Darrell R. Dickey Football Practice Facility

PlummMeanGreen · June 20, 2007

In case you haven't noticed...the DD era is OVER! Can we stop talking about the guy please???? Let's look forward to the TD era, and talk about that...give UNT $1mm and you can name what you want...Fine by me. And, so sorry about Andrew Smith, but, can we move on from that too? It was a tragedy for sure, but it too is in the past...we need to remember Andrew, but let's move on....not trying to be insensitive here or hurt anyone's feelings (wouldn't want to do that), but let's honor Andrew by winning some football games and bringing Mean Green football back to respectability...where it rightly deserves to be. Let's look forward folks...I am tiring of this "bacward stuff" that comes up time and time again. Too much positive to look forward to...bring it on!

Sorry, KRAM1, but I agree to disagree................ there will be daily reminders of DD Ball & Black Jerseys at every practice session.

JayDub · June 20, 2007

Can we please get over the fucking black jerseys? It's over, it's done...jeez...

MeanGreen61 · June 20, 2007

The practice field name IS NOT the big deal that one or two are trying to make it. If some could put money where their mouth is, we could start building a new stadium tomorrow ! Please, let this thread fade away in peace.

rcade · June 20, 2007

I think it's a shame that we're honoring Coach Dickey so soon after he intentionally tried to embarrass the university with the black uniform stunt (and succeeded). He'll be remembered as one of the best coaches in school history, but I would've preferred to see the school drag its feet as long as possible before recognizing this fact. He went out like a clown. I think any school that hires him as a head coach should look long and hard at the last six months of his tenure at UNT.

Bryan316 · June 20, 2007

How often do the practice fields get mentioned? It's not going to be staring all of you who hate it in the face every day. They'll still be "the football/Athletic Center/Victory practice fields" when referred to by most of us.

Baby Arm! · June 20, 2007

Although I agree that the time had come to show Dickey the door, I have to acknowledge the contributions he made to the program while he was here. He did take the program to places it had never been to before. His teams did have a record conference winning streak, Did go to four consecutive bowl games. That is something that Plumm's Saint Hayden and every other NT team never accomplished. Yes DD's teams were never ranked, but then how many teams in NT history have ever been ranked? Even during St. Haydens tenure NT teams won some upset games but how many bowl games did they go to? Now before Plumm gets on his knees (again) in front of St Hayden, and talks about him being a Hall of Famer I'll go on record to and state that Fry got into the Hall of Fame based on his accomplishments at IOWA, not NT

PHSCoach · June 20, 2007

One question that is never answered is "Would UNT have the new AC without DD and Mac? It is my understanding that the money was needed and that pair were the only ones standing up to make it happen."

emmitt01 · June 21, 2007

I've said it before and I'll say it again...some of you live in lala land. Perhaps I missed that golden age of NT football where we were selling out Fouts and consistently playing for conference titles and top 25 rankings (You know, those things we slam Dickey for not bringing about in his tenure). I forgot how very far we must have fallen to have to settle for the "mediocrity" of 4 straight conference titles, 4 bowls and more local and national press than we have EVER HAD. And before anyone spares us to death further with how "satisfied" we must all be to recognize what Dickey accomplished look at it this way. This argument is like looking at a guy who never had a girlfriend, gets a date with a 7, loses her and then says how he recognizes the accomplishment of bedding some girl, ANY GIRL...only to have his friends say "oh well, if that's what you want to settle for" not taking into account that while he was shooting for Anna Kournikova all along was happy to bang Kelly Clarkson along the way. None of us are "happy" or "satisfied" with winning the belt but how backasswards is it to not recognize the baby steps?

PlummMeanGreen · June 21, 2007

Although I agree that the time had come to show Dickey the door, I have to acknowledge the contributions he made to the program while he was here. He did take the program to places it had never been to before. His teams did have a record conference winning streak, Did go to four consecutive bowl games. That is something that Plumm's Saint Hayden and every other NT team never accomplished. Yes DD's teams were never ranked, but then how many teams in NT history have ever been ranked? Even during St. Haydens tenure NT teams won some upset games but how many bowl games did they go to? Now before Plumm gets on his knees (again) in front of St Hayden, and talks about him being a Hall of Famer I'll go on record to and state that Fry got into the Hall of Fame based on his accomplishments at IOWA, not NT

Put Darrell Dickey and Hayden Fry in the same room with 100 people and see where most of those 100 will gravitate and which coach will impress the most the large majority of those 100. Sorry, but comparing DD with Hayden Fry borders on the ludicrous and I cannot believe anyone who should know any part UNT athletic history of the last 40 years would even begin to think other-wise.

