Scott Linehan & Todd Dodge

Will to Win · September 29, 2008

Point #1 We are not just losing, we are getting blown out.

Point #2 Our team is so uncompetitive.

I was all about TD coming to UNT but the hard to ignore question is , can he be an effective college coach?

He has to turn this thing around NOW and prove he has what it takes to make a D1 team competitive!

I don't know how many people would want him back if he has another 2 win season? Would you?

untbowler · September 29, 2008

Point #1 We are not just losing, we are getting blown out.
Point #2 Our team is so uncompetitive.
I was all about TD coming to UNT but the hard to ignore question is , can he be an effective college coach?
He has to turn this thing around NOW and prove he has what it takes to make a D1 team competitive!
I don't know how many people would want him back if he has another 2 win season? Would you?

dare I say a large majority would be excited if he won 2 games this year? :ph34r:

Green Mean · September 29, 2008

I would be ecstatic if we won two games this year. As things are looking right now I am really thinking we will go 0-12 this year.

LAZER · September 29, 2008

Originally I wanted TD gone after the game. Now that I have had time to calm down about the Rice game I still believe TD will turn this program around. I think he is a good coach and he definitely has what it takes to be a serious D1 coach. He is not a miracle workers folks give it time. Even the GREAT JUNE JONES ( at least that is what SMU fans think) is having trouble turning that program around. UNT and SMU are both struggling and both coaches will get these teams turned around and make them competitive on a national level.

jimmyjames_99 · September 29, 2008

Originally I wanted TD gone after the game. Now that I have had time to calm down about the Rice game I still believe TD will turn this program around. I think he is a good coach and he definitely has what it takes to be a serious D1 coach. He is not a miracle workers folks give it time. Even the GREAT JUNE JONES ( at least that is what SMU fans think) is having trouble turning that program around. UNT and SMU are both struggling and both coaches will get these teams turned around and make them competitive on a national level.

Agree... The turn around may be slower than some like. But I have every confidence that he can turn it around. Especially with a dedicated athletics fee and new stadium.

We have seen he is willing to make staffing changes when he deems them necessary. I have no reason to consider that he will not do the same this year if he finds it necessary.

TheTastyGreek · September 29, 2008

We have seen he is willing to make staffing changes when his son's godfather quits in protest(?) and staffing changes are forced upon him.

Fixed that for ya.

UNT_playmaker · September 30, 2008

If Dodge is 0-12 after this season, he will be shown the door, most likely by the AD or admins

Huff · September 30, 2008

I thought it was a mistake to hire Todd Dodge in the first place. While he was a VERY successful coach at the high school level, I did not feel that he had the experience at the college level that it takes to be successful there. I have seen nothing that would change my mind. Having said that, I think we have no choice but to wait out this year and next year before we make any decision about a change in head coaches. That is only fair to the man and to the program. I expected us to win three games this year. At this point I am not sure where those three wins are going to come from, but I have found that the time to evaluate the season is at the end of the season. Right now I see little in the way of progress but I hope that changes before the season ends. We REALLY need to win one on Saturday.

eulesseagle · September 30, 2008

How about throwing June Jones in the mix.....do you think he can, with his million plus contract, revive SMU? H--L what has he done this year? Hum, beat Texas State by 14 at home. You think pony fans will be chunkin' his big buck's butt under Ford this time next year if he only wins two this year and has a comperable record this same time in "09" (after beating another lame duck ..... slc team?).

Some of you guys (and I would say girls but CBL supports TD) remind me of rats jumping off a ship because it looks like it may flounder and sink. The ship is not going to sink. TD has brought in excellent HS talent and has the best ties to Texas HS coaches because of his raport with these coaches and his renound QB camps. Talent for talent TD has brought, IMHO, better prospects in two recruiting classes than just about any other NT coach did in their first two years.

NT is not a Univ of Texas that "reloads" every year....it must thrive on keeping a rebuilding process going because of depth issues. Heck, UT has 4-star recruits that are bench warmers.

NT may not do well this year but who knows?? We know the track record and the will to win of Coach Dodge. We know the track record and what Coach DeLoach can do defensively. Give them time.

In this age of "INSTANT" information, "INSTANT" drive thru service, "INSTANT" gratification, "INSTANT" you name it.......football rebuilding ain't that way.....never has.....never will....

Edited September 30, 2008 by eulesseagle

meangreendork · September 30, 2008

TD has brought in excellent HS talent and has the best ties to Texas HS coaches because of his raport with these coaches and his renound QB camps. Talent for talent TD has brought, IMHO, better prospects in two recruiting classes than just about any other NT coach did in their first two years.
NT is not a Univ of Texas that "reloads" every year....it must thrive on keeping a rebuilding process going because of depth issues. Heck, UT has 4-star recruits that are bench warmers.
NT may not do well this year but who knows?? We know the track record and the will to win of Coach Dodge. We know the track record and what Coach DeLoach can do defensively. Give them time.
In this age of "INSTANT" information, "INSTANT" drive thru service, "INSTANT" gratification, "INSTANT" you name it.......football rebuilding ain't that way.....never has.....never will....

Dodge has brought us some very good talent that Dickey would'nt have ever been able to bring in, even after the SBC rings and NOBowls. And yeah, we can't expect a turnaround in a year or two. Weren't we the same people who said we'd give him 2-3 years so we could see what his recruiting classes could really do and see what he could do with the right coaching staff?

UNTLifer · September 30, 2008

Point #1 We are not just losing, we are getting blown out.
Point #2 Our team is so uncompetitive.
I was all about TD coming to UNT but the hard to ignore question is , can he be an effective college coach?
He has to turn this thing around NOW and prove he has what it takes to make a D1 team competitive!
I don't know how many people would want him back if he has another 2 win season? Would you?

That is a poor comparison. The NFL allows you to sign free agents and basically turnover the roster with experienced players. This is not possible in the college game. How long would it take a professional team to become successful if they had to rely on first and second year players ?

ArlingtonMeanGreen · September 30, 2008

I havebeen reading and posting on this forum for many years and found many excellent and wonderful ideas about the state of our athletic programs at UNT especially football. We all know that football is king in Texas and football is the standard by which we judge ourselves athletically. After reading the comments about our football team at North Texas I am compelled to make a few judgements.

I you look at our football team it is made up of sixty plus freshmen and sophs. It is very difficult for a 18/19 year old young man to compete against 21 plus year old men. An example, number 12 for Rice is 24 years old and truly a man among boys. This is almost an impossible task for a young man just out of high school to compete in that type of situation. With the number of fresh/sophs on our team leads me to believe that the cupboard was left bare by the previous coaching staff. If the previous coaching staff was still in place we probably be ready to jump off the cliff. Let's not jump yet.

Some have doubted Coach Dodge's ability to coach at the college level. History tells us that high school coaches going into the college level do not fair very well. No one on the planet wants to win any more than Coach Dodge does. Coaching football is his chosen profession and he has been very successful and he will win at UNT. Let's give him a chance.

The University of North Texas is in a very interesting place since its founding in 1890. We now have great leadership at the regents, president and athletic director level and with their leadership the University can ONLY move up and UNT will be the University that we all want it to be.

We want a winner on the football field and we want it now. We must be patient. It can happen because we have great students, alumni and a Denton community that wants and can benefit from a strong and visable North Texas.

My prayer is that the students will see the need to pass the fee increase and we can get about the business of building our new stadium.

My last comment is about the Sun Belt Conference. The Sun Belt has served us will but it is a conference that not many of the Metroplex people know about because it is difficult for residents in this area to identify with FIU, FAU, Middle Tenneessee etc. I think our followers could closely identify with schools in the WAC. We could renew our relationship with New Mexico State. I would much prefer seeing Boise State, Fresno State, LA Tech come to Denton every other year than the schools in the Sun Belt. The possibilities are so much greater in the WAC than the Sun Belt.

Now is the time for UNT to move forward with a win on Saturday. See you at the Village this Saturday.

TheTastyGreek · September 30, 2008

In this age of "INSTANT" information, "INSTANT" drive thru service, "INSTANT" gratification, "INSTANT" you name it.......football rebuilding ain't that way.....never has.....never will....

Rick Stockstill. Todd Graham. Both inherited very troubled programs within the past 3 years and took them to bowls in Year One at MTSU and Rice. Those are just the first two that spring to mind.

And in Buffalo, Turner Gill rebounded from a 2-10 first season after inheriting arguably the worst program in Division 1-A at the time, and managed to go 5-7 the next year. Right now, he's 2-1 in season three.

So don't say it never has and never will happen, because it has and it will again. It just didn't happen here.