Wanna' Put This New Stadium Behind Us? Then Hire

[PlummMeanGreen]

I know, this is not the type of thing we'd normally do at NT, a bit out of the ordinary, not our usual M.O. and just way, way, way outside the box BUT.........isn't this the type of thing we'll probably have to do to get a new major college football stadium in Denton? I don't see people standing in line now to "Build It" and I sense that a projected 2009 deadline to be in this stadium could very well go beyond that into the next decade if truth be told.

>> And what the heck, fundraising can take many strange & unusual turns in our society today as even "W" has his dad and Bill Clinton out raising monies (together) for Tsunami victims. Who wouda' thunk' that would have ever happened?

So..............ENTER THE 7'TH CALVARY (& not the one that was at the Little Big Horn, either):

Still...........CAN YOU ONLY IMAGINE recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee and ex Mean Green football coach Hayden Fry, ex ABA Dallas Chapparals and NT Mean Green basketball coach Bill Blakely, North Texas President Dr. Norval Pohl, NT Board of Regent Chairman Bobby Ray, North Texas AD Rick Villarreal, Mean Green Coach Darrell Dickey as well as the chief NT Athletic Department fund-raiser; anyway, can you just see this consortium of present and ex NT high rolling officals all sitting in the conference room of a DFW Fortune 500 CEO (or just merely sitting in the home of a DFW philanthropist) because Coaches Fry and/or Blakely knew the right people in order to set up such a meeting?

Such a conference room with all the aforementioned NT personalities would be one helluva' room full of Mean Green synergy I think we'd all agree.

Some may ask: "Is Coach Fry too old for this venture?" The answer many of us might offer is that 2 years ago our ex football coach wanted the Baylor University head football coaches job (and many from Baylor wanted him to have that job for that matter) before it was handed over to Guy Morriss.

IMO, this is how we get our new football stadium before the year 2010 (which is the number of years our last paid NT Athletic consultant, one Coach Gene Stallings said it would take for NORTH TEXAS to build a new football stadium--if even then).

<>*<> IMO, many egos would have to be left at the door for something like this to take place at our alma mater. I fear if something like this or similar doesn't happen, we are going to be in Fouts Field much, much longer than any of us dreamed we'd be, much longer than our NT football personel would want it to be, too--hope I'm wrong about the time-line part, but a gut feeling tells me other-wise.

**** NOW Mean Green Nation...........your sincere thoughts and opinions on this most important matter in the history of our alma mater?

Edited June 26, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[greenjoe]

Wouldn't that be wierd. To look across the field at the Baylor game and see Hayden Fry as Head Coach of the Bears.

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[MeanGreenBuzz]

If you remember Coach Fry left NT discouraged at the lack of fan support in the late 70s. What makes you think he would come back now, nearly 30 years later, and help when we still have no better fan support (in terms of attendance) than we did then?

Edited June 25, 2005 by MeanGreenBuzz

[PlummMeanGreen]

If you remember Coach Fry left NT discouraged at the lack of fan support in the late 70s.  What makes you think he would come back now, nearly 30 years later, and help when we still have no better fan support (in terms of attendance) than we did then?

In his last few trips to our campus in recent years, Hayden Fry is more excited about NT now than he was when he left in, uh, 1978? He met with Coach Dickey and the team a few years ago and told them how unbelievably bright the future at NORTH TEXAS is because of growth and location.

In a visit 2 years ago, Fry even said he wouldn't have left NORTH TEXAS for Iowa had his better teams been rewarded with bowl invites.

Coach Fry has 3 sons and a daughter who are all NT Exes. I think he would have no problem being a consultant for such a lofty goal as a new football stadium.

All NT president Norval Pohl has to do is just tell Coach Fry when he needs to start.

Edited June 25, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[SUMG]

Good idea, Jimmy.

And, as to why would Hayden come back to UNT, after leaving us because of the lack of fan support:

I think Coach Fry will always have a big place in his heart for North Texas, because we hired him after smu dumped him. Heck if there's any place he should hate it should be smu....but Coach Fry has even gone back to their campus recently. (for a reunion of the '68 Cotton Bowl team?)

