My problem with Dickey

[Mean'n'Green07]

I didn't watch or listen to the tulsa game, and now that I think about it I'm happy I didn't because it would of ruined my entire weekend. Oddly enough, I'm not bothered by the score of 28-3. I wasn't bothered by our 2-9 record last year either, because after four years a team will have an off season to rebuild.

BUT, the thing that bothers me is the way we lost these games. Our play calling, coaching, and schemes we run are so inept, it's painful. It's not that we lost 28-3 to tulsa, it's the fact that a volunteer pee-wee coach could of done better than Dickey. Woody went 5/6 in passing. Someone tell me why the hell he only had 6 pass attempts?!?! Our entire coaching staff seems apathetic about everything. There's just no fire in the team, and that bothers me.

I'm sick of the way Dickey coaches. If running the ball 70% of the time doesn't work, then don't do it. I have realistic expectations. I don't expect us to beat texas and play in a BCS bowl game. I do expect we make reasonable changes in game situations where we can be put in a position to win.

[chrisfisher]

I didn't watch or listen to the tulsa game, and now that I think about it I'm happy I didn't because it would of ruined my entire weekend. Oddly enough, I'm not bothered by the score of 28-3. I wasn't bothered by our 2-9 record last year either, because after four years a team will have an off season to rebuild.

BUT, the thing that bothers me is the way we lost these games. Our play calling, coaching, and schemes we run are so inept, it's painful. It's not that we lost 28-3 to tulsa, it's the fact that a volunteer pee-wee coach could of done better than Dickey. Woody went 5/6 in passing. Someone tell me why the hell he only had 6 pass attempts?!?! Our entire coaching staff seems apathetic about everything. There's just no fire in the team, and that bothers me.

I'm sick of the way Dickey coaches. If running the ball 70% of the time doesn't work, then don't do it. I have realistic expectations. I don't expect us to beat texas and play in a BCS bowl game. I do expect we make reasonable changes in game situations where we can be put in a position to win.

←

It seems our defense looks great, but the offensive is where we are really hurting. Maybe DD needs to get rid of Flanigan, after all he makes the offensive schemes. It appears that DD made a good decision bringing in the new defensive coordinator, so I have to give him props on that. If DD could find the right offensive coordinator, maybe he could salvage this seemingly talented team he put together.. I seriously doubt Flanigan will go though... UNT seems to have a high tolerance for pain.

Edited September 18, 2006 by chrisfisher

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I didn't watch or listen to the tulsa game, and now that I think about it I'm happy I didn't because it would of ruined my entire weekend. Oddly enough, I'm not bothered by the score of 28-3. I wasn't bothered by our 2-9 record last year either, because after four years a team will have an off season to rebuild.

BUT, the thing that bothers me is the way we lost these games. Our play calling, coaching, and schemes we run are so inept, it's painful. It's not that we lost 28-3 to tulsa, it's the fact that a volunteer pee-wee coach could of done better than Dickey. Woody went 5/6 in passing. Someone tell me why the hell he only had 6 pass attempts?!?! Our entire coaching staff seems apathetic about everything. There's just no fire in the team, and that bothers me.

I'm sick of the way Dickey coaches. If running the ball 70% of the time doesn't work, then don't do it. I have realistic expectations. I don't expect us to beat texas and play in a BCS bowl game. I do expect we make reasonable changes in game situations where we can be put in a position to win.

←

What in the last 9 years has DD shown you that he knows how to make changes in the game?

[Cr1028]

You can't run effectively without at least the "threat" of a pass. The offensive coordinator is going to convince Jamario that he isn't good anymore because of the predictable playcalling.

Oh, and now a quote from a great movie. I'm sure you'll know who it's directed at.

"Oh Billy Bob crybaby? Cry me a river you fat-f...in baby!"

[shaft]

Shut up. If coaching was really that easy the people on board could do it.

[Got5onIt]

Shut up.  If coaching was really that easy the people on board could do it.

←

You must be Dickey Jr.

I didn't know he had a son.

[chrisfisher]

Shut up.  If coaching was really that easy the people on board could do it.

←

Weird. You come to an opinion forum to tell people to shut up... hmmn...anyway, I posted earlier today (for comic relief) that a monkey could randomly choose plays from our offensive play book with the same or better score than we did against Tulsa last night. The more I thought about it, the less far fetched it became. Hell, even if the monkey's chosen plays didn't result in points, it would only be 3 less than our "offensive plan" could generate. I think the random play calling alone would confuse Tulsa so much that we'd score at least 7 points. Flanigan gave us the shaft last night. I feel for Woody, Meager, Thomas, Quinn, & the rest of our offensive crew. They deserve better.

Up the middle, up the middle, up the middle, punt

[foutsrouts]

The really sad thing about our 3 point offensive performance is that we have (in my opinion) one of the better stables of WR's in the country in Quinn, Jackson, Nwigwe and Muzzy. On top of that, assuming that Jamario hasn't plain and simply lost it, we have one of the best RB's in the country. I also think that we have some pretty solid talent at QB in Woody Wilson. So basically this means that we either have an absolutely pitiful OL and/or we have an absolutely pitiful coaching staff. You be the judge.

