Morris signals it is over

[Glory to the Green]

5 hours ago, Glory to the Green said:

I’m 100% okay with the Big Ten/SEC (and change) breaking off and with regional rivalries taking over. I don’t know how sustainable it is financially, but I’d watch Tulane/Tulsa over Vanderbilt/VaTech any day of the week. 

Something like this?  In a heartbeat.  
from @auburnblazer on Twitter

[Jonnyeagle]

1 hour ago, meangreenbob said:

Over more than a decade ago I posted a marketing plan for the survival of G5’s. Darn good plan too. In fact, I used what I learned in my North Texas “Marketing Problems” class.   

I also have been saying for decades that time is of the essence. Those of you who mocked me will remember. 

Well, we did build a new stadium and even a nice indoor practice facility. But unfortunately we failed miserably at what was really important, WINNING and building a strong supportive fan base.  We made very foolish decisions in hiring head coaches and even more so in their employment contracts. It cost us dearly. We lost well over a decade of opportunity, settling for mediocrity. 

Were we ever going to be invited to the P5? Of course not. But there will be a lot  great schools left out as well. Had we had quality leaders in our Administration we would be a program other name schools would want to align with making what would be seen as a quality conference. 
 

But then again…….whats the saying? How does it go? All together now. But 
we are North Texas. 

I also think we could have done better in AD hiring as well myself.

[greenminer]

6 hours ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

On the surface, not right now. Sure, I agree with you. But once the interest declines further the TV deals will shrink significantly. Then, we'll be on track to being almost as irrelevant. I give it a decade. 

I have this wild, baseless belief that if they do a playoff system right for this new G5-only league, interest would increase and not decline.

There are people out there already sitting on the fence, waiting for their Mean Green/G5 school to "have a chance".  This could lure them over to our side.

It's just a question, IMO, of how many of those people are out there?

....

PS: get a G5-only league, with a nice playoff system, prioritize our resources over to MBB and get an option-oriented staff for the FB team.

Could be really fun.

Edited May 9 by greenminer

[keith]

Morris…”We could be in a conference with Texas State and UTEP and the rest of the regional schools to get back to what college football is about.”

Hmmm…WTH does “get back to what college football is about” mean exactly?   Anyone remember that last regional conference we were in?   Is that what he means we need to get back to?   Surprised he didn’t throw Lamar, SFA, McNeese and Incarnate Word in there.  

[NT80]

7 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

HE'S NOT WRONG AND A G5 LEAGUE IS NOT THE SAME AS 1-AA

It is exactly the same as 1-AA or FCS.  G5 is just a different title for it.

It's all money-driven.  More money needed from media for fewer elite teams to be able to pay player salaries.

Next will be Dl basketball splitting into Dl-A.  The Top 6-8 basketball conferences forming their own league.

[NT80]

5 hours ago, MeanGreenZen said:

Don’t kid yourself, Cougar King. There is no “P4”.
There is the SEC. The Big 10. And then everyone else. The ACC and Big 12 are just as irrelevant as the rest of G5 in football now and will only become more so…

Exactly.  20-24 teams in the SEC and Big10, with divisions, just like the NFC and AFC in the NFL.  The winner of each conference meets for the College Super Bowl.

[NT80]

1 hour ago, keith said:

Morris…”We could be in a conference with Texas State and UTEP and the rest of the regional schools to get back to what college football is about.”

Hmmm…WTH does “get back to what college football is about” mean exactly?   Anyone remember that last regional conference we were in?   Is that what he means we need to get back to?   Surprised he didn’t throw Lamar, SFA, McNeese and Incarnate Word in there.  

No Thanks!

[golfingomez]

4 hours ago, meangreenbob said:

Over more than a decade ago I posted a marketing plan for the survival of G5’s. Darn good plan too. In fact, I used what I learned in my North Texas “Marketing Problems” class.   

I also have been saying for decades that time is of the essence. Those of you who mocked me will remember. 

Well, we did build a new stadium and even a nice indoor practice facility. But unfortunately we failed miserably at what was really important, WINNING and building a strong supportive fan base.  We made very foolish decisions in hiring head coaches and even more so in their employment contracts. It cost us dearly. We lost well over a decade of opportunity, settling for mediocrity. 

 

lol, what a radical plan... i would have never considered those two items if i were in charge.

[meangreenfaninno]

I wonder if this isn’t going to force a lot of middle tier programs to reevaluate football budgets.  Why spend that much money on a I-AA league?

[El Paso Eagle]

8 minutes ago, meangreenfaninno said:

I wonder if this isn’t going to force a lot of middle tier programs to reevaluate football budgets.  Why spend that much money on a I-AA league?

