Who We Don't Want As A Head Coach

meangreenbob · October 26, 2010

1) Jeff Bowen will not create the kind of splash this program needs. Yeah, he did some good things at USM but if that is as high as we want to go than we might consider moving back down to 1AA. The Fan Base will not be impressed. Also, it puts RV in a precarious position because of his ties to USM. Not a viable choice.

2) Mike Leech is trouble. Yes, he will have you on ESPN every day of the week and will more than likely fill the stadium in the beginning but remember his teams never really could play defense on a consistent basis. He would more than likely look down on us and not really understand what it is we want to accomplish here concerning UNT Football.

3) Franchione. NO, no, no! Too much baggage.

4) Applewhite? Good grief.

5)Levitte. Maybe, but man I would certainly grill this guy to the tenth degree.

My choice.............................Terry Bowden. Thats your man if you can get him! PAY HIM!

Disclaimer: Opinion only..

Edited October 26, 2010 by meangreenbob

yyz28 · October 26, 2010

I agree with #1.

#2 - I tend to disagree, as he will have to put some of that aside if he wants to come here. There is a little bit of twisted logic to him being a perfect fit for this program. Let's assume he learned his defensive lesson at Tech - something that was evident toward the end as he had finally installed a great Defensive Coordinator and they were having real success on both sides of the ball. ...the boost he could give North Texas in terms of visability, wins, potential conference championships weigh heavy. ...even if he was a short termer, the potential boost in having him here for a few years is huge.

#3 - sort of the same as above.

#4 - Major could turn out to be one hell of a coach, but he's a positions coach today and this isn't the time for NT to take a risk like that.

#5 - Levitt - I think he's probably the best option if you want a quick turn around, espceically if he keeps Canales on. ...he would have a great inside line on what we have in terms of talent and how best to use it because of Canales' experience here. If we want to be in a serious hunt for the title NEXT SEASON, this choice is the most logical.

#6 - Another fine choice. Terry Bowden would be a good fit here and has had some real success.

...in other words, 4 of the choices listed here would all work, IMHO, for different reasons. The fan base who don't really know any of these guys or what is in their hearts and minds judge based on what the media and their W-L record tells us, which I don't think gives any of us a true picture of what any of these guys would be like at UNT. Of the guys on your list, I would be thrilled with Leach, Fran, Levitt or Bowden.

eppy4life · October 26, 2010

1) Jeff Bowen will not create the kind of splash this program needs. Yeah, he did some good things at USM but if that is as high as we want to go than we might consider moving back down to 1AA. The Fan Base will not be impressed. Also, it puts RV in a precarious position because of his ties to USM. Not a viable choice.

I just don't agree that this decision needs to make a splash. The Dodge hire made a splash and we see how that worked out. If RV is making his choice based of impressing the fan base I think we're in trouble. Winning games will impress the fan base.

Your average student or alum won't change their actions because we hired Terry Bowden, Mike Leach, or Coach Fran. Chances are they won't even know who they are either. But if we start winning, they'll notice that. Not that I'm against any of the big name guys, I just don't believe the hire should be about making headlines.

greenjoe · October 26, 2010

Mark Stoops

I don't know anything about him except his last name and that he is the defensive guy at Florida State. But his last name would bring notoriety to the program and people in the seats.

But he has never been a head coach.

Edited October 26, 2010 by greenjoe

oldschoollefty · October 26, 2010

The Dodge hire made a "splash" based on hype and potential. The next coaches "splash" needs to be based on substance i.e., track record, ability to recruit, a strong media presence and good communication with students and alumni.

Wookies · October 26, 2010

1. Bower may be a good coach, but I question if NT fans outside of this board know who he is. Not sure how excited fans would be about this hire.

2. Leach will never happen. During the podcast or press conference RV emphasized that the new coach has to be willing to get out in the community, meet fans and alums, sell tickets, kiss babies, etc. Leach doesn't strike me as that kind of guy.

3. Fran....has he been out of coaching too long? Seems like if he was really passionate about coaching he would have found a job by now. Can't make up my mind of him.

4. Has Applewhite really done that much? I may be off base but doesn't he share his duties with another coach? This seems like too much of a gamble and we have to hit on this hire.

5. I like everything about Leavitt except the situation surrounding his termination from USF....but I think he deserves a 2nd chance regardless of what happened.

6. I don't think it could hurt having a Bowden running the program. Experienced coach that we might get at a reasonable price.

I guess Leavitt and Bowden are my favorites of this list.

meangreenacct · October 26, 2010

1) Jeff Bowen will not create the kind of splash this program needs. Yeah, he did some good things at USM but if that is as high as we want to go than we might consider moving back down to 1AA. The Fan Base will not be impressed. Also, it puts RV in a precarious position because of his ties to USM. Not a viable choice.

2) Mike Leech is trouble. Yes, he will have you on ESPN every day of the week and will more than likely fill the stadium in the beginning but remember his teams never really could play defense on a consistent basis. He would more than likely look down on us and not really understand what it is we want to accomplish here concerning UNT Football.

