Fw*tele.."unt Coach Not But Damage Is Done"

[OldTimer]

UNT coach not racist but damage is done

By GIL LeBRETON

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

STAR-TELEGRAM/RON JENKINS

Todd Dodge already had it tough with a team that is 1-7. Todd Dodge is no racist, and we don't need an NAACP investigation to tell us that.

Dodge's coaching résumé may have picked up its gilded edge at mostly-white Southlake Carroll High School. But don't stereotype the man. Todd Dodge wasn't born with a silver whistle in his mouth.

His previous coaching stops included Rockwall, McKinney and Keller Fossil Ridge high schools, not to mention the two seasons that he spent as offensive coordinator at North Texas under coach Dennis Parker. Dominique Green and Desmon Chatman, in other words, are far from the first African-American players that Dodge has coached.

Members of the Texas chapter of the NAACP were on the North Texas campus Thursday to investigate the two players' complaint that Dodge and his staff are racially biased. An alleged incident on the sideline during Saturday's 48-28 loss to Middle Tennessee apparently precipitated the complaint. Whether the charge has merit or not will have to be determined by the NAACP group and the university.

All complaints of bias, racial or sexual, deserve to be heard, even a seemingly juvenile charge such as this. But for Dodge, the damage has been done.

The headline -- UNT player files complaint of racism -- has already been in newspapers and on TV reports around the nation. When the report exonerates him and his staff, how big will the headlines be?

The most frustrating season of Dodge's football coaching career just got a lot tougher. Just do the math. A coach who won 79 of his last 80 games at his previous gig has a 1-7 record in his first year at North Texas. His spread offense seems to move the football, but not in the style to which he -- and seven years of Carroll fans -- had become accustomed. His defense surrendered 79 to Oklahoma, 66 to Arkansas and has struggled to stop everyone.

Navy goes to Denton next week. Life jackets, anyone?

"I knew that when we hired Todd, coming off 2-9 and 3-9 seasons, and we had lost a lot of kids, that it was going to be tough to come in and win right away," UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said.

As he traveled and greeted the UNT community, however, Dodge's message was the same: Stick with us. This is not a short-term process.

They tell another story about Dodge's first week on the job, when he gathered his new team and pronounced them his players. Not Darrell Dickey's players. Dickey was fired by North Texas 12 months ago after nine seasons as head football coach.

"You're my guys now," Dodge told his football team that day.

If there were any lines to be drawn, they would be for who deserved to play and who didn't, and for who worked and who wouldn't. But the college years can be preciously impressionable for young men away from home for the first time. When the coach who recruited them leaves, an anchor can feel lost.

Dodge tried his best to avoid that, and Villarreal feels he's accomplished it.

"I've been around transitions before," the athletic director said. "I've been on both sides of the transitions.

"And I've never seen anybody go to the lengths that Todd has to make sure that the players know they're his kids, not somebody else's. The transition here -- the 'buy-in' -- has been as smooth as any place I've ever been."

Dodge, the UNT people have discovered, makes an easy target.

When a young coach lands at the best high school job in America, the coaching fraternity house can gurgle over with jealousy. Hey, the guy didn't go 79-1 in his last five seasons just because of the zip code. And then Dodge gets plucked by Villarreal to become a college head coach?

There are coaching rivals and Carroll opponents, therefore, that I suspect are darkly enjoying North Texas' 1-7 season. He's gone from Carroll High to Humble U., or something like that.

You can chortle at the difficult transition he's had on the football field, but those who know him know that Dodge doesn't deserve to have an NAACP complaint piled on.

"I'm not going to defend Todd Dodge because he doesn't need to be defended," Villarreal said. "I've seen his actions to this point and the way he conducts his business. His whole goal is to develop young men and young leaders.

"His performance speaks for itself."

Dodge's boss put it well. But sadly, it probably won't make the headlines like this week's news did.

Gil LeBreton, 817-390-7760

glebreton@star-telegram.com

[Huff]

Rick V is quoted as saying "I am not going to defend Todd Dodge because he does not need to be defended". That is not what I expected from Rick V. I would have expected him to strongly defend the man that he hired to head up our football program. I realize that he has done that on other occasions, but he needs to continue to send a strong message of support every time he is interviewed. That statement does not do it as far as I am concerned.

