DRC saysRV has not been contacted by LaLaf

[Michael Scott]

I'll tell you why I think Greenbat's post may not be the smartest, and why I don't support the thinking expressed in his post.

I think it's easy to be critical of the guy who is most visible.  As outsiders it is very easy to look at RV and say, "well he's just not doing enough because he didn't raise $XXX,XXX,XXX dollars."  We as supporters of the program, would like to place blame on his shoulders, instead of the thousands of other alumns (non-supporters) that don't make a trip to Denton for a single game.  It's even easier after the type of football season we just had to start pointing fingers.

He is right about one thing though, and that is that UNT deserves a hard working individual that would like to see the university at the very highest level.  I hope one day to get a UNT alumn in the position.

He has done some great things here where before him, just haven't gotten done.  Had he not shown up, those things probably wouldn't have gotten done.  And, I am sure that he will do things that probably wouldn't have been taken care of, had he not been here.  We might not be playing D-I football right now.

UNT is known for doing the most with the amount of money it receives and the athletics department is no different.  I choose not to blame Rick for the alumnus apathy and generations of apathy before him.  He has done a great job thus far, and shouldn't be damned for delivering a dream for a division I football field, where in the past no one thought it could be done.  You labeled him a liar for not producing 95 million dollars out of thin air? Money doesn't grow on trees, and if you are going to hold him liable for that, then you my friend will be my next vote for AD, president, and god. Hopefully he hasn't given up on it, because I think that he can make it happen, even when putting up with some of the crap rumored to go on in the administration and faculty.  He probably looked at the enrollment base, the alumnus base, and what other schools are able to raise and thought it to be an attainable goal.  He probably didn't know some of the hurdles he has had to cross were there.

←

Great point- as Frank the Tank said - "That's the way you do it! That's the way you debate!"

I think the point I liked in Greenbat's post is he seems to get a pass on his staff selection and effectiveness (coaches and admin alike), and I am not sure if as many schools want him as bad as he wants them, but I do believe he is the best fit for us and does not need to be replaced until he has the opportunity to leave.

Not too hard a call here IMHO

[MrStrange62]

why does everyone seem to want RVs head on a sliver platter now? bc we dont have a stadium? bc we had a crappy football season? i havent been here too long, but as far as i can tell UNT has evolved much in id so oh, the past 15 years. the work he has done with the resources he has these past few years has been unbelievable. maybe the reason people want him, is because they see the work he has done here with practically nothing. unless you guys want to go door to door asking for cash... let the man do his job!

sorry for the rant, try not to be too brutal on me

GMG!!!

[GrandGreen]

RV has applied for several AD jobs over the past few years, most would be viewed as lateral moves. I guess I am missing something, but that seems to indicate that he is, for whatever reason, not satisfied at NT. IMO, NT needs to have an AD that wants to be here and will devote all his/her's effort to improving NT's athletic programs.

As I have posted before, I am amazed that so many fans are willing to give RV praise for everthing positive but offer excuses for the negatives that have happened under his tenure.

If you give majority credit to RV for facility improvments, upgrading women's sports to be in compliance with title 9, and greatly improving the Fout's experience than you also should be critical of the things that have not progressed as planned.

One of the main reasons, that RV was hired was his reputation as a fund raiser. So I definitely think he should be subject to criticism for his lack of success. As far as hiring and retaining Coaches, RV imo has been questionable at best. If RV gives Slinker more than a 1 year contract that grade will go down.

Edited January 19, 2006 by GrandGreen

[untgirl04]

I'm a big fan of RV, although GreenBat does bring up a few posts. As a fan who has only seen Athletics under RV's guidance, allow me to bring my perspective:

I agree that it's a bit disappointing that RV hasn't delivered on the donations yet. However, as some others have posted, that blame cannot rest squarely on RV's shoulders. It's our responsibility as alumni (especially as active alumni) to support the university. I don't know if people from North Texas just always get crappy jobs that pay poorly, or if too many people place it too low on their priority list, but it just seems that North Texas can't rake in the big cash. We also don't know what kind of fundraising restrictions (if any) are placed on athletics. I think to gauge fairly RV's efforts in fundraising, we'd need an insider's perspective.

In terms of coaches: I'll give you that the softball coach has not been stellar. But the girls have good fundamentals, and I think you'll see the coach start to turn the program around. Once we build up a fanbase and some excitement for the teams, I think that will go a long way toward motivating the team. It's depressing to play when no one is watching or cares, but when you have fan support, it's easier to get up for every game (I can say this because I played competitive softball for 10 years). Of course, before RV we didn't even have a softball team, so you have to give him a little credit for at least getting us one. Now, as far as other coaches go: It's a pretty well-documented fact that the BOR kept RV from firing DD. If that's the case, what makes you think the BOR doesn't prevent RV from firing other coaches? Tina Slinker's record is suspect, but she's survived at least 2 or 3 other ADs, so it's possible there's something else at work here that we don't know about. I'm not suggesting conspiracy theories, just putting that out there.

In terms of promoting the university, I can't think of a single person (except maybe Dr. Pohl) who goes more out of his way to promote North Texas. RV is at every single event he can possibly attend. I'll bet his wife is shocked when he comes home for dinner, because I see him out and about on campus all the time. He is willing to come to any and every event he's invited to. For the last 4 years, he's spent "Sunday Funday" helping students move into the residence halls. I've worked with him on some of those occasions, and he's absolutely fantastic with the students. He speaks and Freshman Orientation now, and you can see the effect it's had on our incoming classes. More and more students show up for football games. Unfortunately, our football team was unable to capitalize on the increased attendance this year (not RV's fault), so we probably lost a few fans for other sporting events because of the letdown. However, overall student attendance has increased, and that's something no one else has been able to do in a long time.

You can also credit RV with tailgating. When I went to games in 2001, hardly anyone was there - in the parkinglot or at the games. But RV started promoting tailgating more, and trying to get people involved. He walks around during the events, introducing himself to people and continuing to promote the university. I think RV's strategy (although I'm speculating here) is to win support and subsequent $$$ from all alumni - not just this mythical big donor. Arguably, it's better for the university in the long term to have many small donors who regularly support the university than to have one big donor who gives a one-time donation. Maybe we don't get the facilities as soon as we'd like, but I think North Texas is taking many steps in the right direction.

Is RV perfect? No. But as alumni, we've placed huge expectations on him, without giving him the resources with which to get things done. It's like demanding the moon but not giving him a lasso. One day I'd like to get an AD who attended North Texas and has the same passion that many of us share for our alma mater. But it the meantime, I can't think of anyone else who bleeds more green.

Sorry for the long Plumm-like post, but I just wanted to provide a different perspective. Fire away.

Edited January 19, 2006 by untgirl04

[GreenBat]

you are under 25 right?/    Wrong! 41 almost 42

you not around during Helwig years? Wrong again, started at NT when Corky Nelson was AD. Seen him, Steve Sloan, Helwig and RV. /

there has been more good done inside the athleticc department than any other era at unt. I won't argue that point, but is RV the person to praise or is it just a Cyclical thing.

dd is an anchor but rv can't fire him becausee of the bord. What about other positions that are embarrassing the Athletic Department.

maybe you give more money than stupid posts and we couldd have more adverttising? Maybe you are normally a sane person with decent spelling ability. I give what I can and support the University in every way possible.

←

I do believe Rick gets too much credit for what he has done while at NT. Do I think he should be fired immediately, NO. He has done a decent job, but he has taken us as far as his Pizza Man business approach can take us. We need an Athletic Director who puts the University first and is not applying for every lateral job opening that becomes available.

[MeanMag]

I do believe Rick gets too much credit for what he has done while at NT. Do I think he should be fired immediately, NO. He has done a decent job, but he has taken us as far as his Pizza Man business approach can take us. We need an Athletic Director who puts the University first and is not applying for every lateral job opening that becomes available.

←

I have mentioned before that in the business of athletics it's going to be about getting your name out there. If RV wasn't applying for jobs his career may become stale, and underpaid. Applying for positions to what us seems like a lateral move is sometimes a way of keeping UNT honest with how much they are paying him, and gives people one more name to throw around when talking about the higher paying jobs. It is smart career-wise to keep getting your name circulated, it doesn't neccesarily mean he is actively pursuing another job, and he certainly shouldn't be treated as a traitor for doing such.

[UNTBill]

I'll tell you why I think Greenbat's post may not be the smartest, and why I don't support the thinking expressed in his post.

I think it's easy to be critical of the guy who is most visible.  As outsiders it is very easy to look at RV and say, "well he's just not doing enough because he didn't raise $XXX,XXX,XXX dollars."  We as supporters of the program, would like to place blame on his shoulders, instead of the thousands of other alumns (non-supporters) that don't make a trip to Denton for a single game.  It's even easier after the type of football season we just had to start pointing fingers.

He is right about one thing though, and that is that UNT deserves a hard working individual that would like to see the university at the very highest level.  I hope one day to get a UNT alumn in the position.

He has done some great things here where before him, just haven't gotten done.  Had he not shown up, those things probably wouldn't have gotten done.  And, I am sure that he will do things that probably wouldn't have been taken care of, had he not been here.  We might not be playing D-I football right now.

UNT is known for doing the most with the amount of money it receives and the athletics department is no different.  I choose not to blame Rick for the alumnus apathy and generations of apathy before him.  He has done a great job thus far, and shouldn't be damned for delivering a dream for a division I football field, where in the past no one thought it could be done.  You labeled him a liar for not producing 95 million dollars out of thin air? Money doesn't grow on trees, and if you are going to hold him liable for that, then you my friend will be my next vote for AD, president, and god. Hopefully he hasn't given up on it, because I think that he can make it happen, even when putting up with some of the crap rumored to go on in the administration and faculty.  He probably looked at the enrollment base, the alumnus base, and what other schools are able to raise and thought it to be an attainable goal.  He probably didn't know some of the hurdles he has had to cross were there.

←

I don't know if there is one, if not there should be.

Is there a "BUILD A NEW FOOTBALL STADIUM TRUST FUND"? It would be easy enough to set up. Perhaps---Harry could administer the "fund". I know. I know. It would take forever. No one would contribute. Too much apathy. Etc. Etc.

Etc.

Here's my thinking. If it appears that alumni are involved, care, put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. Then maybe, just maybe it would be easier for RV to lure that big donor.

The "trust fund" could establish a period of time say 5 or 10 years and if a certain benchmark was not reached then the funds would revert to the athletic department.

What do you say Harry? Could we set one up? Publish it for potential donor's to read before contributing. Provide incentives?

I know it's not much but I could contribute $500.00 this year and maybe more next year.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

First of all, we have a Director of Athletic Development whose job is to seek funds for the Athletic Department, which includes the new stadium. I can't believe that they have raised 0 towards the new stadium.

Maybe you're right; a fund should be set up for just the stadium and give us periodic status reports as to what % complete the project is. Such a presentation would keep the issue before the public. I realize that there must be a big donor or donorts for a fund of that magnitude and it cannot be done on $500 or $1,000 contributions but enough of them and a grass roots campaign can be a tremendous help.

Regardless of Rick's promise when hired, I believe that the amount that we are seeking is $45M rather than $95M that Green Bat reported.

While I realize that there his been more progress under Rick Villareal than any previous AD, there are still areas that I think needs addressing. We have a Director of Promotions but what visible promotions can you recall? The Sales & Marketing area is doing pretty well with obtaining advertisers but I've seen little else of their work. Try to buy North Texas gear at most of the shops in the Metroplex, to say nothing of the rest of the state. While the aforementioned Athletic Development Office may have done a commendable job to date, as far as we alumni know they have done nothing.

I don't know whether Rick is entertaining thoughts of moving on or not but he has provided us a much better situation than he acquired when he came to Denton.

[PlummMeanGreen]

I'm a big fan of RV, although GreenBat does bring up a few posts. As a fan who has only seen Athletics under RV's guidance, allow me to bring my perspective:

I agree that it's a bit disappointing that RV hasn't delivered on the donations yet. However, as some others have posted, that blame cannot rest squarely on RV's shoulders. It's our responsibility as alumni (especially as active alumni) to support the university. I don't know if people from North Texas just always get crappy jobs that pay poorly, or if too many people place it too low on their priority list, but it just seems that North Texas can't rake in the big cash. We also don't know what kind of fundraising restrictions (if any) are placed on athletics. I think to gauge fairly RV's efforts in fundraising, we'd need an insider's perspective.

In terms of coaches: I'll give you that the softball coach has not been stellar. But the girls have good fundamentals, and I think you'll see the coach start to turn the program around. Once we build up a fanbase and some excitement for the teams, I think that will go a long way toward motivating the team. It's depressing to play when no one is watching or cares, but when you have fan support, it's easier to get up for every game (I can say this because I played competitive softball for 10 years). Of course, before RV we didn't even have a softball team, so you have to give him a little credit for at least getting us one. Now, as far as other coaches go: It's a pretty well-documented fact that the BOR kept RV from firing DD. If that's the case, what makes you think the BOR doesn't prevent RV from firing other coaches? Tina Slinker's record is suspect, but she's survived at least 2 or 3 other ADs, so it's possible there's something else at work here that we don't know about. I'm not suggesting conspiracy theories, just putting that out there.

In terms of promoting the university, I can't think of a single person (except maybe Dr. Pohl) who goes more out of his way to promote North Texas. RV is at every single event he can possibly attend. I'll bet his wife is shocked when he comes home for dinner, because I see him out and about on campus all the time. He is willing to come to any and every event he's invited to. For the last 4 years, he's spent "Sunday Funday" helping students move into the residence halls. I've worked with him on some of those occasions, and he's absolutely fantastic with the students. He speaks and Freshman Orientation now, and you can see the effect it's had on our incoming classes. More and more students show up for football games. Unfortunately, our football team was unable to capitalize on the increased attendance this year (not RV's fault), so we probably lost a few fans for other sporting events because of the letdown. However, overall student attendance has increased, and that's something no one else has been able to do in a long time.

You can also credit RV with tailgating. When I went to games in 2001, hardly anyone was there - in the parkinglot or at the games. But RV started promoting tailgating more, and trying to get people involved. He walks around during the events, introducing himself to people and continuing to promote the university. I think RV's strategy (although I'm speculating here) is to win support and subsequent $$$ from all alumni - not just this mythical big donor. Arguably, it's better for the university in the long term to have many small donors who regularly support the university than to have one big donor who gives a one-time donation. Maybe we don't get the facilities as soon as we'd like, but I think North Texas is taking many steps in the right direction.

Is RV perfect? No. But as alumni, we've placed huge expectations on him, without giving him the resources with which to get things done. It's like demanding the moon but not giving him a lasso. One day I'd like to get an AD who attended North Texas and has the same passion that many of us share for our alma mater. But it the meantime, I can't think of anyone else who bleeds more green.

Sorry for the long Plumm-like post, but I just wanted to provide a different perspective. Fire away.

←

No, untgirl04, (responding to your last sentence) you need about one more page of wordage (even if you have to repeat yourself on the same thing about 2 dozen more times).

Come on people, we've all been told what the deal most likely is with Rick V.

He apparently is the odd man out among the trilogy of Bobby Ray, Darrell Dickey and himself. He tried to fire DD when any other NCAA D1-A athletic director would have done the same and been expected by its alums to do such after the ULM game 5 years ago. And if I recall, about 99.9% of registered members of this board (now almost at 2,000) were behind RV on that decision: THEN ENTERS BOBBY RAY, who had appointed himself as our co-athletic director: Bobby Ray got a sudden rush of "self importance" and vetoed that firing. What if Rick V would have had someone in mind back then to take DD's place who would have gone to bowl games in the early years of the SBC yet would have had our Mean Green bowl teams also ranked in the Top 25?

Personally, I think Rick V (overall) been the most successful of the three, but I think if he sticks around we could still stand some more significant "Big Donor type fundraising" and Game Week promotions that reaches out to large civic, school, church, etc, etc, etc, type groups. After all, folks, Denton County is now larger "population-wise" than the city of New Orleans was before Hurricane Katrina almost destroyed their fine city. NOTE: Guess what Denton County now needs with such a population is its on TV station?

But if Rick V has been treated like the redheaded, freckle faced bastard step-son by DD and our Napoleon of the North, would any of you really want to hang around and try to work in that kind of (most likely) hostile environment? Even moreso, if Rick V were to leave, what kind of true, legitimate "NCAA D1-A" AD talent would want to come work in such an environment?

And please, good Lord, if RV were to leave Denton please do not let our long-standing "less than succesful" administration hiring authorities hire anyone from within our present athletic staff to replace him. By that time, UNT will need a complete infusion of fresh new blood, ideas and athletic employees who have not alienated half the Mean Green Nation from their own alma mater.

Edited January 20, 2006 by PlummMeanGreen