3) Franchione. NO, no, no! Too much baggage.

4) Applewhite? Good grief.

5)Levitte. Maybe, but man I would certainly grill this guy to the tenth degree.

My choice.............................Terry Bowden. Thats your man if you can get him! PAY HIM!

Disclaimer: Opinion only..

I don't want Jeff Bowen, or Jeff Bower either. I'm not so sure about Mike Leech, but I would take Mike Leach!

All About UNT · October 26, 2010

Should the true question be....who is Bob most likely to yell at? Just kidding Bob!

All About UNT · October 26, 2010

The Dodge hire made a "splash" based on hype and potential. The next coaches "splash" needs to be based on substance i.e., track record, ability to recruit, a strong media presence and good communication with students and alumni.

And while that is true... I believe that most of that hype was contained to the North Texas area where his name was on the map. The rest of the nation was intrigued by our choice of a winning high school football coach and the experimental aspect of the situation. Just a thought.

MDH · October 26, 2010

I don't want Jeff Bowen, or Jeff Bower either. I'm not so sure about Mike Leech, but I would take Mike Leach!

Such an accountant.

meangreenacct · October 26, 2010

Such an accountant.

Hey, at least I gave him a pass on number 5.

McKinneyMiner · October 26, 2010

2) Mike Leech is trouble. Yes, he will have you on ESPN every day of the week and will more than likely fill the stadium in the beginning but remember his teams never really could play defense on a consistent basis. He would more than likely look down on us and not really understand what it is we want to accomplish here concerning UNT Football.

Say what you want about Mike Leach, but he had an incredible record against teams he was supposed to beat... And that is huge if you are trying to get to bowl games every year...

Tech would sweep their OOC schedule, beat up on the weak sisters of the Big 12 and then struggle (but not always) against the Texas, Oklahoma, OSU's of the conference...

9-3 every season sounds pretty good to me...

Leach wouldn't be my automatic first choice, but I think any school who is looking for a splash and to improve dramatically quickly you can't deny the evidence...

Mean Green 93-98 · October 26, 2010

At what point did everyone become so anti-Jeff Bower? This is by no means comprehensive, but consider the following posts.

I think Petersen is too high. I'd put Patterson and J. Bowers #1 & #2 in this list [best non-BCS coaches].

Bower resigned?! I would have thought someone of his tenure and respect gets more national pub for resigning.

A little stunned that SMUt didn't give Jeff Bower at S. Miss a serious look. 10 bowl games in 11 years...pro-style offense...just what the doctor ordered at SMU, and for the right price. Just can't see them running the triple option, though as earlier posted maybe Johnson will use something more conventional. Bower was right there for the taking, but Navy and SMU have had a past relationship, so from that aspect I'm not surprised.

We were'nt at anywhere near where Southern Miss and Baylor were when their coaches were dismissed. I'm not sure what Southern Miss, especially, was thinking. Bower had coached there 17 seasons and had winning records in 15 of them, including the last 14 in a row. He finished with a winning percentage of .598. Grant Teaff played in a much tougher conference and had winning seasons in 12 of the 21 seasons that he coached at Baylor. He finished 23 games above .500 with a winning percentage of .548. He won three SWC championships; Baylor's only two other championships occured in 1922 and 1924. They had gone 50 years without a football championship.

DD, on the other hand, had winning seasons in 3 of his 9 years. He finished 22 games below .500 and had a winning percentage of only .396. Check the all-time coaching records and see how many stick around with that kind of record. Both Bower and Teaff's winning percentage were greater that the winning percentage of their universities whereas Dickey's winning percentage was considerably lower than that of our university (.522 all-time).

Bower really got a raw deal and I have a hunch that it may come back to bite them in the butt unless they can part with some big bucks to increase the HFC'sin salary.

If not, bring on Steve Logan, Jeff Bower, Tim Billings, or any other coach with ties to this region who understand what's going on and how to prepare for it week in and week out.

Real coaches are out there. Please, Ricky V...if we go 0-12, go get us a real college football coach. Grad assistants at major universities have watched more FBS-level game film in their careers than Dodge has. Please, do something, Ricky V.

(Someone sneak underneath RV's bed at night and just keep saying Jeff Bower, Jeff Bower, Jeff Bower....)

Mean Green 93-98 · October 26, 2010

<Cont'd.>

My top choice would be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bower" target="_blank">Jeff Bower</a>. This man would be the perfect fit for our university. He has led a mid-major program to sustained success, leading Southern Miss to 14 straight winning seasons and going to a bowl game 10 of 11 seasons. There is also the USM tie between Bower and Villarreal. From what I've heard, Bower really wants to get back into coaching. Apparently, his contract with USM wouldn't allow him to coach again for a few years unless he wanted to give up his salary. I think that waiting period is now over. If he really wants to get back into coaching, I would say he is just what the University of North Texas could use.

