Please Let it Be Bryan Harsin

Side.Show.Joe · December 9, 2022

If he is available to UNT, he seems like a perfect fit. His success at Boise State is unmatched at the G5 level (69-19.... & in 7 seasons at Boise he posted 5 seasons with 10 wins or more). The guy spent time on the staff at Texas, so he has recruiting ties around our state. And, he has been a head coach at other FBS programs in the south. At 46-year-old, he could build UNT into the next premier program in the AAC. I'll take Harsin over the other options, if he is a possibility.

NT93 · December 9, 2022

I listed my top 4 a few days ago and he wasn’t on my list, but I’m really starting to think he might be the best option.

Dannymacfan · December 9, 2022

I also like this guy as well. Too many choices out there as there are many good coaches that seem interested.

MeanGreenGlory · December 9, 2022

I'd caution against Bryan Harsin.

Reports are starting to come out that his recruiting efforts at Auburn were awful, and some sources have suggested that his relationship with his players at Auburn wasn't good either. I imagine both of these things were contributing factors to his lack of success at Auburn. Two articles for reading:

Reportedly he didn't do much recruiting at Boise either, but Boise has such a name in the west that good G5 players will flock there regardless and he managed to pull off wins in the Mountain West with that talent.

Given the reports of his lack of recruiting and the fact that the UNT name doesn't draw as much as Boise State (yet!), I don't think he'd be a good fit here at this time.

Edited December 9, 2022 by MeanGreenGlory

meangreenfaninno · December 9, 2022

Just now, MeanGreenGlory said:

Bryan Harsin said to be absent on the recruiting trail

If he can't recruit that is a real problem. I think that was sort of Seth's downfall quite honestly.

Side.Show.Joe · December 9, 2022

18 minutes ago, MeanGreenGlory said:

I'd caution against Bryan Harsin.

Reports are starting to come out that his recruiting efforts at Auburn were awful, and some sources have suggested that his relationship with his players at Auburn wasn't good either. I imagine both of these things were contributing factors to his lack of success at Auburn. Two articles for reading:

Bryan Harsin said to be absent on the recruiting trail

Auburn football fans not happy with Bryan Harsin recruiting in Kansas during bye week

Reportedly he didn't do much recruiting at Boise either, but Boise has such a name in the west that good G5 players will flock there regardless and he managed to pull off wins in the Mountain West with that talent.

Given the reports of his lack of recruiting and the fact that the UNT name doesn't draw as much as Boise State (yet!), I don't think he'd be a good fit here at this time.

The recruiting claims don't bother me much. We won't be recruiting against Bama. Just write it into his contract that he has to visit and develop relationships with the DFW schools and those of other major football programs around Texas. Harsin has proven he is one of the best to ever coach at our level.

Mean Green 93-98 · December 9, 2022

Of all the names mentioned, he is at the bottom of my list. Coaching at Boise State is a unique animal; and as one who cut his teeth there, he knew it well. At his other coaching stops, the program has taken a noticeable drop on his arrival. He would have no idea what he is doing at North Texas. Please do not let it be Harsin.

DeepGreen · December 9, 2022

35 minutes ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

Of all the names mentioned, he is at the bottom of my list. Coaching at Boise State is a unique animal; and as one who cut his teeth there, he knew it well. At his other coaching stops, the program has taken a noticeable drop on his arrival. He would have no idea what he is doing at North Texas. Please do not let it be Harsin.

Martin Short Franck GIF

Cr1028 · December 9, 2022

1 hour ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

The recruiting claims don't bother me much. We won't be recruiting against Bama. Just write it into his contract that he has to visit and develop relationships with the DFW schools and those of other major football programs around Texas. Harsin has proven he is one of the best to ever coach at our level.

I call bs. The next program he improves will be the first. It is like Harbaugh said about Ryan Day, Harsin was born on 3rd base and thinks he hit a triple. Even though I am not a fan of his, you can at least say Fuente turned around Memphis.

MeanGreenTexan · December 9, 2022

8 hours ago, meangreenfaninno said:

If he can't recruit that is a real problem. I think that was sort of Seth's downfall quite honestly.

Seth's downfall was his inability to motivate his team to play against peer institutions.
NT recruited just fine under him, having a top 1-3 class in C-USA 3 or 4 times. Hence why we've got ballers showing up on the All-conference, and All-Freshman teams.

UNT Texas Hooligan · December 9, 2022

We have so many good options. Really hope they get this right

meaniegreenie · December 9, 2022

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Seth's downfall was his inability to motivate his team to play against peer institutions.
NT recruited just fine under him, having a top 1-3 class in C-USA 3 or 4 times. Hence why we've got ballers showing up on the All-conference, and All-Freshman teams.

I think his teams were motivated. They never really seemed to give up on games.

His problem was gameplan/execution and lack of QB. The latter probably affected his gameplan along with adding turnovers.

MGNation92 · December 9, 2022

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Seth's downfall was his inability to motivate his team to play against peer institutions.
NT recruited just fine under him, having a top 1-3 class in C-USA 3 or 4 times. Hence why we've got ballers showing up on the All-conference, and All-Freshman teams.

This is why I'm not as concerned with getting a pure recruiter like Jones. Yes it's still important, but this team is essentially a turnkey operation for the next guy. A lot of the pieces are in place already (assuming most of the starters stick around) to be successful immediately.

NorthTexasWeLove · December 9, 2022

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Seth's downfall was his inability to motivate his team to play against peer institutions.
NT recruited just fine under him, having a top 1-3 class in C-USA 3 or 4 times. Hence why we've got ballers showing up on the All-conference, and All-Freshman teams.

