It's Evidently Official Lacroix Has Resigned

[GoMeanGreen1999]

and unless I am just missing it, I don't see it in the DRC today.

[untbowler]

and unless I am just missing it, I don't see it in the DRC today.

maybe UNT figures if the Denton RC does not print it nobody will know Lacroix resigned, I mean really how many fans actually live outside of the Denton Service Area?

[SilverEagle]

Besides the bad publicity of an experienced coach leaving our staff, we also lose an experienced recruiter.

RM is not only inexperienced at coaching at the college level, he's also inexperienced at recruiting.

[Monkeypox]

well, i guess i'll be the bad guy and just say the secondary hasn't been a strength with the guy back in football, and don't see what the big deal is. he was out of football for 13 years, came back, and our secondary has not performed well. at some point, that does have to be some of his responsibility. i know it's all RM RM RM RM RM RM RM around here, but we were terrible in the secondary.

EDIT: Forgot it was his FIRST year back, my bad.

Edited December 18, 2007 by Monkeypox

[UNT_playmaker]

Can anybody at the Athletic Center show Ron Mendoza the door, please......

I mean the season is over and Dodge's staff has had so much bad news in their first year.

[GreenAlums]

Can anybody at the Athletic Center show Ron Mendoza the door, please......

I mean the season is over and Dodge's staff has had so much bad news in their first year.

I don't think it is anybody's best interest to keep the "Fire RM" stories going since we are in a more visable recruiting campaign than we are used to. With DD everything was "hush hush" until the last minute. Now, TD seems to use the committment stories to keep us in the forfront of visabliltiy for potential players. I really like the TD approach becasue I always got tired of the appearance that UNT wasn't doing anything on the recruitment fronts. The bad part is, we are watched and exposed more to the media, the kids, and the recruits parents. We need to be on our best behavior. Suck it up and let's land all of our prospects. Let's act like winners in order to get winners on our team.

No, I am NOT running for any political positions!

best regards to all my friends on GMG.com!

[FirefightnRick]

well, i guess i'll be the bad guy and just say the secondary hasn't been a strength with the guy back in football, and don't see what the big deal is. he was out of football for 13 years, came back, and our secondary has not performed well. at some point, that does have to be some of his responsibility. i know it's all RM RM RM RM RM RM RM around here, but we were terrible in the secondary.

EDIT: Forgot it was his FIRST year back, my bad.

The problem with possibly losing him is that the "secondary" co-coached by Lacroix(Cornerbacks) and Peterson(Safeties) HAS been the strength of this years defense.

Total Defense..113th

Run Defense..115th

Scoring Defense...119th

Pass Defense..93rd

Rick

[GreenBat]

Not picking on anyone here but why would UNT give the DC postition to Coach Peterson, a guy who was a QB coach at Air Force for 17 years and was never on the Defensive side of the ball. Chuck Peterson is a class act but is not a defensive coordinator.

That was the point. I'm still trying to figure out why he's the safeties coach.

[houstonmeangreen]

I don't think it is anybody's best interest to keep the "Fire RM" stories going since we are in a more visable recruiting campaign than we are used to. With DD everything was "hush hush" until the last minute. Now, TD seems to use the committment stories to keep us in the forfront of visabliltiy for potential players. I really like the TD approach becasue I always got tired of the appearance that UNT wasn't doing anything on the recruitment fronts. The bad part is, we are watched and exposed more to the media, the kids, and the recruits parents. We need to be on our best behavior. Suck it up and let's land all of our prospects. Let's act like winners in order to get winners on our team.

No, I am NOT running for any political positions!

best regards to all my friends on GMG.com!

RM is not a winner and shouldn't be on our team...the facts speak for themselves....thats all, Perhaps at the end of next year you will see the light my friend. We need to act quickly on these type of issues, not like we have acted in the past. Things just move faster these days.

[FirefightnRick]

That was the point. I'm still trying to figure out why he's the safeties coach.

....because he played the position for 4 years at a major college program, just like Coach Lacroix did. His performance of course wasn't at the same level. Here's what we would lose in experience in Coach Lacroix.

LaCroix coached seven seasons at North Texas from 1986-93. During that time, he spent most of his time coaching defensive backs and serving as the team’s recruiting coordinator. He coached five all-conference players during his time, including cornerback Kim Phillips who was a third-round draft pick by the New Orleans Saints of the NFL in 1989. No North Texas player has been selected higher in the NFL draft since Phillips. LaCroix was on the same Mean Green coaching staff with his current boss Todd Dodge during the 1992 and 1993 seasons. LaCroix was a graduate assistant coach for one season at his alma mater Houston before joining the Mean Green in 1986.

LaCroix earned multiple All-Southwest Conference honors and was twice an All-American at the University of Houston as a defensive back. He was a four-year letterman for the Cougars from 1979-82. He was a member of the 1980 team that won the Southwest Conference and defeated Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl.

After graduating from Houston in 1983, LaCroix was a free-agent signee with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played for two seasons on the famous "Steel Curtain" defense behind Hall of Famer Mel Blount.

For me the greatest loss would be the part in bold as he recruits east Texas for us. But to think back on the talent we had during his earlier years, this was what had me most excited about him coming here in the first place. His connections to east Texas and his ability to evaluate talent and recruit at the college level.

Rick

Edited December 18, 2007 by FirefightnRick

[GMoney]

I will speak more about Coach LaCroix at a later date, but don't mistake the fact he was away from the game with not being able to coach. He was away from the game by choice and he wasn't completely away. Let's just say I'm not happy he resigned, if given the latitude he could have and would have produced results. However, I do understand why he resigned.

[FirefightnRick]

Rick

[ntsumck]

Our secondary sucked because Coach LaCroix was not allowed to coach. In return we get his resignation.

[Stan R]

Where is the article Vito promised for today? Is it strange nothing has been formally written up yet other than a blog entry?

[NCMeanGreen]

OK...I am now confused (yes, more than usual! ) What is the deal...WHY did he resign???

[Green92]

Our secondary sucked because Coach LaCroix was not allowed to coach. In return we get his resignation.

And that's a fact?

[Green92]

I don't mind you being drunk with power, but there will be NO delusions of grandeur while I'm around!

[Monkeypox]

The problem with possibly losing him is that the "secondary" co-coached by Lacroix(Cornerbacks) and Peterson(Safeties) HAS been the strength of this years defense.

Total Defense..113th

Run Defense..115th

Scoring Defense...119th

Pass Defense..93rd

Rick

the ol' best-smelling dog turd argument.

as much as i know you guys have an H-O for YARDAGE, people don't have to pass that much when they're giving you the beat down, and whenever someone needed to score on our secondary, it was there. that falls on those coaches, no matter HOW much you like them. nobody on our defensive coaching staff should be above reproach.

Another Statistic = Passing EFFICIENY Defense = 104 ranking (8th in Sun Belt), 143.65 QB Rating against, 28 TDs/11 INTs.

so sorry, i don't really see how people can throw a fit about this guy leaving. a guy out of football for 13 years coaches a bottom 20 pass defense and people are all upset he's leaving. i don't care why he left, it's foolish to think that more than a decade away from the game isn't a negative. i wish the guy best of luck. he's probably a nice guy, but i have seen nothing to indicate that his presence on this coaching staff was a boon. doesn't mean it wasn't. but other than, "he was a recruiting coordinator when i went to school here 14 years ago. you know, when we were Div. 1-AA," he hasn't the skins on the wall. too much green Kool-Aid because the guy was actually one of ours. that's the reality.

[FirefightnRick]

the ol' best-smelling dog turd argument.

as much as i know you guys have an H-O for YARDAGE, people don't have to pass that much when they're giving you the beat down, and whenever someone needed to score on our secondary, it was there. that falls on those coaches, no matter HOW much you like them. nobody on our defensive coaching staff should be above reproach.

Another Statistic = Passing EFFICIENY Defense = 104 ranking (8th in Sun Belt), 143.65 QB Rating against, 28 TDs/11 INTs.

so sorry, i don't really see how people can throw a fit about this guy leaving. a guy out of football for 13 years coaches a bottom 20 pass defense and people are all upset he's leaving. i don't care why he left, it's foolish to think that more than a decade away from the game isn't a negative. i wish the guy best of luck. he's probably a nice guy, but i have seen nothing to indicate that his presence on this coaching staff was a boon. doesn't mean it wasn't. but other than, "he was a recruiting coordinator when i went to school here 14 years ago. you know, when we were Div. 1-AA," he hasn't the skins on the wall. too much green Kool-Aid because the guy was actually one of ours. that's the reality.

Fine, don't compare him to Gary Deloach's group, or anyone else's defensive staff for that matter. Just compare his experience to those around him on this current and returning staff and see what you get. That's the point here. He's our most experienced defensive COLLEGE coach. He was a two time all american at that position, he then played it at the highest level in the NFL before a degenerative disk forced him to retire, then he coached it successfully here for 6 years during his first stint.

And I see that you mentioned the 13 years out of football thing again which has absolutely nothing to do with his abilities. Re read GMoney's post again.

Rick

[Monkeypox]

And I see that you mentioned the 13 years out of football thing again which has absolutely nothing to do with his abilities. Re read GMoney's post again.

Rick

Yeah, it does. It has a lot to do with his abilities to recruit and coach. Take anybody who hasn't been doing something in 13 years, and their ability to do it will have been compromised. That's just reality. Deny all you want. Drink some more green Kool-Aid.

[greenminer]

Yeah, it does. It has a lot to do with his abilities to recruit and coach. Take anybody who hasn't been doing something in 13 years, and their ability to do it will have been compromised. That's just reality. Deny all you want. Drink some more green Kool-Aid.

Maybe I'm drinking the KoolAid here again, but I don't think 13 yrs away from his college/nfl experience makes him a pop-warner coaching newbie that doesn't deserve attention from a high school staff.

It's probably a little bit of both sides here: a little rusty, yes. A little ignored? Maybe...

...take that and add to the facts the Navy results when we have Chuck Petersen on staff, and I wonder how much of an ear these good old boys are lending to the vets?

I'm not trying to put 2 and 2 together myself, I'm just standing 2 and 2 next to each other and watching how many answers this board comes up with.

The math in here is quite impressive.

[H-towngreen]

2 and 2= fire RM of course. elementary

[Monkeypox]

Maybe I'm drinking the KoolAid here again, but I don't think 13 yrs away from his college/nfl experience makes him a pop-warner coaching newbie that doesn't deserve attention from a high school staff.

I didn't say that. All I'm saying is pointing to the experience of a guy who's been out of the game more than a decade and who was part of the staff that presided over quite possibly the worst defense in college football history as a reason to lament his loss seems pretty foolish.

I've yet to see a sound, logical reason to be freaked out about this, ESPECIALLY given the argument that he was never allowed to do his job because of a coach that's still on staff.

It kinda sucks, yeah, because he was one of ours and I'd like to see our guys succeed here and bring in more interest, but on the whole, I'm fairly ambivalent. FFR says not to compare it to DeLoach, but the reaction seems to be pretty similar.

Would the fans of any other team in the country wail and moan this much about a defensive coach leaving after such a season? Hint: The answer is NO.

[greenminer]

I didn't say that. All I'm saying is pointing to the experience of a guy who's been out of the game more than a decade and who was part of the staff that presided over quite possibly the worst defense in college football history as a reason to lament his loss seems pretty foolish.

I've yet to see a sound, logical reason to be freaked out about this, ESPECIALLY given the argument that he was never allowed to do his job because of a coach that's still on staff.

It kinda sucks, yeah, because he was one of ours and I'd like to see our guys succeed here and bring in more interest, but on the whole, I'm fairly ambivalent. FFR says not to compare it to DeLoach, but the reaction seems to be pretty similar.

Would the fans of any other team in the country wail and moan this much about a defensive coach leaving after such a season? Hint: The answer is NO.

I think I'm with you on this one, but have to admit a feeling of ignorance: I don't get the impression at all that this board is comparing this to losing DeLoach. A single - albeit 4 page - thread doesn't weigh up to what I recall after DeLoach leaving.

Maybe I'm remembering wrong...again

[ipEAGLE]

Dear God, Please help our defense.

Look on the brightside... we can't get any worse, or can we?!