Breaking: North Texas Makes Skyler Cassity Hiring Official

GMG_Dallas · December 5

6 hours ago, meaniegreenie said:

It's actually 3.75 in Philly. Again, not that big of a hit, but adding in the fed 35%, the additional 60k is now closer to 36k and the higher cost of living will eat up a large portion of that.

You realize I'm comparing Temple's 2022 salary to our 2023 salary when Morris apparently took less to give his assistants more? If you want to compare apples to apples, in 2022 we paid Phil Bennett 325k, about 200k less than Temple paid their DC the same year. Drayton was in year 1 of his contract and made what SL made in year 6 of his plus they were paying a buyout for another coach bringing their total pay to football HC at $3.5 million for the year. The school has more money than we do. If Keeler really wanted Cassity, they could have paid more more than we could. I mean, they just fired a coach with an average salary of $2.5 million per year and in year 1 of Keeler are paying $300k more than we're paying Morris. Why is this so complicated?

God forbid somebody ask questions and bring facts around here.

1 hour ago, jtm0097 said:

Why bash JD? He puts in work and delivers a lot of quality content. JD has a lot of connections in the program/CFB landscape. Our fan base needs more people like him. I understand your upset because Morris didn't choose your guy, but it's ridiculous to take a shot at JD's reporting.

I'm not upset my guy wasn't picked, I'm upset we're taking another chance at inexperience. You can have young talent on your staff but there needs to be a balance of experienced guys too. This is an important year. Make or break for Morris and us as fans. Either we have success, or he's a lame duck and we're looking at another 2-3 year rebuild with a new HC.

Regarding JD, I have nothing against the guy. I don't know him. I'm sure he's a great man who means well. I'm just not going to buy everything somebody says without names to these sources. I'd like to know who said Temple tried

to get Cassity but he wanted to come here instead. Knowing Morris' seat is likely heating up and Keeler will have at least 2 years in Temple before his heats up, does it really make sense for him to go where the seat is already warm? There's more to that story.

Got5onIt · December 7

High risk, is there a high reward here??? Could’ve done better. Was coaching budget the biggest factor here? Did Morris get doctor B’d here?

BillySee58 · December 7

1 hour ago, Got5onIt said:

High risk, is there a high reward here??? Could’ve done better. Was coaching budget the biggest factor here? Did Morris get doctor B’d here?

Who would’ve been a better hire?

BigWillie · December 7

On 12/4/2024 at 10:12 AM, MeanGreenGlory said:

I don't disagree with you.

Historically, I've preferred to bring in experienced people who have demonstrated sustained success at our level.

That said, it's not black and white, and a track record of success doesn't guarantee success.

Look at Tom Herman, for example. The guy goes 22-4 at Houston and then 32-18 at Texas. He should have been a guaranteed success at his next stop, right? Instead, he goes 6-16 at FAU, which has been a respectably competitive program in revenue sports over the last handful of years. What happened?

Hugh Freeze went 20-5 at Lambuth, followed by 10-2 at Arkansas State. He should have been a success at his next stop, but instead, he went 12-25 at Ole Miss. People thought he was overrated and a fraud. He turned around and went 34-15 at Liberty before being poached by Auburn, where he's now 11-14. What happened?

Scott Frost went 19-7 at UCF and then completely flopped as head coach at his own alma mater.

Gus Malzahn went 9-3 at Arkansas State followed by 68-35 at Auburn. The guy should have been able to blow out anyone in a non-SEC conference, right? Instead, he barely squeeks out an above .500 record at UCF.

All this to say, for every "successful and proven" coach that flops at their next stop there's an up-and-coming coach who absolutely thrives in their next stop at an elevated position (coordinator, HC, etc.). There are so many factors that contribute to a coach's success at any given stop, so predicting success solely on past performance isn't a perfect science.

The truth of the matter for every coach at any position is that you just don't know how they'll perform until you know.

Until we know for sure, let's give Cassity the benefit of the doubt and the support he deserves to succeed at UNT.

This is the most sensible take on this thread and how I feel. I am one of the first in line to complain about performance, but only after I have seen their attempt at it. I.e. Craponi after his first season.

Glory to the Green · December 7

Anyone know if Cassity is in Denton? I heard he might be a consultant for the bowl game. He’s probably at the practices, right?

greenminer · December 7

35 minutes ago, Glory to the Green said:

Anyone know if Cassity is in Denton? I heard he might be a consultant for the bowl game. He’s probably at the practices, right?

I haven't heard anything official and the water cooler conversations said, he's probably going to follow through at SHSU through their bowl.

97and03 · December 7

Just now, greenminer said:

I haven't heard anything official and the water cooler conversations said, he's probably going to follow through at SHSU through their bowl.

Well that would be poor negotiating on the part of our AD.

97and03 · December 7

Just now, greenminer said:

If this is true, what is he missing out on in Denton between now and Dec 19/20th?

Almost a month of player evaluation? Installing the 4-2-5 now instead in spring? Remember coaches can’t work directly with the team outside of the official practice schedule during the offseason, only the S&C team. These next few weeks as the team prepares for its bowl would help him figure out who should stay and at which positions he most urgently needs to upgrade or add depth.

Mean Green 93-98 · December 7

17 minutes ago, NT80 said:

I doubt SHSU wants to keep an ex-coach around to possibly recruit their kids to his new program?