When this happens, and it impacts Title 9, and they start cutting women's sports, maybe that will get the "powers-that-be" to start caring again. 

[Tom McKrackin]

Morris been here a year and already waving the white flag?

I think we may need Dr. Smatresk to step in and provide some direction here.

[NT80]

5 minutes ago, Tom McKrackin said:

I think we may need Dr. Smatresk to step in and provide some direction here.

He is in retirement mode and not about to take that on.

However, I would like to hear the AD's opinion on the subject.  Strangely quiet in the castle lately. 

Is the Morris-talk code for we need to decide what to do with our limited funds?   Buildings benefit more players and fans. But salaries seem to be top priority for players these days...then they leave us anyway! 

[GMG_Dallas]

I don't see the eventual SEC/BIG10 vs the world thing working out long-term. Sure, USC-Michigan may be fun once in a while but there's no history to support the matchup. There's no regional rivalry. Those college kids aren't a 2 hour drive away to terrorize each other. Eventually, they're going to alienate half the college football fanbase because some of us may watch these games on Saturdays right now because it's football and it's a new match-up but they mean nothing to us long-term either so we won't keep watching them. I don't care to watch an SEC or BIG10 game if it means nothing to the greater landscape of college football. These are not the games football fans want, it's the games networks want. It will fail.

An Oregon State fan will never be an Oregon fan. A Texas Tech fan will never be a Texas fan. A Florida State fan will never be a Florida fan. The markets are what they are. They won't change. Not anytime soon at least. Good luck, networks. This is why y'all keep cutting your staff and losing money (especially you, ESPN).

Edited May 9 by GMG_Dallas

[greenminer]

2 hours ago, NT80 said:

It is exactly the same as 1-AA or FCS.  G5 is just a different title for it.

If the basis for this is simply "not Power conference", then sure.

The scholarship allotments suggest difference is level of play, though.  I know NIL has negated a lot of that at the current P5/G5 level, but I would think that once you get past a certain point, outside the bubble of the P4, the impact of NIL could be watered down and you will still see scholarship limits play into the level of competition in front of you.

[DentonLurker]

Morris didn't say anything that most of us haven't already said or felt. Quite frankly, what he said has been true for a lot longer than many of us want to admit. Our lack of commitment to athletics (whether you want to blame it on administration, students, alumni, or realistically all of the above) has set us back and has been an issue for years. It still hasn't changed, and it's going to continue to come back to bite us for years to come. There has to be a clear divide at some point, even though I would argue there's been a fuzzy divide for a long time. It's just a matter of time at this point that it becomes crystal clear. We are not going to be in the top tier of that divide. Our stakeholders (I use this broadly and there are clear exceptions) have made that choice over however many years now. It's just going to finally come to a head.

[cogido]

11 hours ago, Tommy Gadberry said:

Unfortunately this comment by the head coach at UNT is going to appear defeatist and will do nothing to motivate students, fans or players.  Wish it had been some other school’s head coach.  Awful publicity for UNT.

[meangreenbob]

You know it’s not just the Portal and NIL. I have never seen the traffic on gmg so anemic and I’ve been coming here since the 1990’s. 

Now, not to say the Portal and NIL haven’t had a huge negative impact but when you add the turmoil and uncertainty with what’s happening in our nation and around the world it’s forcing many to adjust their priorities.

With that being said, maybe, just maybe people will turn out in masses on Saturdays if for no other reason than to just seek some kind of normalcy, an attempt to try and convince oneself that all is ok, nothing’s changed…..see the band is playing, the fans are cheering as the players take the field. Go Mean Green 

[Cr1028]

13 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

How is this the defeatus unless you're a delusional fan who doesn't realize there's a significant difference? For years, people come on here and ditch and moan about coach talk, and then a coach finally says something truthful and something that everybody knows is true, and then people want to bitch because he says that. I did not see anything he said about giving up, but I did see him commenting that we have to find different ways to do relevant, which is the same thing so many on here moan about constantly.

Because you aren’t saying it is difficult to compete, you are saying you have zero chance. It is the same as Dickey saying “I hope President Bataille remembers how much we are getting paid for this game when she looks up at the scoreboard tomorrow.” 

[El Paso Eagle]

47 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

Because you aren’t saying it is difficult to compete, you are saying you have zero chance. It is the same as Dickey saying “I hope President Bataille remembers how much we are getting paid for this game when she looks up at the scoreboard tomorrow.” 

I can see how it looks similar, but I would say that with today's landscape, it's a different world. It's one thing playing against schools with larger budgets, but when you start having your best players picked off year after year when they can get paid, it adds a variable that Dickey or other coaches in the past never had to deal with. He did not have to deal with the fact that schools could pay players to be practice squad members more than most G5s can afford to pay players.

