Harbaugh Interviewing w/North Texas today

greenjoe · December 5, 2006

was that an endorsement for Todd Dodge, Plumm ?

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PlummMeanGreen · December 5, 2006

was that an endorsement for Todd Dodge, Plumm ?
Join the Mean Green Club
Buy Season Tickets (we're gonna sell out)
GO GO GO MEAN GREEN
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Although I drive a Chevy, I have become a Dodge fan!

See you back in Section E next Fall, meanjoe (that is, if I can get my old seats back and if not, oh well, I'll see you and some of the old gang at half time near the concessions area! Looking forward to more fun, food, football and fellowship Mean Green Style!

ADLER · December 5, 2006

I'd happily take either Todd Dodge or Jim Harbaugh as our new coach. I think both have the ability to become outstanding coaches for us.

PlummMeanGreen · December 5, 2006

I'd happily take either Todd Dodge or Jim Harbaugh as our new coach. I think both have the ability to become outstanding coaches for us.
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Agree, ADLER, either one would be acceptable from all that I can read about both. I guess we all do have our favorites, though.

SpaceMonkey · December 5, 2006

Harbaugh has already interviewed for the Iowa State job and is supposedly being considered for Stanford and Tulane as well.
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Oh man.........I hope he doesn't take the Iowa State job.....

MeanGreen61 · December 5, 2006

Oh man.........I hope he doesn't take the Iowa State job.....
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Iowa State's filled.

ShopMeanGreen · December 5, 2006

Agree, ADLER, either one would be acceptable from all that I can read about both. I guess we all do have our favorites, though.
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Any info on Dodge. I don't know anything about him. I do think someone with intrest in UNT, ie Alum, would be a huge bonus. I have the distinct feeling the last HC couldn't have cared less. Young and energetic, wanting to make a name for himself would also be nice.

SpaceMonkey · December 5, 2006

Iowa State's filled.
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Thus the face.

I was curious why the original poster put Iowa State

gangrene · December 6, 2006

Thus the face.
I was curious why the original poster put Iowa State
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Go back and read the first paragraph of my post...I was pointing out that it appears Harbaugh is searching high and low for a new job. He didn't get the ISU job but that doesn't change the fact that he interviewed for it and, just because he's interviewing with UNT doesn't mean that he won't possibly still want to interview for Stanford, Tulane or any other school that has yet to consider him.

Baby Arm! · December 6, 2006

Does Coach Harbaugh have a son who is probably going to be a Parade HS All American next Fall and who he can recruit for the Mean Green? I don't think Coach Harbaugh does, but don't we all know of someone who does (and can probably recruit him and many others besides his son to come to MG Country AND.......help us start our journey toward Top 25 rankings at UNT)?
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Hoping you can get his son to play here a year down the road is a LOUSY reason to hire a head coach!!!

1- There is NOTHING to insure that the kid will want to play at UNT. Maybe he wants to play somewhere else? What if Riley continues to burn it up through his senior year and every college in the country is beating down his door? Does UNT compete eventhough his dad coaches here?

2- It's just one player, In basketball one premier recruit can turn around a team but in football....not so much

3- what if this player get's hurt? or transfers?- There goes you reason for hiring that coach. Even if he does play for 4 years, what about after that?

4- What if things go south with the coach and you fire him after a couple of seasons or he get's hired away by another school. You then lose your stud QB when he follows his dad somewhere else. (See Kendall Briles transfer to Houston)

All that being said... I still think Dodge is a solid candidate and if hired I will support him. Although I think there are other solid candidates as well and RV should hire the BEST candidate after taking all facets into consideration.

Hoping you can get his son to play here a year down the road is a LOUSY reason to hire a head coach!!!

GMoney · December 6, 2006

On top of what GrayEagleOne said he was also a Heisman finalist. He led the Colts in 95 to the Conference Championship only to lose to the Steelers who then got beat by Da'Boys and was in the Pro Bowl the same year.
I feel like this shouldn't be so much about "can he impress recruits" but can he coach the recruits he does land? Being a Pro Bowl QB, Heisman Finalist, and First Round pick is impressive enough for high school kids.

I think people are missing my point. I know who Harbaugh is. My family is from Michigan and they are huge Wolverine fans. I think we may be giving high school players a little too much credit for following the past (even recent past) history. If Harbaugh retired 5 years ago then many of these kids were in 7th grade!

Please don't take this wrong, I'm not saying he's not the guy for the job or that he wouldn't be a good choice. I just think that many people hear former pro and I know that name from my youth and think he'll be able to recruit. I'm just not sure that is the case.

