Coach Dickey would not motivate a pile

Green Grenade II · October 6, 2005

First of all it must be very, very frustrating for Rick Villareal to realize no matter how great their ideas to build a crowd (like all the work and dedication that went into bringing nearly 18,000 to Fouts Field ) to watch a team who can't block, have sustained offensive drives that result in touchdowns- and a team with no strategy that all our opponents know we have no gamplan and no halftime adjustments...we a not rebuilding...we are looking at more losses. Why, also, do we still have scholarships we did not use. Why did we not fill those scholarships?

And finally, we are getting our butts handed to us in an embarrasing way. The sad part, for me, is that Coach Dickey will probably stay here until he drives any semblance of our football program into the ground. Sure, he's won 4 straight SunBelt Championships, and we've been to 4 straight New Orleans Bowl games. Winning only one of them (2002).

We've also been humiliated in out of conference games.

I wish I had an answer. I will continue to be at all home games remaining. Road trips are now out for me. Plus, I don't even want to think about SMU at Fouts Field September 9th. The week before, we're at good ole' DKR Memorial Stadium in Austin. You know Dickey's record vs the Longhorns.

KingDL1 · October 6, 2005

First of all it must be very, very frustrating for Rick Villareal to realize no matter how great their ideas to build a crowd (like all the work and dedication that went into bringing nearly 18,000 to Fouts Field ) to watch a team who can't block, have sustained offensive drives that result in touchdowns- and a team with no strategy that all our opponents know we have no gamplan and no halftime adjustments...we a not rebuilding...we are looking at more losses. Why, also, do we still have scholarships we did not use. Why did we not fill those scholarships?
And finally, we are getting our butts handed to us in an embarrasing way. The sad part, for me, is that Coach Dickey will probably stay here until he drives any semblance of our football program into the ground. Sure, he's won 4 straight SunBelt Championships, and we've been to 4 straight New Orleans Bowl games. Winning only one of them (2002).
We've also been humiliated in out of conference games.
I wish I had an answer. I will continue to be at all home games remaining. Road trips are now out for me. Plus, I don't even want to think about SMU at Fouts Field September 9th. The week before, we're at good ole' DKR Memorial Stadium in Austin. You know Dickey's record vs the Longhorns.
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I like how you think, and I believe you are absolutely correct and any one still on the Dickey train is fooling themselves.

But for them sure its OK it will be all right DD is a great leader can't you tell from the great discipline and play calling.

DD's head should be on the line now! Not once we have lost all momentum that RV has worked so hard to promote.

risinggreen · October 6, 2005

I for one am nowhere near calling for DD's head. He's helped us accomplish way too much in this century for us to get rid of him at this point. If we have two seriously below .500 seasons in a row, then I'll be more than ready to join the dump DD crowd. This season could very well prove to be an anomaly. As far as the rest of the coaching staff is concerned, I'm ready for some changes after this season. IMHO there are a couple of guys on the sideline that are just not pulling their weight. Even if we make it back to the bowl game, I'm ready for some new blood on the sidelines.

untgirl04 · October 6, 2005

Ok, this is a response to comments in several threads, but I think it still applies here. I think DD either needs to change the offense to work with our strengths (which won't happen) or he needs to go elsewhere. I wish him nothing but the best and I hope he goes on to succeed with other D-1A programs. I just don't think he's got it at North Texas anymore.

Something that hasn't been pointed out is that this is the first year we have been able to recruit with our new facilities. This is the first year we've lost. Maybe DD can't coach without being the underdog. Many times we've been frustrated as fans to hear DD harp about how the fans don't support him or the team and how they have to "circle the wagons." If that's how DD motivates, it's awfully hard to motivate that way when you're building gorgeous new facilities and making plans for a new football stadium.

And now for the burning question: Would anyone want to come here if we fired DD? The answer is YES, and here's why.

1. Up and Commer. Someone else on the board commented that it's much easier to sell a team that's had a 4-year winning streak than to sell a team that hasn't won in 10 years. We've got lots of talent and a new coach would have most of the tools to build a winning team in just a few short years.

2. Expectations. By firing DD, the university would be making a statement that we are no longer happy with just winning conference. Some of you worry that no one would want to deal with a team who's just fired the guy that took us to 4 straight conference championships. But if you look at DD's record, as FireFightin' Rick has posted, his record really isn't that good. It's not like we'd be firing Frank Solich with a 9-3 season. We'd be getting rid of a guy who has gone 2-18 (or something like that) in OOC play and can only beat weak conference opponents who are members of what is commonly thought of in all major circles as the worst conference in the nation. When you've got Div 1-AA teams and conferences ranked above you, that's bad.

