Breaking: North Texas Makes Skyler Cassity Hiring Official

GMG_Dallas · December 4

Just now, p_phelps said:

The fact that he's had better defense every year hes been a DC since 2018.. again, name someone who's better to be had. Why even be a fan here, you're clearly miserable.

His defense got worst from 2022 to 2023. Total defense alone went from 51 to 117.

Name someone who's better? I put 3 teams' who's DCs I'd have gone after and you're crying because of Texas ties.

DentonLurker · December 4

This thread… lol

Welcome aboard, Coach! Let’s get to work!

Edited December 4 by DentonLurker

Big Z · December 4

Somebody spiked the egg nog in this thread

greenminer · December 4

1 hour ago, p_phelps said:

Dude has been successful at 2 different schools... never been fired... how's that bad

Not a bad hire. Didn't mean to imply that.

p_phelps · December 4

44 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

His defense got worst from 2022 to 2023. Total defense alone went from 51 to 117.

Name someone who's better? I put 3 teams' who's DCs I'd have gone after and you're crying because of Texas ties.

Reading is difficult for you but pretty sure that says 20th and you're mad we got the guy that did that.

p_phelps · December 4

47 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

This thread… lol

Welcome aboard, Coach! Let’s get to work!

No it's just the boomers that hate everything and have to complain. We could win a natty and they would say it wasn't by enough points. They're the reason the program suffered for decades

3_n_out · December 4

Knowing the formation he’ll be using, that alone will help our defense. Bigger/ more bodies on the LOS attacking will always be more challenging to play against than 3 DL with the other 8 defenders dropping back.

Also, I feel both sides of the argument regarding our new DC. Shiny and new things get me excited and hopeful, but I also hold some natural skepticism due to his youth and experience. Although he’s been a DC, the AAC is definitely a step up in competition compared to CUSA. More than likely, he’ll mostly be playing with the guys we already have. And, from the looks of the past couple of years, we still need a lot of help there.

Overall, I’m absolutely glad we’ve moved on from Caponi. Now, let’s see if our new DC can simply get us ranked at around 70-80, and I’ll be pleased.

GMG_Dallas · December 4

1 minute ago, p_phelps said:

Reading is difficult for you but pretty sure that says 20th and you're mad we got the guy that did that.

Reading is hard for you. I was referring to his failed defense at ACU.

I put up the offensive rankings of Sam Houston's opponents earlier in the thread. That ranking has nothing to do with Cassity and everything to do with playing the 124th ranked strength of schedule with 7 opponents ranked 107th or worst in offensive sp+. Two of the 3 teams he faced in the top 50 rolled over Sam Houston's defense with it being Texas State who put up 39 points and UCF who put up 45. You see, when I read rankings, I use some investigative and critical thinking skills to try and determine the reason. I don’t just take face level information and run with it.

UNTLifer · December 4

6 minutes ago, p_phelps said:

Reading is difficult for you but pretty sure that says 20th and you're mad we got the guy that did that.

I think reading is difficult for you.

GMG_Dallas · December 4

5 minutes ago, p_phelps said:

No it's just the boomers that hate everything and have to complain. We could win a natty and they would say it wasn't by enough points. They're the reason the program suffered for decades

I'm 31, not a boomer. You just can't think for yourself.

UNTLifer · December 4

5 minutes ago, p_phelps said:

No it's just the boomers that hate everything and have to complain. We could win a natty and they would say it wasn't by enough points. They're the reason the program suffered for decades

Boomers? You’re just making stuff up now.

MeanGreenFan94 · December 4

I like the hire because it is hopefully a move just like I asked for in a previous thread. Bring in a successful DC that can take his players with him. The proximity of SHSU makes me think this is potentially happening. JD has inferred this will happen. I am taking this all as a positive. No matter what it is still better than what we had the last 2 years.

ForneyGreen · December 4

This is much more like the DC hire I expected EM to make originally. The Caponi choice was confusing to me at the time and is still confusing to me. 🙂

Let's please never go back to being the "coordinator promotion" school where we promote OC's and DC's into head coaches and position coaches into OC's and DC's. Let FCS, CUSA, MAC, and Sun Belt schools be those proving grounds... we need to act and be at a different level.

It is always nice to see UNT as a step-up for a D1 coach ... like when we brought McCasland over from Arkansas St.

L Ron Studdard · December 4

1 minute ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Two of the 3 teams he faced in the top 50 rolled over Sam Houston's defense with it being Texas State who put up 39 points

Texas State had a defensive TD and had 57 fewer yards than their season average, Liberty had a safety, and UCF had a 2-yard scoring drive off a blocked punt.

So even if you count the 2-yard TD off the blocked punt against SHSU's defense, that's 93 points total against 3 top-50 offenses with SHSU's personnel. That's solid TBH.

Glory to the Green · December 4

13 hours ago, SUMG said:

https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2024/06/11/skyler-cassity-is-the-youngest-defensive-coordinator-in-the-fbs-he-didn-t-take-any-shortcuts?ref=article_preview_title

Fantastic article! Thanks for sharing.

GMG_Dallas · December 4

22 minutes ago, L Ron Studdard said:

Texas State had a defensive TD and had 57 fewer yards than their season average, Liberty had a safety, and UCF had a 2-yard scoring drive off a blocked punt.

So even if you count the 2-yard TD off the blocked punt against SHSU's defense, that's 93 points total against 3 top-50 offenses with SHSU's personnel. That's solid TBH.

I did acknowledge the defense did well against Liberty.

Regarding UCF, they allowed 384 rushing yards and 6.7 yards per carry. UCF averaged 247 rushing yards per game and 5.7 per carry. That is concerning.

I'll give you Texas State. 32 given by the defense isn't bad considering TxSt was pretty good on offense this year. Far from a shutdown defense, though.

Worth noting in all of this is Sam Houston is 11th in time of possession. They ran the ball 525 times (30th ranked run offense) and passed 322 times (123rd ranked pass offense). We ran 359 times and passed 521 times. He won't have that benefit unless Morris changes his offensive philosophy.

MeanGreenGlory · December 4

45 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

I did acknowledge the defense did well against Liberty.

Regarding UCF, they allowed 384 rushing yards and 6.7 yards per carry. UCF averaged 247 rushing yards per game and 5.7 per carry. That is concerning.

I'll give you Texas State. 32 given by the defense isn't bad considering TxSt was pretty good on offense this year. Far from a shutdown defense, though.

Worth noting in all of this is Sam Houston is 11th in time of possession. They ran the ball 525 times (30th ranked run offense) and passed 322 times (123rd ranked pass offense). We ran 359 times and passed 521 times. He won't have that benefit unless Morris changes his offensive philosophy.

I hear you, and I appreciate that you're reading deeper than surface-level statistics. You raise good points and have valid concerns.

To further add to the context of all this, I think it's worth noting that UCF was Sam Houston's second game of the year, which means it was the second game of Cassity implementing his system. Similarly, Texas State was Sam Houston's fifth game of the year, so both UCF and TxSt were within the first half of the season.

While we all wish and hope for instant change, it's impossible to have a unit firing on all cylinders with a new scheme in the first half of a new coordinator's first year. When you take that into consideration, I think the important thing to look for is growth/progress/improvement throughout the season.

After holding Texas State to 39, they held Western Kentucky to 31, Jacksonville State to 21, and Liberty to 18 as the season went on. WKU and Jax State are #1 and #2 in CUSA playing in the championship game, and Liberty finished the season 8-4 with a win over East Carolina (a team we lost to with an interim coach).

Further, Texas State put up 28 on now 10-2 Arizona State (who's likely headed to the CFP) the week before they put up 39 on Sam Houston. An 11-point difference between a CFP team defense and Sam Houston isn't terrible in game 5 of a new coordinator. If you wipe out TxSt's defensive touchdown and consider it 32 points given up by Sam Houston's defense, that's only a 4-point difference between a CFP team defense and Sam Houston's defense.

I know this isn't all an apples-to-apples comparison, and I agree that his decline from year 1 to year 2 at ACU is concerning. However, I think there are some arguments to suggest Cassity's defensive unit did pretty well in year one of implementation and showed respectable growth over the course of the season, which makes me skeptically optimistic.

Edited December 4 by MeanGreenGlory

meaniegreenie · December 4

5 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

I would have wanted one of the Co-DCs (or both) from Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, or Miami (OH). We could money whip any and all of their DCs. You want to see success that doesn't involve getting steamrolled for 40 like Cassity's defense, look at those teams.

NIU: 7th in total defense, highest G5 ranking. Held now #5 Notre Dame to 14 and NC State to 24. Most points allowed was 25 to Ball State. They have co-DCs we could have doubled in pay for less than Caponi.

Bowling Green (I brought them up in a thread a couple days ago, sorry you don't read other posts): 29th in total defense, have co-DCs one of which spent almost a decade as DC in DFW high schools (including Haltom City when Lance Dunbar was there). Held Texas A&M to 26 and now #3 Penn State to 34, both on the road.

You're solution seems to suggest the correct approach would have been to hire HALF of a successful coaching pair or hire TWO coaches.

Just like this hire has risks of being successful, taking the risk on hiring part of a co-DC seems risky as well.

FirefightnRick · December 4

3 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Worth noting in all of this is Sam Houston is 11th in time of possession. They ran the ball 525 times (30th ranked run offense) and passed 322 times (123rd ranked pass offense). We ran 359 times and passed 521 times. He won't have that benefit unless Morris changes his offensive philosophy.

Excited Lets Go GIF

Rick

untcampbell · December 4

6 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Worth noting in all of this is Sam Houston is 11th in time of possession. They ran the ball 525 times (30th ranked run offense) and passed 322 times (123rd ranked pass offense). We ran 359 times and passed 521 times. He won't have that benefit unless Morris changes his offensive philosophy.

Good point but also worth noting that if the defense doesn't get their opponent's offense off the field efficiently, the offense of said defense sees its TOP drop also. Allegedly.

Conversely, when the offense fourth and fifth string running backs continue to burst 30+ yards for touchdowns, inefficient defenses, unable to put up token resistance, give the ball back to the offense quickly, Rinse and repeat.

GMG

p_phelps · December 4

10 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

I think reading is difficult for you.

Show me your doctorate and I'll show you mine

Edited December 4 by p_phelps

p_phelps · December 4

9 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

I'm 31, not a boomer. You just can't think for yourself.

Lmao you just have a dumbass opinion, got it.

GMG_Dallas · December 4

8 hours ago, MeanGreenGlory said:

I hear you, and I appreciate that you're reading deeper than surface-level statistics. You raise good points and have valid concerns.

To further add to the context of all this, I think it's worth noting that UCF was Sam Houston's second game of the year, which means it was the second game of Cassity implementing his system. Similarly, Texas State was Sam Houston's fifth game of the year, so both UCF and TxSt were within the first half of the season.

While we all wish and hope for instant change, it's impossible to have a unit firing on all cylinders with a new scheme in the first half of a new coordinator's first year. When you take that into consideration, I think the important thing to look for is growth/progress/improvement throughout the season.

After holding Texas State to 39, they held Western Kentucky to 31, Jacksonville State to 21, and Liberty to 18 as the season went on. WKU and Jax State are #1 and #2 in CUSA playing in the championship game, and Liberty finished the season 8-4 with a win over East Carolina (a team we lost to with an interim coach).

Further, Texas State put up 28 on now 10-2 Arizona State (who's likely headed to the CFP) the week before they put up 39 on Sam Houston. An 11-point difference between a CFP team defense and Sam Houston isn't terrible in game 5 of a new coordinator. If you wipe out TxSt's defensive touchdown and consider it 32 points given up by Sam Houston's defense, that's only a 4-point difference between a CFP team defense and Sam Houston's defense.

I know this isn't all an apples-to-apples comparison, and I agree that his decline from year 1 to year 2 at ACU is concerning. However, I think there are some arguments to suggest Cassity's defensive unit did pretty well in year one of implementation and showed respectable growth over the course of the season, which makes me skeptically optimistic.

I think all of this is valid. The issue with Cassity is there's no year 2 at Sam Houston to evaluate. That’s not his fault, his coach was hired away. Did he progress throughout the season or did his competition get drastically worst? Well, it did. Hard to evaluate a defense against what he faced. I just don't see why once again, we have to be the ones to take a risk on a relatively unknown.

Regarding Liberty beating ECU, that was at the start of the year. We played ECU with a new QB and different coach. ECU was putting up numbers when we played them (28 vs Army, 56 vs Temple, 49 vs FAU, 38 vs Tulsa, 40 vs us, 20 vs Navy all after the change). Liberty otherwise played nobody this year. No p4, no tough competition out of conference, and even in a weak conference, they didn't do well.

Like you said, all is not an apples-to-apples comparison. This hire just seems like a huge overreaction to a decent first year coordinating in a horrible conference. Tired of taking flyers on guys. We needed somebody experienced to right the ship.