PLAINLY................... Baby Arm, Darrell Dickey could not carry Hayden Fry's jock strap and most of the UNT community who've seen both in action know this. Yet you really don't think Hayden Fry could have as least equalled what DD did in the SBC? :rolleyes: How about the fact that Fry probably would have done more as a HFC in the SBC with even some high profile OOC wins and a Top 25 ranked team or 2 or 3 to boot? You know, somewhat like Boise State U has been doing of late?

To put it as nicely and tactful as I can: Hayden Fry never had a "wussy" of a rag-tag conference of schools of which we all know "one" :rolleyes: of which has (basically) fiddle-farted most of our last previous 25 years away athletically. And during our last 25 years what do we have to show as our main prizes at a higher profile? Well, I guess we can start with "near win" over UT in 1988 and an un-ranked UNT football team bowl win over a un-ranked Cincinnatti football team, right? Does that pretty well size it all up for our last quarter of a century in Denton, Texas, America? Well.............. hardly the kind of success story that mobilizes the masses to show up in record numbers at the turnstiles nor.................the kind that gets a "much needed" new football stadium built. One day in the future, TxDOT is going to ask us if we have our new stadium ready--how are UNT officials going to be able to answer their question? :blink:

Yet your boy Darrell Dickey, Baby Arm, showed the whole MG world what he was made of his last month on the UNT payroll. Many of us finally woke up, smelled the coffee and figured it out about him about 2 years prior to DD's last month at UNT (while we continued to have to listen to his non-stop sarcastic post-game show radio comments which, FWIW, finally caught up with him when he found out that he longer had any capital left among UNT leaders toward the end of his career in Denton.

Even worse are that there are still those on the UNT athletic payroll who are doing even less (at a Bottom 25 performance level they've been as much a part as DD himself). But I guess some of that group for some of you keeps those hot MG news nuggets coming at you regularly and with others of a hardy handful of you have some good drinking buddies.

Some of us just believe that the future 2'nd largest university in the entire state of Texas deserves a helluva' lot more than what we've been getting of late, and specifically, what we've been getting the last 2 1/2 decades--that's all.

Some of us find it funny that a few of you DD butt-lickers didn't just go ahead and help him find his way out of Denton for a high profile NCAA D1-A head football coaching gig since to some of you he (obviously) represented what big time college football was all about. Some of us are still trying to count all the significant OOC wins his 8 years produced. Anyone who wants to spend the next few hours listing all of those? :rolleyes: In fact, you who volunteer all your time to do this may just want to go ahead and list all those wins in alphabetical order. :blink:

As far as the UNT Athletic Center is concerned? What were we going to do with what has now become minimal facility expecations at most all NCAA D1-A outposts--go out to the late Rex Cauble's ranch and use his equine show barn? :unsure:

To quote one I've spoken to on this subject: "UNT's only hope with this dumb-ass naming thing is that that Houston mattress man better have some more big bucks (as he promised there would be in a newspaper article last year); but one has to wonder what demands he would put on UNT officials to do with another big finanical gift? (BTW, the mattress man of H-Town is even a controversial figure among those in the Houston sports world and its local sports media--of which not all of that is of a positive variety, either).

Until more of his monies are forthcoming, all he has done with his venue naming demands is hold our school hostage by slinging around his pocket book and telling UNT officials what they have to do with it because he said so (and with the kind of monies that would be mere pocket change at most other of the 119-member NCAA D1-A group. And speaking of of the upper echelon grouping of NCAA D1-A schools? With our past athletic history of 1 big step forward--3 big steps backwards, will UNT really ever be a part of that group that does not annually hang out in the Bottom 25? :unsure: Yet for some of our elect who even still go a bit over-board even over a freakin' jumbo-tron scoreboard, will it really matter as long as we they can see a few un-ranked SBC football championships while playing un-ranked teams in a bowl game that will probably (in due time) be snatched away by other non-BCS leagues that will be able to do much more with it?

