those of y'all wondering why UNT can't win anything. Posts like this are EXHIBIT A. Diehard fans with low standards. 

 

Going to a throwaway bowl game means NOTHING. At UH we fired TWO coaches who went 8-5 and to a bowl game. What UNT SHOULD be aiming for is a major bowl game an NY6 bowl.

When UNT goes to the Peach, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Cotton or Orange Bowl against a blueblood opponent THEN you can brag about a bowl game.

Yes, Mason Fine broke records at UNT but let's not pretend like UNT quarterback records were exactly lofty anyway. That being said, Fine is out of eligibility and we live in a "What have you done for me lately?" kind of world.

 

Littrell did not take the K-State job because he thought he would have better options next year. I guarantee you he regrets not taking it now.

 

 

Also, I'm pretty sure Davis came back to UNT because he waited too late and didn't think he would get his transfer waiver approved.

 

Lastly, the fact that you're bragging about beating a 2-10 Arkansas that went 0-8 in SEC play proves my point.

 

Totally agree. Most other schools would have canned Littrell a couple of years ago for not living up to his salary and horrible bowl record, yet some on here are actually talking about him getting an extension. Another thing that continually irks me about our fans is the happy clappers that continually say "Well, it's better than it was in the past" and stick to being satisfied with mediocrity rather than striving for more just because it's "Little ol' North Texas." We've upped our standards, so up yours. 

[Cr1028]

1 hour ago, meanrob said:

This take is so revisionist history you’d think Dodge was a plumber who got offered the head coach position, not one of the most successful high school coaches ever in Texas who also had college and pro involvement during his coaching past. 
 

He had 2 seasons as quarterbacks coach at D1-AA (now known as FCS) North Texas of the Southland Conference nearly 15 years before he took our head coaching job.  Don’t act like he was some legendary high school coach that had years of recent college experience at the highest collegiate level like Traylor and Briles did. How many high school coaches were successful jumping straight to FBS from high school besides Odus Mitchell back in 1946? You won’t find any.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Cr1028

[Cr1028]

20 minutes ago, UNT Texas Hooligan said:

We've upped our standards, so up yours. 

And I’m sure your donation reflects that exponentially.

[meanrob]

3 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

He had 2 seasons as quarterbacks coach at D1-AA (now known as FCS) North Texas of the Southland Conference nearly 15 years before he took our head coaching job.  Don’t act like he was some legendary high school coach that had years recent college experience at the highest collegiate level like Traylor and Briles did. How many high school coaches were successful jumping straight to FBS from high school besides Odus Mitchell back in 1946? You won’t find any.

You’re right, it’s basically impossible. So why’d he take the job? I’m the biggest RV critic there is but you don’t go 6-37 or whatever his record was and it’s all the ADs fault. You even admit you don’t know the whole story yet you give Dodge a whole lot of leeway. It was the Sun Belt. Don’t act like it was the Big 12. 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

3 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

And I’m sure your donation reflects that exponentially.

Absolutely. Thanks for asking

[Cr1028]

Just now, meanrob said:

You’re right, it’s basically impossible. So why’d he take the job? I’m the biggest RV critic there is but you don’t go 6-37 or whatever his record was and it’s all the ADs fault. You even admit you don’t know the whole story yet you give Dodge a whole lot of leeway. It was the Sun Belt. Don’t act like it was the Big 12. 

He probably took the job because it was close to his home and Riley was about to graduate. He probably thought his system was good enough to win at this level regardless of resources. He was wrong. He needed more assistance than he probably thought he would.

[meanrob]

Just now, Cr1028 said:

He probably took the job because it was close to his home and Riley was about to graduate. He probably thought his system was good enough to win at this level regardless of resources. He was wrong. He needed more assistance than he probably thought he would.

I could be wrong but pretty sure Riley committed to UT before Dodge took the job.
 

You mean he wasn’t very good at his job as a college head football coach? I agree. 

[meanrob]

Last point. During Dodge’s run, ULM won 18 games. Dodge won six. You’ll never convince me Dodge had less resources than ULM. Head to head he was 1-2 and his last team under Chico lost to them too. 
 

 

[FirefightnRick]

Maybe I missed it, but when did SL replace Fat Jimmy Sexton with JT Hammons?

 

 

Rick

Edited July 1, 2022 by FirefightnRick