DRC "getting even" Loren to play immediately

OldTimer · September 12, 2006

Football: Getting even

North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey ties Hayden Fry on the school's all-time wins list

10:13 PM CDT on Monday, September 11, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey matched a legend on Saturday with a win over SMU at Fouts Field.

The historic 24-6 victory was not only UNT’s fourth in its 32-game series with the Mustangs, it was also Dickey’s 40th win with the Mean Green, the same number of victories Hayden Fry posted in his career at UNT that set the standard for Mean Green coaches.

Fry finished with a 40-23-3 record at UNT during six seasons from 1973-78 before leaving for Iowa. Dickey needed a little more than two extra years and 30 more games to match the legend, but has won four Sun Belt Conference titles during his tenure.

Dickey is 40-56 two games into his ninth season at UNT.

“To even be mentioned in the same breath as Hayden Fry is an honor,” Dickey said. “I am not the coach that he was. To have 40 wins in the situation we are in is great. It’s a tribute to the players who have come through here and helped us win some games.”

Dickey posted his best run thus far at UNT from 2001-04. The Mean Green got off to a slow start in 2001 before rallying to tie for the Sun Belt Conference title, earn a New Orleans Bowl berth and finish 5-7.

UNT went 24-14 the next three seasons, won the 2002 New Orleans Bowl and played in two others before a down year in 2005, when the Mean Green finished 2-9.

“I am very impressed with what coach Dickey has done,” Fry said. “They have done very well in their conference and have won some good out-of-conference games as well.”

Perhaps the biggest non-conference win of Dickey’s career came against SMU on Saturday in the game that moved him into a tie with Fry.

The Mean Green had not played the Mustangs since 1992 and trailed in the series 27-3-1 before quarterback Woody Wilson and a solid defense led UNT to the win.

The Mean Green’s margin of victory was their largest ever in the series.

Fry had split loyalties for the UNT-SMU game and did not come to Fouts to cheer on either team, both of which he coached. Fry led SMU to a Southwest Conference title in1966 during his tenure with the Mustangs that lasted from 1962-72.

Fry landed at UNT after being fired at SMU and led the Mean Green during one of the most memorable times in the history of the program. UNT beat Tennessee, 21-14, in one of the biggest wins in school history in 1975 and finished 10-1 in 1977.

UNT’s game against SMU is one of the few times Fry was not squarely behind the Mean Green and Dickey, the son of former Kansas State coach Jim Dickey.

“Coach Dickey is a class gentleman in addition to being a good coach,” Fry said. “I have gotten to know him and his family and I know his father, who was also a good coach.”

Dickey: Wilson will probably start

UNT coach Darrell Dickey remained non-committal Monday on naming a starting quarterback for the Mean Green’s game at Tulsa this week.

Sophomore Matt Phillips has started each of UNT’s first two games this season before giving way to junior Woody Wilson each time.

Wilson led UNT on its only touchdown drive in its season opener against Texas and also led the Mean Green’s offense on all three of its scoring drives against SMU. Wilson finished with 103 passing yards and 74 rushing yards against SMU.

The former Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College standout has completed 13-of-16 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown and has added 69 yards rushing and another touchdown.

Phillips has thrown for 64 yards and lost 23 yards rushing.

“We are still in the process of looking at it,” Dickey said. “There is a good chance Woody will start.”

Reinforcements on the way

UNT defensive back Roy Loren returned to practice on Monday and could soon be joined by running back David Jackson, a former Haltom standout that started his career at Oklahoma State.

Loren, a transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, practiced with the Mean Green throughout two-a-days. He was forced to take time away from the team while paperwork required for him to play was filed.

UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said Loren would play safety for the Mean Green and could contribute immediately. Dickey was not sure what Jackson’s role would be.

Former national rushing champion Jamario Thomas is entrenched as UNT’s starter, while redshirt freshman Evan Robertson has been the Mean Green’s primary backup. Jackson, 5-11, 190, watched UNT’s practice Monday, one of several workouts he has attended since the beginning of two-a-days.

“The question is how quickly he can catch up with what we are doing,” Dickey said. “We are very happy with Evan Robertson, but everything we know about David Jackson is that he is an excellent player.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

North Texas coaching leaders

North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey reached a milestone in his career by matching legendary Mean Green coach Hayden Fry on the school’s all-time wins list.

Coach Years (seasons) Record

Odus Mitchell 1946-66 (21) 122-85-9

Jack Sisco 1929-41 (13) 74-37-10

Corky Nelson 1982-90 (9) 48-52-1

Hayden Fry 1973-78 (6) 40-23-3

Darrell Dickey 1998-pres. (9) 40-56

BleedGreen64 · September 12, 2006

Coach, here is hoping you catch Corky this year.

OldTimer · September 12, 2006

Football: Getting even
North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey ties Hayden Fry on the school's all-time wins list

10:13 PM CDT on Monday, September 11, 2006
By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey matched a legend on Saturday with a win over SMU at Fouts Field.
The historic 24-6 victory was not only UNT’s fourth in its 32-game series with the Mustangs, it was also Dickey’s 40th win with the Mean Green, the same number of victories Hayden Fry posted in his career at UNT that set the standard for Mean Green coaches.
Fry finished with a 40-23-3 record at UNT during six seasons from 1973-78 before leaving for Iowa. Dickey needed a little more than two extra years and 30 more games to match the legend, but has won four Sun Belt Conference titles during his tenure.
Dickey is 40-56 two games into his ninth season at UNT.
“To even be mentioned in the same breath as Hayden Fry is an honor,” Dickey said. “I am not the coach that he was. To have 40 wins in the situation we are in is great. It’s a tribute to the players who have come through here and helped us win some games.”
Dickey posted his best run thus far at UNT from 2001-04. The Mean Green got off to a slow start in 2001 before rallying to tie for the Sun Belt Conference title, earn a New Orleans Bowl berth and finish 5-7.
UNT went 24-14 the next three seasons, won the 2002 New Orleans Bowl and played in two others before a down year in 2005, when the Mean Green finished 2-9.
“I am very impressed with what coach Dickey has done,” Fry said. “They have done very well in their conference and have won some good out-of-conference games as well.”
Perhaps the biggest non-conference win of Dickey’s career came against SMU on Saturday in the game that moved him into a tie with Fry.
The Mean Green had not played the Mustangs since 1992 and trailed in the series 27-3-1 before quarterback Woody Wilson and a solid defense led UNT to the win.
The Mean Green’s margin of victory was their largest ever in the series.
Fry had split loyalties for the UNT-SMU game and did not come to Fouts to cheer on either team, both of which he coached. Fry led SMU to a Southwest Conference title in1966 during his tenure with the Mustangs that lasted from 1962-72.
Fry landed at UNT after being fired at SMU and led the Mean Green during one of the most memorable times in the history of the program. UNT beat Tennessee, 21-14, in one of the biggest wins in school history in 1975 and finished 10-1 in 1977.
UNT’s game against SMU is one of the few times Fry was not squarely behind the Mean Green and Dickey, the son of former Kansas State coach Jim Dickey.
“Coach Dickey is a class gentleman in addition to being a good coach,” Fry said. “I have gotten to know him and his family and I know his father, who was also a good coach.”
Dickey: Wilson will probably start
UNT coach Darrell Dickey remained non-committal Monday on naming a starting quarterback for the Mean Green’s game at Tulsa this week.
Sophomore Matt Phillips has started each of UNT’s first two games this season before giving way to junior Woody Wilson each time.
Wilson led UNT on its only touchdown drive in its season opener against Texas and also led the Mean Green’s offense on all three of its scoring drives against SMU. Wilson finished with 103 passing yards and 74 rushing yards against SMU.
The former Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College standout has completed 13-of-16 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown and has added 69 yards rushing and another touchdown.
Phillips has thrown for 64 yards and lost 23 yards rushing.
“We are still in the process of looking at it,” Dickey said. “There is a good chance Woody will start.”
Reinforcements on the way
UNT defensive back Roy Loren returned to practice on Monday and could soon be joined by running back David Jackson, a former Haltom standout that started his career at Oklahoma State.
Loren, a transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, practiced with the Mean Green throughout two-a-days. He was forced to take time away from the team while paperwork required for him to play was filed.
UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said Loren would play safety for the Mean Green and could contribute immediately. Dickey was not sure what Jackson’s role would be.
Former national rushing champion Jamario Thomas is entrenched as UNT’s starter, while redshirt freshman Evan Robertson has been the Mean Green’s primary backup. Jackson, 5-11, 190, watched UNT’s practice Monday, one of several workouts he has attended since the beginning of two-a-days.
“The question is how quickly he can catch up with what we are doing,” Dickey said. “We are very happy with Evan Robertson, but everything we know about David Jackson is that he is an excellent player.”
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.
North Texas coaching leaders
North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey reached a milestone in his career by matching legendary Mean Green coach Hayden Fry on the school’s all-time wins list.
Coach Years (seasons) Record
Odus Mitchell 1946-66 (21) 122-85-9
Jack Sisco 1929-41 (13) 74-37-10
Corky Nelson 1982-90 (9) 48-52-1
Hayden Fry 1973-78 (6) 40-23-3
Darrell Dickey 1998-pres. (9) 40-56
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David Jackson graduated from Haltom HS a couple of years ago, was signed out of HS by Oklahoma State and was on their roster stats one year but evidently never played for them. He was working on grades this summer at a JC and was being recruited by NT after the original signing date...related to Dominique Green if I remember correctly.