I defer to the signature statement below:

Edited June 21, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

Baby Arm! · June 21, 2007

I think we need to start a collection to fund an operation that surgically removes Plumm's lips from Hayden Fry's ass :lol:

First off Plumm. Dickey is not my boy as you put it. Im not saying he was a better coach than Fry and yes, probably Fry could have done more in the Sun Belt than Dickey, and your 100 people in a room analogy I'll grant. Fry definately puts Dickey to shame with the cult of personality, But it looks like you worship at Fry's feet daily to the extent you have blinders on any other coaching achievements at UNT. Am I satisfied with where UNT football is today? No, Do we all want more? YES All I am saying is that you have to acknowledge the accomplishments during the Dickey tenure. I seem to remember up until the 2005 season you were yelling from the rooftops about the conference winning streak, the bowl games, etc.

Refresh my memory Plumm, how many weeks were Fry coached teams in the top 25?, how many bowl games did Fry coach NT to?,

One thing we know is you seem to change loyalties pretty quickly based on winning or losing seasons. We've seen how quick you did it with Dickey, and I'd wager you were'nt such a devoted worhiper of St. Fry when his NT teams were 5-5-1or 2-7-2 and losing to the likes of West Texas and Drake?

Bottom Line Fry was a great coach. Lengendary. And should be recognized with something at UNT, but naming rights are determined not only by accomplishment but by $$$ too. Dickey had a buddy with deep pockets,

eulesseagle · June 21, 2007

In 1953 John Wayne stared a movie, Trouble Along the Way, and played a new coach at a Catholic College trying to restart a college football program.

For a start up football program Wayne was not able to get very talented players because, naturally, they were all gravitating toward the larger programs. When the priests who oversaw the program announced the first year schedule, which Wayne had NO input he fell backwards. The Catholic priests scheduled Norte Dame, Boston College and Santa Clara.

I only bring this up because Coach DD had NO input into playing all the big money body bag games and games against some very talented Mid-Majors.

At the time UNT was a very big fish in a small pond with other conference schools in the very same situation. The SBC is a conference of parity. In the last two years another touchdown in 2005 would have beaten Troy, LaLa, FAU, LaMo, ASU and in 2006 would have ment wins over Troy, LaTech & FAU.

Coach Dickey was a good man and did what he could with his talents, period. I wish him the best of luck at USU and it is time to stop "living in the past" but look toward the future and what Coach TD will do. I am excited.

I stand in agreement with those who say that if anyone of you can come up with $1,000,000 (or more) as Mattress Mac did then you too can build something or name something but until then ya'll should thank MM for donating the money for a new practice facility that we would not have received except by his generosity and support of our program. It is amazing that someone can donate $1,000,000 and a group of you are ungratefull.

All things happen for a reason and if Coach Dickey departed a year earlier or a year later UNT may have missed its chance on getting Coach TD. If UNT had not have hired our new university Prez we may not have gotten TD.

Well Todo this don't look like Kansas.

GoMeanGreen1999 · June 21, 2007

So all Todd Dodge really has to do in Denton is keep MG football in the Bottom 25, not even be close to .500 in career wins/losses as HFC, stay here about a decade with not one ranked football team, have un-ranked teams while going to a few bowl games playing against un-ranked teams, genuflect every time Bobby Ray swaggers into the post-game locker room with cigar in hand, bad mouth his employer and NT Exes everywhere on the Mean Green Radio Network and then all but drop his drawers at Fouts Field to moon the entire UNT community in his last few games as Mean Green head football coach and then.....................
UNT WILL REWARD ALL THIS KIND OF TOMMYROT & MEDIOCRITY WITH ANYTHING NAMED AFTER HIM?
Sorry to say it, but its just more of the same from our almer mater's leadership that sets low goals, sometimes reaches some of them and then names things after some of those who helped us stay mediocre.
And name something after College Football Hall of Famer & ex UNT Coach Hayden Fry? Are you kiddin'.............this is North Texas we are talking about, folks.
PS: What happened to Jim "Bullies His Alma Mater" McIngvale and DD's suggestion to name all this after Andrew Smith? I think many would really like to know.

Great Post!