[MeanMag]

The really sad thing about our 3 point offensive performance is that we have (in my opinion) one of the better stables of WR's in the country in Quinn, Jackson, Nwigwe and Muzzy. On top of that, assuming that Jamario hasn't plain and simply lost it, we have one of the best RB's in the country. I also think that we have some pretty solid talent at QB in Woody Wilson. So basically this means that we either have an absolutely pitiful OL and/or we have an absolutely pitiful coaching staff. You be the judge.

←

Well, even if you did try to pick the pitiful Oline as an excuse, it could still come back to coaching.

-Who do we have teaching these guys blocking schemes?

-Who do we have calling plays in order to not keep 8-9 guys out of the box?

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know how to coach. But, 5 pass plays out of that entire game is sad. Tulsa's adjustment came 5 minutes before the second half, when they realized that our offense was just going to run the ball. They weren't scared and dared us to beat them.

Have we ever dared them to beat us?

There is a fine line between being conservative in this situation and just looking plain silly. Pulling a QB when we are down three TDs in the 3rd quarter to me, was like giving up. Playing a field position game, and controlling clock are great when you are ahead or have a lot of game left to be played. But when you A. Can't run and B. The opposition knows that you are going to keep doing it, then I think it is time to change things up a bit.

[Mean'n'Green07]

Shut up.  If coaching was really that easy the people on board could do it.

←

I know I couldn't develop or recruit players, but I sure as hell could call better plays. And as far as I'm concerned, if I donate/pay with tuition (for the current students) to a program that I don't think is playing to their potential I can be as over critical as I want.

I said earlier I have realistic expectations for our team. We don't have to be nationally ranked for me to be happy with the program, a losing season will happen and you can't win the conference every year. I'm saying this because I'm not the type of fair weathered fan that's only happy if his team wins the championship. It pisses me off though to continously see half-assed efforts in big OOC games. And it's not a huge mystery of what's happening out there. We can't throw the ball, and we aren't fixing it. If anyone has some time and stats I would be very interesting to see what our record has been when we've passed for over 200 yards in the past few seasons.

[bigrobdsp]

If anyone has some time and stats I would be very interesting to see what our record has been when we've passed for over 200 yards in the past few seasons.

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I think it is somthing like 0 for 0 in the past two seasons.

[meangreendork]

Shut up.  If coaching was really that easy the people on board could do it.

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It isn't easy to coach, but it's easy for anyone with two eyes and a brain to see that what happened against Tulsa was an indication that the offensive schemes are flawed. While I would like to have a team that can run up and smash the defense in the mouth, the team we have isn't made for that.

Simple logic will tell you that if you try something for a good number of attempts and it doesn't work, then it probably won't work the next few times either.

[IslandEagle]

I know I couldn't develop or recruit players, but I sure as hell could call better plays. And as far as I'm concerned, if I donate/pay with tuition (for the current students) to a program that I don't think is playing to their potential I can be as over critical as I want.

I said earlier I have realistic expectations for our team. We don't have to be nationally ranked for me to be happy with the program, a losing season will happen and you can't win the conference every year. I'm saying this because I'm not the type of fair weathered fan that's only happy if his team wins the championship. It pisses me off though to continously see half-assed efforts in big OOC games. And it's not a huge mystery of what's happening out there. We can't throw the ball, and we aren't fixing it. If anyone has some time and stats I would be very interesting to see what our record has been when we've passed for over 200 yards in the past few seasons.

←

Glad to oblige. We have passed for over 200 yards in a game 10 times since the start of the 2002 season. Our win-loss record in these games is 6-4. But, our average points scored in games where we have passed 200 plus yards was 28.1 points per game!!! When we lost, it was because our defense failed us.

200 yard plus assing games-(2002) 206 yards against MTSU. Score-NT=30, MTSU-20;

(2003): 215 yards against ULM. Score-North Texas-28, ULM-26; 230 yards against MTSU. Score-NT-33, MTSU-28; 222 yards against ULL. Score- North Texas-44, ULL-23; 215 yards against Air Force. Finals Score- Air Force-34, North Texas-21; (2004) 249 yards against Colorado. Final Score- Colorado-52, North Texas-21; 285 yards against MTSU. Final Score- North Texas 30, MTSU-21; 200 yards against Arkansas State. Final Score- North Texas-31, ASU-7; (2005) 218 yards against Arkansas State. Score-ASU-31, NT-24; 242 yards against ULM. Score-ULM-21, North Texas 19.

Our lowest score when we pass for over 200 yards was 19 points. Our highest was 44.

[edcollopy]

great job Island. Cut and past that and send to RV...and add that we are bored to death.... I bet our rushing totals were more than 100yds as well...so we put up a higher total avg because we were balanced. I'm so sick of the excuses 'we take what the defense gives us'..'we weren't prepared for this or that'...it's your jobs fellas. Use your imaginations...that is how you make a name for yourself in this world. It's like being a salesman and the only thing you can do is take orders.

[mad dog]

Great stat crunching, Island. Neat to read.

[Cr1028]

I was looking at my profile and realized I have been here for almost 9 years. I started reading old threads and found this gem. If you change some of the names, we are almost having the same conversations 9 years later. I guess we really are all insane.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Cr1028
I used the word hear instead of the word here.

[untjim1995]

The more things change, the more they stay the same...read above's OP to see if you think Mac's name could get changed out for the offensive gameplan we use. Only differences I can see between these two are that Mac has fire in his belly and can actually talk to people in a motivating fashion. Dickey was as dull as dishwater...

[Harry]

The more things change, the more they stay the same...read above's OP to see if you think Mac's name could get changed out for the offensive gameplan we use. Only differences I can see between these two are that Mac has fire in his belly and can actually talk to people in a motivating fashion. Dickey was as dull as dishwater...

​What's missing is the 4-years of WIDE open offense under Dodge.  That sort of explains the move back to a more Dickey-like offense don't you think?

[untjim1995]

​What's missing is the 4-years of WIDE open offense under Dodge.  That sort of explains the move back to a more Dickey-like offense don't you think?

​I think Dodge's offense--as was his entire approach to his tenure here--was just o high schoolish. From handing off in the shotgun 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd and 1 or by using timeouts frivolously, he was in over his head against legitimate FBS competition. His staff was not seasoned at all for the college game when he first got here, then the marijuana testing that got rid of a ton of players just confirmed that he felt like the same approach at Southlake Carroll would work here. Obviously, 6-37 and 4 years later, we saw the results.

But that offense got kids here that would never dream of setting foot on the UNT campus before or today. I am not a huge advocate of the spread, it just seems that way because the 3 yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense went out of vogue in most Texas High Schools about 10 or more years ago. In true UNT fashion, we failed at the spread offense because we had a high school coach running it. So we go back to the incredibly exciting Dickey Ball that got us 4 SBC Championships and now has a HoD Bowl Championship to its credit--yet we get a similar amount of people to support the program in attendance and in dollars that we saw in 2001 (see Cerebus' report on MGC members, season ticket holder drop, and attendance figures that are in-line with any other SBCUSA game of the past 14 years.) We recruit against SMU, Tulsa, Rice, La Tech, ULM, ULL, Arky State, UTEP, UTSA, and Texas State for the most part--almost every one of those teams brings about exciting QB-driven offenses. No wonder they beat us for good QBs and that we have to go after grade-risks. We run an offense that Odus Mitchell ran...

Here's my dream for UNT Athletics. Neal Smaetresk gets complete control from the BOR to take care of athletics the way he wants, within decent reason. He demands a winner in revenue sports. He tells them he wants to be able to buyout contracts when he thinks they need to be done, hire someone that can be compensated like the schools in the AAC or MWC, then hires experienced college coaches that have gameplans that look normal in today's game, not that of 1985 or earlier. Then, finally, he gets decent OOC games here to serve as litmus tests for the program. I figure that costs the university about $5 million, maybe more, to get this all going and running continuously in the first few years. But it would be looked at as an investment, not as a cost. If that investment pays off, the whole university feels the payday.

And then I wake up and realize its just a dream.

[HoustonEagle]

​What's missing is the 4-years of WIDE open offense under Dodge.  That sort of explains the move back to a more Dickey-like offense don't you think?

Harry I actually get a good laugh when people compare our current offense to Dickey's.  Compared to Dickey this is the run and shoot. 

[EagleMBA]

My doctor is pleased with the improvement in my blood pressure from the days of standing, red-faced and shouting "Throw the damned ball, Dickey!".

[Travis]

Harry I actually get a good laugh when people compare our current offense to Dickey's.  Compared to Dickey this is the run and shoot. 

​Very true.  

[Cerebus]

Harry I actually get a good laugh when people compare our current offense to Dickey's.  Compared to Dickey this is the run and shoot. 

​And yet that terrible offense got us to 4 straight bowl games and a 52-14 demolishing of Baylor...

[HoustonEagle]

​And yet that terrible offense got us to 4 straight bowl games and a 52-14 demolishing of Baylor...

Never said it didn't.  Though to be fair that defense and a really really bad conference were the keys to our success.  Eventually the Sun Belt teams got better.  We did not. 

I had a lot of fun those years.  I remember all of the optimism pumping through my veins. I miss that feeling but looking back some of it was a bit naive. 

Edited June 10, 2015 by HoustonEagle

[GreenMachine]

​And yet that terrible offense got us to 4 straight bowl games and a 52-14 demolishing of Baylor...

​Denton Guyer could have won 4 straight Sunbelt titles back then.