3. Opportunity. Offensive coordinators are always looking to move up. Because of the talent we've got here, he could work with what he's got for a few years while building the recruiting. He can use North Texas as a stepping stone to a major program, or if he's willing to invest the time, take North Texas to a major program and then go to the NFL.

All in all, I don't think this would be the deathblow many of you think it would be. I'm not necessarily opposed to keeping DD - if he adapts to the players' abilities and controls those rediculous penalties. Btw, if DD is punishing the guys during practice for penalties, it's obviously not effective. We average about 2-3 personal fouls per game. Maybe it's time to try a different tactic...

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 6, 2005

You "Fire Dickey"-types are delusional. Coaches aren't clamoring to come to North Texas. Also, any team with young players will struggle. North Texas isn't the only team in this boat, as Oklahoma, Utah, Boise State, Iowa, and others are proving. Finally, we shouldn't even be playing Texas. It's nothing more than a money game for us and a glorified scrimmage for them. It pays the bills, but does nothing to grow the football team.

untgirl04 · October 6, 2005

You "Fire Dickey"-types are delusional. Coaches aren't clamoring to come to North Texas. Also, any team with young players will struggle. North Texas isn't the only team in this boat, as Oklahoma, Utah, Boise State, Iowa, and others are proving. Finally, we shouldn't even be playing Texas. It's nothing more than a money game for us and a glorified scrimmage for them. It pays the bills, but does nothing to grow the football team.
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What's your point? Maybe you're the one who's delusional. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree there. How do you know that other coaches don't want to come to North Texas? If we haven't put the offers out there or made the school available, then no one knows we're on the market. Unless you have some insider information (which I doubt) it's just conjecture on your part.

If you read my post you noticed that I didn't necessarily advocate firing DD. I am advocating a change in philosophy or a chance in attitude. If DD can do either, I'll stick with DD. At work, if production suddenly falls short, you investigate the cause. You start at the top and you work to make changes. If nothing happens, you change management. No, we cannot forget what DD has done for this program in the past few years. But we can't forget either what he has not done. He has not improved our OOC record. We have been winning the SunBelt, but we were winning the games by closer and closer margins. Those margins just caught up to us. Our team is not as young as you think. We've got plenty of experience on offense, and our defense, considering the youth, is pretty damn good. You couldn't expect 5th year starters to hold the lines better than our current guys if they played 3/4 of every game.

eulesseagle · October 6, 2005

UNTgirl04----again, you have made some dillusional statements:

1. UP AND COMMING--So you want to fire a Mid-Major coach, in a conference that is loaded with poor teams, who has won 4 consecutive SBC championships????

2. EXPECTATIONS--How hard do you think it would be to replace Coach Dickey with a quality coach for about $200,000/year (and you have to remember that BCS coaches get about $750,000 - $1Million +)????????

3. OPPORTUNITY--So you want to take a chance on an UP and COMMER??? well how about taking a chance on another Dennis Parker ( 11-21) or Matt Simon (18-26-1)

Are you blonde?????

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 6, 2005

All of this useless complaining about out of conference records. Stupid. Since we returned to I-A status, we've had two coaches. Matt Simon, who couldn't scrape together a winning season at the I-A level despite playing in the useless Big West Conference, and Darrell Dickey, who has put together three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1986-88.

Also, Simon won a total of three out of conference games during his tenure:

(1) 1995, Oregon State - a team that finished the year 1-10 in the midst of its 25th consecutive season without a winning record

(2) 1996, Northern Illinois - a team that, like Oregon State in 1995, finished 1-10 on the way to its fifth consecutive losing season.

(3) 1997, Texas Tech - a team that finished 6-5.

Darrell Dickey has also posted three out of conference wins:

(1) 1999, Texas Tech - a team that finished 6-5.

(2) 2002, Cincinnati - a bowl game win, UNT's first ever bowl win during its first consecutive bowl appearance. Cincinnati was the Conference USA Co-Champions and playing in their third consecutive bowl and fourth in six years.

(3) 2003, Baylor - a team that finished 3-9.

You all say he hasn't improved out out of conference record. So what? He's not given an out of conference schedule that is winnable for this program! In the out of conference games he has won, he's beaten two teams with winning records, something not accomplished by the prior I-A coach, Matt Simon.

Also, he's has won conference title and he has taken us to bowl games - four consecutive years. No prior North Texas coach ever, whether Division I-A or I-AA, has delivered four consecutive conference championships. Not when we played in the Southland Confenrence, the Missouri Valley Conference, the Gulf Coast Conference, or the Lone Star Conference.

And, so, this coach, who has given us more championships than any in our history, who has given us our only bowl win in our history, who has taken us to consecutive bowl games for the first time in our history, we should throw overboard because he's got over a dozen new starters?

You have all lost your minds. On two counts, you've lost it. First, teams with players this youing and inexperienced are going to make mistakes.

And don't give me that bull about the OL having 40 starts among them - coming into the season Foster and Lineberry were the only linemen to start complete seasons. Each started 12 games last year - the only year they'd ever started. May had nine starts in 2003, but didn't play last year or in 2002. Brown started only four games last year. Rose was a redshirt and is playing for the first time this year.

Newsflash, that's 37 career games started by five players - 24 by two of them, and none had previously started in consecutive season. So, yes, we are inexperienced on the offensive line.

Second, this school does not yet have the capablility to recruiting with the big dogs. We don't have the money or facilites that most of the 25+ regional Division I-A schools in the five state area have. Sorry, we're just not there yet, so we can't just re-load after we lose so many starters.

Keep putting your butts in the seats, keep writing checks to the schools and everything will continue to get better. But, to bail out on a coach willing to stick with a low budget program and building championship teams with that low budget is crazy. Just crazy.

Most incredible of all is that it's the fact that Dickey has succeeded here that has made you such spoiled, whining babies! Give me a break. We've got young players, we're a former I-AA school playing in the Sun Belt Conference. This year is going to have more downs than ups. Deal with it.

CorinthEagle · October 6, 2005

[Most incredible of all is that it's the fact that Dickey has succeeded here that has made you such spoiled, whining babies! Give me a break.

You've said it all right there.

forevereagle · October 6, 2005

Here's the thing that isn't being mentioned.

DD has had four consecutive winning seasons, yes. The real question is: in that time, why haven't we gotten better? Louisville has had a string of winning seasons and has become a team to model your program after. Boise State has put together a winning tradition and gotten to a point that BCS schools don't want to play them. Utah, even after losing their coach, is still a team that will see a winning season after that fact. That is an accomplishment that a lot of big time programs can only get. TCU has gone up, and has become a team, while inconsistent at this point, that BCS teams are going to be wary to schedule.

If DD is this amazing coach, why haven't we seen any results even close to this? These teams have all gone out and begun to win against teams that are top tier and are beginning to be feared by these teams. We don't even really scare our conference anymore. With a winning tradition, shouldn't we have started that trend a year or two ago? I'm not saying that we should be feared by TU or OU or anything like that, but shouldn't we be able to, at least, give them something resembling a game?

And eulesseagle, btw, the color of someone's hair shouldn't come into factor, nor is it an indicator of their intelligence. Just because you have a differeing opinion does not mean that you need to be petty. Make your point in a civil manner. We are all Mean Green fans here.

FirefightnRick · October 6, 2005

Here's the thing that isn't being mentioned.
DD has had four consecutive winning seasons, yes. The real question is: in that time, why haven't we gotten better?

Very good question.

For the record, FFR is NOT calling for DD's head. He deserves our respect for all he's done. I want to see him take us to the next level but I don't see it happening with the current system. I just want a new offensive philosophy that is entertaining and gives us a chance to play with anyone and is not counted out when we get behind.

Rick

Edited October 6, 2005 by FirefightnRick

FirefightnRick · October 6, 2005

By the way I'm curious. Our current conference(Sun Belt), which we have dominated is still ranked below other 1-AA conferences in several ratings, and our conference still has teams losing to teams from our old 1-AA(Southland) conference(ULM losing to Northwestern Louisiana State this year). Does anyone have the information showing what the SLC was rated back when we played in it?

Rick

Edited October 6, 2005 by FirefightnRick

SpaceMonkey · October 6, 2005

I want to know why everyone harps on DD for not winning OOC games, but no one gripes at RV for scheduling him against UT, K State, OU and such teams. I mean one could easily make the argument that RV is sacrificing our OOC schedule for the sake of the money that UT pays to have a lamb come to its stadium.

If I had my druthers I think I'd rather play an OOC against a team we could beat rather than getting paid bick bucks to get kicked in the nuts.

On the other side of that is a loss to OOCs like Tulsa. Despite them being a good team this year those are games we schedule because we think we can win them. If we win out of conference we're going to face them again as the C-USA rep.

untgirl04 · October 6, 2005

RV didn't schedule a lot of those games. OOC games are scheduled sometimes 5 years or so before they're actually played. I believe we can give RV credit for Tulsa and LaTech this year (which are good opponents for us) and for SMU next year.

SpaceMonkey · October 6, 2005

I'm pretty sure that RV inked the contracts with UT and OU. Even if he didn't schedule those games from the last two years he definately scheduled next year's slaughterfest in Austin, which means he approves of those games and is continuing that tradition.

UNTLifer · October 6, 2005

You all say he hasn't improved out out of conference record. So what? He's not given an out of conference schedule that is winnable for this program! In the out of conference games he has won, he's beaten two teams with winning records, something not accomplished by the prior I-A coach, Matt Simon.
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He isn't given a winnable OOC schedule? So, are you saying that we shouldn't beat Tulsa or La Tech? I, nor do I think any other fan, don't expect us to beat the LSU's of the world, but I do expect us to be competitive with the Tulsa's and not get hammered by 52 points while looking uninspired and ill-prepared.

Have some goals beyond the SBC.

untgirl04 · October 6, 2005

I'm pretty sure that RV inked the contracts with UT and OU. Even if he didn't schedule those games from the last two years he definately scheduled next year's slaughterfest in Austin, which means he approves of those games and is continuing that tradition.
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The first game against tu wasn't a slaughterfest. We lost 27-0. That's pretty respectable, if you ask me. Any Mean Green fan watching that game probably teared up at the sheer grit those guys were playing with. Scott Hall got knocked out early, and although our offense tried, they just couldn't get it done. But our defense sacked the QB 9 times in the game (7 on Sissy Sims) and held tu SCORELESS for the second half.

If we play like that when we play the big guys - win or lose - it's not a bad game to schedule in my book. Unfortunately, we need the money that those big games give us right now. In the future, I'd love to have pillow schedules like TT and tu (with the exception of the Ohio State game). I think we'll eventually get there though.

ipEAGLE · October 6, 2005

I find with playing the likes of Texas, OU, LSU.... more money towards a new stadium.

SpaceMonkey · October 6, 2005

It is respectable and I'm proud of games like that. We had our best defense ever that year (Brandon Kennedy was the heart of that team), and t.u. was not as good then as they are now. The game last year was definately a slaughterfest. One which I was fortunate (because I got to be at a NT game) and unfortunate to be at.

I don't want a pillow schedule. I want a schedule that is competitive but also games we should be able to win. Like the SMU game next year. Or any of the Baylor games. I don't even really have a problem with money games assuming its one game and as long as we're not putting our athletic program in a skirt and boots and calling for any takers.

I'm just saying that anyone who is griping about DD's OOC schedule can point some of that blame towards RV for those not only OOC but Out-Of-Our-League games.

ntsumck · October 6, 2005

The Fake Lonnie Finch makes some valid points, but here is a thought. I believe that most people on this board do not like DD's attitude towards the university fan base. Therefore when the times get tough they go after his head.

I just wish that he would drop the us against the world attitude. Why can't we do this all together. Everytime you hear him speak he is saying something like I know that noone will be in the stands next week or on his talk show a couple of weeks ago he said something like "I guess we do not have any highlights since I have been coaching here".

I believe that DD would get alot more support if he would ask for us to get behind his team instead of knocking the support he currently gets. Yes, any fan will get down on what is going on this season. We are no different from any other university that wants to have a competitive FB program. Yet we are the only school that has a coach that outwardly poor mouths his fans.

Just once, I would like for DD to come out and ask for our the fans to get behind his young team and help them get through this difficult time. We had nearly 18k at Tuesday's game. I have not heard nor read that he thank the fans for coming out and supporting his team.

How many do u think will show up in early November if his team keeps up this type of performance and he keeps the same attitude towards his fan base??

Stan R · October 6, 2005

Absolutely right. DD could ease a lot of this negativity by thanking the fans and asking for support.

UNTLifer · October 6, 2005

I'm pretty sure that RV inked the contracts with UT and OU. Even if he didn't schedule those games from the last two years he definately scheduled next year's slaughterfest in Austin, which means he approves of those games and is continuing that tradition.
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RV doesn't approve of those games, but he must continue to schedule them until our home attendance reaches a point that we can finance ourselves. I believe RV stated in the past that if we could average 25,000 for home games, they would take the place of the "money" games.

SpaceMonkey · October 6, 2005

Please look at the point of my discussing those games before telling me why he scheduled them. People on here are complaining about our OOC performances. I'm giving you one reason for said performance and asking why the people who want DD fired because we aren't doing better in OOC aren't pointing any fingers at RV.

retroeppy · October 6, 2005

Be Real, This continues every year and we we always lose OOC games, we need an easier schedule or a new philosophy to get us to that next level. We have been at this stage long enough. Other teams seem to do fine with young QB's and Oline. That can't always be the excuse. Medeocre is not acceptable anymore.

ntsumck · October 6, 2005

I cannot remember when they moved, but Troy was 1-AA just a few years ago. They beat a decent Missouri team last year. If they can do it, why can't we expect that same result.

Also, they schedule the big boys as well

2006

Florida State

2007

Georgia

Florida

2008

LSU

2009

Florida