PlummMeanGreen · June 21, 2007

I think we need to start a collection to fund an operation that surgically removes Plumm's lips from Hayden Fry's ass
First off Plumm. Dickey is not my boy as you put it. Im not saying he was a better coach than Fry and yes, probably Fry could have done more in the Sun Belt than Dickey, and your 100 people in a room analogy I'll grant. Fry definately puts Dickey to shame with the cult of personality, But it looks like you worship at Fry's feet daily to the extent you have blinders on any other coaching achievements at UNT. Am I satisfied with where UNT football is today? No, Do we all want more? YES All I am saying is that you have to acknowledge the accomplishments during the Dickey tenure. I seem to remember up until the 2005 season you were yelling from the rooftops about the conference winning streak, the bowl games, etc.
Refresh my memory Plumm, how many weeks were Fry coached teams in the top 25?, how many bowl games did Fry coach NT to?,
One thing we know is you seem to change loyalties pretty quickly based on winning or losing seasons. We've seen how quick you did it with Dickey, and I'd wager you were'nt such a devoted worhiper of St. Fry when his NT teams were 5-5-1or 2-7-2 and losing to the likes of West Texas and Drake?
Bottom Line Fry was a great coach. Lengendary. And should be recognized with something at UNT, but naming rights are determined not only by accomplishment but by $$$ too. Dickey had a buddy with deep pockets,

First of all, I don't have to answer to anyone about my loyalty to UNT--I've never questioned any of your about yours, even if I don't agree with you on some things that we see as crucial about our alma mater's future welfare.

I supported DD for all but his last 2 years when even a Neanderthall or Crogmagnon (sp?) Man could have figured out that that man was not going to take us not much past SBC/Bottom 10 success; BTW, a "so called" success that did not capture the imagination of most of our NT constituency--least of all the local, regional and national media. Now some of you on this forum seem to have to resort to name-calling and personal snips and the sort because some of you can't quite come up with the gonads to admit that I'm (like many of you) actually right about a helluva' lot of things when it comes to the University of North Texas--quite frankly, some might say it sounds like some kind of personality deficiency on a few of your part who have to resort to such things. Call Dr. Phil..............I'm sure he could help some of you who have to act and post like any 8'th grader would with the way some of you post your responses. NOTE: When you have no real loyalties (and don't really want any) to anyone on the UNT campus, you really do have the pure-D freedom to express yourself on how you feel about what you see and hear about our school. Quite frankly, still way too many empty seats at our varsity sports venues should tell us much, but it never seems to, that is, to see all those empty seats of the last several years as a most crucial problem which at most upper echelon D1-A schools creates a need for a change for those responsible.

Second of all, we have way too many alums/fans who don't know their caca from their oatmeal when it comes to what kind of people you hire (across the board, you know, as in ancillery athletic personnel?") in order to have a higher profile college football program; or (again) what kind of ancillery personnel (Todd Dodge cannot & will not be able to do all this by himself, folks) that its eventually going to take for UNT to rise above such non-D1-A talent, rise above our norm, what UNT has traditionally been satisfied to live with and even now with the many of you who think those 4 bowl games at the SBC/Bottom 25 level were more than just OK for your own NCAA D1-A college football taste.

Most would have to admit, though, that (of late--like maybe a quarter of a century) our athletic goals have most always been set low and sometimes we've even actually reached them. Some of you even think as long as UNT basketball makes it to the 1'st round of the Big Dance that that is really all that we need to do at North Texas--never mind the fact that we've never won a 1'st round game. (So just ask yourself why all the sellouts at the Super Pit the last 25 years--hellsbells, driving over 1 hour to watch most of what we've had up there those last 25 years has even made what used to be a passion of mine become a thing of my past-----sue me).

Most of us know the difference between a Jaguar and a Buick, BA, and I also know which one of the two most of us would prefer to invest our monies.

Too many of our (obvious) differences of eras when we all attended North Texas will never allow us to really effectively and sensibly communicate on most any subject that compares any eras. Fry and Dickey are about as apples and oranges as they come. I will say this.............DD had much more in the area of facilities than Hayden Fry, Corky Nelson, Dennis Parker, Elmer Phud-Pucker or any other coach we've seen come and go thru Denton (and BTW, only one had the right stuff to make it to the next next level); but once again, we are talking different eras; you know, apples & oranges?

I'm out on this subject because its really going nowhere--sorta' like our, uh, UNT Law School? I am just not very proud of our alma mater these days if you haven't picked up on that theme and the main reasons for that being because of who we just keep on hiring (and who we seem to keep on the payroll eternally no matter the lack of production); and when it should be obvious to UNT hiring authorities that just too many of them seem to cannot do their job even after having plenty of time to produce.

Have A Nice Day--Have A Nice Life!

Edited June 21, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

ADLER · June 21, 2007

There is one thing that I can be fairly sure about. Darrell R. Dickey didn't invent the Ford Mustang, but that may change in the next 30 years or so.

