Like Bridge Over River Kwai, Our Mg Bridge

PlummMeanGreen · October 22, 2007

None of us want to hear the word rebuilding because that term in NCAA D1-A college football means we are going to have to take our licks, but that is what we have ahead for us, folks.

OK, I WILL USE THIS ILLUSTRATION JUST ONE MORE TIME: :rolleyes:

Like in the award-winning movie Bridge Over the River Kwai, when the British POW's hurriedly built the first bridge for their captors, it was found to not be on a sollid foundation and what did they have to do with both British generals and Japanese leaders agreeing with each other that this had to be done? Well, they both knew that the original bridge would have to be completely torn down and a brand new bridge would have to be built from scratch BUT...............

.................a bridge that would be be built the right way from the git-go and a bridge that would be built on a solid foundation. No quick fixes...you know, like running thru a brand new SBC league of throw-togethers most of us from the Hayden Fry had never even heard of (except maybe a couple); and then in this fledgling league going to 4 bowl games as an unranked football program and then FAST FORWARD.............

..............the foundation of that Mean Green bridge became to waver as we witnessed all our SBC conference mates doing their best Road-Runner "BEEP! BEEP! as we watched a Mean Green football program that had gone to 4 straight bowl games as the SBC representative "suddenly(?)" fall apart at the seams? Folks, does that suggest that our original bridge was not built on a true foundation that would show us the kind of results that the Troy U football program has been getting almost from the Grand Opening of their new football stadium when they beat the #17 ranked Missouri Tigers on a ESPN 1 national telecast? Well, you might say: "But wait a mintue, we did go to 4 bowl games, right?" Well.............we did but what did that as a Bottom 25 ranked "bowl team" and a buck buy us in Mean Green Country? OK, we got a new A/C out of the deal (which most D1-A programs now have), but what else?

Many of us on GoMeanGreen.com made a folk hero out of Todd Dodge before he even recruited his first official UNT recruit last Winter during those big 17 days he had to throw together some semblance of his first class. YET.............never one time did that man say he would come into Denton & turn what he inherited around in one year--not even 2--maybe not even 3 years. DD was in Year 5 before he went over .500. DD in the opinion of many inherited a better sitution that Simon left behind for a coach who would be in the Big West and then a brand new conference of schools most of us never heard of back in the Fry Era.

Coach Dodge & Staff have a bridge that they will need to build from scratch, but the kind of bridge that may one day in the next 10 years get him a Top 10 job interview (although he & family love where they live) BUT FOR US he and staff leaving behind the kind of program that we haven't had in over 30 years and a MG football program that another coach can continue; you know, like Boise State has done with their last 4 head football coaches leading up to their BCS Championship Series bowl win over OU last bowl season?

Patience is a virture we will all have to become familar with, fellow alums & MG fans. Let's enjoy this journey while we do, though.

Edited October 22, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

untbowler · October 22, 2007

yup tell that to Alabama and Nick Saban. 1st year coach in the toughest conference in the nation, with his players and they seem to be doing just fine. Ranked Top 25 and 6-2 overall.

Wait, wait I am sorry we only had 5 wins in the last seasons, we can not expect our coaches to implement a new system and adjust to players we currently have or better yet adjust in the game.

Think small and we will be small.

I know AL never rebuilds, but man funny they can bring a new coach in and be tied for first place in the best conference in the nation. I know we would not be Top 25 this year, but Top 75 would have been nice, not somewhere around 125 or so.

Thank god we are not playing any 1-AAs this year with the defensive playcalling and our fantastic 20 to 20 offense. <_<

PlummMeanGreen · October 22, 2007

yup tell that to Alabama and Nick Saban. 1st year coach in the toughest conference in the nation, with his players and they seem to be doing just fine. Ranked Top 25 and 6-2 overall.
Wait, wait I am sorry we only had 5 wins in the last seasons, we can not expect our coaches to implement a new system and adjust to players we currently have or better yet adjust in the game.
Think small and we will be small.
I know AL never rebuilds, but man funny they can bring a new coach in and be tied for first place in the best conference in the nation. I know we would not be Top 25 this year, but Top 75 would have been nice, not somewhere around 125 or so.
Thank god we are not playing any 1-AAs this year with the defensive playcalling and our fantastic 20 to 20 offense.

