Why Is Rv Immune From The Firing Line?

Green Dozer · November 10, 2009

Problem I have with RV and staff is that the fans have no idea if he has been able to go out and fundraise sufficiently to cover the private side of the stadium cost since the students can only go in 50%. Where is the big announcement or are we waiting to turn dirt with a 25% winning coach and team? A little risky? Maybe cut RV slack for the first Athletics Fee boondoggle, but I think he gets to much credit for the new stadium. Yes he has got new facilities for most teams, but I think they were out of necessity. We have constant issues with APR standards, the first Softball coach was a boondoggle, we are not competitive in most sports outside of men's basketball and Women's Soccer within the Sun Belt, much less nationally.
RV needs to figure it out quick or fundraising $$$'s will be drying up quick with the constant beating the fans take watching the game live, listening on the radio, or following on TV.

I don't know where you come up with this stuff. Is the groundbreaking not enough for you? They can stick a couple of classrooms in the stadium and use funds that way. As for credit for the new stadium, he should get a lot of credit. As an athletic director, he is part of the UNT administration. It is against the law for he or the president to "campaign" or take a stand in a student vote. That is why both were so quiet this fall. Everything cannot be perfect, but you seem to think so given our vast budget. You know when RV got here, very few cared. Now look at this board, and the passion that is shown for the Mean Green. RV has done a lot to give some of us a reason to be passionate fans. Sorry for fans like you that he missed on Urban Meyer.

DeepGreen · November 10, 2009

What about El Guapo? He might start burning down villages as a show of displeasure regarding the performance of our football team.

Why do you think the board went down after the FAU and Troy losses? El Guapo cannot be pleased with this season. All should hide the women and children.

untbowler · November 10, 2009

Bowler, I don't know where you come up with this stuff. Is the groundbreaking not enough for you? They can stick a couple of classrooms in the stadium and use funds that way. As for credit for the new stadium, RV should get a lot of credit. As an athletic director, he is part of the UNT administration. It is against the law for he or the president to "campaign" or take a stand in a student vote. That is why both were so quiet this fall. Everything cannot be perfect, but you seem to think so given our vast budget. You know when RV got here, very few cared. Now look at this board, and the passion that is shown for the Mean Green. RV has played a huge role in giving some of us a reason to be passionate fans. Sorry for fans like you that he missed on Urban Meyer. But he has done pretty good with Johnny Jones, Coach Stephens, and several others. All companies hire bad apples (except in Ark i guess). Also, go up to Fayetteville and see if you can get in to see the athletic director. Bet you can't unless your name is Jones or Tyson. Bottom line is it takes money which we do not have a lot of. Like our football coaches, the alumni and the administration gives RV a bb gun to hunt elephants. He has done a great job with the resources he has to work with.

I could give a ^&*% about Arkansas, I only live hear and I think their AD is an idiot as well, why they would pay $1 million to play an out of state team, while refusing to play Arkansas Schools, is just dumb.

Wow so you havw a short memory when RV pushed the initial fee back in 2002 or so and got burned, fundraising has not increased much and the new facilities got built thanks to one donation from the Goldfield's and the SGA passing a Title IX fee to help out the ladies teams. Where exactly did RV do this grand scheme of things? He was the big fundraising guy, but why are there crickets when anyone asks about fundraising? I will be happy when UNT admins give a rats backside, students and alumni are only 2/3 of the group, if the 1/3 rests on their laurels then you still fail.

Nice job job though complaining that RV has hardest job in the nation, WAAA!!!!!!WAAAA!!!, gee did we not get rid of DD for same thing, if they are so unhappy then they can hit the road like anyone else.

Edited November 10, 2009 by untbowler

KingDL1 · November 10, 2009

based on recent results rv gets passing marks for facilities, gender equity, and hiring in men's basketball, swimming, soccer, tennis
marginal results in communication, and hiring in softball and golf
poor grades for metroplex advertising, hiring in women's basketball, track, volleyball, and football.
Grade = B-

I don't know who is doing it but at least I am seeing more and more UNT billboards around Dallas for education. There are a couple on the Stars Rink at the AAC and I saw something about UNT I think sports and maybe football on the LED ring around the arena where they show sponsors and ads last Friday night.

gangrene · November 10, 2009

RV isn't going anywhere. He landed the new stadium and outside of football the state of UNT athletics is good. You wouldn't want to drop an AD in the middle of the stadium project, and it's probably a reason why Dodge will be the first coach to lead a team in it. This would be a lousy time to start over.

Ok, that's a very valid point. However, I'm not sold on that being a reason why we wouldn't make a change at HC.

Lurker · November 10, 2009

I don't know who is doing it but at least I am seeing more and more UNT billboards around Dallas for education. There are a couple on the Stars Rink at the AAC and I saw something about UNT I think sports and maybe football on the LED ring around the arena where they show sponsors and ads last Friday night.

There is a UNT ad on the boards right next to the Stars bench. It gets a ton of TV time during the game.

gangrene · November 10, 2009

There is a UNT ad on the boards right next to the Stars bench. It gets a ton of TV time during the game.

And don't think for a second that the TV exposure isn't factored into the cost of the dasher board.

TheTastyGreek · November 10, 2009

Ok, that's a very valid point. However, I'm not sold on that being a reason why we wouldn't make a change at HC.

Given that the stadium will be done the same year Dodge's contract expires... It's almost an incentive to make the change now while you're insulated by the ongoing project, then hoping like hell that the new hire turns out better than the 2006 one.

MeanGreenEngineer · November 10, 2009

The terror alert just went from Yellow to Orange.
God help us if Mean Green Engineer chimes in.

I've been to every home game, but I haven't posted in over a year. Do you blame me?

On the the subject at hand. RV's performance:

I think many of you considered him untouchable because of the new stadium. However, if the funding of a new stadium is all you need to have and keep an athletic directors job, shoudln't UNTFlyer be in that office?

MeanGreenEngineer · November 10, 2009

I've been to every home game, but I haven't posted in over a year. Do you blame me?
On the the subject at hand. RV's performance:
I think many of you considered him untouchable because of the new stadium. However, if the funding of a new stadium is all you need to have and keep an athletic directors job, shoudln't UNTFlyer be in that office?

I was just contacted and told this was one of my weakest posts ever, I'de like to apologize to everyone, the responsibility of the lameness lies entirely on me. I see that my posting hasn't been good enough, and I beleive with a little more practice, I can turn this around.

In my defense, you can't expect me to make baylorfans posts on a gomeangreen budget, I am going to need time to turn this around. Years of it. You Mofos.

greenminer · November 10, 2009

I was just contacted and told this was one of my weakest posts ever, I'de like to apologize to everyone, the responsibility of the lameness lies entirely on me. I see that my posting hasn't been good enough, and I beleive with a little more practice, I can turn this around.
In my defense, you can't expect me to make baylorfans posts on a gomeangreen budget, I am going to need time to turn this around. Years of it. You Mofos.

Considering the rate at which you post, your return on investment is still off the charts.

Glad to know you still attend the games and always happy to see you participate on the board.

TheTastyGreek · November 10, 2009

Okay, I'm raising the Alert from Orange to Orange-and-a-Half.

Green Dozer · November 10, 2009

I could give a ^&*% about Arkansas, I only live hear and I think their AD is an idiot as well, why they would pay $1 million to play an out of state team, while refusing to play Arkansas Schools, is just dumb.
Wow so you havw a short memory when RV pushed the initial fee back in 2002 or so and got burned, fundraising has not increased much and the new facilities got built thanks to one donation from the Goldfield's and the SGA passing a Title IX fee to help out the ladies teams. Where exactly did RV do this grand scheme of things? He was the big fundraising guy, but why are there crickets when anyone asks about fundraising? I will be happy when UNT admins give a rats backside, students and alumni are only 2/3 of the group, if the 1/3 rests on their laurels then you still fail.
Nice job job though complaining that RV has hardest job in the nation, WAAA!!!!!!WAAAA!!!, gee did we not get rid of DD for same thing, if they are so unhappy then they can hit the road like anyone else.

Who cares if it was one donation, he got it. So he lost a vote in 2002. Should not have been hard to win if the students at that time cared. Obviously he felt conference championships would make a difference. Simple, there just are not enough people in the UNT community that seem to care about donating to the athletic department. Has donations improved since Dickey left? Yes and the costs of everything has gone up, so its a wash. I never said he had the hardest job in the nation, but it does not take long to call the roll of the athletic directors that do. Sorry, a school with an enrollment of 38,000, 4th largest university in the state, and nearly 90000 graduates in the metroplex should not have to put up billboards, beg for money, etc. With football such a big thing in this state, UNT ought to at least be on the same level as the Univ of Houston. The present president and the preceding one have been by far the best we have ever had when it comes to supporting UNT athletics. Years ago you could blame the admin, but not this time.

untbowler · November 10, 2009

Who cares if it was one donation, he got it. So he lost a vote in 2002. Should not have been hard to win if the students at that time cared. Obviously he felt conference championships would make a difference. Simple, there just are not enough people in the UNT community that seem to care about donating to the athletic department. Has donations improved since Dickey left? Yes and the costs of everything has gone up, so its a wash. I never said he had the hardest job in the nation, but it does not take long to call the roll of the athletic directors that do. Sorry, a school with an enrollment of 38,000, 4th largest university in the state, and nearly 90000 graduates in the metroplex should not have to put up billboards, beg for money, etc. With football such a big thing in this state, UNT ought to at least be on the same level as the Univ of Houston. The present president and the preceding one have been by far the best we have ever had when it comes to supporting UNT athletics. Years ago you could blame the admin, but not this time.

That true although right now we would like to be on the same level as ULM or any other Belt School sadly, but we should at the same level as any WAC or CUSA.

Got5onIt · November 11, 2009

That true although right now we would like to be on the same level as ULM or any other Belt School sadly, but we should at the same level as any WAC or CUSA.

At least we aren't Idaho??

November 11, 2009

This thread keeps drifting in and out of its original theme so let's address that first.

RV is not immune from the firing line but why come down on him now? RV has accomplished more as an athletics director than anyone in the history of the university. Title IX, the Athletics Center, Waranch tennis center, softball stadium, soccer stadium, academic center, volleyball center, coaching hires such as Jones, Dykstra, and Lama, Mean Green Club improvements including development staff for athletics, shirt exchange, the multitude of day-to-day problems such as lighting, turf, maintenance of a crumbling Fouts, and capped by a new football stadium. All of these occurred on his watch and he had varying degrees of participation but all required considerable effort. Rick has done an outstanding job.

The failures have been few. Some would lay the first effort at student approval of increased fees for athletics at his feet but no one had been successful before and he was in uncharted waters. He had a foible in the hiring of previous athletic development directors but has righted that ship. He scheduled too many bodybag games but that was necessary to keep this program afloat and many of those were inherited. We now have an improved schedule with only one or two money games a year. Which brings us to the hiring of Todd Dodge. He wasn't my first choice but I wasn't that displeased with the hiring. Todd brought a good bit to the table...one of the most renowned coaches in the area/state, a future High School Hall of Fame football coach, unparalled coaching connections in this state and a love for this university. The majority of the alumni, even those who preferred another candidate, were pretty comfortable with the decision. But, unless there is an almost miraculous turnaround in wins, this hiring is likely a failure.

He hasn't been perfect but, especially when you consider the budget that he had to work with, my scales are overwhelmingly balanced on the good side.

I have confidence that RV will deal with Dodge's retention after the season ends. It's going to be an agonizing decision for him. He, along with most of us, want to see Dodge succeed, and there needs to be more than reasonable doubt that he won't. Todd certainly hasn't won at an expected rate but he has been a catalyst for pushing the new stadium and improvement in recruiting. He has attempted to make improvements in his coaching staff. He has tried to right the ship and he deserves full consideration for honoring the contract.

I would still like to see both Todd and Riley succeed at North Texas but the son should not be a pawn in this decision. Riley wants to play for his father. I don't fault that in the least and that's how he came to be here. But, I believe that Riley enjoys the university and his teammates and won't quit on them. He surely understands wins and losses and must know that no more wins this year puts his dad in extreme jeopardy. Personally, I think that Riley stays at North Texas. While it is not the alma mater of his father it is of his mother.

I didn't mean for this post to be so long but one other point that I wanted to address. One poster said that we schould be on par with the University of Houston. We were at one time in the late 50s but they left us in the dust. Why? Money...they had it and we didn't. Two huge benefactors were able to get them in the Southwest Conference and we may never catch up. So, for all of the things we have in common, it will be years before we are on par with them.