Look, let's stop beating a dead horse here. North Texas has several football legends that are certainly more deserving than Dickey of having facilities and monuments dedicated to them; Haynes, Greene, Hardeman, Ramsay, Fry, and Cobbs are just a few.

Although I believe that Dickeys accomplishments are also worthy of recognition, I believe that it would be better to follow the NFL's example of waiting at least 5 years after that person's departure before dedicating anything. Truthfully, who thinks it wouldn't be awkward at best if Dickey spoke at the dedication of a facility being named in his honor. I dread to think what venom would be laced in that dribble.

June 21, 2007

This is not about Hayden Fry vs. Darrell Dickey. It is not about Dickey's record or accomplishments. It is not about who might be deserving or who isn't.

The criteria is about money amount, pure and simple. McIngvale's million dollar contribution gave him the right to name the practice field. It could have been the Gallery Furniture Practice Field, the Jim McIngvale Practice Field, or whatever he wished as long as it was clean and met the Board of Regents approval. He chose to name it after his friend Darrell Dickey. That would be the end of any controversy except that DD finally opted to name it after Andrew Smith. This was apparently AFTER Jim's proposal to name it after Darrell R. Dickey was submitted. The BOR only accepts or rejects what is presentated to it so apparently there was no change submitted.

So, regardless of what we think about the greatness of Hayden Fry, Joe Greene, Abner Haynes or whomever or the classless exit of Coach Dickey, the naming criteria was met. Had it not been, the Board of Regents would not have approved the name. I don't have a problem with that.

KingDL1 · June 21, 2007

This is not about Hayden Fry vs. Darrell Dickey. It is not about Dickey's record or accomplishments. It is not about who might be deserving or who isn't.
The criteria is about money amount, pure and simple. McIngvale's million dollar contribution gave him the right to name the practice field. It could have been the Gallery Furniture Practice Field, the Jim McIngvale Practice Field, or whatever he wished as long as it was clean and met the Board of Regents approval. He chose to name it after his friend Darrell Dickey. That would be the end of any controversy except that DD finally opted to name it after Andrew Smith. This was apparently AFTER Jim's proposal to name it after Darrell R. Dickey was submitted. The BOR only accepts or rejects what is presentated to it so apparently there was no change submitted.
So, regardless of what we think about the greatness of Hayden Fry, Joe Greene, Abner Haynes or whomever or the classless exit of Coach Dickey, the naming criteria was met. Had it not been, the Board of Regents would not have approved the name. I don't have a problem with that.

Very Well Said!!!!

foutsrouts · June 21, 2007

It's certainly something worthy of discussion, but it's definitely not something worth arguing about. Dickey showed a lack of class when he exited, but he was in charge when we stuffed our trophy case over a four year period. Even for those who seriously dislike DD, it was Mac's money and I have no problem at all with his naming rights.

NT80 · June 21, 2007

Fry's teams would have wiped up the newbie SunBelt more than 4 straight years. He was not in a conference that had a built-in Bowl invite like the SunBelt; only about 10 bowls back then, only a couple spots for at large teams. Fry did have NT in the Top 20 out of all colleges (no 1-AA back then). Dickey had NT in the Top 70 of 115 once. To compare Fry to Dickey is uncomparable.

Edited June 21, 2007 by NT80

UNTLifer · June 21, 2007

I have no problem with differing opinions, but PMG, please be careful when being critical of people.

Yet for some of our elect who even still go a bit over-board even over a freakin' jumbo-tron scoreboard,

Let's take your quote above for instance. When the scoreboard was new, all you did was lace every one of your epics with tales of the greatness of the Daktronics scoreboard that would be move across 35 to the new stadium located at the convergence of two of the busiest interstates in the universe on X number of acres of prime TX prairie land.

I'm out on this subject because its really going nowhere--sorta' like our, uh, UNT Law School? I am just not very proud of our alma mater these days if you haven't picked up on that theme and the main reasons for that being because of who we just keep on hiring (and who we seem to keep on the payroll eternally no matter the lack of production); and when it should be obvious to UNT hiring authorities that just too many of them seem to cannot do their job even after having plenty of time to produce.

Please share names. Are you critical of the Dodge hire? Who on the payroll, other than Slinker, do you have definitive proof of not performing up to standard?

