It Is Time To Begin The Next Coach Discussion

OldTimer · October 25, 2008

What was the risk? What made it critical...or rather what was more important? To get a college coach and get some wins, or build excitement. Folks, the single biggest missing thing in the long history f this program has been buzz. It's what made the alumni and students, heck all of DFW apathetic towards NT. There was no one better to create that buzz than Dodge. His hiring is already a huge success. And even though the team is not competitive yet at all, we still have more attendance than a lot of the games when we were competing for NO Bowl bids, and had no student support for a stadium. We now have that in the bank as well. If we can start winning and get back to bowl games, Dodge will get a bronze statue at the new stadium. If not, it still did what we needed most, get people to believe.

Didn't NT sell out 3 sections on the press box side this fall even after requiring a donation in addition to the cost of season tickets....to see Dodge ball....vs less than a thousand attendance in DD in at towards the year of his last year.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 26, 2008

Add these guys to the list of possible replacements of Dodge:

Vandy defensive coordinator Bruce Fowler. Vandy has only allowed two opponents to score more than 20 this season - Rice (21), Georgia (24...in Athens, no less!). In eight games, Vandy has only allowed 132 points. http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-foot...er_bruce00.html

Troy defensive ends coach Randy Butler. He coached DEs at Southern Miss under Jeff Bower, helping create some stifling defensive lines for USM. You saw his handy work tonight with Vizza running for his life tonight. Troy's only losses this year have been to Ohio State and Oklahoma State. RV could hire this guy tonight before he leaves town. http://www.troytrojans.com/ViewArticle.dbm...p;Q_SEASON=2008

Edited October 26, 2008 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

shaft · October 26, 2008

2008:

0-8

7 losses by 20+

5 losses by 30+

The Dodge Era:

2-18

11 losses by 20+

7 losses by 30+

The worst coaching record in school history. ANYONE could do better.

There is no buzz about UNT or Dodge. There is just our fan base of around 20k (for a school with 35,000 students.)

PerryG2480 · October 26, 2008

I'm not quite ready to jump ship on Coach Dodge yet. HOWEVER, when I was watching the game tonight, I kept waiting to see some kind of creativity on offense. I wanted to see some kind of wrinkle that would cause just the slightest bit of confusion for the other team's defense. Ironically, the only wrinkle I saw that caught Troy off guard was us running the ball up the middle with Cam Montgomery. Have we come full circle around here or what?

If Dodge is supposed to be some kind of offensive mastermind, why has this offense gotten worse in year 2? I don't understand it at all.

Also, can we make the wide receivers work on nothing but catching drills for at least two hours a day?

Green Mean · October 26, 2008

2008:
0-8
7 losses by 20+
5 losses by 30+
The Dodge Era:
2-18
11 losses by 20+
7 losses by 30+
The worst coaching record in school history. ANYONE could do better.
There is no buzz about UNT or Dodge. There is just our fan base of around 20k (for a school with 35,000 students.)

For a while I was willing to give it a little more time but its gotten really rediculous. With these kinds of numbers people are still defending and I just dont get it. It really is time to stop drinking that green kool aid.

greenminer · October 26, 2008

Just throwing this out there:

What if next year he DOES turn it around. 180 degrees: we're beating everybody by 30 points, maybe gumming up only 1 OOC loss...but we're still competitive.

Offense shows night and day difference: we utilize a tight end, we're running roll outs, have a few snaps under center. We're spreading the wealth, throwing screens, deep balls, etc on top of our fantastic out routes. Hell, maybe even a two-back set for some wrinkles.

Defense buys into the system: young guns have developed into shotguns. SPecial teams are the good kind of special. Time management is great.

All under our current staff.

What would you think? Better question: what would you have to gather about 2008 and how Dodge handled this year's team? You'd have to give serious consideration to the suggestion that TD intentionally folded the '08 season. He benched players that were better in practice and should have been starters. He sucked up the OOC games (and more) on purpose.

Would you be okay with that?

Edited October 26, 2008 by greenminer

UNTLifer · October 26, 2008

First off, it is spelled ridiculous.

