Jump to content

Tulsa Coach Kragthorpe Told UNT To Take A Hike!

PlummMeanGreen

By PlummMeanGreen
in Mean Green Football

 Share

Recommended Posts

PlummMeanGreen Grand Master

PlummMeanGreen

Posted
Posted (edited)

Of course, this was just after Matt Simon had been fired in Denton and there were those who wanted present Tulsa U Coach "K" to apply for the NT head football coachs's job back then.

As NT alums, we are all (sometimes) sensitive and know when someone is being rude or dissing our school even with subtle sarcasm. Well, Tulsa Golden Hurricane Coach Kragthorpe was being very rude to our school back then. He was an assistant coach at TAMU when Simon was fired at NT and his attitude on that video vignette on Dallas' WFAA Channel 8 sportcast was an attitude such as this:

"North Texas can stick it where the sun shineth not." mad.gif

GMG!

PS: It's no secret that NT and TU compete very heavily against each other in the recruiting wars. This game Saturday at Fouts is important from that standpoint, too.

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
TU Hurricane Newbie

TU Hurricane

Posted
Posted

K is a class guy so I would be surprised if he made a classless public statement. You guys are happy with Dickey and we're happy with K. It worked out for both programs.

A hurricane is coming your way. Hopefully Cat 5 and not a weak tropical depression tongue.gif

PlummMeanGreen Grand Master

PlummMeanGreen

Posted
  • Author
Posted

K is a class guy so I would be surprised if he made a classless public statement. You guys are happy with Dickey and we're happy with K. It worked out for both programs.

A hurricane is coming your way. Hopefully Cat 5 and not a weak tropical depression  tongue.gif

Well, he made the comments because I was watching the Channel 8 sportscast that evening and it made such an impression on me because (back in that day) I was one who really was hoping Coach "K" would have been interested in the NT job; but like you say: Alls well that ends well.

GMG!

ADLER Grand Master

ADLER

Posted
Posted

As Paul Harvey would say..AND NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY.

There was some fairly well known friction between head football coach Matt Simon and Athletic Director Craig Helwig towards the end of the 1997 season. Helwig was wanting to fire Simon, and Simon was complaining to the press about everything (much, if not all of it, justified, just that was not the best forum).

Helwig wanted to fire Simon and bring back former assistant coach Steve Kragthorpe who was then the quarterbacks coach at A&M. Kragthorp was still quite popular at North Texas. President Hurley wouldn't let Helwig fire another football coach that was still under guaranteed contract.

A&M's coach Slocum then promoted Kragthorp to Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach, and he was then out of the price range for what North Texas could offer a head coach at that time.

Signing day came and went in Febuary 1998 with North Texas still having a lame duck head coach.

During that Spring, Helwig's and Simon's fued finally got so bad that President Hurley finally aggreed to let Helwig replace Simon. Kragthorp wasn't available, so Hurley turned to SMU's new offensive coordinator, an unknown Darrell Dickey.

Slocum's offense at A&M was productive for a year, but then were less productive the next due to a bunch of injuries. When alumni started complaining, Slocum felt the chill, and Kragthorp became just another log for the fire.

untbowler Grand Master

untbowler

Posted
Posted (edited)

As Paul Harvey would say..AND NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY.

There was some fairly well known friction between head football coach Matt Simon and Athletic Director Craig Helwig towards the end of the 1997 season. Helwig was wanting to fire Simon, and Simon was complaining to the press about everything (much, if not all of it, justified, just that was not the best forum).

Helwig wanted to fire Simon and bring back former assistant coach Steve Kragthorpe who was then the quarterbacks coach at A&M. Kragthorp was still quite popular at North Texas. President Hurley wouldn't let Helwig fire another football coach that was still under guaranteed contract.

A&M's coach Slocum then promoted Kragthorp to Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach, and he was then out of the price range for what North Texas could offer a head coach at that time.

Signing day came and went in Febuary 1998 with North Texas still having a lame duck head coach.