You can't feast or famine in recruiting. It creates voids in the roster and talent gaps. I would rather consistently be 4th every year in recruiting rankings than be 2nd then 9th then 3rd then 10th. We have good players, for sure, here and there. We also have glaring holes at safety(s), nickel, linebacker, DL, QB, and IMO we either need Shorter to be a true perimeter #1 (bc he clearly has the talent) or we need one, badly.

KingDL1 · December 9, 2022

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Seth's downfall was his inability to motivate his team to play against peer institutions.
NT recruited just fine under him, having a top 1-3 class in C-USA 3 or 4 times. Hence why we've got ballers showing up on the All-conference, and All-Freshman teams.

I think recruiting was a big problem for Seth, we are a small team even against UTSA. We looked like a high school team next to SMU. I am not sure that the condition of C-USA is much of a measure when it comes to who makes their all conference anything.

MeanGreenTexan · December 9, 2022

8 minutes ago, meaniegreenie said:

I think his teams were motivated. They never really seemed to give up on games.

His problem was gameplan/execution and lack of QB. The latter probably affected his gameplan along with adding turnovers.

The guys' desire to compete is most-definitely not what I'm talking about... it's their mental readiness to begin a game in a dominant fashion. It's like they went out there and reacted to everything.

Halftime Scores of non-conference FBS games & against good conference teams over the past 2 years:

2021:
SMU: Losing 7-6
UAB: Losing 30-0!!
Mizzou: Losing 31-7
Marshall: Losing 42-7!!
Liberty: Winning 20-14 (then lost)
UTEP: Losing 7-3 (then won!)
UTSA: Winning 31-13 (this one has been discussed ad-nauseum)
Miami, OH: Losing 20-14

2022:
SMU: Losing 27-10
UNLV: Losing 23-20
Memphis: Losing 20-13
UTSA: Winning 6-3 (then lost)
WKY: Winning 20-13 (and won!)
UAB: Winning 17-21 (then lost)
UTSA: Losing 24-10
Boise St.: TBD, but won't be coached by Littrell... maybe the guys will be ready?

So, outside of the outlier that was the 2021 UTSA game (which, honestly, the guys probably found their own motivation there), the only time NT played a team with a winning record in conference & all Non-conf. FBS teams, we were able to jump out to an early lead and keep it to win the game JUST 1 TIME (against WKU this year).

southsideguy · December 9, 2022

41 minutes ago, meaniegreenie said:

I think his teams were motivated. They never really seemed to give up on games.

His problem was gameplan/execution and lack of QB. The latter probably affected his gameplan along with adding turnovers.

I got the feeling when we played SMUtville we were intimidated when they walked on the field. We never seemed to play our best in those games except one.

MeanGreenTexan · December 9, 2022

Y'all, here are the recruiting rankings for the past 5 cycles according to 24/7:

2019 - 4th in C-USA
2020 - 2nd in C-USA
2021 - 1st in C-USA
2022 - 8th in C-USA (because Littrell was coaching for his job until the UTSA win & didn't have staff going out recruiting).
2023 - 7th in C-USA (because he was forced to coach for his life again & circled the wagons again). This one is still TBD though, and I assume with a new coach, this will skyrocket back up to top 4.

2019-21 are some REALLY GOOD classes, and likely the reason he's held on as long as he has. Recruiting has not been the problem until recently when he circled the wagons.

Wag Tag · December 9, 2022

Skip! Is there anything negative about this guy?? LOL

NT80 · December 9, 2022

If you want a Boise State coach....who is better than Harsin........Chris Peterson (147-38) is available. Doing TV work now......went from BSU to Washington (where he did well). He quit on his own....burned out. But has been away from coaching for a few years now.

West coast guy mostly....so that's the only downside. Mid to late 50s in age.

Side.Show.Joe · December 11, 2022

On 12/9/2022 at 12:26 AM, Cr1028 said:

I call bs. The next program he improves will be the first. It is like Harbaugh said about Ryan Day, Harsin was born on 3rd base and thinks he hit a triple. Even though I am not a fan of his, you can at least say Fuente turned around Memphis.

7 years of sustained success is enough for me. Plus he was on Peterson's staff for years. And Harsin was able to recruit the players and call the plays that allowed that program to thrive for 7 years. Let's face it, Boise hasn't been the same since he left. Remember Harsin was the OC behind the greatest bowl upset in history....

Eagle71 · December 11, 2022

One of the first things that he did at Auburn was to hold a "Women's Clinic". Attendance numbers were crazy! I guess you could say that at the end they weren't able to help him, but he sure got some ladies ready for football season by understanding the game a little bit better. Fans in the stands. Oldest daughter heads up the Auburn Honors College.

CaribbeanGreen · December 11, 2022

4 minutes ago, Eagle71 said:

One of the first things that he did at Auburn was to hold a "Women's Clinic". Attendance numbers were crazy! I guess you could say that at the end they weren't able to help him, but he sure got some ladies ready for football season by understanding the game a little bit better. Fans in the stands. Oldest daughter heads up the Auburn Honors College.

He definitely connected with the ladies at Auburn, that’s for sure

Side.Show.Joe · December 11, 2022

5 hours ago, CaribbeanGreen said:

He definitely connected with the ladies at Auburn, that’s for sure

I have never seen any proof he has done anything wrong. If you have a link to some kind of investigation, I'd love to read it. Until I see something solid, I believe he is the best possible option to be our next head coach.

meanrob · December 11, 2022

5 minutes ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

I have never seen any proof he has done anything wrong. If you have a link to some kind of investigation, I'd love to read it. Until I see something solid, I believe he is the best possible option to be our next head coach.

He went 9-12 the last two years (only four wins against P5 schools), fielded piss poor offenses, showed no progress that things were turning around, pissed off the boosters so much they might have fabricated a rumor to bring him down and makes Littrell look like an extrovert and you think he’s the best option?