Coach Dickey Update

[Got5onIt]

You remember the wide open draw play don't you?

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

[Quoner]

Dickey touched me.

[UNTflyer]

With Dickey running the offense, one would expect the Aggies to be a bit more wide open.

Oh, I was confused there... for a minute I thought they were talking about Darrell Dickey, former head coach of UNT.

[Zeke]

NT would have still gone to 4 consecutive conference titles if Simon had stayed, if Emmitt coached, if FFR was the diet coke boy etc. That had nothing to do with DD, it had all to do with moving into a start-up (football wise) conference at the right time in his coaching career.

I am far from a DD supporter but this is pretty off base. YES, DD benefitted with a weak conference and therfore was able to take us to a few bowl games that were not available to NT coaches before him. To say that he just lucked into some of those great teams though, is a little silly. Those were great teams that DD put together. After the last 2 seasons though, it was seriously time for a change.

[EagleMBA]

I have nothing bad to say about DD, but it was time for him to move on. I'm grateful for the successful years we enjoyed under DD and am looking forward to much better days ahead with TD. One thing I could never understand during the DD era was his seeming inability to make adjustments. He was a good QB in his day; RF was a good QB in his day. We had good talent here during their tenure. I will always wonder why those guys could not come up with an offense that could put up points.

[DeepGreen]

Aggie fans should start working on that long gone, but not forgotten NT cheer "THROW THE DAMN BALL!"

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

Dickey touched me.

Yeah, and you liked it.

By the way, Dickey kicked my dog and I heard he was selling crack down on the corner.

[JayDub]

LMAO...the only thing DD had wide open at NT was a can of Beer

You kinda had to respect that, though.

[FirefightnRick]

In 9 seasons our offense averaged 107th overall. You couldn't make this crap up...unless your Buffallo, or Temple?

In those 9 seasons NT never earned a single win over a notable OOC opponent that the defense did not also score in, including our one bowl victory.

Our defense would eventually become one of the nations best between 2001 and 2003 to the tune of 3rd nationally in "scoring defense", and 9th overall in "Total Defense".

During their online "Guess The Score" T Shirt contest prior to our game with them during the famous conference winning streak, I refused to predict the score, but rather chose to predict that ULL wouldn't cross the 50 yard line more than twice during the game. I lost, they crossed once.

If anyone wants to credit as to who was possibly the most responsible for the trips to New Orleans and the 26 game conference winning streak I'd say our defense might be a good place to start and the dude who bult it.

WELCOME TO GARY DELOACH FOOTBALL PRACTICE FACILITY.

Rick

Edited July 25, 2007 by FirefightnRick

[SilverEagle]

I've said this more than once, and following Rick's post would be a good place to say it again.

We once had a coach (Jerry Moore) who coached us to a 11-11 record in two years at North Texas. Texas Tech couldn't wait to hire him away from us at the end of the 1980 season.

Dickey's teams had two national rushing champions, a record setting conference winning streak, and four trips to the NO bowl.

When this happens, the market usually reponds, by hiring the coach responsible for these accomplishments away from a school like North Texas. Yet, how did the market respond to this?

They hired Gary Deloach away from us.

I'm not mad at DD. He is who he is. I'm mad at the lazy SOB that hired him in the first place without assessing other viable candidates. And then, I'm mad/disappointed at the "powers that be" at North Texas (above RV) who wouldn't let him do his job when he wanted to.

[GreenMachine]

I am far from a DD supporter but this is pretty off base. YES, DD benefitted with a weak conference and therfore was able to take us to a few bowl games that were not available to NT coaches before him. To say that he just lucked into some of those great teams though, is a little silly. Those were great teams that DD put together. After the last 2 seasons though, it was seriously time for a change.

Even during the first two years of our run, NT had far superier athletes compared to the rest of the league and we won those games due to that athleticism, certainly not coaching. I don't hate DD at all and am not bashing him in the least but I truly believe that if Simon had stayed with NT during those same 4 years, the results would have been the same.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

To say that any Sun Belt team had talent that was "far superior" to any other Sun Belt team is absurd. It's as far-fethced as anything I've ever read here. Every Sun Belt team was saddled with 1- and 2- star players with an occassional 3-star guy mixed in. Most of the teams were making the jump from I-AA just like we did - or in FAU and FIU's case, starting from the ground up. To say any one school had a leg up on the other is ridiculous.