Alabama and UNT? Sorta' apples and oranges wouldnt' you say? :rolleyes:

Are you not understanding, untbowler, how the SBC passed us by during the DD Ball Era? They were probably passing us by during all 3 times FAU beat Darrell Dickey-coached MG football teams truth be known. The SBC also passed us by while SLC was winning Texas 5A UIL Championships (best HS football in the USA) with Todd Dodge being the national coach of the year twice if I recollect. OK, he was a HS football coach--big deal, but DD was a journeyman assistant college football coach whose dad probably played key parts in helping his son get a few gigs, too, right? If DD's last name had been Smith, would he have ever gotten the UNT job in the first place? I say he wouldn't have even gotten an interview--like he didn't after 4 bowl games, either.

I post of DD Ball because that is the bridge that Todd Dodge is going to have to dismantle and build on a more solid foundatoin that (once again) 4 bowl games showed we did not have such a foundation all the time while the rest of the SBC was stocking up players (many with speed) and getting ready to pass us by in DD's last 2-3 years. And no, Coach Dodge's inherited team did not beat Scnellenberger's FAU team this year, either, for you who think he was supposed to be SBC Coach of the Year with DD recruits................but DD Ball did not beat Coach Schelly in his first 3 tries against the veteran coach who had a football program less than 7 year old.

Again, folks, we are all going to have to take our strong doses of patience.

FirefightnRick · October 22, 2007

Thank god we are not playing any 1-AAs this year with the defensive playcalling and our fantastic 20 to 20 offense.

The guy in the firehelmet didn't post this.

Rick

untbowler · October 22, 2007

The guy in the firehelmet didn't post this.
Rick

haha sure hope you got an apology after this past weekend.

7 TO's are impressive, but 37 points against is less than stellar.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 22, 2007

The guy in the firehelmet didn't post this.
Rick

Good one.

By the way, I like your new photo arrangement.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 22, 2007

yup tell that to Alabama and Nick Saban. 1st year coach in the toughest conference in the nation, with his players and they seem to be doing just fine. Ranked Top 25 and 6-2 overall.
Wait, wait I am sorry we only had 5 wins in the last seasons, we can not expect our coaches to implement a new system and adjust to players we currently have or better yet adjust in the game.
Think small and we will be small.
I know AL never rebuilds, but man funny they can bring a new coach in and be tied for first place in the best conference in the nation. I know we would not be Top 25 this year, but Top 75 would have been nice, not somewhere around 125 or so.
Thank god we are not playing any 1-AAs this year with the defensive playcalling and our fantastic 20 to 20 offense.

It is amazing how "we" can rationalize our record to make "us" feel better about the season.

KBJ · October 22, 2007

Harry Even and the boys had this class of Fres. as the best class in the last 20 years, sorry still don't see it

Cr1028 · October 22, 2007

yup tell that to Alabama and Nick Saban. 1st year coach in the toughest conference in the nation, with his players and they seem to be doing just fine. Ranked Top 25 and 6-2 overall.
Wait, wait I am sorry we only had 5 wins in the last seasons, we can not expect our coaches to implement a new system and adjust to players we currently have or better yet adjust in the game.
Think small and we will be small.
I know AL never rebuilds, but man funny they can bring a new coach in and be tied for first place in the best conference in the nation. I know we would not be Top 25 this year, but Top 75 would have been nice, not somewhere around 125 or so.
Thank god we are not playing any 1-AAs this year with the defensive playcalling and our fantastic 20 to 20 offense.

Talent. Besides Weathers, could anyone on our team start for Bama? Have we ever had a recruit choose NT over Bama? Give Dodge that talent level and then maybe you could make a valid point. If your kid is fat, you tell the kid that they are just normal but you are in denial if you can't tell yourself your kid is fat. You don't tell individual players that they aren't D-1 but if you say there is no talent gap with this progam and others, you are in denial. What did DD tell the players the reason he got fired was again? I just thought I would ask ince we constantly say that we have a crop of quality D-1 talent.

untbowler · October 22, 2007

guess reading comprehension is needed for many. You want apples to apples, reread my post.

ALABAMA IS IN THE SEC!!! They are in the toughest conference in the nation and doing quite fine with a new coach using old talent.

UNT IS IN THE SUN BELT!!! They are in the weakest conference in the nation and doing pretty crappy with a new coach using old talent.