I bet he got locked out of access as soon as he cleaned out his desk and resigned.

Even after he was hired as HC at Houston, Tom Herman coached out through his bowl game as OC at Ohio State. For assistant coaches moving to other assistant positions, it's more common to finish out the season (and postseason) at their previous schools, although not universal.

3_n_out · December 8

Maybe it’s a good time to rewatch some SHSU football tonight. I want to start getting overly optimistic again

BBA1989 · December 8

On 12/3/2024 at 9:55 AM, wardly said:

Wonder why he is not taking Cassity with him?

Who would want to leave Texas for Philly? Jalen Hurts only did it because he really didn't have a choice.

Big Z · December 8

1 minute ago, BBA1989 said:

Who would want to leave Texas for Philly? Jalen Hurts only did it because he really didn't have a choice.

Coach Eric Taylor did in the tv show Friday Night Lights

BBA1989 · December 8

21 hours ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

Even after he was hired as HC at Houston, Tom Herman coached out through his bowl game as OC at Ohio State. For assistant coaches moving to other assistant positions, it's more common to finish out the season (and postseason) at their previous schools, although not universal.

I think that's because they were in the middle of a Nat'l Championship hunt versus playing in another annual bowl game.

Glory to the Green · December 15

Oh, boy. It feels like this is good. GMG! 🧩

Edited December 15 by Glory to the Green

TheReal_jayD · December 15

On 12/5/2024 at 6:59 AM, GMG_Dallas said:

You realize I'm comparing Temple's 2022 salary to our 2023 salary when Morris apparently took less to give his assistants more? If you want to compare apples to apples, in 2022 we paid Phil Bennett 325k, about 200k less than Temple paid their DC the same year. Drayton was in year 1 of his contract and made what SL made in year 6 of his plus they were paying a buyout for another coach bringing their total pay to football HC at $3.5 million for the year. The school has more money than we do. If Keeler really wanted Cassity, they could have paid more more than we could. I mean, they just fired a coach with an average salary of $2.5 million per year and in year 1 of Keeler are paying $300k more than we're paying Morris. Why is this so complicated?

God forbid somebody ask questions and bring facts around here.

I'm not upset my guy wasn't picked, I'm upset we're taking another chance at inexperience. You can have young talent on your staff but there needs to be a balance of experienced guys too. This is an important year. Make or break for Morris and us as fans. Either we have success, or he's a lame duck and we're looking at another 2-3 year rebuild with a new HC.

Regarding JD, I have nothing against the guy. I don't know him. I'm sure he's a great man who means well. I'm just not going to buy everything somebody says without names to these sources. I'd like to know who said Temple tried

to get Cassity but he wanted to come here instead. Knowing Morris' seat is likely heating up and Keeler will have at least 2 years in Temple before his heats up, does it really make sense for him to go where the seat is already warm? There's more to that story.

To follow up on this. The exact number was $600k that Cassity was offered by Temple.

GMG_Dallas · December 15

6 hours ago, TheReal_jayD said:

To follow up on this. The exact number was $600k that Cassity was offered by Temple.

Surely we didn't outbid them. Taking $100k+ less to join a sinking ship is a bold move. Hopefully for him he can knock some sense into Morris regarding his aggressive decision making.

untbowler · December 15

45 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Surely we didn't outbid them. Taking $100k+ less to join a sinking ship is a bold move. Hopefully for him he can knock some sense into Morris regarding his aggressive decision making.

Cassity appears to be a TX family now, so why uproot and move to the NE to a bad program when offered a little less $$$ to not fully uproot your family. Seems like he wanted to stay in TX and UNT made the offer to keep him in State.

GMG_Dallas · December 15

11 minutes ago, untbowler said:

Cassity appears to be a TX family now, so why uproot and move to the NE to a bad program when offered a little less $$$ to not fully uproot your family. Seems like he wanted to stay in TX and UNT made the offer to keep him in State.

Sure does appear that way. If it works in our favor then so be it. I'm going to be skeptical until proven otherwise. I'm disappointed in the Morris era so far and just don't have a ton of faith in his staff decisions at this point.

UNTLifer · December 16

Cassity is a Texan, has family here and it is less expensive to live here vs. PA.

GMG_Dallas · December 16

30 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Cassity is a Texan, has family here and it is less expensive to live here vs. PA.

His dad is a native of Kentucky and still lives there. Skyler went to high school in Atlanta and went to college at Auburn. His wife is a Texan but he is not. Maybe he just really likes his in-laws.

UNTLifer · December 16

Good article:

https://www.fbherald.com/news/state/five-things-unt-fans-should-know-about-new-dc-skyler-cassity/article_13f1458b-058b-5f12-be84-937ded32685e.html

UNTLifer · December 16

18 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

His dad is a native of Kentucky and still lives there. Skyler went to high school in Atlanta and went to college at Auburn. His wife is a Texan but he is not. Maybe he just really likes his in-laws.

I have looked and can't find the article stating he didn't want to leave Texas because of family. Guess it was his wife's family. Either way, glad he is here and thanks for the correction.

GMG_Dallas · December 16

30 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I have looked and can't find the article stating he didn't want to leave Texas because of family. Guess it was his wife's family. Either way, glad he is here and thanks for the correction.

Hope he works out