Also, our Sun Belt foes played the same people year in and year out that we did. They took their lumps from SEC and Big 12 teams, then came back to play each other. It wasn't rocket science. Same schools, over and over, year in and year out. Yet, no one else could put together the streak that DD did. No other coach in our crappy little conference could do it.

Take it for what it is worth. All I know is that, when I was a student here from 1990-1995, we didn't have jack for a football team and were a losing program even at the I-AA level. Under Dickey, that changed for a bit, and at a higher level. It wasn't luck.

[greenminer]

To say that any Sun Belt team had talent that was "far superior" to any other Sun Belt team is absurd. It's as far-fethced as anything I've ever read here. Every Sun Belt team was saddled with 1- and 2- star players with an occassional 3-star guy mixed in. Most of the teams were making the jump from I-AA just like we did - or in FAU and FIU's case, starting from the ground up. To say any one school had a leg up on the other is ridiculous.

Also, our Sun Belt foes played the same people year in and year out that we did. They took their lumps from SEC and Big 12 teams, then came back to play each other. It wasn't rocket science. Same schools, over and over, year in and year out. Yet, no one else could put together the streak that DD did. No other coach in our crappy little conference could do it.

Take it for what it is worth. All I know is that, when I was a student here from 1990-1995, we didn't have jack for a football team and were a losing program even at the I-AA level. Under Dickey, that changed for a bit, and at a higher level. It wasn't luck.

Point taken. Just to play a little counter-argument (which I'm guilty of frequently), I don't think it took a genius to identify the playmakers we had on defense during the streak...especially during the 2nd and 3rd year. We had players on that side of the ball that IMO were far and away outplaying Sun Belt opposition. Sure they were 1 and 2 stars, and we were taking our OOC lumps just like the rest of the league, but how many of the other Belters were watching our game against Simms and UT and going, "EIGHT sacks?!". or "they just shut down the first teamers for 2 quarters..." Maybe I'm wearing the green-tinted glasses on that loss, or the TCU game; perhaps someone can refresh me what the rest of the league was doing at that time that could be considered comparable.

I agree it wasn't luck. DD can attach his name to the streak, and I'm appreciative towards him for what he did (minimal or not). But our successes were due in large part to DeLoach. The moment he left the decline in our defensive performance was marked and consistent. And we didn't have an offense to compensate for that decline.

[UNTLifer]

Dickey douched me.

There, fixed.

[Cr1028]

Take it for what it is worth. All I know is that, when I was a student here from 1990-1995, we didn't have jack for a football team and were a losing program even at the I-AA level. Under Dickey, that changed for a bit, and at a higher level. It wasn't luck.

In fairness, Simon won the Southland Conference in his first year 1994 before we joined I-A in 1995. If you look at Dickey's records in the Big West, he actually did worse than Simon did. The Sunbelt was the best thing that could've happened to Darrell Dickey, otherwise he'd have been fired after '01.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Point taken. Just to play a little counter-argument (which I'm guilty of frequently), I don't think it took a genius to identify the playmakers we had on defense during the streak...especially during the 2nd and 3rd year. We had players on that side of the ball that IMO were far and away outplaying Sun Belt opposition. Sure they were 1 and 2 stars, and we were taking our OOC lumps just like the rest of the league, but how many of the other Belters were watching our game against Simms and UT and going, "EIGHT sacks?!". or "they just shut down the first teamers for 2 quarters..." Maybe I'm wearing the green-tinted glasses on that loss, or the TCU game; perhaps someone can refresh me what the rest of the league was doing at that time that could be considered comparable.

I agree it wasn't luck. DD can attach his name to the streak, and I'm appreciative towards him for what he did (minimal or not). But our successes were due in large part to DeLoach. The moment he left the decline in our defensive performance was marked and consistent. And we didn't have an offense to compensate for that decline.

Fair enough, but some other Sun Belt teams hung well with OOC foes as well:

FAU on lost to Hawaii by 7 in 2004 or 2005

FIU stayed pretty close to Kansas State a couple of years ago, and almost upset South Florida and Maryland last year.

When they were in our conference, Idaho almost upset Arizona in Tuscon, beat San Diego State and Washington State, and hung in there with Oregon State once.

Do I need to go on? Troy beating Brad Mith-led Mizzou?

I mean, every school in the Sun Belt has hung on (and I mean kept the game within 14 points - two scores) against a bigger school in a bigger conference. The point is, even after hanging in with big guys, and occassionally beating one or two, they still came back to the Belt and couldn't beat DD-coached teams. You don't luck into 26 game conference win streaks and four conference titles.

Those coaches and players on our 2001-2004 teams worked hard and played well. Too many people here put on blinders to what success we had. I can't because I sat through losing to the Sam Houston States and Missouri States and McNeese States back in the early 90s. I mean, we were having Division II Abilene Christian on our schedule back then. In 1991, Nevada beat us 72-0. It was bad football!

DD gave us good years, success far beyond being demolished 72-0 by the likes of Nevada. It's sad that some people can't just accept it.

Edited July 25, 2007 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[Cr1028]

DD gave us good years, success far beyond being demolished 72-0 by the likes of Nevada. It's sad that some people can't just accept it.

Like getting beat 50-2 by mighty Tulsa? or 35-0 by the mighy Blue Raiders?

Greenminer is right, when the defensive studs and Scott Hall were gone, DD didn't show much at all.

Edited July 25, 2007 by Cr1028

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Like getting beat 50-2 by mighty Tulsa? or 35-0 by the mighy Blue Raiders?

Greenminer is right, when the defensive studs and Scott Hall were gone, DD didn't show much at all.

Case in point - a "fan" who overlooks four bowl trips because of two games. So, I guess you'd trade wins over Tulsa and Middle Tennessee State for a win over an OOC more often, and no bowl trips? Sad.

And, by the way, greenminer and I agree on alot more than you know about. He's actually a poster who can address issues logically. We've had a few conversations in messages. He's not a DD-flamer. He appreciates what happened here and wants success in the future.

The difference between fans like me and greenminer and you, is that we accept success when it is here. We don't shove it out the door or dismiss it over a couple of bad seasons. In other words, we're not spoiled.

Edited July 25, 2007 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[greenminer]

Case in point - a "fan" who overlooks four bowl trips because of two games. So, I guess you'd trade wins over Tulsa and Middle Tennessee State for a win over an OOC more often, and no bowl trips? Sad.

Not sure what to make of this. Those drubbings by Tulsa and MTSU happened when the d-stars were gone, and we weren't going to bowl games anyway.

Edited July 25, 2007 by greenminer

[Cr1028]

Not sure what to make of this. Those drubbings by Tulsa and MTSU happened when the d-stars were gone, and we weren't going to bowl games anyway.

That is the point I was trying to make and then all of a sudden I don't like winning bowl games. I guess we were supposed to hang on to DD until we have enough luck to get another D-coordinator stud who can recruit future NFL-caliber d-linemen and backers.

I just want to remind everyone that DD was a qb and never anything but an offensive coach. Any success the defense put up, you cannot give to him. You have to give that to Deloach and company, like FFRick has said. How were our offensive numbers through our bowl run?

Edited July 25, 2007 by Cr1028

[Cooley]

DD gave us good years, success far beyond being demolished 72-0 by the likes of Nevada. It's sad that some people can't just accept it.

The newly formed Sunbelt Conference gave us 4 good years (relatively speaking) than DD. The new schools caught up and passed UNT in a big way the last 2 seasons; as we have gone 2-9. Less than 1 year removed from the program, the Sunbelt coaches have picked us next to last.

A fair question:

If the same Darrell Dickey, with the same coaching and recruiting philosophy, was named the new coach at UNT today, how many league championships would he win? (over the next 9 years) Moreover, do you feel that he (or any other Sunbelt program) will ever win 26 consecutive conference games again? If not, then it would be safe to assume that the start up league did benefit Mr Dickey in a big way.

It is time to move on, but history should not reflect that Darrell Dickey was something special to this program. Great coaches don't leave UNT for lateral moves and/or demotions.

For the sake of Utah State fans, hope that Darrell "Wide Open Offense" Dickey doesn't ever decide to play conservative.

Go Mean Green!

[UNTLifer]

I just want to remind everyone that DD was a qb and never anything but an offensive coach.

Exactly, which explains the high octane, high scoring, creative offense he put on the field along with his OC that was a former QB.

[Quoner]

There, fixed.

"Fixed" is the bit that keeps on giving...

[Cerebus]

"Quoner" is the bit that keeps on giving...

Fixed.

[NT80]

BTW, you can watch Dickey/Utah State-ball live on Sept. 15 when USU plays at OU on ESPN2 (NT's off week). Should be interesting to see the USU offensive play calls.