Is that easiest enough?? <_<

Edited October 22, 2007 by untbowler

medpilot21 · October 22, 2007

The guy in the firehelmet didn't post this.
Rick

HAHA... "I dont care who you are, that's funny stuff right there!".....Larry the Cable Guy

GMG!!!

ADLER · October 22, 2007

None of us want to hear the word rebuilding because that term in NCAA D1-A college football means we are going to have to take our licks, but that is what we have ahead for us, folks.
OK, I WILL USE THIS ILLUSTRATION JUST ONE MORE TIME:
Like in the award-winning movie Bridge Over the River Kwai, when the British POW's hurriedly built the first bridge for their captors, it was found to not be on a sollid foundation and what did they have to do with both British generals and Japanese leaders agreeing with each other that this had to be done? Well, they both knew that the original bridge would have to be completely torn down and a brand new bridge would have to be built from scratch BUT...............
.................a bridge that would be be built the right way from the git-go and a bridge that would be built on a solid foundation. No quick fixes...you know, like running thru a brand new SBC league of throw-togethers most of us from the Hayden Fry had never even heard of (except maybe a couple); and then in this fledgling league going to 4 bowl games as an unranked football program and then FAST FORWARD.............
..............the foundation of that Mean Green bridge became to waver as we witnessed all our SBC conference mates doing their best Road-Runner "BEEP! BEEP! as we watched a Mean Green football program that had gone to 4 straight bowl games as the SBC representative "suddenly(?)" fall apart at the seams? Folks, does that suggest that our original bridge was not built on a true foundation that would show us the kind of results that the Troy U football program has been getting almost from the Grand Opening of their new football stadium when they beat the #17 ranked Missouri Tigers on a ESPN 1 national telecast? Well, you might say: "But wait a mintue, we did go to 4 bowl games, right?" Well.............we did but what did that as a Bottom 25 ranked "bowl team" and a buck buy us in Mean Green Country? OK, we got a new A/C out of the deal (which most D1-A programs now have), but what else?
Many of us on GoMeanGreen.com made a folk hero out of Todd Dodge before he even recruited his first official UNT recruit last Winter during those big 17 days he had to throw together some semblance of his first class. YET.............never one time did that man say he would come into Denton & turn what he inherited around in one year--not even 2--maybe not even 3 years. DD was in Year 5 before he went over .500. DD in the opinion of many inherited a better sitution that Simon left behind for a coach who would be in the Big West and then a brand new conference of schools most of us never heard of back in the Fry Era.
Coach Dodge & Staff have a bridge that they will need to build from scratch, but the kind of bridge that may one day in the next 10 years get him a Top 10 job interview (although he & family love where they live) BUT FOR US he and staff leaving behind the kind of program that we haven't had in over 30 years and a MG football program that another coach can continue; you know, like Boise State has done with their last 4 head football coaches leading up to their BCS Championship Series bowl win over OU last bowl season?
Patience is a virture we will all have to become familar with, fellow alums & MG fans. Let's enjoy this journey while we do, though.

Didn't Obi Wan Kenobi blow up that bridge because it should never have been built in the first place?

Cr1028 · October 22, 2007

guess reading comprehension is needed for many. You want apples to apples, reread my post.
ALABAMA IS IN THE SEC!!! They are in the toughest conference in the nation and doing quite fine with a new coach using old talent.
UNT IS IN THE SUN BELT!!! They are in the weakest conference in the nation and doing pretty crappy with a new coach using old talent.
Is that easiest enough??

I guess you're right. It is apples to apples. Mike Shula left the cupboard completely bare. They went to a bowl game last year and played nearly all SEC opponents very close. The year before last they went 10-2 and won the cotton bowl. Their team truly was one of the worst in the SEC. Wait, what about Ole Miss and Miss. State? Oh yea, I forgot, Orgeron and Croom have been dominant since these two took over. Oh, by the way, how man BCS national champoinships has Todd Dodge won? The man just came from High School, give him time to adjust. Nick Saban just came from the NFL and has won a BCS national champoinship with an SEC team. Who do you think is better prepared to lead a team to vicory in their first season, a high school coach with a team coming off of a 5-18 record the last two seasons, or an NFL/championship collegiate coach with a team coming off a 16-9 record the last two seasons?

You say apples, I say bologna.

eulesseagle · October 22, 2007

can we recruit like Alabama???

Matt Simon thought so and said it after one of his recruiting classes.........

