Drake Gone

flyeater · December 22, 2008

Interesting, he comes out and says college wasn't his bag.

Link

SUMG · December 22, 2008

Thanks Santa.

UNT 90 Grad · December 22, 2008

Hopefully this turns out to be a Win-Win. Good luck in your niche, Coach Drake.

GoMeanGreen1999 · December 22, 2008

Love Troy Phillips wording of our fans "blindly loathe" of the two units Drake was in charge of.

nautique · December 22, 2008

Love Troy Phillips wording of our fans "blindly loathe" of the two units Drake was in charge of.

Vito is second fiddle again to the Dodge media play.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · December 22, 2008

At least the man's honest, saying the college game isn't his niche. As if we couldn't see that on the field. Now, if the rest of the high school staff would be just be honest and leave, we'd really have a Merry Christmas.

Side Show Joe · December 22, 2008

I wish he and his family the very best. I'd like to thank him for his efforts at North Texas, and may he have a great coaching experience at his new job.

On a side note, I'd like to know if this means UNT is now hiring two coaches? or are the other coaches absorbing his responsibilities, and we are just adding a badly needed strength coach?

Anyone know?

Green Nightmare · December 22, 2008

At least the man's honest, saying the college game isn't his niche. As if we couldn't see that on the field. Now, if the rest of the high school staff would be just be honest and leave, we'd really have a Merry Christmas.

Lonnie I don't agree with everything you post but you hit this on the head

I remember a players only meeting this season to gauge everyones buy in to the program.

This coaching staff apparently needs one as well.

We, the fans, the administration etc are buying in for the long term better or worse. If college is too tough for you, now is the time to bail.

Green Nightmare · December 22, 2008

Also I have this question

Last year TD, whether forced or not, made the right call and cut bait on Mendoza and brought back DeLoach

I'm hoping that this job offer for Drake etc was orchestrated behind the scenes and they are allowing him to leave with grace. I hope TD didn't fall back asswards into this gift

Green Dozer · December 22, 2008

I believe Dodge is loyal to his assistants to a fault. I do not think Dodge would have let Mendoza go if not told to, nor would Deloach have been his choice at def. coordinator. I also do not think he was going to fire Drake. That said, I appreciate the efforts Drake made here, and it takes a real man to admit that a job is not for him. I applaud his principles when it comes to his family. I am sure he did not show up every day here wanting to make a mess of the special teams that it had become.

As for a dedicated strength coach, it is the best move for this team to make. I was thinking last night about why the Cowboys have not made won a playoff game in 12 years. There are a lot of reasons, but in the 90's, Johnson made sure they were the best conditioned team in the NFL. Remember the training camps in the Texas heat of Austin, and then Wichita Falls. The superstars of his teams were not missing games due to nagging injuries. I hope that we get a coach so good that we set the standard for our offseason program at least in our conference, and hopefully at the mid major level. I do not care if it is a Dodge homey, as BigNtex said about somebody, if it translates into wins!

MeanGreenZen · December 22, 2008

Vito is second fiddle again to the Dodge media play.

Once again, Dodge going out of his way to make Vito look bad. Why can't Dodge play nice?

Got5onIt · December 22, 2008

Love Troy Phillips wording of our fans "blindly loathe" of the two units Drake was in charge of.

Troy doing what he does best by swinging off Dodge's nutsack. He won't know what to do with himself once Dodge is fired from UNT.

Will to Win · December 22, 2008

obviously wrong man for the job but at least had sense to get out of a situation where he knew he did not belong.

DeepGreen · December 22, 2008

Drake is gone...the job was just too much for him to enjoy.

Why do I have this feeling that these HS coaches make North Texas a program on "training wheels".

Side Show Joe · December 22, 2008

obviously wrong man for the job but at least had sense to get out of a situation where he knew he did not belong.

Merry Christmas. Me and Serg are going to a basketball game after the holidays. You guys want to go? Jordan might like it.

eulessismore · December 22, 2008

I got to wondering what was behind the Cowboys getting punked so bad on special teams play by Baltimore, and looked up the bio for the Ravens special teams coach on their official site. The guy has 28 years experience, with 8 at the pro level, and coached at lower college levels for 7 or 8 years before going to Western Michigan as a full time assistant, coaching special teams and linebackers. I only hope and pray we can find someone who comes out of NCAA Division II or the FCS level with such credentials. And I think it really helped that he and the Ravens HC John Harbaugh go back a long ways. However, I'd just go for the credentials at this point.