To put it as nicely and tactful as I can: Hayden Fry never had a "wussy" of a rag-tag conference of schools of which we all know "one" of which has (basically) fiddle-farted most of our last previous 25 years away athletically. And during our last 25 years what do we have to show as our main prizes at a higher profile? Well, I guess we can start with "near win" over UT in 1988 and an un-ranked UNT football team bowl win over a un-ranked Cincinnatti football team, right? Does that pretty well size it all up for our last quarter of a century in Denton, Texas, America? Well.............. hardly the kind of success story that mobilizes the masses to show up in record numbers at the turnstiles nor.................the kind that gets a "much needed" new football stadium built. One day in the future, TxDOT is going to ask us if we have our new stadium ready--how are UNT officials going to be able to answer their question?

Come on Plum, you can't have it both ways. You were singing NT's praises from the mountain tops after every conference title and even moreso after the Cincinnatti win. BTW, how many of those bowl games did you attend? Also, do you really think RV and Dodge are stretching the truth when talking to recruits about a new stadium? If so, what facts do you have?

You are critical of us receiving money from Mattress Mac, but I seem to remember you scaling that same mountain to sing his praises when the donation was made.

You need to let the bitterness go and realize that NT has a chance to really move forward in the next couple of years. True, the facilities were in a major need of an upgrade, but until recent administrators arrived, Pohl, RV and Baitalle, these would still be just a dream. Heck, we probably would be back in 1AA ball if it wasn't for them. You can't look at the Eagle Point development and not be excited about the future. They didn't build the AC for it to sit out there for years with no stadium attached. You act like Mattress Mac is our only big money contributor. What about Mr. Warranch? What about the Goldfield's? What about the Lovelace's? Two of them also have facilities named after them, and I would be that Goldfield ain't far behind. Mac put up the money to have the right to name the facility. Don't like it? Then pony up the cash and rename it. Otherwise, leave the bitterness behind. Your quarter page rants aren't much different than Mac's full page newspaper ads.

Edited June 21, 2007 by UNTLifer

Censored by Laurie · June 21, 2007

In the past 3 days I've wanted to go from strangling Plumm...to giving him the biggest hug it may accomplish both of my goals. He could not be more right on with his sentiment. UNT has a fair amount of tradition...yet so few people know about it because we don't honor our true legends. Someone a few weeks ago started a thread for a UNT Mt. Rushmore...and I don't recall DD making the majority of people's lists. Hayden Fry, Joe Greene, Abner Hayes, Steve Ramsey, Booger Kennedy, Ray Renfro...these are legit football names who have absolutly no recognition at our school. You could ask the average GOOD sports fan at UNT who Hayden Fry was and his answer is the former coach of Iowa...most don't even realize he coached here. Why? Because we haven't addequatly honored him.

Andrew Smith brought us a bowl victory and deserves some sort of memorial. Was he ever going to be a legendary player? No, probably not...but he is a huge part of UNT football history whose tragically early passing deserves some sort of respect

DD was also a HUGE part of our football story. While he did strive for mediocrity...that mediocrity did bring us 4 bowl games and one bowl win. It brought us wins over Texas Tech and Baylor...and we shouldve beat TCU in Ft. Worth in 02...but he also gave a big F@CK YOU to the school on his way out.

All that having been said...there is a place on the UNT campus for something named after Darrell Dickey...just not yet. It has been less than a year since he's been fired...less than a year since the black jersey fiasco...and clearly it is still weighing heavy on the mind of many UNT fans and there needed to be some time allowed to pass. If nothing else...it sends a TERRIBLE message to Todd Dodge. DD was 41-62 (I believe) AND that is worthy of immediate gratification...it shows the level of mediocrity this school is willing to accept.

DD should be honored in some way...however the line he should've waited in is long and formed to the left...guess he knew the bouncer