My fear is that this has gotten so out of hand that the only solution is letting Dodge go, and it will take another four years to straighten this mess out. RV, it is time to swallow your pride, promote Deloach and be done with it.

oldguystudent · October 26, 2008

Offense shows night and day difference: we utilize a tight end, we're running roll outs, have a few snaps under center. We're spreading the wealth, throwing screens, deep balls, etc on top of our fantastic out routes. Hell, maybe even a two-back set for some wrinkles.

The day you see that at UNT will be the day we have a different coach. Period. End of story. No further discussion.

Green Mean · October 26, 2008

First off, it is spelled ridiculous.
My fear is that this has gotten so out of hand that the only solution is letting Dodge go, and it will take another four years to straighten this mess out. RV, it is time to swallow your pride, promote Deloach and be done with it.

I do not think we should promote deloach. We need something new and something totally away from the DD and TD era. Bring in a coach that will bring his own experienced staff and start from new. A good coach will atleast make his team be competitive. It should not take another 4 years unless if he is a crappy coach and RV yet made another terrible hire.

NT80 · October 26, 2008

What if next year he DOES turn it around. 180 degrees: we're beating everybody by 30 points, maybe gumming up only 1 OOC loss...but we're still competitive.

We have basically the same team as last year, minus J-mo, and have become worse this year. Next year, Fitz is gone, and we could actually become worse again. The current scheme is not working in any area. There needs to be massive changes; either in coaching, new and better players, or better and more effective plays. I don't know the answers because I don't get paid to, but I don't think those that do know either. <_<

UNTLifer · October 26, 2008

Could we stop questioning the talent of our players? These last two classes have been some of the most highly rated in the history of NT recruiting. This is a coaching issue! The players are not motivated and appear to not be responding to the coaching staff.

Green Mean · October 26, 2008

Could we stop questioning the talent of our players? These last two classes have been some of the most highly rated in the history of NT recruiting. This is a coaching issue! The players are not motivated and appear to not be responding to the coaching staff.

Couldn't agree with you more. I am not saying these losses would turn into wins with another good coaching staff but atleast we would be competitive. How can TD not lose his players at this point? They may look motivated out there but deep down inside I bet everybody is probably thinking my god what the hell have I gotten myself into. And I truly believe we have some talent on this team. Remember we are not playing LSU every week. We have enough talent to compete and even get some wins in our conference.

Daddy Dumpsalot · October 26, 2008

My thoughts:

I have said it before that it isn't so much the coaching as it is the talent that we currently have. We desperately need some size in our O/D lines. Did anyone see the amount of time that Troy had in the pocket vs. us? We, rushing 4 guys and even 5 sometimes, gave them twice as much time to let the pass play develop as we had when they were rushing 3 guys. I have now come to realize that I think the O-guard/tackle positions are one the most important positions to an effective offense.

So all that to say: So we fire dodge and hire some great name coach and pay him a ton of money....bottom line, he still comes in here with the same talent that Dodge currently has. I don't think the problem is going to be solved by unsuccessfully trying to teach a linemen who and how to stand up a rusher, but rather finding someone that has the ability to do so.

Everyone was screaming for the old DC's head after one season and I said that he just needed to get some talent. My opinion changed after talking with a few NT defensive players who had no respect for Mendoza or his play calls, and now I am glad that he is gone. But I sure don't see DeLoach doing much either. Everyone said he is such a great DC and will turn everything around for us. Sadly, I believe many people are let down by his performance. Do we call for his head now too???? I guarantee you that next year's performance will be just the same as this years.

I have forgotten what it feels like to walk away from a game with the confidence that we will win and I desperately want that back....but it takes time.

North Texas is not keeping with the Joneses right now, they are trying to catch up to the Joneses after falling way behind.

oldguystudent · October 26, 2008

North Texas is not keeping with the Joneses right now, they are trying to catch up to the Joneses after falling way behind.

Would that be the June Joneses?

Green Mean · October 26, 2008

Would that be the June Joneses?

June Cometh. Pony Up.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 26, 2008

I'm not quite ready to jump ship on Coach Dodge yet. HOWEVER, when I was watching the game tonight, I kept waiting to see some kind of creativity on offense. I wanted to see some kind of wrinkle that would cause just the slightest bit of confusion for the other team's defense. Ironically, the only wrinkle I saw that caught Troy off guard was us running the ball up the middle with Cam Montgomery. Have we come full circle around here or what?
If Dodge is supposed to be some kind of offensive mastermind, why has this offense gotten worse in year 2? I don't understand it at all.
Also, can we make the wide receivers work on nothing but catching drills for at least two hours a day?

