Former Sam Houston State Hc, Todd Whitten

[gangrene]

From footballscoop.com

[SilverEagle]

From footballscoop.com

How "former"is he?

[gangrene]

How "former"is he?

It looks like he was fired just before Thanksgiving of 2009, after finishing with 5-6 record. Sam Houston State fires Whitten

5-6, sounds like our guy!

[buff64]

How "former"is he?

He was fired after the season ended this year.

[untbowler]

Would be a great OC, believe he led SHSU to National SF's about 2-3 years ago.

Intrigued, Go Bearkats!!

[KRAM1]

Things look a lot different to one when they are "looking" for a new position when out of work than when being courted while holding down a job. I wonder if Eric Russell wouldn't consider UNT now that he has been canned at TT???? I hear, well, he made too much $$$ at Tech to come to UNT...how much $$$ do you make while "fired"???? Just saying that thoughts might change a bit for several coaches. This line of thinking that UNT cannot hire a good OC due to the salary level offered is just plain "stinkin' thinking"...as a well known motivational speaker would say (Zig Zigler).

[gangrene]

Things look a lot different to one when they are "looking" for a new position when out of work than when being courted while holding down a job. I wonder if Eric Russell wouldn't consider UNT now that he has been canned at TT???? I hear, well, he made too much $$$ at Tech to come to UNT...how much $$$ do you make while "fired"???? Just saying that thoughts might change a bit for several coaches. This line of thinking that UNT cannot hire a good OC due to the salary level offered is just plain "stinkin' thinking"...as a well known motivational speaker would say (Zig Zigler).

KRAM, oddly enough, I've been in agreement with many of your posts lately, and this one is no exception. With all of the recent coaching staff overhauls at successful FBS programs, the timing for Ford's departure couldn't be more perfect. But, if we just sit back and don't contact anyone we'll never know if they would consider coaching at little ole UNT, or not. There is a massive game of musical chairs going on right now amongst the FBS coaching staffs and everyone is looking to grab a seat before the music stops. Otherwise, they may be out of a job until college football firing season opens again next fall. Assistant coaches are much more willing to accept pay cuts, than head coaches, simply because they make less money and are less capable of building up their savings account (for those inevitable periods of unemployment) than HCs are.

I still wish we would go after Lincoln Riley because I believe he's got a ton of potential. I read that he's already interviewing with Southern Miss (I've also heard Rice is a possibility), but it didn't say for which position. He's young and this is probably the first time he's been fired, so he doesn't know how to cope with it. He's looking to prove himself as an OC and, eventually, a HC somewhere down the road. But, because he made $197K at Tech, everyone wants to dismiss him as unattainable. Well, he's making $0 right now. If these other schools are offering more money, but as a position coach, I still believe Riley would have to consider less pay at UNT for an OC title on his resume.

I've seen a lot of talk about Eric Russell and, since I don't seem to recall much about him, I'll just accept the consensus that he's worth bring back. But, back to the money, I totally agree that everyone has to stop dismissing the thought of interviewing someone because "we can't pay that much". I have no idea how much money could be allocated to the coaching budget but, It's absolutely embarrassing that we are paying coordinators in the same range as high school head coaches. If we truly can't afford to up our ante, then we shouldn't be building this new stadium. We should have had a coaching fund drive before we started trying to raise money for a stadium.

One more relative little tidbit I've recently discovered - Texas A&M-Commerce hires Guy Morriss as head football coach I did a quick search of GMG for news of Guy Morriss' hiring at Texas A&M-Commerce and came up empty, so I'm assuming most GMG posters are unaware that he coached out at Commerce last season. While he didn't have much success at Baylor, no one can argue that he brought legitimate college coaching experience with him. He spent a little over one season in the SEC at Kentucky and five seasons at Baylor. In addition, he spent several years as an NFL assistant. And just look at the well-experienced staff he was able to put together - at TAMU-Commerce!! Now, do you think Texas A&M-Commerce is paying Guy Morriss anywhere close to what he was making at Baylor??? Do you??? By the way, he finished this season 5-5, winning 5 of the last 6 games and going undefeated in Lone Star Conference games.

[rcade]

Todd Whitten was our quarterback when I began college at Stephen F. Austin in 1985. He was sporting a pretty fierce Prince Valiant haircut, if I recall correctly, and was a pretty good QB. He went on to a brief NFL stint and some Arena ball and has been bouncing around Texas college coaching ranks for 20 years.

[Chrisattsu]

Todd Whitten was our quarterback when I began college at Stephen F. Austin in 1985. He was sporting a pretty fierce Prince Valiant haircut, if I recall correctly, and was a pretty good QB. He went on to a brief NFL stint and some Arena ball and has been bouncing around Texas college coaching ranks for 20 years.

He was the Head Coach at Tarleton while I was there, and led the Texans from TIAA to the Division 2 playoffs. He won LSC-North divisional crowns, and then took off to Sam Houston in 04(05?). At same he never managed to do very much.

Personally, I would not recommend it.

Sam Fans have a thread about it, but they are not saying very much.

http://www.katfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10871

That being said, here is what they said before they fired him.

http://www.katfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10606

Edited January 14, 2010 by Chrisattsu