During that Spring, Helwig's and Simon's fued finally got so bad that President Hurley finally aggreed to let Helwig replace Simon. Kragthorp wasn't available, so Hurley turned to SMU's new offensive coordinator, an unknown Darrell Dickey.

Slocum's offense at A&M was productive for a year, but then were less productive the next due to a bunch of injuries. When alumni started complaining, Slocum felt the chill, and Kragthorp became just another log for the fire.

Another reason why we are so blessed that Helwig got shown the curb, and now look where we are.

Edited by untbowler

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Tell a friend

    Love GoMeanGreen.com? Tell a friend!

  • What's going on Mean Green?

    1. 13

      Power Conferences making their move to take full control

      Sorry, if you don't have an SEC or Big10 patch you're not on any lifeboat.
      NT80 in Mean Green Football
    2. 47

      Rice (1/8/25)

      blowing out a Q3 team should not matter that much, the predicted metrics had us winning by over 10 anyway. For a top 75 school to move up 10 spots at this point in the season usually takes something significant. Usually other schools need to drop down (Dayton did), also McNeese and has been looking good lately, that could also help.
      MrAlien in Mean Green Basketball
    3. 63

      Seth Littrell

      Agree with this. Denton has never embraced UNT as "it's" school to support with the town.
      NT80 in Mean Green Football
    4. 59

      24/25 MBB Attendance Tracker

      Yes, the local media was really hyping the Blizzard of the Century coming today. I could also tell by the hoarding going on and low stock on shelves at the grocery stores.
      NT80 in Mean Green Basketball
    5. 59

      24/25 MBB Attendance Tracker

      I believe we have had more games without classes in session. If someone has the academic calendar handy for this year and last, I can work up the exact numbers. Knowing we would have more games played during the academic break (and the horrible slate of games the AD put together) is exactly why it was critical for the AD to work extra hard getting the surrounding community to the games. I live too far away to know if they've done anything, but based on the results, I don't know if they have...certainly nothing that's moved the needle. It's like they just take time off when students aren't around. We need the so-called t-shirt fans from in and around Denton. What has the AD done to generate excitement and stimulate demand for the program? Whatever it is, it's been a complete failure IMHO. We have a team and program on the rise. It's WINNING games on a regular basis. Based on the last few years, we had a lot of momentum going into this season and it's been squandered in epic fashion. I doubt they are doing anything and just running out the clock waiting for the students to return so they can continue to do nothing. Here's an idea...It seems Jared enjoys his court-side seat. How about running a "switch seats with the AD" promotion? Each half one lucky attendee is drawn and gets to sit court-side and Jared moves to the cheap seats. Who knows, maybe you only get a handful of extra tickets out of it, but we're moving in the wrong direction.
      keith in Mean Green Basketball

  • Popular Contributors

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      15,509
    • Most Online
      1,865
    Jepper
    Newest Member
    Jepper
    Joined

  • Most Points

    1. 1
      El Paso Eagle
      El Paso Eagle
      171,189
    2. 2
      NT80
      NT80
      140,253
    3. 3
      KingDL1
      KingDL1
      132,770
    4. 4
      greenminer
      greenminer
      126,790
    5. 5
      TheReal_jayD
      TheReal_jayD
      109,619

  • Biggest Gamblers

    1. 1
      EdtheEagle
      EdtheEagle
      26,592,647
    2. 2
      UNTLifer
      UNTLifer
      4,492,449
    3. 3
      untphd
      untphd
      845,087
    4. 4
      flyonthewall
      flyonthewall
      671,592
    5. 5
      3_n_out
      3_n_out
      578,480
    6. 6
      SteaminWillieBeamin
    7. 7
      UNT_FH_FR_YR
      UNT_FH_FR_YR
      471,139
    8. 8
      cousin oliver
      cousin oliver
      448,120
    9. 9
      meangreenfaninno
    10. 10
      South Texas Green

WE BELIEVE IN THE MEAN GREEN!

News

Recruiting

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Please review our full Privacy Policy before using our site.