Baltimore Ravens special teams coordinator bio

stebo · December 22, 2008

I am taking great comfort in knowing that Vittttto is the last to know about anything NT football. He had to do his "blog" off of the official site press release and now he has been :beat: to this story by Troy Phillips (once again, hahahaha). He has made his bed and will sleep in it. Vito is a talented writer but has let his emotions get in the way of being professional. This happened with our last beat reporter and he had enough talent to regroup after covering Collin County High School Tennis/Cycling for a year or so. Eventually Vito will be replaced or Dodge will be replaced but the two of them cannot co-exist with this relationship. Every time that Vito has last rights to a story (no matter how small) - his boss frowns. Part of his job is developing and nurturing the relationship with the big time money sport for his beat. He seems to have a good relationship with Johnny Jones but this is Texas and football is king. More people show up for a Spring football scrimmage than most basketball games... Sorry, I have gotten a lot of crap for pointing out the obvious (along with a few others) and this is yet another example of how a "beat" writer can shoot himself in the foot (and the lasting effects it has).

NT80 · December 22, 2008

Love Troy Phillips wording of our fans "blindly loathe" of the two units Drake was in charge of.

Blindly Loathe? :blink: I loathe a lot about the last two seasons, everything from the coaching to the fireworks after a loss.

BTW, anyone notice from the article we're after and offered yet another kicker? Is this for his punting or kicking abilities or both?

"Drake was recruiting for UNT as late as Thursday and offered Keller Fossil Ridge all-state kicker Chris Boswell a scholarship, Fossil Ridge coach Tony Baccarini said."

UNT90 · December 22, 2008

I am taking great comfort in knowing that Vittttto is the last to know about anything NT football. He had to do his "blog" off of the official site press release and now he has been :beat: to this story by Troy Phillips (once again, hahahaha). He has made his bed and will sleep in it. Vito is a talented writer but has let his emotions get in the way of being professional. This happened with our last beat reporter and he had enough talent to regroup after covering Collin County High School Tennis/Cycling for a year or so. Eventually Vito will be replaced or Dodge will be replaced but the two of them cannot co-exist with this relationship. Every time that Vito has last rights to a story (no matter how small) - his boss frowns. Part of his job is developing and nurturing the relationship with the big time money sport for his beat. He seems to have a good relationship with Johnny Jones but this is Texas and football is king. More people show up for a Spring football scrimmage than most basketball games... Sorry, I have gotten a lot of crap for pointing out the obvious (along with a few others) and this is yet another example of how a "beat" writer can shoot himself in the foot (and the lasting effects it has).

I think since the Drug story Vito broke went national, he is safe with his bosses for a while. I'm sure they like stories like that rather than a three line blip on page 8 about the replacement of an assistant coach.

MeanGreenZen · December 22, 2008

Vito is a talented writer but has let his emotions get in the way of being professional. This happened with our last beat reporter and he had enough talent to regroup after covering Collin County High School Tennis/Cycling for a year or so.

The SAD thing about your post is that Tim MacMahon leaving the UNT beat for the Collin County High School beat a few years ago was a SIGNIFICANT promotion complete with pay raise. Tim never "let his emotions get in the way of being professional" at UNT. He covered the beat so well he caught the eye of the The Dallas Morning News editors, who wanted him on their staff, not the Denton Record-Chronicle's. Tim jumped at the opportunity to work at the Morning News and is now their signature blogger. If Vito was offered the Collin County High School beat he would leave the UNT beat in a second because it is a better job: not necessarily a better beat. Any journalist would much rather cover a college, but the Collin County High School beat is more important to The Dallas Morning News and therefore they place their better journalists in that position, feature their stories more prominently, pay them more, etc. That crow you ate a few years ago must have had some hallucinogenic properties in it if you think Tim MacMahon leaving the UNT beat for a high school beat at The Dallas Morning News was anything but a great opportunity to move up in the world of sports journalism.

Edited December 22, 2008 by MG Insurance Pro

Green Dozer · December 22, 2008

I think since the Drug story Vito broke went national, he is safe with his bosses for a while. I'm sure they like stories like that rather than a three line blip on page 8 about the replacement of an assistant coach.

90,

Any sportswriter at the Record Chronicle is safe. They do not give a damned about anything sports related there.

Green Dozer · December 22, 2008

Drake is gone...the job was just too much for him to enjoy.
Why do I have this feeling that these HS coaches make North Texas a program on "training wheels".

We only have two coaches on our staff with no college experience.

Quoner · December 22, 2008

This story has been floating out there for over a month now - just like the coaching defections at this time last year.

Thank jebus Phillips broke it, because if we were actively blogging and broke it (again), I would have hated to get called out by the board for "ruining someone's career" and "spreading rumors."

You guys our lucky me and my feelings aren't a recruit, because we'd be halfway to Texas State by now.

Green Lantern · December 22, 2008

I don't beleive that "blindly loathe" is an entirely accurate description of Mean Green fan's feelings on the special teams situation. Consistently having catastrophic meltdowns in a unit that caused momentum to shift to the opposition week in a week out is fair game for criticism from the fan base in my book. You'd have to be "blind" to simply accept the current situation.

I'm glad that coach Drake is going to get an opportunity to put himself and his family in a situation where they'll be able to be happy.