[adman]

Rick V is quoted as saying "I am not going to defend Todd Dodge because he does not need to be defended". That is not what I expected from Rick V. I would have expected him to strongly defend the man that he hired to head up our football program. I realize that he has done that on other occasions, but he needs to continue to send a strong message of support every time he is interviewed. That statement does not do it as far as I am concerned.

What could be stronger than this: "I am not going to defend Todd Dodge because he does not need to be defended"?

[Smitty]

Rick V is quoted as saying "I am not going to defend Todd Dodge because he does not need to be defended". That is not what I expected from Rick V. I would have expected him to strongly defend the man that he hired to head up our football program. I realize that he has done that on other occasions, but he needs to continue to send a strong message of support every time he is interviewed. That statement does not do it as far as I am concerned.

Remember, RV is supposed to be heading up the investigation into the allegations, so he has to maintain some objectivity or the investigation is tarnished. The very last thing North Texas needs is an investigation that looks like a cover up. That only makes things worse.

[GMoney]

The headline -- UNT player files complaint of racism -- has already been in newspapers and on TV reports around the nation. When the report exonerates him and his staff, how big will the headlines be?

And that's the major problem. When this is dismissed will the newspaper and television stations be on campus to get a reply when this is dismissed! NOPE!

[flyeater]

Uh, guys, don't you think this column is trying to go in that direction? Someone out there is actually calling this out for the BS it is, and you're still complaining that no one in the media is interested in the truth. This is exactly the kind of reaction this whole mess has warranted all along. If a reporter or columnist chooses to see through this for what is, probably time to stop blaming them.

[Stan R]

Uh, guys, don't you think this column is trying to go in that direction? Someone out there is actually calling this out for the BS it is, and you're still complaining that no one in the media is interested in the truth. This is exactly the kind of reaction this whole mess has warranted all along. If a reporter or columnist chooses to see through this for what is, probably time to stop blaming them.

yep, agreed. good post.

[PlummMeanGreen]

And that's the major problem. When this is dismissed will the newspaper and television stations be on campus to get a reply when this is dismissed! NOPE!

UNT alum (and Eagles crooner/songwriter) Don Henley has much to say about the media in his hit "Dirty Laundry."

Also, Dale Hansen on Channel 8 Sports once said concerning media coverage: "We never hear about all the planes that make it to their destinations, but we do hear about the plane that did not."

[Mean Green 93-98]

Remember, RV is supposed to be heading up the investigation into the allegations, so he has to maintain some objectivity or the investigation is tarnished. The very last thing North Texas needs is an investigation that looks like a cover up. That only makes things worse.

Maybe I missed something, but why would RV head up an NAACP investigation on his own people?

[GreenAlums]

Maybe I missed something, but why would RV head up an NAACP investigation on his own people?

Because he is genuinely interested in the truth coming out. The last thing you want is the only investigation to be conducted by a single biased party. RV is heading up his own internal investigation, not the one for the NAACP. It will limit the grandstanding and further show that UNT takes these things seriously. It's not a good place to be but RV is doing the right thing. It wasn't that long ago tha Hayden Fry came to UNT because SMU did not want a black quarterback. UNT was not a racist school, then, now or anytime before or during.

[UNTflyer]

It doesn't matter. I mean you can't really blame these guys for calling Dodge and the rest of the coaches racist... All white people are racist, at least according to the University of Delaware's Office of Residence Life Diversity Facilitation Training document. This is the kind of crap that college students must learn these days:

“A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination. (This does not deny the existence of such prejudices, hostilities, acts of rage or discrimination.)" - Page 3

REVERSE RACISM: A term created and used by white people to deny their white privilege. Those in denial use the term reverse racism to refer to hostile behavior by people of color toward whites, and to affirmative action policies, which allegedly give 'preferential treatment' to people of color over whites. In the U.S., there is no such thing as 'reverse racism.'" - Page 3

“A NON-RACIST: A non-term. The term was created by whites to deny responsibility for systemic racism, to maintain an aura of innocence in the face of racial oppression, and to shift responsibility for that oppression from whites to people of color (called "blaming the victim"). Responsibility for perpetuating and legitimizing a racist system rests both on those who actively maintain it, and on those who refuse to challenge it. Silence is consent." - Page 3

Link

[SAGreenFan]

“A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination. (This does not deny the existence of such prejudices, hostilities, acts of rage or discrimination.)" - Page 3

REVERSE RACISM: A term created and used by white people to deny their white privilege. Those in denial use the term reverse racism to refer to hostile behavior by people of color toward whites, and to affirmative action policies, which allegedly give 'preferential treatment' to people of color over whites. In the U.S., there is no such thing as 'reverse racism.'" - Page 3

“A NON-RACIST: A non-term. The term was created by whites to deny responsibility for systemic racism, to maintain an aura of innocence in the face of racial oppression, and to shift responsibility for that oppression from whites to people of color (called "blaming the victim"). Responsibility for perpetuating and legitimizing a racist system rests both on those who actively maintain it, and on those who refuse to challenge it. Silence is consent." - Page 3

This is shocking. UNT's Department of Equity and Diversity would never stand for this kind of speech. This department sponsors all special interest groups such as UNT"s chapters of LULAC, the NAACP, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, and the Gay and Lesbian Association of Denton. These groups don't exactly agree on anything, but Equity and Diversity strives to bring these differing points of view into a common understanding. Having worked with this department for many years, they would be totally against this mind set. This is not UNT's point of view. If anything they will be the arbitrators in this matter... not a hindrance.

[PlummMeanGreen]

On this whole situation, I'm sure all of us still hope cooler heads will prevail, the guys will be educated as to know what true racism is and that all of us of non-color will always be mindful as to not ever show what could even be considered a hint of such, and that all on both sides will be able to discern when something is true racism or rather just a bad case of sour grapes over having been caught not following rules as laid down by authority--which we all have to do follow in life no matter what the color, creed or religion of our bosses.....

.....anyway, let this thing be put to rest by both sides ASAP. If all this is given a chance to festor because of the time given to it to do such, it will for darn sure do so. We all deserve 2'nd chances when we screw up, and most of us remember how most of us did more than a few times when we were in our post-teen years (early 20's); so a good ending for all of this if at all possible would be all of those kicked off the team given another chance on this Mean Green football team, but with a zero tolerance this time around.

I don't know of anyone (red and yellow, black or white) who thinks Todd Dodge is a racist. This Gil Lebreton fella, a columnist from a major Texas newspaper, ie, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, comes out and says the same thing). Also, Coach Dodge's past players (both black & white) have come to his defense on these alleged charges, but still.........

............... all this is like someone who is accused of rape, although the accused might not have even been in the zip code of the rape when it occurred and then........... said alleged rapist gets fully exxonerated of such a blatant and intense charge it still becomes a case of............. the roaches that have fallen into the pie have still left their mark and the general public (as to quote Coach Dodge) feels that perception is reality. (And no, I am not calling our recent upset players roaches, either, OK)?

Whoever on our campus and/or the Texas Chapter of the NAACP can put this (still) potential fire out--please get the water hoses out and do so.

And although Coach Dodge's eventual exxoneration will turn up on page 12 of most DFW Metroplex and Texas newspapers, please all you good media types out there, still consider getting the word out of a person's complete innocence out to the public at the same level that it was with his alleged guilt, OK?

BEAT NAVY!

&

GMG!

Edited November 4, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[UNTLifer]

This is shocking. UNT's Department of Equity and Diversity would never stand for this kind of speech. This department sponsors all special interest groups such as UNT"s chapters of LULAC, the NAACP, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, and the Gay and Lesbian Association of Denton. These groups don't exactly agree on anything, but Equity and Diversity strives to bring these differing points of view into a common understanding. Having worked with this department for many years, they would be totally against this mind set. This is not UNT's point of view. If anything they will be the arbitrators in this matter... not a hindrance.

It was from the UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE not UNT.

[Quoner]

UNT alum (and Eagles crooner/songwriter) Don Henley has much to say about the media in his hit "Dirty Laundry."

Also, Dale Hansen on Channel 8 Sports once said concerning media coverage: "We never hear about all the planes that make it to their destinations, but we do hear about the plane that did not."

Henley AND Hansen?

I'm one space away from douche-tac-toe!

[Quoner]

It was from the UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE not UNT.

So back to football, it looks like the key take-away is that publishing racially ignorant statements helps you beat Navy.

Who's willing to step up and ensure the win this week?

[Censored by Laurie]

Henley AND Hansen?

I'm one space away from douche-tac-toe!

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