December 6, 2006

Go back and read the first paragraph of my post...I was pointing out that it appears Harbaugh is searching high and low for a new job. He didn't get the ISU job but that doesn't change the fact that he interviewed for it and, just because he's interviewing with UNT doesn't mean that he won't possibly still want to interview for Stanford, Tulane or any other school that has yet to consider him.
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It's true that Harbaugh is looking to move up....meaning Division 1-A. And, yes, if he's asked at Stanford, Tulane, or another 1-A university with a position open, I'm sure he'd go for it. If he can take a take a "downtrodden" team and make a winner out of them several years running then he has established himself as an extraordinary coach who can make winners of losers, so to speak. That should bode him well for the next opening in the pro ranks,, say three years hence. That is his stated goal. It would be more impressive to reestablish a Stanford, Tulane, or North Texas to winning than to take an Arizona State, who has had few losing seasons and win championships with them.

He really doesn't have much more to prove at USD and he's ready to advance.

While I think that he'd be a great coaching hire, I still lean toward Dodge. Both seem to be excellent coaches but I think Todd Dodge would have an easier time recruiting and inspiring donations.

Flash · December 6, 2006

It's true that Harbaugh is looking to move up....meaning Division 1-A. And, yes, if he's asked at Stanford, Tulane, or another 1-A university with a position open, I'm sure he'd go for it. If he can take a take a "downtrodden" team and make a winner out of them several years running then he has established himself as an extraordinary coach who can make winners of losers, so to speak. That should bode him well for the next opening in the pro ranks,, say three years hence. That is his stated goal. It would be more impressive to reestablish a Stanford, Tulane, or North Texas to winning than to take an Arizona State, who has had few losing seasons and win championships with them.
He really doesn't have much more to prove at USD and he's ready to advance.
While I think that he'd be a great coaching hire, I still lean toward Dodge. Both seem to be excellent coaches but I think Todd Dodge would have an easier time recruiting and inspiring donations.
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Come on........the main reason they are looking at Dodge .......is that he can bring a few players. Big mistake! Go for a proven HC.

UNT74HM · December 6, 2006

He is a proven HC!

ipEAGLE · December 6, 2006

He is a proven HC!
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HAHA yeah... with amazing financial support and a 'recruiting staff'. Put him at small lower income 2 or 3a school and see how well he does.

Edited December 6, 2006 by ipEAGLE

NT80 · December 6, 2006

Come on........the main reason they are looking at Dodge .......is that he can bring a few players. Big mistake! Go for a proven HC.
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Proven HC? Who is that?

Fisher...no HC experience

Dodge...3 HS state championships

Harbaugh...3 years HC non-scholarship football

PlummMeanGreen · December 6, 2006

Hoping you can get his son to play here a year down the road is a LOUSY reason to hire a head coach!!!
1- There is NOTHING to insure that the kid will want to play at UNT.   Maybe he wants to play somewhere else? What if Riley continues to burn it up through his senior year and every college in the country is beating down his door?   Does UNT compete eventhough his dad coaches here?
2- It's just one player,   In basketball one premier recruit can turn around a team but in football....not so much
3- what if this player get's hurt? or transfers?- There goes you reason for hiring that coach. Even if he does play for 4 years, what about after that?
4- What if things go south with the coach and you fire him after a couple of seasons or he get's hired away by another school.   You then lose your stud QB when he follows his dad somewhere else. (See Kendall Briles transfer to Houston)
All that being said... I still think Dodge is a solid candidate and if hired I will support him.   Although I think there are other solid candidates as well and RV should hire the BEST candidate after taking all facets into consideration.
Hoping you can get his son to play here a year down the road is a LOUSY reason to hire a head coach!!!
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BabyArm, you are absolutely right.

Of course, I should have probably been putting this icon when I mentioned the possibility of recruiting Riley Dodge by his dad; that is, if his dad were offered the UNT and if he accepted the job. And I would not be so naive' to say we hire Todd Dodge based on his recruiting only his son and a few other SLC Dragon football players, too.

I remember Coach Dodge from his short stint in the Parker era and heard some pretty darn good things about him even back then (which is probably the main reason I like see his upside with his statewide name ID as not only a very successful 5A HFC but also as a former University of Texas QB of which many dads of future Texas HS recruits will remember Coach Dodge from his days in Austin.

I only hope all this play-off time-table business does not mess up the possibility of UNT hiring Dodge. If UNT decides to focus on Todd Dodge, I would think it would not be a barrier, though.

Edited December 6, 2006 by PlummMeanGreen

DeepGreen · December 6, 2006

Answer me this. If Todd Dodge is hired, suppose his son Riley does not come to North Texas and opts for one of the "big time" programs. Will everyone be okay with that, or will they be looking to tar and feather Todd Dodge? Hey, it could happen. I sure wouldn't hire TD just because I think he'll bring his highly sought after son to Denton in the following year.

Edited December 6, 2006 by DeepGreen

FirefightnRick · December 6, 2006

Check out the Soap Opera that Harbaugh stepped into when he was hired as the head coach at San Diego back in '03. May give some insight as to why he's interviewing so hard for another job right now.

Rick

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20...s28usdsuit.html

Ex-coach McGarry files suit against USD

By Brent Schrotenboer

STAFF WRITER

January 28, 2005

Former USD head football coach Kevin McGarry has sued the school for wrongful termination and defamation, claiming he was fired without cause in 2003 after a 26-year employment history with the Toreros.

His suit seeks unspecified damages resulting from his firing, which came in midseason on the eve of one of the school's biggest football games.

McGarry never had a written contract with USD and claimed the school breached an "implied covenant of good faith" when it fired him. Two months after his firing he was permanently replaced by former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, whose name has helped raise the profile of the Division I-AA program.

"It was really a tough decision for me (to sue)," said McGarry, 48, who graduated from USD in 1979. "I was a part of the USD community for 28 years, and it was painful for me to take this action. We struggled for a full year to resolve things but weren't able to get it done."

McGarry, now an assistant coach at Hilltop High, initially sought reinstatement to his old job. His attorney, Jim Peterson, said they then sought a settlement instead of filing a lawsuit. Because he had no contract, McGarry was paid only up to his last day of work in October 2003, Peterson said.

USD officials have declined comment, citing school policy not to comment on pending litigation. The suit also names as co-defendants USD President Mary Lyons and Vice President of Student Affairs Robert Pastoor. The school has hired the legal firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps.

McGarry expressed shock at the lack of warning and the timing of the firing. McGarry was named Pioneer League Coach of the Year in 2002 and the Toreros were off to a 5-1 start in 2003. As the team was preparing to play at Valparaiso in Indiana, campus security interrupted a Thursday practice and handed him an envelope as the team looked on. In it was a memo instructing him to see Pastoor the next morning before departing for Valparaiso – "one of the biggest games in USD history," McGarry states.

In the meeting, McGarry stated Pastoor gave him three reasons for his sudden firing:

A previous incident in 2003 in which McGarry allegedly kicked a football in the direction of his trainers after they handed him a list of several players who would not be able to practice because of health reasons. McGarry stated he was upset when he got the news and that he kicked two stray balls off the field but that they were not directed at anyone.

An incident involving a cheerleading camp three months before his firing. He stated Pastoor harmfully "leaked to the media" that McGarry had engaged in a profanity-laced tirade at the cheerleading camp when he wanted to use the field for football practice. In his suit, McGarry states that campus security had filed a report about the conflict but that it specifically states McGarry never threatened anyone, didn't raise his voice, didn't use profanity and was never a concern to the reporting officer.

An argument with an assistant coach (Tim Drevno, now the offensive coordinator under Harbaugh). During the week leading up to the Valparaiso game, an apparent misunderstanding developed in a phone conversation between McGarry and Drevno over how much time Drevno would be permitted to spend with his family after his wife gave birth to their third child. McGarry stated that he told the assistant to make his own decision on the matter but that the assistant misunderstood it to mean he should concentrate instead on the upcoming game. During the call, the line went dead. McGarry stated he later asked the assistant if his telephone was broken, and the assistant began a "profanity-laced tirade" accusing McGarry of "messing with his family." Drevno declined comment yesterday, citing school policy.

After Athletic Director Jo-Ann Nester learned of the argument, McGarry stated she back-dated by eight days a memo about the football-kicking incident, delivered it to McGarry and contacted the school's human resources department about his behavior. McGarry was fired later that week.

McGarry's suit also details a strained relationship with Nester after the "forced" retirement of her predecessor, Tom Iannacone, who had worked with McGarry as athletic director since 1988. He claims Nester had it "out for him" and engaged in a profanity-laced tirade, "screaming and yelling at the top of her lungs" when McGarry questioned why the football program could not use volunteers.

The school has 30 days to file a response to McGarry's suit, which was amended earlier this month. Discovery and depositions are expected over the next few months. No trial date has been set.

December 6, 2006

Answer me this. If Todd Dodge is hired, suppose his son Riley does not come to North Texas and opts for one of the "big time" programs. Will everyone be okay with that, or will they be looking to tar and feather Todd Dodge? Hey, it could happen. I sure wouldn't hire TD just because I think he'll bring his highly sought after son to Denton in the following year.
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I don't think that will be a factor at all. If Todd Dodge is hired, it will be for what he can do, not about what his son might do.

Odus Mitchell and Hayden Fry are the only coaches in our history (to my knowledge) whose sons played for their father at North Texas. All were good athletes, though perhaps not as gifted as Riley Dodge.

UNT74HM · December 6, 2006

I would hope that hiring Todd Dodge is completely independent of the possibility of his son being signed by UNT. My support of Todd Dodge is based upon what I have seen of his team. I watched his team beat Plano last year at Texas Stadium and then winning the state championship. Also, beating Trinity and Odessa Permian this year is no small feat. Southlake Carroll has won 45 consecutive games.

It would be best that Todd Dodge allow his son to choose where he wants to go. No doubt it would be to his son's advantage to go somewhere else in order to "make it on his own", rather than going to where his dad is coaching.

There have been posters on this board who are concerned that Todd Dodge's success is simply the result of working at a "winning" high school. They fail to mention that the coach that they favor may have worked at a "winning" university such as LSU. Who could fail as an assistant at LSU? Talk about an easy situation.

PlummMeanGreen · December 6, 2006

Answer me this. If Todd Dodge is hired, suppose his son Riley does not come to North Texas and opts for one of the "big time" programs. Will everyone be okay with that, or will they be looking to tar and feather Todd Dodge? Hey, it could happen. I sure wouldn't hire TD just because I think he'll bring his highly sought after son to Denton in the following year.
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Riley Dodge not coming to UNT if his dad were coach would not be a reason to warm up the tar for all the feathers. The young man should actually go where he feels he can contribute and be most comfortable. I'd bet that if his dad came to UNT, though, that UNT would get as big a chance of signing him to a letter of intent than any Texas non BCS schools, though.

Come on, folks, we will all be "what if'n" a whole bunch in the next new days/weeks; but the refreshing thing about all of this is that we have some choices of prospective coaches to even chat about. Last time we needed to hire a HFC at UNT, it had already been sealed and was a done deed.

runt96 · December 6, 2006

Riley Dodge not coming to UNT if his dad were coach would not be a reason to warm up the tar for all the feathers. The young man should actually go where he feels he can contribute and be most comfortable. I'd bet that if his dad came to UNT, though, that UNT would get as big a chance of signing him to a letter of intent than any Texas non BCS schools, though.
Come on, folks, we will all be "what if'n" a whole bunch in the next new days/weeks; but the refreshing thing about all of this is that we have some choices of prospective coaches to even chat about. Last time we needed to hire a HFC at UNT, it had already been sealed and was a done deed.
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i agree, we have three great candidates. the dodge choice should not be expected to be a "package deal". if given the choice of todd or riley, i believe most of us would choose todd. if riley chose to come here, however, he would be one of the most promising recruits we've landed in many years.

NT80 · December 6, 2006

My support of Todd Dodge is based upon what I have seen of his team. I watched his team beat Plano last year at Texas Stadium
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That was a good game.

FirefightnRick · December 6, 2006

The arguement that TD has been successful at SLC partly/mainly because he is at a well funded program is flawed. Highland Park is as funded as it comes, what national scene have they been on? Sure they won their division state champoinship last year, but that was only their third, ever. What about Coppell? They are just as well funded and have had one of the finest facilities in place longer than SLC has. Where is their 76-1 record that span two divisions over the past 4 seasons?

People claim that SLC only wins because they recruit players. If that is so, considering the average income in SLC is $135K and the average home is $284K in value, then who is paying for the players homes to move into the area? The Carroll district is one of the most Robbed district in the state, I just don't see how they could afford it, OR get away with it. At this point with so many eye's on them statewide, regionally and nationally, I can't see them ever getting away with it this long if it's happened. How many people who do have the means to live in that area have a top football prospect for a son?

And lets take this "They recruit players" a bit further.

1. If they recruit players, why don't they recruit the BIGGEST, FASTEST, STRONGEST players? For me, if I can choose any O lineman I want, then I'd have more than my share of Tongans from the Euless area moving into my district for sure.

2. What about against other competition that DOES actually go out and legally recruit players. Look at their game against Evangel Christain(LA) Private School earlier this year. Evangel is a scholarship mill football program that has been in the national spotlight for many years. They have placed many nationally ranked players in BCS programs around the country. They and schools like them are the closest thing to a professional high school athletic program. They go out and intentially and legally recruit the state and region for football talent and give them scholarships to attend. During this season, the week prior to their nationally televised game against Carroll they lost to another top Texas program, Lufkin(11-1) 24-14. The next week Carrol throttled them in an embarrasment on national TV 43-16. Coincidentally, Evangel is playing this weekend for the 1A State title in the Super Dome.

I suggest those that have these concerns and are worried about the possibility of TD getting the job here to simply get up and go see Carroll play this weekend. When you do, notice the size of their players. They are never the biggest,the fastest, nor the strongest guys on the field. But they usually are the most disciplined, and discipline overcomes a lot in football games. You can't get discipline from a realtor selling a house to a certain type of family, or a banker donating equipment, you get it from the coach.

Rick