Eagle1855 · June 21, 2007

In the past 3 days I've wanted to go from strangling Plumm...to giving him the biggest hug it may accomplish both of my goals. He could not be more right on with his sentiment. UNT has a fair amount of tradition...yet so few people know about it because we don't honor our true legends. Someone a few weeks ago started a thread for a UNT Mt. Rushmore...and I don't recall DD making the majority of people's lists. Hayden Fry, Joe Greene, Abner Hayes, Steve Ramsey, Booger Kennedy, Ray Renfro...these are legit football names who have absolutly no recognition at our school. You could ask the average GOOD sports fan at UNT who Hayden Fry was and his answer is the former coach of Iowa...most don't even realize he coached here. Why? Because we haven't addequatly honored him.
Andrew Smith brought us a bowl victory and deserves some sort of memorial. Was he ever going to be a legendary player? No, probably not...but he is a huge part of UNT football history whose tragically early passing deserves some sort of respect
DD was also a HUGE part of our football story. While he did strive for mediocrity...that mediocrity did bring us 4 bowl games and one bowl win. It brought us wins over Texas Tech and Baylor...and we shouldve beat TCU in Ft. Worth in 02...but he also gave a big F@CK YOU to the school on his way out.
All that having been said...there is a place on the UNT campus for something named after Darrell Dickey...just not yet. It has been less than a year since he's been fired...less than a year since the black jersey fiasco...and clearly it is still weighing heavy on the mind of many UNT fans and there needed to be some time allowed to pass. If nothing else...it sends a TERRIBLE message to Todd Dodge. DD was 41-62 (I believe) AND that is worthy of immediate gratification...it shows the level of mediocrity this school is willing to accept.
DD should be honored in some way...however the line he should've waited in is long and formed to the left...guess he knew the bouncer

Well-said, and I agree with the sentiments expressed.

My only point of contingency is quite simply the fact that Mattress Mack donated that money and the AD accepted and by doing so, he is entitled to have that thing named whatever the hell he wants.

untbowler · June 21, 2007

I would just assume they named a urinal after DD seeing as how he pissed on the fans for 9 years we could get payback, but not being vindictive a practice field will do for now. :unsure:

UNTLifer · June 21, 2007

In the past 3 days I've wanted to go from strangling Plumm...to giving him the biggest hug it may accomplish both of my goals. He could not be more right on with his sentiment. UNT has a fair amount of tradition...yet so few people know about it because we don't honor our true legends. Someone a few weeks ago started a thread for a UNT Mt. Rushmore...and I don't recall DD making the majority of people's lists. Hayden Fry, Joe Greene, Abner Hayes, Steve Ramsey, Booger Kennedy, Ray Renfro...these are legit football names who have absolutly no recognition at our school. You could ask the average GOOD sports fan at UNT who Hayden Fry was and his answer is the former coach of Iowa...most don't even realize he coached here. Why? Because we haven't addequatly honored him.
Andrew Smith brought us a bowl victory and deserves some sort of memorial. Was he ever going to be a legendary player? No, probably not...but he is a huge part of UNT football history whose tragically early passing deserves some sort of respect
DD was also a HUGE part of our football story. While he did strive for mediocrity...that mediocrity did bring us 4 bowl games and one bowl win. It brought us wins over Texas Tech and Baylor...and we shouldve beat TCU in Ft. Worth in 02...but he also gave a big F@CK YOU to the school on his way out.
All that having been said...there is a place on the UNT campus for something named after Darrell Dickey...just not yet. It has been less than a year since he's been fired...less than a year since the black jersey fiasco...and clearly it is still weighing heavy on the mind of many UNT fans and there needed to be some time allowed to pass. If nothing else...it sends a TERRIBLE message to Todd Dodge. DD was 41-62 (I believe) AND that is worthy of immediate gratification...it shows the level of mediocrity this school is willing to accept.
DD should be honored in some way...however the line he should've waited in is long and formed to the left...guess he knew the bouncer

I understand your post completely, but please answer one question for me. What has UT named after Earl Campbell, Kenneth Sims, Vince Young, etc... or TCU named after LT or Bob Lilly? Players don't typically have facilities named after them, the folks that donate the cash do.

PlummMeanGreen · June 21, 2007

This is not about Hayden Fry vs. Darrell Dickey. It is not about Dickey's record or accomplishments. It is not about who might be deserving or who isn't.
The criteria is about money amount, pure and simple. McIngvale's million dollar contribution gave him the right to name the practice field. It could have been the Gallery Furniture Practice Field, the Jim McIngvale Practice Field, or whatever he wished as long as it was clean and met the Board of Regents approval. He chose to name it after his friend Darrell Dickey. That would be the end of any controversy except that DD finally opted to name it after Andrew Smith. This was apparently AFTER Jim's proposal to name it after Darrell R. Dickey was submitted. The BOR only accepts or rejects what is presentated to it so apparently there was no change submitted.
So, regardless of what we think about the greatness of Hayden Fry, Joe Greene, Abner Haynes or whomever or the classless exit of Coach Dickey, the naming criteria was met. Had it not been, the Board of Regents would not have approved the name. I don't have a problem with that.

And who has been in charge of the UNT Board of Regents of late? Was it the same one who "un-fired" DD at ULM back in 2001?

Hmmm? :unsure: Well, lets see.............was it the short feller who used his state-appointed title and influence to get his grandson a seat on the UNT varsity baskeball team's beach? Did any of you with grandsons get the same opportunity? Even you who have given some Big Bucks?

Hmmm? :unsure: What else may he have abused (all above board, of course) with his title of Chairman of the UNT Board of Regents?

Hmmm? :unsure: We all know the UNT financial endowment coffers grew very little under his watch; but, of course, instead of leading our school in making sure all our campus fund-raisers were in place, Bobby Ray was a litte too busy going on family vacations with the Dickey family and being our Co-Athletic Director and still.............was the very one who veto'd Rick Villarreal's original firing of DD after that ULM loss in 2001.

Hmmm? :unsure: Did our real AD, ie, one Mr. Rick Villarreal foresee something many of our elect probably didn't with Darrell Dickey? Like maybe this coach's MG football teams would compete "only" with SBC schools and that was about it? Significant OOC wins? That would merely become a Mean Green pipe dream for the last 8 years.

Hmmm? :unsure: Did Rick V back in 2001 fire the HFC (even further under .500 back then); but did AD Villarreal foresee for UNT a coach that would not only take the Mean Green football team to some bowl games, but would also have some of those teams ranked in the Top 25? Maybe Rick V back in 2001 saw a coach like we have now who would galvanize most of our UNT community? As I recall back in 2001, DD was no more popular then than he became to most his last 2 years on the UNT payroll.

Hmmm? :unsure: If DD's successor would have created Top 25 football, a la Boise State, might our stumbling/bumbling alma mater have had a dramatically more marketable product to (proudly) present to CUSA commish Brit Banwosky and then with our (subsequently) being voted in because of a CUSA press release from Banowsky's offices that might have said something like this: The University of North Texas brings to our league a Top 25 football program and we look forward to all other schools setting their own bars as high as the Mean Green have?

Hmmm? :unsure: But we don't make decisions at UNT to get us out of our previous last 25 years quagmire of an excuse of an upwardly bound D1-A athletic program, now do we? Yet we do persevere the careers of those who have kept us there and that's for damn sure.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW & THOUGHT, I CAN NEVER, EVER BLAME AD RICK VILLARREAL FOR ALL THIS MESS (most of which he inherited): Actually, I think RV is one of a few in our athletic department with the talents to move upward in D1-A; in fact, I even thought that when I was disgusted with some of his moves the last few years at UNT.

WE CANNOT BLAME RICK VILLARREAL--REALLY WE CAN'T..................UNT AD Rick V had the gonads to do the right thing in 2001 with his post-game firing of Darrell Dickey, but then in true UNT fashion, we have riding in on his white horse self-appointed co-AD Bobby Ray's who came up with his idea to "un-fire" Darrell Dickey. Now an "un-firing" which now has our school in a very awkward position of having to name anything after a coach that is 18 games under .500; with that same ex UNT head football coach whose next job after his 8 years at UNT would be as an assistant coach :rolleyes: at a lower level non-BCS school. And with this ex UNT head football coach who basically shot to each and every one of you the finger as he dropped his drawers for all to see his moon-light over Miami, or at least I should say moon-light over Fouts Field during his last month on payroll.

Some of you Young Gun Alums may not realize this, but we actually did have a school and athletic program before you were all born, even while you were merely gleams in your respective father's eyes, and for the love al all things good, we older nestor alums can only hope yall don't have to spend the next 25 years banging your heads against a wall of non-stop poor hirings that no one else will hire away from us so (therefore) we get stuck with non-producers (turnstile counts, folks, turnstile counts AND...........MG Club fund-raising totals of the last 10 or so years might give some of you more astute alums the ones who have been in charge of that for many years; anyway, we only hope your next 25 years includes better hirings rather than some of what one Texas Ex once laughingly told me were some of the worst consortium of hirings in all of NCAA Division One.

IMHO.........RICK V IS REALLY THE MAN FOR OUR MOST UNIQUE AD JOB AT UNT: That is, if our chairman of the BOR's will just leave him alone and let RV do his job): I think now more than ever that once UNT AD Rick V rids himself of the deadwood he inherited upon his hiring AND............. if the UNT Board of Regents don't hamstring RV, that he now knows what he needs to have on his ancillery staff (across the board) to make our school's athletic program a non-Bottom 25 success; you know, like he really wanted to get started with that goal when he fired Darrell Dickey after the ULM loss in 2001?

Edited June 21, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen