The bottom line on Coach Dickey

Smitty · November 19, 2006

There's been lots of talk about the timing and justification of the firing of Coach Dickey. Most of the arguments have been emotional in origin, so let's reduce things to a more objective nature.

Look at North Texas's national ranking, according the NCAA statistics (available at http://www.ncaa.org/stats/football) for the past SIX years. Two years is too small of a sample, so included here are the four years that UNT won the Sun Belt and went to the New Orleans Bowl. During this six year period, the NCAA had an average of 117 Division I-A teams:

National ranking in total offense

2006: 116

2005: 114

2004: 82

2003: 95

2002: 115

2001: 108

Avg.: 105

National ranking in scoring offense

2006: 113

2005: 112

2004: 52

2003: 54

2002: 102

2001: 81

Avg.: 85.5

National ranking in total defense

2006: 61

2005: 101

2004: 87

2003: 21

2002: 9

2001: 42

Avg.: 53.5

National ranking in fewest penalties per game

2006: 74

2005: 98

2004: 89

2003: 109

2002: 96

2001: 78

Avg.: 90.66

UNT's average penalty yards per game

2006: 50.73

2005: 74.27

2004: 69.17

2003: 86.92

2002: 71.00

2001: 69.64

Avg.: 70.28

In the past six years, Dickey's offense ranks 105th in the nation out of 117 schools. That is amazing when you realized that in two of those seasons, North Texas had the leading rusher in the nation, and four of those years featured the top pass receiver in UNT history.

While the defense ranks a respectable 53rd, that number is skewed by the 2002-2003 seasons. In the past three years, the total defense ranking has dropped dramatically to 83rd.

Perhaps most glaring is the penalties. In the past six years, UNT has been one of the most penalized teams in the nation, averaging a shocking 70 yards in penalties per game.

MeanGreen61 · November 19, 2006

There's been lots of talk about the timing and justification of the firing of Coach Dickey. Most of the arguments have been emotional in origin, so let's reduce things to a more objective nature.
Look at North Texas's national ranking, according the NCAA statistics (available at http://www.ncaa.org/stats/football) for the past SIX years. Two years is too small of a sample, so included here are the four years that UNT won the Sun Belt and went to the New Orleans Bowl. During this six year period, the NCAA had an average of 117 Division I-A teams:
National ranking in total offense
2006: 116
2005: 114
2004: 82
2003: 95
2002: 115
2001: 108
Avg.: 105
National ranking in scoring offense
2006: 113
2005: 112
2004: 52
2003: 54
2002: 102
2001: 81
Avg.: 85.5
National ranking in total defense
2006: 61
2005: 101
2004: 87
2003: 21
2002: 9
2001: 42
Avg.: 53.5
National ranking in fewest penalties per game
2006: 74
2005: 98
2004: 89
2003: 109
2002: 96
2001: 78
Avg.: 90.66
UNT's average penalty yards per game
2006: 50.73
2005: 74.27
2004: 69.17
2003: 86.92
2002: 71.00
2001: 69.64
Avg.: 70.28
In the past six years, Dickey's offense ranks 105th in the nation out of 117 schools. That is amazing when you realized that in two of those seasons, North Texas had the leading rusher in the nation, and four of those years featured the top pass receiver in UNT history.
While the defense ranks a respectable 53rd, that number is skewed by the 2002-2003 seasons. In the past three years, the total defense ranking has dropped dramatically to 83rd.
Perhaps most glaring is the penalties. In the past six years, UNT has been one of the most penalized teams in the nation, averaging a shocking 70 yards in penalties per game.
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You're beatin' a dead horse. Nothin' new here that hasn't been posted a gazillion time.

FirefightnRick · November 19, 2006

When I posted something similar to this last month I wanted to know the average the entire 9 years under DD but the NCAA.org archives only go back to '99. Average in 112th for '99 and 113th for '00 and the average for total offense is 106th. But yeah, your right. Although most who have followed the program has always known our offense has been very poor. Most of the success between '01 to '04 was due to the defense. Amazingly I can't think of a single one of our OOC wins against a known team that our defense didn't score in? Baylor, Cincy, SMU...?

Rick

Edited November 19, 2006 by FirefightnRick