[NT80]

12 hours ago, greenminer said:

If the basis for this is simply "not Power conference", then sure.

The scholarship allotments suggest difference is level of play, though.  I know NIL has negated a lot of that at the current P5/G5 level, but I would think that once you get past a certain point, outside the bubble of the P4, the impact of NIL could be watered down and you will still see scholarship limits play into the level of competition in front of you.

It's a group of schools in college football being artificially demoted over another group with a G5 label for the unwanted group.   There is no "Power" in some of those "top rated" football programs like Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Smut, etc...

It's similar to the European Super League splitting off into a 64-team soccer league. 

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/european-super-league-new-format-a22-aleksander-ceferin-uefa-reaction/#:~:text=All teams will play home,and relegation between the leagues.

Edited May 9 by NT80

[keith]

8 hours ago, cogido said:

Unfortunately this comment by the head coach at UNT is going to appear defeatist and will do nothing to motivate students, fans or players.  Wish it had been some other school’s head coach.  Awful publicity for UNT.

Often, the team takes on the personality of the coach...hope that doesn't happen.

 

[NT80]

3 hours ago, meangreenbob said:

You know it’s not just the Portal and NIL. I have never seen the traffic on gmg so anemic and I’ve been coming here since the 1990’s. 

Now, not to say the Portal and NIL haven’t had a huge negative impact but when you add the turmoil and uncertainty with what’s happening in our nation and around the world it’s forcing many to adjust their priorities.

With that being said, maybe, just maybe people will turn out in masses on Saturdays if for no other reason than to just seek some kind of normalcy, an attempt to try and convince oneself that all is ok, nothing’s changed…..see the band is playing, the fans are cheering as the players take the field. Go Mean Green 

Fans are not valued or sought out at programs like ours.  They either are or are not fans by their own interest.  With NIL the emphasi$ on players is even greater and fans are forgotten even more.  The sports at NT don't sell themselves to produce more fans.  It has to be cultivated thru the AD and reach-outs to students, Alums and locals.

[Hunter Green]

18 hours ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

Yes, there's a huge gulf between the SEC/Big 10 and the Big XII/ACC.  But there's an even huger gulf between the Big XII/ACC and G5.  Four conferences get a seat at the table, and teams in those 4 conferences average about 10 times the TV revenue that G5 teams get.

If TV revenues continue to diminish enough in the future, that could change.  

I think having regional conferences and rivalries will be the saving grace. There should be enough TV interest in UNT/UTSA/Tulsa, Rice/Tulane or Tulsa, SHSU/TSU to garner interest. Throw in Baylor, Texas Tech and Houston as regional non-conference rivals and you may have something. Screw smut.

Quote

 

 

[Hunter Green]

15 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

How is this the defeatus unless you're a delusional fan who doesn't realize there's a significant difference? For years, people come on here and ditch and moan about coach talk, and then a coach finally says something truthful and something that everybody knows is true, and then people want to bitch because he says that. I did not see anything he said about giving up, but I did see him commenting that we have to find different ways to do relevant, which is the same thing so many on here moan about constantly.

He didn't say anything that the rest of these coaches said. It stings because he's ours.

[TIgreen01]

13 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

I don't see the eventual SEC/BIG10 vs the world thing working out long-term. Sure, USC-Michigan may be fun once in a while but there's no history to support the matchup. There's no regional rivalry. Those college kids aren't a 2 hour drive away to terrorize each other. Eventually, they're going to alienate half the college football fanbase because some of us may watch these games on Saturdays right now because it's football and it's a new match-up but they mean nothing to us long-term either so we won't keep watching them. I don't care to watch an SEC or BIG10 game if it means nothing to the greater landscape of college football. These are not the games football fans want, it's the games networks want. It will fail.

An Oregon State fan will never be an Oregon fan. A Texas Tech fan will never be a Texas fan. A Florida State fan will never be a Florida fan. The markets are what they are. They won't change. Not anytime soon at least. Good luck, networks. This is why y'all keep cutting your staff and losing money (especially you, ESPN).

This is EXACTLY right.  I only watch those other school's games BECAUSE we're all in the same division and are technically our competition.  The minute that they are not, I ain't watching.  I know I'm not alone. Bye bye tv ratings and advertising dollars.

The NIL/transfer portal left unchecked is the problem right now.  Start signing kids to contracts.  Top recruits may only be willing to sign on for a year, but try to sign them to 2-3-4 year deals.  That's the only way you're going to be able to retain talent, not burn out the coaches, and get fans to continue caring.