A Silver lining from the SMU beating?

cousin oliver · October 7, 2022

13 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

If we had a season like UTSA had last year (starting 11-0) the difference in coverage and support wouldn't be close. Ours would be 10X what UTSA got last year.

We need a HC. Marketing this program both locally in Denton, in Texas and even nationally would be the easiest job in America if we had a HC that got us nationally ranked. The same problem that burdens us (long history) is what would help us if we started winning. People actually know who we are...we DO have a history. Even though it may not seem like it now, this ship could turn around much faster than a start up program like UTSA. No one knows anything about them...they're still an extension of the UT System.

Remember when Cincy had about 3,000 people in NO when they played us in the NO Bowl in '01? Now look at Cincy. All they did was hire good head coaches and start winning.

Nothing else really matters for UNT. Win and EVERYTHING gets better. UTSA is still UT at San Antonio. They started 11-0 last year and no one really noticed outside of San Antonio. Plus DFW is a bigger media market. We got more coverage beating a horrible Arkansas team 1 game then they did and they were top 25.

All about the head coach. And 9 win seasons won't do it.

Good post and let me add to everything else we have in terms of assets, how about all of the journalists and sports writers we have with a UNT diploma out there to help spread the message and being attention to the program. I feel like we are getting C+'s when we should be getting A's in terms of our upside potential. And yes, we need a SALESMAN as HC. Someone who will inspire the alumni and fans to be more engaged in the program. Seth is more of an analyst. We miss tons of news cycles because he just never says anything and doesn't engage the audience.

UNT78 · October 7, 2022

The AAC will bring more teams that people want to see, bring a Navy or Texas Tech in to Denton see if it's not a sell out! Cal-Berkeley will be coming into Denton next year, along with AAC teams; we need to win and win big going forward; Lettrell must go and we should re-start as soon as possible! Worked for TCU, why not us!

untjim1995 · October 7, 2022

2 minutes ago, UNT78 said:

The AAC will bring more teams that people want to see, bring a Navy or Texas Tech in to Denton see if it's not a sell out! Cal-Berkeley will be coming into Denton next year, along with AAC teams; we need to win and win big going forward; Lettrell must go and we should re-start as soon as possible! Worked for TCU, why not us!

If we are winning, you're correct. But besides SMU, UTSA, and Navy, I'm not sure we will see a big attendance bump from playing Tulsa, Tulane, Rice, UAB, USF, ECU, FAU, Charlotte, Memphis, or Temple. This lineup is light years better than the current CUSA, but we do get decent crowds from UTEP and La Tech fans coming here. My point is that the only chance we have to take advantage of this is to win, obviously, but if we bring back SL, with our current budget, we might win about 3 AAC games in a year. And with the NIL money these AAC privates and big city public schools have, that winning will be even tougher if we cannot get something better going. Trusting RV to do that is not exactly something many of us would recommend after watching him oversee the AD for 15 years.

TheColonyEagle · October 7, 2022

40 minutes ago, cousin oliver said:

Good post and let me add to everything else we have in terms of assets, how about all of the journalists and sports writers we have with a UNT diploma out there to help spread the message and being attention to the program. I feel like we are getting C+'s when we should be getting A's in terms of our upside potential. And yes, we need a SALESMAN as HC. Someone who will inspire the alumni and fans to be more engaged in the program. Seth is more of an analyst. We miss tons of news cycles because he just never says anything and doesn't engage the audience.

The only thing I'll say (and maybe it's just me). I don't think we need a salesman. I don't care about Littrell's personality if he wins 43 games in 4 years and we're in the top 25. I don't give a damn if walks in the press room and gives everyone the bird every day....it doesn't matter if he's inspirational if he goes 6-6 or 7-5 every year.

JUST

WIN

Nothing else matters. NOTHING

WIN WIN WIN

10, 11, 12 games per year. Everything else only matters if you're not winning.

GMG_Dallas · October 7, 2022

1 hour ago, TheColonyEagle said:

All they did was hire good head coaches and start winning.

Nothing else really matters for UNT. Win and EVERYTHING gets better.

