Update from Footballcoop.com (Monday Morning)

[zenhuddy]

1 hour ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Excellent.   Best of luck to Coach Keeler & SHSU in C-USA!

Adding to this Tweet- from the Scoop 

Sam Houston: Head coach KC Keeler, a candidate for jobs at Texas State and North Texas, will sign an extension to remain with the Bearkats, tweets Mike Craven of Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Keeler is 85-27 at the school since 2014; SHSU is set to join Conference USA in 2023. 

[Green Otaku]

14 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Well, I assume this means K.C.Keeler has been told he is not getting the job.  Does it mean we are down to three candidates or have they finally settled on ONE??

I'd think that Riley and Gillespie are getting serious looks otherwise this announcement would be done by now. It's always delicate when a coach is still in a bowl game, much less the playoffs. Fuente doesn't have a job so if it was him they would want to get him on the recruiting trail asap, so my educated guess is the other two are real candidates. 

[Got5onIt]

When does the 10 day period end????? 

[NT80]

5 minutes ago, Got5onIt said:

When does the 10 day period end????? 

Tomorrow, Wednesday,  is 10 days from Seth being fired. (Dec. 4)

[Pellom]

I believe Tyson Helton may be a dark horse candidate for the job. 

[UNTLifer]

Zach Kittley.  Any interest?

[NT80]

Wren was announced leaving Nov. 30, and Mosley announced hired Dec. 10 = 11 days.

[laxtonto]

22 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

Fuente or one of the TCU coordinators.

[UNTLifer]

3 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Zach Kittley.  Any interest?

Curious about everyone's take on him, good or bad.

[Got5onIt]

5 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Tomorrow, Wednesday,  is 10 days from Seth being fired. (Dec. 4)

It’s not 10 days from job post? The clock started ticking 10 days after the boot in the ass?

[TheReal_jayD]

8 minutes ago, Pellom said:

I believe Tyson Helton may be a dark horse candidate for the job. 

Didn’t we just beat WKU a$$ like 4 weeks ago? 

[UNTLifer]

John David Baker, Ole Miss Co-OC/TE Coach?  From ACU, coached here with Graham, went with Graham to USC, hired by Kiffin.  Thoughts?

[Pellom]

5 minutes ago, TheReal_jayD said:

Didn’t we just beat WKU a$$ like 4 weeks ago? 

I think one game samples can be misleading. 
 

31-21 as a HC, 23-9 in conference. Went to high school and college in Houston. 
 

…and most importantly, the rumors are he wants out of WKU as they languish away in CUSA. We could double his salary.  

[jtm0097]

10 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

John David Baker, Ole Miss Co-OC/TE Coach?  From ACU, coached here with Graham, went with Graham to USC, hired by Kiffin.  Thoughts?

Not enough experience. He was not even an assistant here in 2017. I think he was a grad assistant or analyst.

[TheColonyEagle]

If we believe Football Scoop….

The favorites seem to be Fuente, Riley, Gillespie

I keep going back and forth on this. Gillespie (to me) is the least exciting. If you’te not gonna have college HC experience, you better bring something (sexy offense, a name). He doesn’t really have either and the majority of his bio is his high school success. He doesn’t do much for me. 
 

That leaves Fuente and Riley. They each bring something and I’m honestly ok with either one. I think Riley is the sexy name and I think he could have an immediate impact on recruiting and the transfer portal. Big risk potential big reward. We would get great media buzz. He could turn us around NEXT season. 
 

Fuente may be a safer pick than Riley and I think we could see a step back next year before he builds it back up. I don’t know what kind of name he has today with recruits.  
 

I was all Fuente but Riley has closed the gap and I think he’s now 1 with Fuente 1A for me. 

[UNTcrazy727]

7 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

If we believe Football Scoop….

The favorites seem to be Fuente, Riley, Gillespie

I keep going back and forth on this. Gillespie (to me) is the least exciting. If you’te not gonna have college HC experience, you better bring something (sexy offense, a name). He doesn’t really have either and the majority of his bio is his high school success. He doesn’t do much for me. 
 

That leaves Fuente and Riley. They each bring something and I’m honestly ok with either one. I think Riley is the sexy name and I think he could have an immediate impact on recruiting and the transfer portal. Big risk potential big reward. We would get great media buzz. He could turn us around NEXT season. 
 

Fuente may be a safer pick than Riley and I think we could see a step back next year before he builds it back up. I don’t know what kind of name he has today with recruits.  
 

I was all Fuente but Riley has closed the gap and I think he’s now 1 with Fuente 1A for me. 

Saying Riley could turn us around next season and then suggesting Fuente would struggle seems like a stretch. I'll put my money on the guy who has already shown he can rebuild a program.

[TheColonyEagle]

10 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Saying Riley could turn us around next season and then suggesting Fuente would struggle seems like a stretch. I'll put my money on the guy who has already shown he can rebuild a program.

My point is we need an immediate influx of talent at some key positions. I don’t know if Fuente can do that faster than Riley. I would think Riley is the more relevant name right now with kids. 

all speculation on my part 

(just like it’s all speculation on everyone’s part) 

Edited December 13, 2022 by TheColonyEagle

[MeanGreenTexan]

10 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Saying Riley could turn us around next season and then suggesting Fuente would struggle seems like a stretch. I'll put my money on the guy who has already shown he can rebuild a program.

I really don't think the term "rebuild" is necessary.   We already have ballers on campus.   Those guys played well when a fire was lit under them.   There's nothing to tear down, and we're not starting with a gutted program.   Littrell left this thing in much better shape than when he found it.  The foundation is laid.  The framing & plumbing is done.  It's just time to finish this thing out.

I believe the best term would be "next steps".   

Fuente has literally demonstrated he can get us where we want to be (AAC Champs.  Ranked.  Nationally Relevant.) ...with less, IMO (sorry Memphis).    If he comes in with fire and a good staff, I would expect that to happen here.  Soon.   Another positive would be Fuente may not necessarily be looking to take the next P5 opportunity again.  Been there, done that, right?

Riley is a gamble.  The downside: Since he hasn't been a HC yet, if he's too green or doesn't have the leadership moxie, then we basically have another Littrell (brilliant football mind, unable to LEAD), or worse, on our hands.  Expect more 6-6 seasons sprinkled with 8/9-win seasons if the support staff is awesome.  The upside though, is that if he's really the next big coach, he'll also get us where Fuente does, but perhaps even higher.   And he'll be a media darling for it, which will bring even more attention to UNT.  That would likely mean we'd be looking for another coach in the next 2-3 years.

[TheColonyEagle]

11 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I really don't think the term "rebuild" is necessary.   We already have ballers on campus.   Those guys played well when a fire was lit under them.   There's nothing to tear down, and we're not starting with a gutted program.   Littrell left this thing in much better shape than when he found it.  The foundation is laid.  The framing & plumbing is done.  It's just time to finish this thing out.

I believe the best term would be "next steps".   

Fuente has literally demonstrated he can get us where we want to be (AAC Champs.  Ranked.  Nationally Relevant.) ...with less, IMO (sorry Memphis).    If he comes in with fire and a good staff, I would expect that to happen here.  Soon.   Another positive would be Fuente may not necessarily be looking to take the next P5 opportunity again.  Been there, done that, right?

Riley is a gamble.  The downside: Since he hasn't been a HC yet, if he's too green or doesn't have the leadership moxie, then we basically have another Littrell (brilliant football mind, unable to LEAD), or worse, on our hands.  Expect more 6-6 seasons sprinkled with 8/9-win seasons if the support staff is awesome.  The upside though, is that if he's really the next big coach, he'll also get us where Fuente does, but perhaps even higher.   And he'll be a media darling for it, which will bring even more attention to UNT.  That would likely mean we'd be looking for another coach in the next 2-3 years.

I agree with everything above 

 

**edit**
 

except I do think we need a little influx of upgraded talent going to the AAC. We do have talent here (on paper) and a lot coming back.
 

But we don’t necessarily have a QB. 
 

that has to get addressed. 

Edited December 13, 2022 by TheColonyEagle

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, C Rod said:

https://www.espn.com/ncb/news/2001/0307/1137811.html

The article above is over 20 years old but I wasn't able to find anything that says the Texas law has changed since. So it appears the required 10-day posting period is what is holding everything up. Hopefully we already have a handshake deal in place with Fuente and we're just running the clock out by "interviewing" additional candidates. 