Edited November 11, 2009 by GrayEagleOne

Green Dozer · November 11, 2009

This thread keeps drifting in and out of its original theme so let's address that first.
RV is not immune from the firing line but why come down on him now? RV has accomplished more as an athletics director than anyone in the history of the university. Title IX, the Athletics Center, Waranch tennis center, softball stadium, soccer stadium, academic center, volleyball center, coaching hires such as Jones, Dykstra, and Lama, Mean Green Club improvements including development staff for athletics, shirt exchange, the multitude of day-to-day problems such as lighting, turf, maintenance of a crumbling Fouts, and capped by a new football stadium. All of these occurred on his watch and he had varying degrees of participation but all required considerable effort. Rick has done an outstanding job.
The failures have been few. Some would lay the first effort at student approval of increased fees for athletics at his feet but no one had been successful before and he was in uncharted waters. He had a foible in the hiring of previous athletic development directors but has righted that ship. He scheduled too many bodybag games but that was necessary to keep this program afloat and many of those were inherited. We now have an improved schedule with only one or two money games a year. Which brings us to the hiring of Todd Dodge. He wasn't my first choice but I wasn't that displeased with the hiring. Todd brought a good bit to the table...one of the most renowned coaches in the area/state, a future High School Hall of Fame football coach, unparalled coaching connections in this state and a love for this university. The majority of the alumni, even those who preferred another candidate, were pretty comfortable with the decision. But, unless there is an almost miraculous turnaround in wins, this hiring is likely a failure.
He hasn't been perfect but, especially when you consider the budget that he had to work with, my scales are overwhelmingly balanced on the good side.
I have confidence that RV will deal with Dodge's retention after the season ends. It's going to be an agonizing decision for him. He, along with most of us, want to see Dodge succeed, and there needs to be more than reasonable doubt that he won't. Todd certainly hasn't won at an expected rate but he has been a catalyst for pushing the new stadium and improvement in recruiting. He has attempted to make improvements in his coaching staff. He has tried to right the ship and he deserves full consideration for honoring the contract.
I would still like to see both Todd and Riley succeed at North Texas but the son should not be a pawn in this decision. Riley wants to play for his father. I don't fault that in the least and that's how he came to be here. But, I believe that Riley enjoys the university and his teammates and won't quit on them. He surely understands wins and losses and must know that no more wins this year puts his dad in extreme jeopardy. Personally, I think that Riley stays at North Texas. While it is not the alma mater of his father it is of his mother.
I didn't mean for this post to be so long but one other point that I wanted to address. One poster said that we schould be on par with the University of Houston. We were at one time in the late 50s but they left us in the dust. Why? Money...they had it and we didn't. Two huge benefactors were able to get them in the Southwest Conference and we may never catch up. So, for all of the things we have in common, it will be years before we are on par with them.

Good points. I do not see a coaching change being made this year, sorry. Everybody wants this great "college experienced" coaching staff, but I think our budget hurts us there as well. I think Dodge wanted to bring his own staff here, but I bet there were a couple of college contacts that he might have wanted to hire, but could not afford them because of our limited budget. There are a lot of assistants at even the mid major level that make more than our coordinators. These guys are not a dime a dozen. As for Houston, they lost a lot in support when the Southwest Conference dissolved. There has not as much money pouring in, which is one reason they moved their home games back to campus. You are right about the donors in the 50's. But my point was based since 1995 or so. We have a larger school and a bigger alumni base. We still should be on par or pretty close. All the demographics (large contingent of commuters, pro teams, located in a large metropolitan area, a private university real close, etc.) are pretty much equal. It is a better model to compare ourselves with than an SMU or somebody like that.

shaft · November 11, 2009

RV is sweet.

-Tailgating

-Stadium

-Bowl games

-NCAA basketball tournament

-future series with SMU

ElGuapo · October 13, 2015

What about El Guapo? He might start burning down villages as a show of displeasure regarding the performance of our football team.

El Guapo is stunned that the Americanos have not yet figured out that the famous bandit Ricardo Villareal has been robbing you blind from the inside.

Every year at the convención internacional bandido El Guapo is forced to hear him brag about the many hundreds of thousands of dollars he takes while pretending to be some sort of futbol administrator. El Guapo is not clear on the details, but he assumed the Tejanos del Norte would have discovered his treachery by now.

UNTDoc · October 13, 2015

Holy necro-bump Batman

I haven't been following this board that long, but it seems like back in 2009 people had the same concerns about RV that we are still talking about. Something has got to change. Lets hope our letters to the president get the point across.

Perhaps someone should copy and paste the text of this thread to him with date stamps...

untjim1995 · October 13, 2015

RV is sweet.

-Tailgating
-Stadium
-Bowl games
-NCAA basketball tournament
-future series with SMU

wow...smh

Rudy · October 14, 2015

El Guapo, if you need a reliable German to deliver guns to the people, I'm available.

UNTFan23 · October 14, 2015

El Guapo is stunned that the Americanos have not yet figured out that the famous bandit Ricardo Villareal has been robbing you blind from the inside.
Every year at the convención internacional bandido El Guapo is forced to hear him brag about the many hundreds of thousands of dollars he takes while pretending to be some sort of futbol administrator. El Guapo is not clear on the details, but he assumed the Tejanos del Norte would have discovered his treachery by now.

El Guapo always seems to show up at the most inopportune times!