Latest Comments From Vito Report In Dmn

Green Dozer · November 29, 2009

I am just posting this, I did not write it. Sounds like an outsiders opinion.

It came from the Vito report in the DMN Vito blog: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...nt.310c4b1.html

THIS IS A READER'S COMMENT, NOT VITO'S

This is what poor teams do. They change coaches every 3-4 yrs because someone came in and couldn't win after year 1. They can bring in a new coach next year who will recruit a different type of player to fit into his system then you will be 4yrs away from being able to judge how well he does as a coach. The first recruiting class for Dodge are juniors this year. Wait until he has had a couple of senior classes then judge. I think that UNT is tough for anyone to coach. The facilities are not UT/A&M/OU, etc... UNT is going to have to hire someone who they will stand by for 7-8yrs. If you can get them to 6-5 or 7-4 you have done well at UNT, but if you change coaches every 3-4yrs you will never have a winning season. Think like Dodge for a moment. UNT has a history of losing. He is offensive minded. Starting out you have a better chance of trying to out score people than you do winning 14-7. Plus scoring makes it more exciting and puts more butts in the seats. Having said that I do think that Dodge needs to spend more time on getting good defensive players to go to UNT. Look at Leach at TT. He will be a 7-4, 8-3 record with the occasional 9-2 record. Spike Dykes did that at TT but he only scored 18-21ppg. Now they have the same record but they score 70ppg. Which would be more entertaining? I know which one the budget office prefers. I hope they give Dodge a couple of more years but we ALL have to be realistic about where UNT football ranks in the football world. Good luck Dodge.

Edited November 29, 2009 by Green Dozer

Mean Green Matt · November 29, 2009

That attitude is exactly why we are where we are. A 7-5 record should not be the point at which a UNT coach has "made it". Give me a break Vito.

eulesseagle · November 29, 2009

In all fairness Coach Dodge did not have very many players in his first recruiting class, due to time restraints and everyone knows what they were, and out of those "not many" (perhaps a handfull....maybe) are still around. So, in actuality he has had two "full" recruiting classes.

In his three years there was scholarship restrictions then some players leaving, en mass, in one instance and various drop outs for other reasons......we all know the story.

In a previous article by Vito he stated that Coach Dodge has been playing with a "ton" of freshmen and sophmores.

In three years NT has had two freshmen QBs.

IMHO, Coach Dodge needs to be here for his entire contract. Nothing is ever accomplished with a coaching turnstyle program.

shaft · November 30, 2009

This is a laughable defense.

Name one team that has kept a coach that only had 3 D1/FBS wins after 3 seasons?

North Texas is a tough place to win at? Dickey didn't 4 straight years.

We sent Dickey packing because 5 wins in 2 years wasn't acceptable.

Dodge isn't up to our standard. There is no shame in saying we gave the guy who looked good on paper a chance.

"A couple more years"? Proves this guy doesn't know anything about college football or our program.

Edited November 30, 2009 by shaft

GoMeanGreen1999 · November 30, 2009

In all fairness Coach Dodge did not have very many players in his first recruiting class, due to time restraints and everyone knows what they were, and out of those "not many" (perhaps a handfull....maybe) are still around. So, in actuality he has had two "full" recruiting classes.
In his three years there was scholarship restrictions then some players leaving, en mass, in one instance and various drop outs for other reasons......we all know the story.
In a previous article by Vito he stated that Coach Dodge has been playing with a "ton" of freshmen and sophmores.
In three years NT has had two freshmen QBs.
IMHO, Coach Dodge needs to be here for his entire contract. Nothing is ever accomplished with a coaching turnstyle program.

Wrong. He didn't have much in his first recruiting class because of HIMSELF. He chose not to recruit until AFTER SLC playoff run, and as by HIS OWN ADMISSION he DIDN"T know what he was doing.

NTSUEagle · November 30, 2009

Wrong. He didn't have much in his first recruiting class because of HIMSELF. He chose not to recruit until AFTER SLC playoff run, and as by HIS OWN ADMISSION he DIDN"T know what he was doing.

+1

CaribbeanGreen · November 30, 2009

In a previous article by Vito he stated that Coach Dodge has been playing with a "ton" of freshmen and sophmores.
.

With no difference from any other FBS school in Texas. Review the numbers on the "young team" garbage around the state and the country. That excuse doesn't fly, regardless of whether Dodge tanked a year of recruiting or not.

THOR · November 30, 2009

Wrong. He didn't have much in his first recruiting class because of HIMSELF. He chose not to recruit until AFTER SLC playoff run, and as by HIS OWN ADMISSION he DIDN"T know what he was doing.

so he finished his obligations at his then current job before doing work for his new job....where's the problem with that? it's a respectable thing and he didn't leave his former employer hanging. i believe it's called integrity, responsibility, or something....although i'm sure others will come up with more derogatory terms for it.

GoMeanGreen1999 · November 30, 2009

so he finished his obligations at his then current job before doing work for his new job....where's the problem with that? it's a respectable thing and he didn't leave his former employer hanging. i believe it's called integrity, responsibility, or something....although i'm sure others will come up with more derogatory terms for it.

I have no problem with him staying with SLC to finish out. What I have problem is someone blaming someone else for the choice he made. Right or wrong, it was his decision, no one else's.

GoMeanGreen1999 · November 30, 2009

With no difference from any other FBS school in Texas. Review the numbers on the "young team" garbage around the state and the country. That excuse doesn't fly, regardless of whether Dodge tanked a year of recruiting or not.

Simply amazing. It is not Dodge himself that has lead to a 5-31 record. It is that we are "young" or there was "nothing here when he took over" or "too many injuries" or ect, ect, ect, but NOTHING is really Dodge's fault. As Jub Jub says, "It gives me such tired head."

Cr1028 · November 30, 2009

This is a laughable defense.
Name one team that has kept a coach that only had 3 D1/FBS wins after 3 seasons?
North Texas is a tough place to win at? Dickey didn't 4 straight years.
We sent Dickey packing because 5 wins in 2 years wasn't acceptable.
Dodge isn't up to our standard. There is no shame in saying we gave the guy who looked good on paper a chance.
"A couple more years"? Proves this guy doesn't know anything about college football or our program.

It also proves you are delusional. When has the turnstyle approach worked at a low level mid major like ours?

Dickey won 4 straight years because the Big West stopped playing football. We sent Dickey packing for more than his record in his final 2 years. Remember, Dickey didn't win his first conference title until his 4th year and that was with a losing record. We were in a league of I-AA transitioners and bottom run I-A teams.

It will be interesting to see in Dec 2013 what kind of following we will have and what kind of budget will be available to replace Dodge's successor after the new stadium's second year.

NT03 · November 30, 2009

We were in a league of I-AA transitioners and bottom run I-A teams.

And we aren't now ?

November 30, 2009

In all fairness Coach Dodge did not have very many players in his first recruiting class, due to time restraints and everyone knows what they were, and out of those "not many" (perhaps a handfull....maybe) are still around. So, in actuality he has had two "full" recruiting classes.
In his three years there was scholarship restrictions then some players leaving, en mass, in one instance and various drop outs for other reasons......we all know the story.
In a previous article by Vito he stated that Coach Dodge has been playing with a "ton" of freshmen and sophmores.
In three years NT has had two freshmen QBs.
IMHO, Coach Dodge needs to be here for his entire contract. Nothing is ever accomplished with a coaching turnstyle program.

Depending on how you treat Greg Garden, UNT still has 53% or 50% of Dodge's original class. The following are still on the roster: Marquese Davis, Jesse DeSoto, Breece Johnson, J.J. Johnson, B.J. Lewis, Cam Montgomery, Micah Mosley, A.J. Penson, Sam Roberson and Matt Tomlinson. Most have started multiple games but only J.J. Johnson started every game this season.

From the original class he has lost Sam Dibrell, Kevin Ealey, Bron Hager, Marcus King, Justin Padron, Kyle Russo, Jordan Scoggins, Giovanni Vizza, and Evan Walker. Texas Football lists Greg Garden with the 2007 recruits but I believe that he transferred from Navy without a scholarship guarantee. Of those, only Dibrell and Vizza were regular starters and three more had some playing time.

This past year we had ten returning starters on offense and seven on defense. Admittedly, some that ended the year as starters were not starters at the beginning of last season. How long are will we continue to use "young" team as an excuse.

I like Todd Dodge as a person and I think that he has represented this university well but the name of the game is wins and he hasn't done that. Maybe we are close to turning the corner but it's more likely that we never will (at least based on past experience). We do not have the luxury of giving five seasons following two seasons of losing football. Our fan base is not that strong and there is too large an investment in the process of taking place to take that chance.

Cr1028 · November 30, 2009

Name one team that has kept a coach that only had 3 D1/FBS wins after 3 seasons?

Darrell Dickey had 7 in his first 3 years with only 8 wins total in that time period. WKU was a provisional I-A last year so that would give Dodge 4 in the same amount of time with 5 wins total. I guess one win a year less is worth not taking a gamble on another conference championship/bowl streak.