And one more thing about Coach Fry: Just tell him something can't be done (like finding a big money donor for a stadium) and I think that would just make him that more determined to prove OTHERWISE.

[NT80]

I believe I read they are trying to get Coach Fry to come to the Troy (ESPN2) game....

[Green Grenade II]

I know, this is not the type of thing we'd normally do at NT, a bit out of the ordinary, not our usual M.O. and just way, way, way outside the box BUT.........isn't this the type of thing we'll probably have to do to get a new major college football stadium in Denton?  I don't see people standing in line now to "Build It" and I sense that a projected 2009 deadline to be in this stadium could very well go beyond that into the next decade if truth be told.

>> And what the heck, fundraising can take many strange & unusual turns in our society today as even "W" has his dad and Bill Clinton out raising monies (together) for Tsunami victims.  Who wouda' thunk' that would have ever happened?   

So..............ENTER THE 7'TH CALVARY (& not the one that was at the Little Big Horn, either): 

Still...........CAN YOU ONLY IMAGINE recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee and ex Mean Green football coach Hayden Fry,  ex ABA Dallas Chapparals and NT Mean Green basketball coach Bill Blakely, North Texas President Dr. Norval Pohl, NT Board of Regent Chairman Bobby Ray, North Texas AD Rick Villarreal, Mean Green Coach Darrell Dickey as well as the chief NT Athletic Department fund-raiser;  anyway, can you just see this consortium of present and ex NT high rolling officals all sitting in the conference room of a DFW Fortune 500 CEO (or just merely sitting in the home of a DFW philanthropist) because Coaches Fry and/or Blakely knew the right people in order to set up such a meeting? 

Such a conference room with all the aforementioned NT personalities would be one helluva' room full of Mean Green synergy I think we'd all agree.

Some may ask:  "Is Coach Fry too old for this venture?"  The answer many of us might offer is that 2 years ago our ex football coach wanted the Baylor University head football coaches job (and many from Baylor wanted him to have that job for that matter) before it was handed over to Guy Morriss.

IMO, this is how we get our new football stadium before the year 2010 (which is the number of years our last paid NT Athletic consultant, one Coach Gene Stallings said it would take for NORTH TEXAS to build a new football stadium--if even then).

<>*<> IMO, many egos would have to be left at the door for something like this to take place at our alma mater.  I fear if something like this or similar doesn't happen, we are going to be in Fouts Field much, much longer than any of us dreamed we'd be, much longer than our NT football personel would want it to be, too--hope I'm wrong about the time-line part, but a gut feeling tells me other-wise. 

**** NOW Mean Green Nation...........your sincere thoughts and opinions on this most important matter in the history of our alma mater?

I think bringing Coach Fry in as a fundraising captain for our new football stadium would be pure genius of an idea. He knows big time money people and we would find that big donor(s) through him. I hope Rick V. makes that call. It just makes sense!

[SilverEagle]

Well, here's a thought. Why not tell Coach Fry that if he can line up the doners for the stadium, (and if the doners are in agreement) the stadium could be named after him.

Or at the very least, his name could be part of the stadium's name.

[BeanCounterGrad'03]

Hire Hayden Fry as a fundraising advisor...brilliant!!!

[PlummMeanGreen]

Well, here's a thought.  Why not tell Coach Fry that if he can line up the doners for the stadium, (and if the doners are in agreement) the stadium could be named after him.

Or at the very least, his name could be part of the stadium's name.

Dr. Pohl has hired athletic consultants before at NT (as you know, Bill) when he hired the great Gene Stallings to do some very important work for our alma mater at a very crucial time. (I think right now in MG Country the time has once again become crucial).

Meeting Coach Stallings in the Super Pit at his forum was one of the highlights for many of our NT experiences I'm sure. Why was that? How about Coach Gene Stalling's celebrity having something to do with that? Anyone out there think we can use the word celebrity when talk about Hayden Fry (and to a certain extent, Coach Blakely in this part of Texas)? If NT can spend 6 figures(?) on branding, can we find some monies to put Coach Fry and Coach Blakely on a consultant basis for a year?