The offense to me just makes no sense. I just can't understand why nothing seems to work, but maybe it is because Dodge is going to do it one way and that one way is his way until it works or he gets canned. He won't use a TE for some reason, and he has no play in the playbook with a QB under center.

NT80 · October 26, 2008

The offense to me just makes no sense. I just can't understand why nothing seems to work, but maybe it is because Dodge is going to do it one way and that one way is his way until it works or he gets canned. He won't use a TE for some reason, and he has no play in the playbook with a QB under center.

Coaches must be flexible to changing players, opponents, and conditions. We seem to be very inflexible.

oldguystudent · October 26, 2008

We seem to be very inflexible.

The Good Lord Himself could personally come down from on high and advise this staff to take a snap under center, only to be rebuked and sent packing back to the clouds.

Ego? Blind faith? Refusal to accept fallibility?

I dub thee Pope Dodge. Infallible strategist incarnate on Earth.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 26, 2008

Coaches must be flexible to changing players, opponents, and conditions. We seem to be very inflexible.

and see, Dodge for some reason can't see that at 2-18 whatever he is doing IS NOT WORKING.

shaft · October 26, 2008

At this point I think Dodge has 10 games left. He will be fired mid-season next year after his sixth loss.

meangreendork · October 26, 2008

At this point I think Dodge has 10 games left. He will be fired mid-season next year after his sixth loss.

If he goes winless this season (possibility, by easy odds), then I'd expect RV to bring him to the office for a "little talk". Though, I don't know who would step in. I'd almost say DeLoach just comes in at HC.

TIgreen01 · October 26, 2008

In regards to the offensive questions....I saw lots of wide open plays and other obvious calls that could have gouged Troy's D. Problem is, we'd seem to lock in on one read and if it wasn't there we often didn't have enough time to get to the second or third read. Not sure why we don't run a quick inside slant to the outside WR more often...esp. since we seem to set it up so perfectly with our quick throws to the inside WR who then looks to run outside. That and a true screen pass to a HB executed well would have worked last night. Either way, thought the offense had plays there all game....we seemed to be setting up the 15-20 yard post routes over the middle perfectly, only to have an errant throw sink the play. Moral of the story, better reads at the LOS and a little better execution and this offense puts up at least a couple more scoring drives.

That said, it's hard to be perfect on offense and that's pretty much what we have to do every game in order to have a chance due to our completely inept defense. Sure, they are showing improvement, but it's not coming fast enough. The one bright spot on defense is that the coaches seem to be doing a lot better job of making adjustments during the game(thank DeLoach). Fast starts by the other team are just killing us, though....not sure if that is due to gameplanning or just being ready to play, but when you're down by 3+ scores so quickly in every single game you're going to see a team that loses heart and then it's just hard to evaluate(offense or defense) from then on out. We badly need to schedule some terrible div-1aa(not one who might actually give us a game) school to start next season....this defense just doesn't believe in itself and we need a confidence builder.

As far as what to expect with TD and what the AD will do....look for the season ticket sales to determine how much time he actually gets. If it drops off sharply after this season (which it likely will--half of my group is gone for anything outside of tailgating), Dodge's rope will be much shorter....same record this time next year with empty stands and TD will be gone.

Edited October 26, 2008 by TIgreen01

Daddy Dumpsalot · October 26, 2008

I'd almost say DeLoach just comes in at HC.

Because he has done such a good job with our defense? You're right he has really proven himself capable of turning around a team... <_<

Green Dozer · October 26, 2008

If the football program remains in free fall, I just don't see how RV can survive the firing of Dodge. (I AM NOT SAYING AT ALL THAT I THINK HE SHOULD GO, BUT I DO NOT KNOW HOW DR. BATAILLE AND THE BOARD OF REGENTS FEEL). After all, it was his decision and I would imagine he had to convince at least a couple of the decision makers at the University that a high school coach could make it. No matter what, under the present circumstances with what we are seeing on the field and the new stadium looming, RV has some decisions tough decisions to make.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Green Dozer