Hodge wanted to set us up for success

Tommy Gadberry · April 3

I post this for all the Hodge haters out there. The guy really did care about UNT.

VideoEagle · April 3

Ross is a good guy who wanted to finish the season with his team before taking a roughly $2.5 million raise. His players certainly appreciated it if some of our "fans" didn't!

C Rod · April 3

Coach Hodge is a class act. I wish him nothing but the best. Would be great to get a home & home with WVU.

emmitt01 · April 3

So, because he finished coaching in a tournament where he could add a championship to his resume, it showed a deep abiding love for North Texas??

Man, how lucky for us that he finished the job he was contractually tasked with completing.

Censored by Laurie · April 4

1 hour ago, emmitt01 said:

So, because he finished coaching in a tournament where he could add a championship to his resume, it showed a deep abiding love for North Texas??

Man, how lucky for us that he finished the job he was contractually tasked with completing.

you still with DPD?

UNTLifer · April 4

Anybody badmouthing Hodge is really stretching for a reason to not like the man.

UNTFan23 · April 4

39 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

you still with DPD?

Interesting follow-up question.

Big Z · April 4

I bet the lunch gate was the last straw and said, ok go ahead and make the announcement. Rather than after the NIT tournament.

untjim1995 · April 4

56 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

Interesting follow-up question.

I’m sure it will get answered real soon…

emmitt01 · April 4

1 hour ago, Censored by Laurie said:

you still with DPD?

golf fall GIF

Your weak comparison would make sense if I had expected kudos for finishing my last shift there.

UNT Five&Dime · April 4

42 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

Your weak comparison would make sense if I had expected kudos for finishing my last shift there.

When do you not expect kudos?

MeanGreenZen · April 4

An NIT championship would have been the most outstanding bullet point on Hodge’s resume so far and he did have a moral obligation to his players to finish out the season.
And if he HAD quit before the end of the tournament, that could have been used against him in recruiting at West Virginia by other coaches. “You want to play for Ross Hodge? He has a history of quitting on his players before the end of their season.”
All that said, Ross left this place better than he found it and he got offered so much more money than we could pay him that he really didn’t have a choice.

2020 Sucks · April 4

Some of ya'll don't understand! And some of ya'll are just bitter jerks! It isn't always a conspiracy! Ross deserved a promotion...he earned it with hard work, winning, and enduring a lot of crap from fickle fans, bad attendance, a crappy league, and no money to compete with in the NIL age.

There were teams that won a bunch of games with Ross and Grant that were full of little pricks. Some of those teams (despite winning 20+ games) were very toxic and hard to coach. There were a handful of players over the years that were very unlovable! Players who were cancerous in the locker room and created unnecessary drama that had to be dealt with constantly.

Ross repeatedly said all year long that this group was different in how they worked together, how they built each other up, how they hung out together outside the gym. It was a special group of kids who enjoyed being around each other and laying it all on the line for one another. He stayed because he LOVED this group. He didn't stay to notch his belt...he already had the other job. He stayed because this is a TEAM that he believed in and wanted to maximize his time with them because they had made his job fun.

I'm sad he left, I'm happy for him, and I'm thankful that he gave this school 100% for 8 years. He is a diamond and I wish him all the success at WVU and wherever else he may end up. He's that good...He could be at any of the dozen or so basketball powerhouse schools in the next 8-10 years if he wants to be.

cousin oliver · April 4

Just now, 2020 Sucks said:

Some of ya'll don't understand! And some of ya'll are just bitter jerks! It isn't always a conspiracy! Ross deserved a promotion...he earned it with hard work, winning, and enduring a lot of crap from fickle fans, bad attendance, a crappy league, and no money to compete with in the NIL age.

There were teams that won a bunch of games with Ross and Grant that were full of little pricks. Some of those teams (despite winning 20+ games) were very toxic and hard to coach. There were a handful of players over the years that were very unlovable! Players who were cancerous in the locker room and created unnecessary drama that had to be dealt with constantly.

Ross repeatedly said all year long that this group was different in how they worked together, how they built each other up, how they hung out together outside the gym. It was a special group of kids who enjoyed being around each other and laying it all on the line for one another. He stayed because he LOVED this group. He didn't stay to notch his belt...he already had the other job. He stayed because this is a TEAM that he believed in and wanted to maximize his time with them because they had made his job fun.

I'm sad he left, I'm happy for him, and I'm thankful that he gave this school 100% for 8 years. He is a diamond and I wish him all the success at WVU and wherever else he may end up. He's that good...He could be at any of the dozen or so basketball powerhouse schools in the next 8-10 years if he wants to be.

I think the issue with most on here is loyalty and some feel Ross could have stayed longer if the money was not an issue. I agree he is a good coach and he gave it his all. What you aren't posting is that UNT gave him a lot too. It gave him a platform to get a big job that pays him 3 million a year.

MeanGreenTexan · April 4

4 minutes ago, cousin oliver said:

I think the issue with most on here is loyalty and some feel Ross could have stayed longer if the money was not an issue. I agree he is a good coach and he gave it his all. What you aren't posting is that UNT gave him a lot too. It gave him a platform to get a big job that pays him 3 million a year.

Our degrees say "University of North Texas" (or "North Texas State University"). WE are loyal to our university. Not the coaches. It's not fair to hold coaches to the same loyalty we feel for our own Alma Mater.

Coaching is a career. Coaches owe our University nothing outside of earning their pay. If they can promote, they should. That's not a bad thing for us, unless we hire a dud as the replacement (Johnny to Tony).

I hope Coach Hodge knows some of these people are emotionally hurt by his departure, & are acting out of that hurt. It should speak more to what he accomplished here & the endearment we as fans had toward him. We don't like seeing good things leave us, because we're used to disappointment & are afraid that's where we'll return.

Green with Envy · April 4

i'm disapointed that he left, but that's the type of program we are and will continue to be. when they are deserving, they are going to move up, no question. we can't match facilities, monies or support, no matter how green our glasses are.

the part that i dont like, specific to wren's comments is "important for Hodge to set up North Texas for success before he left." Coach the game or not, it didn't set us up for anything. he stayed because he wanted to win. he stayed because any mark of success went on his resume. he stayed because 15 players and a handful of coaches have battled and needed to finish together. none of that is setting us up for anything. all of the coaches are going to leave. 80% of the players are going to leave. this was not about UNT future, this was about UNT current and Ross future. Wren dropped that line to make it sound like Ross was doing poor little UNT a favor. get out of here

TIgreen01 · April 4

Grant and Hodge both came here with the goal to leave for the P5 as quickly as possible. They never intended to stay here longer than they had to. Grant, for some reason, stayed longer than just taking the first promotion offered. Hodge did not, as far as I can tell. Either way, they both won here, helped raise our profile, and ultimately reached their own personal goals. Good for them, and good for us. They are, and always will be, legends at North Texas. We need to put them in our HOF asap. Now its time to turn the page. Hopefully Robinson has similar goals, wins even bigger and we can ride that to bigger and better things (more NCAA tourney appearances and wins). I do not, and will not, get emotionally tied to a coach here like several seem to do. The only possible exceptions are those coaches that played or went to school here (IE: Pat Cobbs).

Objectively, Hodge was not the complete package that Grant is/was. The drop in attendance, I think, is directly attributable to his personality vs Grant's. Grant is a public figure and a great salesman, along with being a great coach. How many times do you remember seeing Grant grab the mic at a game or event and pump up the crowd, or run over to the students and jump into the crowd or high five the front row? Hodge is an expert technical coach and tactician, but he doesn't have that same gift and presence that Grant did. They were a great team together, but ultimately Grant has the higher ceiling. Hoping that Robinson is more like Grant and can help re-engage the students and fanbase.

RBP79 · April 4

NT and other G5 schools are just a gateway to the semi-pro's when successful. Thats reality. Next man up!

NT80 · April 4

It's more about what Hodge didn't say, than about why he left or what he said.

If you read between the lines, I don't think it's too difficult to see the "no thanks" to UNT for the opportunity to become a D1 HC, nor to the fans for supporting his team, home and away, after losing an even better coach. He did what he was paid for, but the haste to leave and manner it happened didn't fall on deaf ears.

Big Z · April 4

Hodge could of have left us while Grant was coaching, he had some good offers but didn't pursue them.

8 years is a long time!

emmitt01 · April 4

3 hours ago, 2020 Sucks said:

Some of ya'll don't understand! And some of ya'll are just bitter jerks! It isn't always a conspiracy! Ross deserved a promotion...he earned it with hard work, winning, and enduring a lot of crap from fickle fans, bad attendance, a crappy league, and no money to compete with in the NIL age.

There were teams that won a bunch of games with Ross and Grant that were full of little pricks. Some of those teams (despite winning 20+ games) were very toxic and hard to coach. There were a handful of players over the years that were very unlovable! Players who were cancerous in the locker room and created unnecessary drama that had to be dealt with constantly.

Ross repeatedly said all year long that this group was different in how they worked together, how they built each other up, how they hung out together outside the gym. It was a special group of kids who enjoyed being around each other and laying it all on the line for one another. He stayed because he LOVED this group. He didn't stay to notch his belt...he already had the other job. He stayed because this is a TEAM that he believed in and wanted to maximize his time with them because they had made his job fun.

I'm sad he left, I'm happy for him, and I'm thankful that he gave this school 100% for 8 years. He is a diamond and I wish him all the success at WVU and wherever else he may end up. He's that good...He could be at any of the dozen or so basketball powerhouse schools in the next 8-10 years if he wants to be.

Ok, now show me anyone on this thread who is arguing against a single thing you just said.

Jonnyeagle · April 4

3 hours ago, RBP79 said:

NT and other G5 schools are just a gateway to the semi-pro's when successful. Thats reality. Next man up!

Doesn’t have to be. That coach at Irvine had been there a long ass time. Ross could have been that for us. I blame a lot of this on Wrenzempic. Why can’t he quit grifting off of UNT for once?

BigChiefGMG · April 4

2 hours ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Doesn’t have to be. That coach at Irvine had been there a long ass time. Ross could have been that for us. I blame a lot of this on Wrenzempic. Why can’t he quit grifting off of UNT for once?

I thought Ross would lead us as HC for 10+ years, but jokes on me. I dream of one day looking at the record books at someone leading us for a long ass time

UNTLifer · April 4

6 hours ago, 2020 Sucks said:

Some of ya'll don't understand! And some of ya'll are just bitter jerks! It isn't always a conspiracy! Ross deserved a promotion...he earned it with hard work, winning, and enduring a lot of crap from fickle fans, bad attendance, a crappy league, and no money to compete with in the NIL age.

There were teams that won a bunch of games with Ross and Grant that were full of little pricks. Some of those teams (despite winning 20+ games) were very toxic and hard to coach. There were a handful of players over the years that were very unlovable! Players who were cancerous in the locker room and created unnecessary drama that had to be dealt with constantly.

Ross repeatedly said all year long that this group was different in how they worked together, how they built each other up, how they hung out together outside the gym. It was a special group of kids who enjoyed being around each other and laying it all on the line for one another. He stayed because he LOVED this group. He didn't stay to notch his belt...he already had the other job. He stayed because this is a TEAM that he believed in and wanted to maximize his time with them because they had made his job fun.

I'm sad he left, I'm happy for him, and I'm thankful that he gave this school 100% for 8 years. He is a diamond and I wish him all the success at WVU and wherever else he may end up. He's that good...He could be at any of the dozen or so basketball powerhouse schools in the next 8-10 years if he wants to be.

Spill the beans.

untjim1995 · April 4

19 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

Your weak comparison would make sense if I had expected kudos for finishing my last shift there.

Hodge didn’t expect kudos for finishing the job here. He did it because it was the right thing to do in his mind. I’d imagine you didn’t walk out of the DPD at the moment you got your next job.