UNTLifer · October 22, 2007

Harry Even and the boys had this class of Fres. as the best class in the last 20 years, sorry still don't see it

These young men have been at UNT for 8 months. Please tell me what other signing class performed better 8 months into their first year? As with all recruiting classes, their true grade can't be assessed until they graduate and have time to produce.

Based on their HS accomplishments, this is one of the best classes we have signed in a long, long time. The Kennedy, Spencer, Casey, etc... class turned out to be good, but I don't think they came in with as many accolades as this class.

PlummMeanGreen · October 22, 2007

.

Cr1028 · October 23, 2007

Well let's see. After 4 straight conference championships, 4 straight bowl appearances, and one bowl victory, I would say that a 50-2 loss at home to a CUSA team is a good start to a chronic problem. I don't recall the new coaching staff having served seven years already so I think we should at least give them one season to get the players used to an entirely new regime.

If memory serves me correctly, Oklahoma and SMU watched SLC game film to prepare for us. The current staff had no film of their players in their entirely new system. We've played seven games, correct? 7 hours of football against a live opponent and you guys are ready to quit on the coaching staff. You can't build a program from nothing in such a short time.

PlummMeanGreen · October 23, 2007

Well let's see. After 4 straight conference championships, 4 straight bowl appearances, and one bowl victory, I would say that a 50-2 loss at home to a CUSA team is a good start to a chronic problem. I don't recall the new coaching staff having served seven years already so I think we should at least give them one season to get the players used to an entirely new regime.
If memory serves me correctly, Oklahoma and SMU watched SLC game film to prepare for us. The current staff had no film of their players in their entirely new system. We've played seven games, correct? 7 hours of football against a live opponent and you guys are ready to quit on the coaching staff. You can't build a program from nothing in such a short time.

Edited & A Few More Thoughts Added On Tuesday AM

Amazing how the President of the United States of America wanted a White House audience with Coach Todd Dodge (and got it) and how a future NFL Hall of Fame NFL Coach & former coach of your Dallas Cowboys wanted to hire Todd Dodge "straight from HS" to America's Team? And this same Coach Todge who is still apparently going to be judged for his 1'st year by mostly DD Baller/sympathizers (all 50 of them and all 50 apparently GMG.com posters it seems) and DD worshippers that apparently thought Bottom 25/SBC unranked teams that went to bowl games 4 years in a row is the best that our alma mater will ever be able to do?

Now even more amazingly...........some of their attitudes even suggests that they want all "THAT" high quality style of (boring) unranked football back in Mean Green Country! :unsure: Oh sure, we did beat a bunch of bad SBC teams some of whom newly D1-A classified schools. BUT ONE HAS TO WONDER: Would those close to 20K MG fans watching a Todd Dodge-coached football team with mostly DD recruits at those first 2 home games would have wanted all that & a bag of DD Ball chips back in Denton? From our present group of masses attending MG football games I'd venture a guess of--hardly not. YET.........might a 10'th year of DD Ball have had a problem getting out even 20,000 total fans for 2 games?

I'm sorry, but some of the band-wagon jumper-off'ers" on this forum and what they are posting during the same kind of times we endured in DD's first 4 years has become a sad statement of some segment of Mean Green fandom, but then it will be even more predictable just how quickly many of these same ones will be praising Todd Dodge when he gets thru this time of transitioning and some will even say how they were behind Dodge Ball all the way & even during its darkest days--the days Todd Dodge was quietly trying to (without ever criticizing the train wreck he followed BTW); anyway, while he was quietly trying to dismantle the previous coaches football program that ended in team unis' which colors usually symbolizes times of mourning and all this in one football season after a 4 year bowl run showed us all that things were not as they had really seemed.........; or moreso.................

.......a football program that 4 bowl game appearances in a row seemed to have not built any semblance of a foundation at all in Denton, Texas, America, for any successor of DD (no matter who that would be) and not a situation whereas the next Mean Green HFC would have any immediate chance to be successful with a program that "solid foundation" would not be the words to describe what had been left behind.......

............you know, the same kind of foundations Boise State Bronco football showed could be left in place when one of their coaches got a higher NCAA D1-A calling? And FWIW............BSU only had 3 or 4 head foodtball coaches over a period covering about 10 years with each being able to build upon a solid foundation left behind by their predeccessors over in Bronco Country.

Edited October 23, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen