State Of The Union

[Censored by Laurie]

I joined GMG about 3 months ago when I moved up to Connecticut in an effort to stay as connected as possible to my Alma Mater. I wish desperatly that I had known more about this site when I was in school and in the DFW area. I feel that we have the potential to be at the forefront of leading UNT athletics to a position of repsectability it has never achieved. Nobody has more passion and interest in seeing this program succeed than the 25-50 regular posters on here...however our sentiment is shared by only a small percent of our school and community population. I stated in a thread earlier that I am interested in using what connections I still have into developing programs and ideas that help us achieve these ends...I could care less how futile or pointless some on here could feel my efforts are...if nothing else it will help me pass the hours on a slow day at work.

The point of this thread is I want to gather everyone's opinion as to what they believe the state of UNT Athletics is today and where it should be 5, 10, 50 years down the line. What initiatives need to be taken by the administration, students and athletic department to help foster our program. Whatever ideas any of you have to improve attendance and awareness of UNT. Anything productive. I want to put together a GMG mission statement of sorts...compile a concensus of the varied opinions on this site and actually do something with the many wonderful ideas that get tossed out on this forum from time to time.

Lets try and keep this as close as one post per member as possible. This isn't a debate thread. I'm not asking who should be starting at QB against OU, is it a good thing Michael Sturns left or how does Tina Slinker still have a job. Give me your State of the Union speech on UNT athletics as a whole.

I'm sure something similar has been done on here...if not numerous times before. The difference this time around will be nobody fully understands how little of a life I have in a brand new state where I know about a totoal of 7 people...nor how much free time I have when work is slow. All ideas are appreciated.

[UNTflyer]

God I wish this season would just start already.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Mean Green Athletic Support Begins At The Top (as in the Alfred F. Hurley Administration Building)

PREFACE.............Let me begin by saying that I fully support Rick Villarreal as our AD and even did when he was not holding those promised quarterly meetings and (IMHO) busting his butt by extending a couple or so varsity coach's contracts mixed in with a few other very minor things. He is a public official and he knows what comes with that territory I'm sure. FWIW............many of us have probably not been the most perfect NT Exes as far as he is concerned, either; so it really is a 2 way street with such things, now isn't it?

Yet, to put it bluntly, I think Rick V will have a new lease on life as the UNT AD with a few fresh faces on the UNT Board of Regents. IMO, if you have a pro-active talent like our AD, you don't squelch such talent yet turn him loose and let him use his talents--not allow any UNT official to put their thumb on it to satisfy their own personal agenda. NOTE: People who are pro-active and doing things non-stop full steam ahead tend to goof up at times more than those who are merely going thru the motions, getting their paychecks and doing nothing up & beyond Bottom 25 performance to earn it. Give us those who goof up a whole bunch (in moderation, of course). I do think Rick V needs to tweak some of his present ancillery staff and I am not alone in that department. Proof is in the numbers (or the lack of numbers).

One past UNT president used to say "we will give you all that you will support." That IMHO, was about the half of it, because we will ultimately get what UNT leadership sets in motion for us to get. For instance, we will get the size stadium that the talent level, ie, abilities of our campus fund-raisers will allow us to get--that has nothing to do with many of us on this board (unless one of you has been with-holding info that you're ready to be our Big Donor). YET..............we better hope that our present leaders are thinking big; you know, thinking ahead to the future (not basing anything on our past) and with the knowledge that UNT is truly going to become the 2'nd largest university in the Lone Star State (per the Tx Higher Ed Coord. Board down in Austin).

1 Athletic Budget--Presently around $14 million--we need it to be "CUSA-sized" at about $20 million ASAP but for sure no later than 2012 (whether we're in CUSA or not). This is why those who are responsible for our turnstile count and annual athletic fund-raising are so vital for our short-term and long-term success. Are we running at full cylinders in those 2 departments?

2 UNT Human Resources: We Become Who We Ultimately Hire @ UNT..... One Example? Get in a room with about 250 people which includes College Football Hall of Famer Hayden Fry and see who gets most of the attention. Only wish Fry had been around when Denton County had its present population of almost 600,000 instead of the 99,000 rural-ites that the Texas Almanac reported was the demographic of Denton County in one of its mid 1970's editions. (OK, Young Gun Alums, relax, I am through with "Fry Talk" for now). :rolleyes:

True NCAA D1-A talent hires in Denton (no more "UNT is a training center for Notre Dame "would be" hires yet whose non-production even at our present level (using as our barometer fundraising, attendance and positive public relations skills toward every socio-economic level of the UNT constituency). If said athletic staff person is no cutting the mustard in Denton, then it may be because being employed at the NCAA D1-A level is not where they're supposed to be, ya' think?

If you're setting the woods on fire at UNT as an athletic ancillery staff person, then we should be kicking butt at the turnstiles and setting athletic fund-raising records on an annual basis--the 2 very things that have kept us where we've been the last 25 years or so. If our top leaders are hiring (and morally supporting) ancillery staff members who are not making an impact for UNT athletics as described by whatever their job description may be as well as plenty of years to prove themselves, aren't we (in a sense) doing that person a dis-service persevering their non-production while extending even more time for him/her to do such? Continuing Bottom 25 varsity athletics with no signs of improvement on the near horizon for those who've been around Denton, Texas, America, more than 5, 6 or more years means UNT powers obviously think there is no one else from coast-to-coast who can get the job done OR..............maybe UNT leadership (starting at the very top) are not doing their own jobs for Texas tax-payers by not raising the kind of questions that get asked by many on this very forum. FWIW, Rick V, Todd Dodge and Johnny Jones just cannot do all this by themselves.

WE BECOME WHO WE ULTIMATELY HIRE AT UNT... Few of us will be among those who decide if we build a 31,000 seat or 40,000 plus seat stadium in Denton. Yet...............each & every one of us will be the recipients of however many seats our new stadium ends up with for the next 40-50 years, though.

Edited July 9, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[DallasGreen]

THE VERY FIRST THING NEEDED IS TO STOP REINVENTING THE WHEEL AND LEARN FROM THE PAST:

Many of the younger persons on this board love to throw barbs at the Fry/Blakeley era, and downgrade its accomplishments. With FAR LESS funding, facilities & staff much more was accomplished. Both men and their staffs lived this program 24/7 and it showed. Communication was always positive, and fans were never, ever belittled in any way. Alienating your customers never accomplished anything positive. Also coaches and players never thought small and players never, ever went into a game thinking that they could in no way win nor be competitive. Never was theirs a money game, just a great opportunity to prove NT belonged. To go from this to that fateful night that Dr. Hurley called a small band of supporters together to say that we would drop to 1-AA was quite a blow to say the least. That was as close as I've ever seen in 50 years of watching NT football to seeing the plug pulled completely on the program. To the students who post here, a lot of us don't have too much more time to see this thing succeed. We are now fortunate enough to have leadership in place to see that it does succeed, but it all starts with you. Turn the tide now on those who think it's " not Cool" to support their university in its most visable arena - NCAA athletics. I find it so pathetic that with minimal praise and support from those who do attend games that our teams respond so positively. Personally I see no strength in just numbers alone so remind those who would belittle their university that they might consider going elsewhere because in essence they are just belittling themselves since they chose to attend NT. IMHO when a game kicks off tailgaters should be encouaged to go inside or else asked to leave if not in the stands by the end of the first quarter. This should be enforced by the University Police and those who refuse to leave cited for trespass. During games this area is reserved for students who attend the games and the university's alumni and fans----- not as a flop area for nar do wells.

Start to demand that the leaders set measureable goals and monitor their progress to know what we need. Demand more communication and delegation. Too much micromanagement results in failure to utilize available resources and petty infighting. Above all market those games that are difference makers. That all starts with biggest enemy this program has ever known in all these years--- SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY-- show them no quarter and show no mercy for 60 minutes by players and fans alike and NT will have taken the first step toward credability!!!

[PlummMeanGreen]

THE VERY FIRST THING NEEDED IS TO STOP REINVENTING THE WHEEL AND LEARN FROM THE PAST:

Many of the younger persons on this board love to throw barbs at the Fry/Blakeley era, and downgrade its accomplishments. With FAR LESS funding, facilities & staff much more was accomplished. Both men and their staffs lived this program 24/7 and it showed. Communication was always positive, and fans were never, ever belittled in any way. Alienating your customers never accomplished anything positive. Also coaches and players never thought small and players never, ever went into a game thinking that they could in no way win nor be competitive. Never was theirs a money game, just a great opportunity to prove NT belonged. To go from this to that fateful night that Dr. Hurley called a small band of supporters together to say that we would drop to 1-AA was quite a blow to say the least. That was as close as I've ever seen in 50 years of watching NT football to seeing the plug pulled completely on the program. To the students who post here, a lot of us don't have too much more time to see this thing succeed. We are now fortunate enough to have leadership in place to see that it does succeed, but it all starts with you. Turn the tide now on those who think it's " not Cool" to support their university in its most visable arena - NCAA athletics. I find it so pathetic that with minimal praise and support from those who do attend games that our teams respond so positively. Personally I see no strength in just numbers alone so remind those who would belittle their university that they might consider going elsewhere because in essence they are just belittling themselves since they chose to attend NT. IMHO when a game kicks off tailgaters should be encouaged to go inside or else asked to leave if not in the stands by the end of the first quarter. This should be enforced by the University Police and those who refuse to leave cited for trespass. During games this area is reserved for students who attend the games and the university's alumni and fans----- not as a flop area for nar do wells.

Start to demand that the leaders set measureable goals and monitor their progress to know what we need. Demand more communication and delegation. Too much micromanagement results in failure to utilize available resources and petty infighting. Above all market those games that are difference makers. That all starts with biggest enemy this program has ever known in all these years--- SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY-- show them no quarter and show no mercy for 60 minutes by players and fans alike and NT will have taken the first step toward credability!!!

Good stuff, DallasGreen...

If UNT goes outside the box and builds a 40,000 seat plus sized stadium, SMU will merely become an after-thought; especially with the kind of hire we have runnning our Mean Green football program now. Who knows, maybe even Dodge's eventual successor "in 15 or so years" will be as equally talented or more. The BSU Broncos didn't do too bad with their succession of HFC's now did they?

Edited July 9, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[the real grad88]

The state of UNT athletics is a complicated situation. I came to UNT in the mid 80s. We had just been dropped down to IAA. I got involved when we were in the Southland. I loved every minute of it...even with the inherent weaknesses of IAA ball.

The main thing about UNT has always been one of perception, which I do believe has improved over the years. When I was at UNT, it was not cool to be a big football supporter. I did so anyway. In addition to making it to every home game during all those years, I made the trip to Austin in 88 when we beat the Horns...we really did beat them. I have always felt that the "UNT experience" is what you put into it. If you sit back on the sidelines and watch passively without getting involved, then you carry with you the mindset that it really isn't worth my time...it's not big-time enough to be exciting, which is all pathetically small-minded.

While we have not truly turned the corner yet concerning perception, we are making strides. When this thing truly begins to build momentum, I do believe that it will surprise even the die-hards. We are ever so close to getting to that psychogical / self-perpetuating place of UNT football being the place to be...to it becoming really cool and exciting to be a part of the movement. If Dodge ball can be as exciting as we all think it will be, and if we can have the success over the next 4 or 5 years that we are all counting on, I do believe that this sleepy but awakening, lumbering giant will become a true beast on the college football scene. At that point sheer momentum will take over and people will jump on the bandwagon by the droves, including more and more money which we will need to climb to the next level.

Here is the real truth to the matter. We don't really need 75% of the student body and alums on fire for UNT football. Most big time programs don't even have that. We need at least 20% of each class at UNT to have a really great experience with UNT football. We had that happen for several years in a row with our recent Bowl trips. As you add those classes together over the years, it equals a large number of people who passionalty support the movement. I firmly believe that we are going to see 10K season ticket holders OR MORE under Dodge. That will be a huge influx of cash, which results in an ever-climbing spiral of momentum that will result in really big things.

With all of the above happening, it is only a matter of time before a CUSA comes calling or a revised WAC with a large eastern wing, OR a revived SWC. It will happen.

[Stan R]

Here is the real truth to the matter. We don't really need 75% of the student body and alums on fire for UNT football. Most big time programs don't even have that. We need at least 20% of each class at UNT to have a really great experience with UNT football. We had that happen for several years in a row with our recent Bowl trips. As you add those classes together over the years, it equals a large number of people who passionalty support the movement. I firmly believe that we are going to see 10K season ticket holders OR MORE under Dodge. That will be a huge influx of cash, which results in an ever-climbing spiral of momentum that will result in really big things.

With all of the above happening, it is only a matter of time before a CUSA comes calling or a revised WAC with a large eastern wing, OR a revived SWC. It will happen.

Excellent, excellent points, 88. People who are saying not much will change under TD I think are way off. I'm just glad that I have locked in my season tickets in the location that I have them at this point because I could see tickets in the good locations on the alumni side become more expensive and harder to get. And that is exactly the way we should want it to be.

[PlummMeanGreen]

The state of UNT athletics is a complicated situation. I came to UNT in the mid 80s. We had just been dropped down to IAA. I got involved when we were in the Southland. I loved every minute of it...even with the inherent weaknesses of IAA ball.

The main thing about UNT has always been one of perception, which I do believe has improved over the years. When I was at UNT, it was not cool to be a big football supporter. I did so anyway. In addition to making it to every home game during all those years, I made the trip to Austin in 88 when we beat the Horns...we really did beat them. I have always felt that the "UNT experience" is what you put into it. If you sit back on the sidelines and watch passively without getting involved, then you carry with you the mindset that it really isn't worth my time...it's not big-time enough to be exciting, which is all pathetically small-minded.

While we have not truly turned the corner yet concerning perception, we are making strides. When this thing truly begins to build momentum, I do believe that it will surprise even the die-hards. We are ever so close to getting to that psychogical / self-perpetuating place of UNT football being the place to be...to it becoming really cool and exciting to be a part of the movement. If Dodge ball can be as exciting as we all think it will be, and if we can have the success over the next 4 or 5 years that we are all counting on, I do believe that this sleepy but awakening, lumbering giant will become a true beast on the college football scene. At that point sheer momentum will take over and people will jump on the bandwagon by the droves, including more and more money which we will need to climb to the next level.

Here is the real truth to the matter. We don't really need 75% of the student body and alums on fire for UNT football. Most big time programs don't even have that. We need at least 20% of each class at UNT to have a really great experience with UNT football. We had that happen for several years in a row with our recent Bowl trips. As you add those classes together over the years, it equals a large number of people who passionalty support the movement. I firmly believe that we are going to see 10K season ticket holders OR MORE under Dodge. That will be a huge influx of cash, which results in an ever-climbing spiral of momentum that will result in really big things.

With all of the above happening, it is only a matter of time before a CUSA comes calling or a revised WAC with a large eastern wing, OR a revived SWC. It will happen.