VideoEagle · September 12, 2006

A newspaper story comparing Darrell to Hayden! The blood pressure of the Darrell haters must be going through the roof!

I've already see messages implying that since Darrell Dicky beat SMU, then SMU must be a truly awful team and we should dismiss the win. None of the newspaper writers seem to think this.

When Hayden came to NT in 73, I don't think he was told by the University to avoid recruiting JUCO players with experience and concentrate on building a recruiting network in the high schools as Darrell was. This takes a long time to build, especially when the previous coach killed the relationships! It is also a big reason for the number of losses in the first three years. At the time, I remember hearing that this rebuilding effort would hurt the win/loss record. But, it seems many don't remember that detail.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Darrell does know something about coaching after all. As Hayden Fry put it, "I am very impressed with what coach Dickey has done. They have done very well in their conference and have won some good out-of-conference games as well.”

Edited September 12, 2006 by VideoEagle

SilverEagle · September 12, 2006

When Hayden Fry was hired, the football program had just dodged the bullet of a student referendum to END FOOTBALL. The previous coach had not only taken us through our worst year ever (1-10), but he was a terrible recruiter as well. The situation wasn't the "death penalty", but it was damn close. Hayden got students and alumni excited about North Texas football again, and he taught us to not have a inferiority complex.

Hayden's first year was 5-5-1 and a share of the Missouri Valley conference title. Two years later, he beat Tennessee with his "third string QB"!

I find it absurd that any comparison is being made between Coach Dickey and Coach Fry.

Edited September 12, 2006 by SilverEagle

VideoEagle · September 12, 2006

When Hayden Fry was hired, the football program had just dodged the bullet of a student referendum to END FOOTBALL. The previous coach had not only taken us through our worst year ever (1-10), but he was a terrible recruiter as well. The situation wasn't the "death penalty", but it was damn close. Hayden got students and alumni excited about North Texas football again, and he taught us to not have a inferiority complex.
Hayden's first year was 5-5-1 and a share of the Missouri Valley conference title. Two years later, he beat Tennessee with his "third string QB"!
I find it absurd that any comparison is being made between Coach Dickey and Coach Fry.
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See what I mean.

Hayden was a much more experience head coach when he took over at NT. He did go 5-5-1 that first year. He went 2-7-2 the next including losing 31-6 to Tulsa, 27-7 to Lamar, 41-0 to Memphis and 35-19 to Long Beach State. The year we beat Tennessee we also lost 61-7 to Oklahoma State. And that 10-1 season included a “win by forfeit” over Miss State.

And, Hayden was not told to avoid recruiting the JUCO players that could help “win now” to build the team for the future. Darrell was.

I remember being excited about football when Hayden was the coach. I also remember being more people being even more excited about football when we got to our first New Orleans Bowl.

I should also point out that Darrell has a better record after his first 8 year as a head coach than Hayden did. Darrell has gone to 4 bowl games, including one with a losing record. In his first 8 years, Hayden went to 3 including one with a losing record.

Is being blown out 61-7 by an OSU team that finished 5th in an 8 team conference really better than being blown out by a Tulsa team that won it’s division, won it’s league championship game and won it’s bowl game?

Yes, at the end of a career that included Rose Bowls for Iowa, Hayden was a Hall of Fame coach. But Darrell is just starting his career.

Obviously, it is not absurd to compare the two coaches.

DeepGreen · September 12, 2006

Not siding one way or the other, but in all fairness, you can't compare the bowl games. Today, the NO Bowl is one of what, 30 bowl games out there. In Fry's day, there were how many 10?

Green Crazy · September 12, 2006

Aren't we weaker at the CB, why wouldn't we have Loren line up there? I thought that was where he was in camp and he was doing a great job?

SilverEagle · September 12, 2006

See what I mean.
Hayden was a much more experience head coach when he took over at NT. He did go 5-5-1 that first year. He went 2-7-2 the next including losing 31-6 to Tulsa, 27-7 to Lamar, 41-0 to Memphis and 35-19 to Long Beach State. The year we beat Tennessee we also lost 61-7 to Oklahoma State. And that 10-1 season included a “win by forfeit” over Miss State.
And, Hayden was not told to avoid recruiting the JUCO players that could help “win now” to build the team for the future. Darrell was.
I remember being excited about football when Hayden was the coach. I also remember being more people being even more excited about football when we got to our first New Orleans Bowl.
I should also point out that Darrell has a better record after his first 8 year as a head coach than Hayden did. Darrell has gone to 4 bowl games, including one with a losing record. In his first 8 years, Hayden went to 3 including one with a losing record.
Is being blown out 61-7 by an OSU team that finished 5th in an 8 team conference really better than being blown out by a Tulsa team that won it’s division, won it’s league championship game and won it’s bowl game?
Yes, at the end of a career that included Rose Bowls for Iowa, Hayden was a Hall of Fame coach. But Darrell is just starting his career.
Obviously, it is not absurd to compare the two coaches.
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And just how do you know this?

I don't know what Hayden was told, and I certianly don't know what Coach Dickey was told. But I find it hard to believe that any coach would take the North Texas job with such tight restrictions. Coach Fry certainly came into a much more challenging situation than Coach Dickey did. Yet Dickey was the one griping about the situation, and Fry was the one organizing support groups and getting us excited about our program.

And Deep is right, comparing the current bowl situation to the bowl system in the 70's is also (IMHO) absurd.

mad dog · September 12, 2006

Actually, in terms of sheer athletic ability, Corner might be our deepest position. At the start of two-a-days, I counted six guys who could potentially start: Desmond Chatman, Antoine Bush, Dominique Green, Korey Washington, Roy Loren, and Tyrone Carter. I have, at one time or another, been impressed with all of them. And three of them, Bush, Chatman, and Washington, have started so far in this young season.

The advantage this gives us is that we can rotate guys to fit the opposing personnel scheme. If we are dealing with big, physical receivers, we can start Loren and Chatman, both 6'2 and weighing around 200 pounds. If we have smaller, shiftier, speedy receivers to cover, we can start Antoine Bush and Korey Washington, who have wheels and great cover ability. If we need to get a handle on crafty veterans, we can start Tyrone Carter and Dominique Green, since they have the most experience.

A pretty nice deal, especially since they're mostly redshirt freshmen and sophomores.

So, basically, I think we could afford to move Loren around a little bit. He's got the size and speed to play safety and corner, so why not have him able to do both?

pollock · September 12, 2006

Nonsensical PMG rant in 5... 4... 3... 2..........

Will David Jackson be eligible to play this year? Sounds like he might fall into a gray area with regard to transfer rules.

Edited September 12, 2006 by pollock

September 12, 2006

Aren't we weaker at the CB, why wouldn't we have Loren line up there? I thought that was where he was in camp and he was doing a great job?
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More inexperienced at CB...yes. Weaker? I don't think so. Washington, Green, Bush and Chatman are probably the fastest corners in our history (two deep).

Loren has never played corner in a game. He has always been a safety but said that he would try corner if that's where he's needed. I think that he can help us more at safety.

LongJim · September 12, 2006

David Jackson, a former Haltom standout that started his career at Oklahoma State.
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Could not find any info on this guy at Rivals. Did find some information that he was a HS senior in 2002 (!), so don't know what he's been doing since then.

KBJ · September 12, 2006

Could not find any info on this guy at Rivals. Did find some information that he was a HS senior in 2002 (!), so don't know what he's been doing since then.
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Iraq

LongJim · September 12, 2006

Iraq
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Well then. Props to him, and glad he's back safe. Nice pickup for the MG.

TicketJohn · September 12, 2006

Now, if his 5 year clock started in 2002...this would be his senior season. I don't know if there are stipulations for a guy who went into the military or not though. Hopefully he'll come in as a Soph. or Jr. instead.

OldTimer · September 12, 2006

This article only covered wins...Dickey has 59 losses vs 23 for Hayden Fry.

Fry won his 40 games in 6 seasons, it took DD into his 9th season to do so.

Hey, just citing facts.

I was excited by the SMU win. I liked the the way DD opened up his play book and has started passing more....hopefully he will keep it up, but don't know why we didn't run a couple of end sweeps like we did against TX to help open up the box even more.

SilverEagle · September 12, 2006

A newspaper story comparing Darrell to Hayden! The blood pressure of the Darrell haters must be going through the roof!
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And BTW, if I hate anything, it's that term "haters". It's a cheap and lazy way to put someone on the defensive, and therefore derail a discussion/debate between people of diverse opinions.

I would expect a Jr. High kid to use it to try and gain the upper hand in a debate, but not someone who is College educated.

And that goes for everyone on this board!

MeanGreen61 · September 12, 2006

A newspaper story comparing Darrell to Hayden! The blood pressure of the Darrell haters must be going through the roof!
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Isn't the article more about DD reaching the 40 win total that Hayden had ? I don't see that as a true coaching comparison.

VideoEagle · September 12, 2006

And BTW, if I hate anything, it's that term "haters". It's a cheap and lazy way to put someone on the defensive, and therefore derail a discussion/debate between people of diverse opinions.
I would expect a Jr. High kid to use it to try and gain the upper hand in a debate, but not someone who is College educated.
And that goes for everyone on this board!
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As one who was on the North Texas Debate team back in the 70s, I can assure you that every college debater would use any and every technique to gain the upper hand. Just win was the motto!

There is a small group of people who dislike DD’s coaching so much that any accomplishment he makes must be bad because DD did it! For example, the New Orleans Bowl must be bad because DD got NT there. Or, beating SMU can’t be a real accomplishment because DD managed to do it. Those are the one’s to whom I was referring.

As for where I heard that Darrell was told not recruit JUCO transfers, it was at a meeting in the Super Pit back around the time he was hired. I can’t remember who was doing all of the talking, although Gene Stallings was doing a lot of it. At the time the audience was told we had two main problems for football success: the schedule and the facilities. After the discussion on stopping scheduling all of the OCC games against top teams and mixing in some more “winnable” games and the need to upgrade the facilities, the discussion turned to recruiting. Matt Simon’s over recruiting of JUCO players who only had two years of eligibility was killing us, as was his insulting of high school coaches all over the state. Stallings pointed out that we had to stop depending on JUCO transfers even though it would hurt our record for a few years. I understood from that meeting the new (and I think still unhired) coach would be told to follow Stallings suggestions.

I know that DD did reduce in fact the number of JUCO transfers significantly in his first years. Thinking long term did hurt the short term record.

megagreen · September 12, 2006

Great post, illuvious. I wonder if the coaches will use these guys in this manner. Sounds great in theory anyway!

GMG!

Actually, in terms of sheer athletic ability, Corner might be our deepest position. At the start of two-a-days, I counted six guys who could potentially start: Desmond Chatman, Antoine Bush, Dominique Green, Korey Washington, Roy Loren, and Tyrone Carter. I have, at one time or another, been impressed with all of them. And three of them, Bush, Chatman, and Washington, have started so far in this young season.
The advantage this gives us is that we can rotate guys to fit the opposing personnel scheme. If we are dealing with big, physical receivers, we can start Loren and Chatman, both 6'2 and weighing around 200 pounds. If we have smaller, shiftier, speedy receivers to cover, we can start Antoine Bush and Korey Washington, who have wheels and great cover ability. If we need to get a handle on crafty veterans, we can start Tyrone Carter and Dominique Green, since they have the most experience.
A pretty nice deal, especially since they're mostly redshirt freshmen and sophomores.
So, basically, I think we could afford to move Loren around a little bit. He's got the size and speed to play safety and corner, so why not have him able to do both?
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FirefightnRick · September 12, 2006

Matt Simon’s over recruiting of JUCO players who only had two years of eligibility was killing us, as was his insulting of high school coaches all over the state. Stallings pointed out that we had to stop depending on JUCO transfers even though it would hurt our record for a few years. I understood from that meeting the new (and I think still unhired) coach would be told to follow Stallings suggestions.
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I think you must have slept since then VE. I was sitting on the front row during that meeting with Coach Stallings with my 9 month pregnant wife who was only day's away from dominoeing the F5 in late January '01. Simon had been long gone, along with his JUCO's by over 4 years at that point.

Rick

Edited September 12, 2006 by FirefightnRick

untbowler · September 12, 2006

Isn't the article more about DD reaching the 40 win total that Hayden had ? I don't see that as a true coaching comparison.
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No different then the paper pimping Coach Headrick's numbers for victories as well as Coach Prevette's total wins while more or less ignoring the # of losses and seasons it took to win that many.

Also in the article, DD have that it is great to only win 40 games in a 9 year span? That essentially is a 5-6, 5-7 record everywhere.

"To have 40 wins in the situation we are in is great"

does he mean increased access to facilities, recruits, more $$ for recruiting, greater exposure? He makes sound negative once again, but again I guess I am just a hater, seeing as how DD has had the most to work with.

MeanGreen61 · September 12, 2006

No different then the paper pimping Coach Headrick's numbers for victories as well as Coach Prevette's total wins while more or less ignoring the # of losses and seasons it took to win that many.
Also in the article, DD have that it is great to only win 40 games in a 9 year span? That essentially is a 5-6, 5-7 record everywhere.
"To have 40 wins in the situation we are in is great"
does he mean increased access to facilities, recruits, more $$ for recruiting, greater exposure? He makes sound negative once again, but again I guess I am just a hater, seeing as how DD has had the most to work with.
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