As most of you older nestors would know, Coach Fry spent over a decade as SMU AD and head football coach and if anyone doesn't think he met a few rich Dallasites and executives during that time in Dallas (and then 6 years in Denton), those who he still counts as his friends, then lets talk about some swamp land for sale here.

Coach Bill Blakely was the Dallas Chapparal's coach for awhile and was our Mean Green BB coach for years as most on this board would know. Let's turn this duo (who know many, many influential people in Dallas, Texas) loose on the rich and famous of Big D and beyond. Let Coach Fry and Blakely contact their friends in the Dallas and Texas business community who would want to be involved with NT athletics, specifically our new stadium project and not cross paths with others from NT who are raising monies to build another UNT campus in south Dallas county.

IT'S JUST A WIN--WIN FOR NT ATHLETICS AND FOR ALL CONCERNED.................Honestly, what would NT have to lose in employing these 2 NT icons as consultants for a year or 2? Heck, they might find other Big Donors who could help NT Athletics start a significant endowment fund that would help us eventually increase "ALL' our NT coaches salaries as to keep them from checking every job opening out there, keep them on our NT payroll longer and merely be competitive with other schools our size with salaries--we are not doing that right now, fellow alums.

Enough already.....

Edited June 26, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[BeanCounterGrad'03]

Has anyone emailed RV about this idea?

[GreenBat]

The BIG question is are they interested in such a position?

[PlummMeanGreen]

The BIG question is are they interested in such a position?

It is my understanding from alumnus scuttle-butt that both would be very open to listening to whoever would talk to them about such a thing. They have both remained fans of our school and our Mean Green athletic teams even long after they were off the NT payroll. We don't always get that from our ex NT employees.

As NT80 said in a prior post, NT Athletics is rumored to be trying to get Coach Fry in for the ESPN nationally televised Troy U game in Denton to have a reunion with his Mean Green teams of the 70's. That will be a real cool deal for those of us who were students in that era just to see those familiar old faces.

BTW, didn't Coach Fry have teams ranked in the Top 20 twice while he was at NORTH TEXAS?

Edited June 26, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[SUMG]

BTW, didn't Coach Fry have teams ranked in the Top 20 twice while he was at NORTH TEXAS?

One year....1977....we were in the UPI poll (top 20) for about 8 straight weeks. The highest we got was 13th. We finished 16th.

[PlummMeanGreen]

One year....1977....we were in the UPI poll (top 20) for about 8 straight weeks. The highest we got was 13th. We finished 16th.

Thanks for the info, SUMG...

But how strange that I thought our 1978 team also spent some time in the Top 20. Coach Hayden Fry's 1978 football team was better than our 1977 team IMHO. Oh well..............

[PlummMeanGreen]

Has anyone emailed RV about this idea?

Since I began this thread, I am not emailing anything to anyone but if I hadn't, I would probably make darn sure that NT President Dr. Norval Pohl and NT Board of Regent Chairman Bobby Ray received an email of this entire thread along with Rick V.

[NT91]

Fry Field sounds good!!!!!!!!!!!

[PlummMeanGreen]

Fry Field sounds good!!!!!!!!!!!

This thing would have a fighting chance to succeed as long as all campus egos were held in check and completely left at the door. Lip service would say the ego thing would not be a problem, but actions behind the scenes would be the proof. Just like marketing, you sorta' see the results of the work being done with that with how many fewer empty seats we have at our stadium.

How many of us would really care what they would call the new stadium or field, ie, naming rights for the 2, but I hope others in the NT administration, Board of Regents and athletic department wouldn't care either. I am sure Coach Dickey, his assistants and players wouldn't care if they called it Ken & Barbie Field as long as they get this new stadium in due time.

BTW, wouldn't a new stadium at Eagle Point be the crowning jewel of one of those "wow" facilities Coach Fran of TAMU was talking about in the DMN yesterday? I think most of us would agree with this new stadium our name (suddenly) starts showing up many more times in the state of Texas Top 100 lists like another DFW school who opened up their new stadium a few years ago who had their name listed very impressively several times.

<>*<> SPEAKING OF THIS TEXAS TOP 100 LIST: How many of you saw it yesterday in the Dallas Morning News? Did you notice which school that has gone to 4 bowl games in a row did not have even one player listed?