Didn't realize it was that simple. Have you let Wren know he just needs to hire a winning coach instead of a losing one?

I say this in jest. About 100 FBS programs are trying to find the right long-term guy. For those programs, their coaches are either newly hired with potential or somewhere on the path to getting fired. Obviously we want the next guy to be "the guy." Sadly it ain't always that easy.

Edited October 7, 2022 by GMG_Dallas

TheColonyEagle · October 7, 2022

3 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Didn't realize it was that simple. Have you let Wren know he just needs to hire a winning coach instead of a losing one?

I say this in jest. About 100 FBS programs are trying to find the right long-term guy. For those programs, their coaches are either newly hired with potential or somewhere on the path to getting fired. Obviously we want the next guy to be "the guy." Sadly it ain't always that easy.

Don't disagree...but it starts with raising expectations. 9 wins against losing teams shouldn't get automatic contract extensions anymore...

GMG_Dallas · October 7, 2022

4 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Don't disagree...but it starts with raising expectations. 9 wins against losing teams shouldn't get automatic contract extensions anymore...

I don't think SL was extended knowing 9 wins would end up being his ceiling. I think the idea was the program would keep escalating but it hasn't. Hindsight is 20/20 but if the next football coach has back-to-back 9 win seasons to start his tenure and gets hired away by somebody else, people will be asking why WB didn't do more to keep him.

TheColonyEagle · October 7, 2022

10 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Hindsight is 20/20 but if the next football coach has back-to-back 9 win seasons to start his tenure and gets hired away by somebody else, people will be asking why WB didn't do more to keep him.

I learned my lesson....

Before getting all up in arms about doing what it takes to keep a coach like that, my first question will be: who did he beat?

GMG_Dallas · October 7, 2022

14 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I learned my lesson....

Before getting all up in arms about doing what it takes to keep a coach like that, my first question will be: who did he beat?

And I'd say that's a good question. My next would be: how do the teams progress during each individual season? Teams struggle to start off the year as they figure out personnel. Were proper adjustments made each year? Were players coached up to be where they needed to be? Progress can't end at spring training and then you are who you are until the next spring training. The evaluation has to be deeper than X wins and a bowl win. That doesn't cut it, IMO.

Edited October 7, 2022 by GMG_Dallas

Mike Jackson · October 8, 2022

16 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

10, 11, 12 games per year. Everything else only matters if you're not winning.

I am 90% with you on that. The 10% that could make a difference is beyond our control right now. We can't get the bigger brand teams to come to a stadium under 40k in capacity. And winning wouldn't change that until Apogee is expand even then with FBS finances in flux the expansion to even 50k and beyond wouldn't guarantee those bring brands coming here non-conference. For instance Ohio State hasn't visited the Cincinnati Bearcats since the 1800s. 🤷🏽‍♂️. Talk about an easy money grab and road win for Ohio State 95% of the time. If we had a 50 year history of being over 0.600 most seasons, a Heisman trophy winner (post 1980 and some NFL success would be big bonus) anytime we had 9 win seasons would guarantee a few sellouts of Apogee. That definitely would make it easier for any coach coming here and more consistent and broader media coverage. We haven't really been trying after Hayden Frye left till they started shoveling dirt to build Apogee. That is a very long time. If we had our ducks in a row around the Big 8 flirted with us this program would be or par with Houston or Cincy today maybe even better. Fouts Field should have been demolished and replaced/rebuilt when we had to play games in Irving. They put lipstick on our beloved pig of a stadium Fouts and keep playing games there 15 years too long. Our period of playing "home games" in Irving isn't even mentioned on Texas Stadium Wikipedia. It is hard to find references to the games UNT played there. They broke ground to build Apogee at least 10 years late. Imagine Dickey's Sun Belt domination run in a new staduim. That is what so infuriating to me when people want cry "unfair" when comes to our Football success. Program is perpetually cheap, slow, short sighted and makes decisions with low expectations as the goal 99% of time. Then some here complain about everything else but how the program continually shoots itself in the foot and plays victim. The extension of Seth and him coming back for year 7 is typical for a program half ass trying IMO.