The 10 Spot

Harry · December 14, 2006

10. The 10 Spot would hereby like to congratulate North Texas for hiring Todd Dodge, a wildly successful high school coach at Texas' Southlake Carroll, as its head football coach. That's something we would like to see more often. There are many terrific coaches at the high school level, and running a big-time high school program isn't that different than operating a small Division I operation. Of course, poor Gerry Faust nearly blew up the preps-to-college bridge permanently when he appeared overmatched when Notre Dame hired him straight out of Moeller High in 1981. Yes, running a college program, especially a major-college one, is about more than just Xs and Os -- there's the huge emphasis on recruiting as well as serving as the public face of a university. But you can't tell me that someone like coach J.T. Curtis of John Curtis High outside New Orleans, who has won 21 state titles, couldn't run a college program. I mention Curtis only because I know of him from my days covering prep football in Louisiana, back when I actually interviewed people and wrote normal stories, but there are others like him across the nation. It's just that college athletic directors are so worried about being second-guessed after the Faust fiasco that they don't want to take a chance. Similarly, a big-time high school coach isn't going to leave his relatively exalted spot to be, say, a low-paid running back coach at the college level. Anyway, we're rooting for Dodge to succeed so that more high school coaches get the same opportunity.

Stan R · December 14, 2006

Yes, but #2 is priceless:

2. The Cowboys will retain the famous hole-in-the-roof design in their new $1 billion stadium. Cowboys fans like to say the hole is so God can look down on his favorite team. The Cowboys will also dig a hole so Satan can watch his favorite wide receiver.

Green to the Bone · December 14, 2006

Amen, 10. RV pulled off a brilliant move precisely because it bucks conventional wisdom.

After all, conventional wisdom is so, well, conventional.

There should never, ever be anything safe or boring about football. Except taking a knee on the last possession when we're in the lead.

MeanGreenBuzz · December 14, 2006

This is why we needed the kind of hire that Todd Dodge is. High profile that will gain media attention everywhere, especially if he starts winning.

El Paso Eagle · December 15, 2006

This is why we needed the kind of hire that Todd Dodge is. High profile that will gain media attention everywhere, especially if he starts winning.
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WHEN

Baby Arm! · December 15, 2006

I guess it's unavoidable but I'm getting tired of the Gerry Faust comparison.

For the record, Faust wasn't a fiasco at Notre Dame. Faust did have a winning record while coaching the Irish. Faust did take his teams to bowl games. But it is Notre Dame, 7-5 finishes don't cut it. They measure success in National Championships. And as far as recruiting goes.... The seniors on Lou Holtz's National Championship team in 1988 were all Gerry Faust recruits. Tim Brown, ND's last Heisman winner, was a Gerry Faust recruit.