Not that SMU will even sign one of numerous players who (very impressivley) listed them on this list, but being listed several times is the first big step to signing a handful of them next February; but I think we'd all agree that the SMU facilities had somthing to do with the fact that they were (in deed) listed several time; unless, it was their won/loss record of the last 2 1/2 decades that sealed the deal for many of these Texas HS blue chippers to want to list SMU as a school they might just want to attend.

Edited June 27, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[UNTLifer]

I'm sure the spies have already read this.

[GrayEagle]

BTW, didn't Coach Fry have teams ranked in the Top 20 twice while he was at NORTH TEXAS?

Jim, you're right, at least by one poll. The Massey Computer Ratings rated North Texas 16th in 1977 and 18th in 1978 in their final rankings.

I've also got to agree that our 1978 team was probably our best of all time.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Jim, you're right, at least by one poll. The Massey Computer Ratings rated North Texas 16th in 1977 and 18th in 1978 in their final rankings.

I've also got to agree that our 1978 team was probably our best of all time.

And Fry's 1978 team, Jack, was one that probably could have beaten a few other schools who went to bowl games that year.

I suppose one of the most surprising things Coach Fry has said in one of his most recent visits to our campus was when he said (and I paraphrase): "If our better football teams would have been rewarded with bowl games, I would have never left Denton."

A big part of Hayden Fry's heart is still with the University of North Texas and lest we forget, Coach Fry did have 3 sons and a daughter who graduated from our school.

[eulesseagle]

Blakely as a fundraiser for UNT?? Great idea ..... BUT ..... he really did not appreciate how the administration was running the program. His personal views of NTSU, at the time, were extreely poor. Good luck if you can pull that off with Coach Blakely. He got the shaft just like Coach Spika who had those phenominal teams in the the toughest conference in the nation in the 60's and early 70's.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Blakely as a fundraiser for UNT??  Great idea .....  BUT .....  he really did not appreciate how the administration was running the program.  His personal views of NTSU, at the time, were extreely poor.  Good luck if you can pull that off with Coach Blakely.  He got the shaft just like Coach Spika who had those phenominal teams in the the toughest conference in the nation in the 60's and early 70's.

According to a top NT Exes board member, all that that happened with Coach Blakely and NT has been resolved. In other words, all have kissed and made up. After all, didn't Coach Blaklely get inducted into the NT Athletic Hall of Fame, recently? (Coach Spika was before my time as an NT student).

GMG!

[eulesseagle]

Great Idea with Coach Fry......it might be harder with Coach Blakely. If ya'll remember he was disenchanted with the administration/athletic department when he departed from NTSU. I do not remember the exact circumstances but there appeared to be some hard feelings. The same type of sitution happened to Coach Spika who had all those great NTSU teams in the toughest conference in America.

If you look at it --- all UNT alum are recruiters. What we say and present ourselves to prospective recruits may sway some great talent to come here. I am sure the JJ or DD would appreciate it.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Great Idea with Coach Fry......it might be harder with Coach Blakely.  If ya'll remember he was disenchanted with the administration/athletic department when he departed from NTSU.  I do not remember the exact circumstances but there appeared to be some hard feelings.  The same type of sitution happened to Coach Spika who had all those great NTSU teams in the toughest conference in America.

If you look at it ---  all UNT alum are recruiters.  What we say and present ourselves to prospective recruits may sway some great talent to come here.  I am sure the JJ or DD would appreciate it.

My NT Exes (un-named) source says that there would most likely be no problem at all with Coach Blakely. I've seen him in Lower Section E at several Mean Green football games the last few years to be honest about it.

......................................................................................................................

You know, on GoMeanGreen.com we mostly speculate, guess-timate, estimate, (sometimes) retaliate (but only with the grace of the Southern gentlemen we all are, of course); but in my heart of hearts, I really would be surprised if this thing with Coaches Fry & Blakely would ever materialize BUT................. we as loyal alums and fans can dream about such things happening as to create even more positive scenarios for our alma mater that will ultimately make the entire (paid or unpaid) University of North Texas constituency very happy. We all deserve that with our alma mater, now don't we?

Edited June 27, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen