Ditto Vito

[Green Nightmare]

I don't understand him. i understood while DD was here bite your tongue etc. However now is the time to write an op-ed and have an opinion.

DD should be commended for raising the bar. However he left with 0 class

The Mean Green is in the midst of its second tough season — no one would question that. What one has to wonder is just what will be acceptable now. Does UNT expect a conference title, a winning record and a big non-conference win or two every year? Every other year?

Hell Yes! Don't all programs?

He stuck by his stance that UNT has some of the most difficult circumstances in college football with its schedule that never included more than five home games and very few cupcake games during his tenure. The schedule is just one of what he described as several challenges, a list that also includes facilities that, while they are improved, still fall short of what some of UNT’s key Texas rivals feature.

Cupcakes. What does he want 5 1AA games to start the year then Sun Belt.

Yeah La Tech Tulsa Akron SMU Air Force etc are all word beaters

I know hes gone etc just insane. More dissappointed Vito didnt write anything more than a puff piece

Brett Vito: Dickey raised bar for UNT football

12:18 AM CST on Sunday, November 26, 2006

Brett Vito

Sometime in the next few weeks, Darrell Dickey’s corner office will be empty, his desk cleaned out and the longtime North Texas head football coach will be long gone.

Dickey coached his last game on Saturday at Louisiana-Monroe after nine years with the Mean Green.

What won’t soon be forgotten is the legacy he leaves behind.

Dickey had a losing record with the Mean Green, not to mention some tough years before and after the pinnacle of his run when he led the Mean Green to four straight Sun Belt Conference championships from 2001-04.

Despite those tough times, Dickey brought more than his share of memorable moments to UNT, enough to establish a lasting legacy and earn him a spot in the UNT Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dickey did far too much to be omitted.

He brought UNT Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas, a pair of national rushing champions.

He recruited and developed Brandon “Booger” Kennedy, not only one of the best players in recent UNT history but also one of the most colorful.

He beat SMU in his final season, a rarity for UNT, which has only won four times in 32 tries against the Ponies. His 2003 team hammered Baylor.

He developed a relationship Jim McIngvale, who gave the key $1 million donation that made the Mean Green Athletic Center possible.

He raised the profile of the program more than any coach since Hayden Fry, the gold standard for UNT coaches.

But perhaps most important of all, he raised the expectations for the program to a level that ought to make the batch of potential Dickey successors think long and hard about following in his footsteps.

Dickey didn’t even get through two down seasons following his last Sun Belt title before he was let go with the message that UNT had to raise its sights and its standards.

The Mean Green is in the midst of its second tough season — no one would question that. What one has to wonder is just what will be acceptable now. Does UNT expect a conference title, a winning record and a big non-conference win or two every year? Every other year?

UNT upgraded its facilities during the Dickey era with the addition of a new athletic center, turf in Fouts Field and a new academic center.

Dickey made it clear in his farewell address last week that he believes UNT is still lacking in several areas despite all the improvements the school has made.

He stuck by his stance that UNT has some of the most difficult circumstances in college football with its schedule that never included more than five home games and very few cupcake games during his tenure. The schedule is just one of what he described as several challenges, a list that also includes facilities that, while they are improved, still fall short of what some of UNT’s key Texas rivals feature.

Dickey certainly didn’t win many people over by pointing out all of UNT’s warts as often as he did, but he does have a point. UNT is still working to make up for years of neglect the athletic department endured under previous regimes.

UTEP offensive coordinator Eric Price talked about all the opportunities UNT will offer its next head coach and expressed interest in the position a few days ago, but also said a job coaching the Mean Green would come with high expectations.

That legacy might be the most impressive of all that Dickey leaves behind. When he arrived on campus before the 1998 season, UNT was just looking to make it in the world of Division I-A college football.

As Dickey leaves nine years later, UNT is talking about building a new stadium, moving up in the world of college football and taking advantage of the new facilities its recently fired head coach helped make possible.

There is little doubt UNT is in better shape than it was nine years ago, thanks in large part to Dickey.

Even more than Dickey’s conference championships and laundry list of standout players, that might be his most important legacy of all.

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

Edited November 29, 2006 by Green Nightmare