There are ways around. Texas hired Steve S, the same day they fired Herman.

 

[wardly]

3 hours ago, laxtonto said:

Perry was a “favor” interview, just like Marion at Texas was at Tulsa…

 

Everything I have heard has been centered on one guy on the list, and so at this point I am sticking with my prediction of Fuentes.

This guy's record looks like Littrell's, and the fact that he did a poor job recruiting at V.T. should be a bright red flag. My first choice was Perry followed be either Gillespie or Riley.

[GMG_Dallas]

20 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I really don't think the term "rebuild" is necessary.   We already have ballers on campus.   Those guys played well when a fire was lit under them.   There's nothing to tear down, and we're not starting with a gutted program.   Littrell left this thing in much better shape than when he found it.  The foundation is laid.  The framing & plumbing is done.  It's just time to finish this thing out.

I believe the best term would be "next steps".   

Fuente has literally demonstrated he can get us where we want to be (AAC Champs.  Ranked.  Nationally Relevant.) ...with less, IMO (sorry Memphis).    If he comes in with fire and a good staff, I would expect that to happen here.  Soon.   Another positive would be Fuente may not necessarily be looking to take the next P5 opportunity again.  Been there, done that, right?

Riley is a gamble.  The downside: Since he hasn't been a HC yet, if he's too green or doesn't have the leadership moxie, then we basically have another Littrell (brilliant football mind, unable to LEAD), or worse, on our hands.  Expect more 6-6 seasons sprinkled with 8/9-win seasons if the support staff is awesome.  The upside though, is that if he's really the next big coach, he'll also get us where Fuente does, but perhaps even higher.   And he'll be a media darling for it, which will bring even more attention to UNT.  That would likely mean we'd be looking for another coach in the next 2-3 years.

My thoughts exactly on Riley. I see him like I see Littrell 7 years ago except with a bit more name appeal, especially locally.

My issue with Riley is the same as what we saw with SL, though. If he doesn't immediately have huge success (10+ win seasons) and get hired away, I fear he won't sustain whatever early success he experiences and we'll hover around .500 for his tenure. I think Fuente could have immediate success and sustain it. I think SL's biggest downfall was his inability to fill open coaching vacancies after his initial assistants were hired away. In other words, his network may not have been big enough which is something that comes with time. I do think G Riley has bigger upside than SL had 7 years ago so I'm ok with it (not that I have a say).

[jtm0097]

11 minutes ago, wardly said:

This guy's record looks like Littrell's, and the fact that he did a poor job recruiting at V.T. should be a bright red flag. My first choice was Perry followed be either Gillespie or Riley.

His class rankings at Va Tech.

2016-42

2017-26

2018- 24

2019-27

2020- 59

2021- 49

 

Memphis

2012- 92

2013- 90

2014- 78

2015- 77 (included Tony Pollard)

I wouldn't say Fuente is a bad recruiter. We would have been thrilled to have some of these classes.

Edited December 13, 2022 by jtm0097

[ExADofficeIntern]

1 hour ago, Green Otaku said:

I'd think that Riley and Gillespie are getting serious looks otherwise this announcement would be done by now. It's always delicate when a coach is still in a bowl game, much less the playoffs. Fuente doesn't have a job so if it was him they would want to get him on the recruiting trail asap, so my educated guess is the other two are real candidates. 

I have no information but say that is it JF, who says he isn’t out there not recruiting in terms of keeping our guys from going to the portal and looking at talent in the portal.. I would also prefer a coach to have a vsst majority of their staff built as well before being announced 

14 minutes ago, wardly said:

This guy's record looks like Littrell's, and the fact that he did a poor job recruiting at V.T. should be a bright red flag. My first choice was Perry followed be either Gillespie or Riley.

It should not be solely on how you recruit, we have recruited well and have not developed much NFL talent… JF has developed NFL caliber talent QBs and 1st round pick QBs… he has openly admitted recruiting to VT was way different than he had expected as well

[greenminer]

Purple is dumb, y'all.  And....bevels