Bower is a helluva coach in my opinion. He would be a great get for WKU.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Harry @ Nov 13 2009, 08:26 AM) ←</div><div class='quotemain'>Bower is a helluva coach in my opinion. He would be a great get for WKU.</div>

Agree. Never really understood why they got rid of him. Is Southern Miss that much better today with their new coach?

He resigned. He's a perfect fit - experience, achievement, and he worked with RV.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(UNTflyer @ Nov 29 2009, 11:03 AM) ←</div><div class='quotemain'>He resigned. He's a perfect fit - experience, achievement, and he worked with RV.</div>

hire him so i can tell people unt is serious about football.

Jeff Bower is a great football coach. No, he didn't resign at USM. He was terminated. Yes, officially he resigned, but he would have been fired if he hadn't. Jeff had lost some fire after 17 years, but I am convinced he would take a new job and with a recharged battery now, he would do great things at UNT.
The USM idiots that ran him off, were convinced that Larry Fedora, the new coach, who was given twice the money as Bower and five times the recruiting budget, would do great things. Well, Fedora is 6-6 and 7-6 in his two seasons. No better than Bower was doing when he was run off.
UNT could make no better hire than Jeff Bower. He is well respected by the coaching fraternity and would be able to hire a great staff. Anyway, good luck on whatever happens in Denton.

It seems that before TheTastyGreek posted a negative opinion about Bower a few weeks ago, everybody was high on Bower. All of a sudden, he is a terrible hire, to the degree that some are saying they would quit following/supporting North Texas football if he were hired. But Tasty's post did nothing to indicate that he was a bad coach, or a morally inferior person. He did a good job pointing out Bower's flaws, but they don't necessarily make him any less hireable (is that a word?) than Leach, Leavitt, or Mangino with their transgressions. The bad points about Bower include:

He doesn't have recruiting connections in the DFW area.
His assistants that helped him during his most successful years would be gone.
If you take away his wins over 1-AA programs, his 14 year run of winning seasons becomes 8 years with 6 or fewer D-1A victories.
The BCS teams against which he got his big wins (including Bama, Okie St [2x], Illinois, and Nebraska), all had losing records.
He won't have the same familiarity and support in Denton that he did in Hattiesburg.
The Sun Belt is tougher to recruit to than to C-USA.
He has been out of coaching for 3 years.

#1. What recruiting connections did June Jones have when he came to SMU? He has done alright. And with UNT in the Sun Belt, he would be recruiting players to play in the same general geographic area as C-USA.

#2. If he was on a decline anyway, maybe some new assistants would do him good? With the exception of Coach D-Lo, he would probably have his pick out of the coaches we have left. Besides, I just don't see that clear a decline from his earlier years at Southern Miss. His last 2 years he went 9-5 (6-3, won conference and GMAC Bowl) and 7-6 (5-3).

#3. If you take away his 1-AA wins and end up with 6 wins, you still end up with a winning record.

#4. Bower never got Southern Miss into the same class as a powerhouse Alabama or Notre Dame, granted. But he still got the name wins that this fanbase has been dying to see for so long.

#5. It seems his biggest problem at Southern Miss was that he had been in Hattiesburg so long. People were ready for a change, and he may have been stagnating a little bit. Maybe a change would do him good.

#6. The Sun Belt is also easier to win in than C-USA. We'll call it a wash.

#7. Most of us would be happy with Franchione, who has also been out of coaching for 3 years. Lou Holtz was out of coaching for 3 years before he came back to make an awful South Carolina program at least respectable.

Tasty makes Bower out to be Dickey reincarnated, but that is not close. Dickey had a losing record overall, while Bower had a winning record in each of his last 14 seasons. You might compare him to DD during his run, but give Bower a Booger and I'll still take Bower. The two met head-to-head in the NO Bowl, and Bower trounced Dickey.

I'm not saying that the concerns Tasty brings up about Bower are not worth considering. And I'm not saying there are not better candidates for the job. His hiring certainly won't create the "splash" that others might. But in all his years of coaching, all the guy has ever done is win, and I believe he will do that here.

MeanGreenTexan · October 26, 2010

Good stuff,

I haven't gone on record as saying Bower would be a terrible hire or anything... He's just not a "sexy" pick like a Leach, Fran, Leavitt, etc... would be.

Is he going to excite the fanbase (or stir up new fans) as much as the other guys? No. Not even close.

Is he going to attract top-level talent here based on what recruits know about him at S.Miss? Probably not.

Good, safe hire? Sure.

Would I revolt and throw a fit if he is the hire? No. He's just not at the top of my list.

yyz28 · October 26, 2010

Good stuff,

I haven't gone on record as saying Bower would be a terrible hire or anything... He's just not a "sexy" pick like a Leach, Fran, Leavitt, etc... would be.
Is he going to excite the fanbase (or stir up new fans) as much as the other guys? No. Not even close.
Is he going to attract top-level talent here based on what recruits know about him at S.Miss? Probably not.
Good, safe hire? Sure.
Would I revolt and throw a fit if he is the hire? No. He's just not at the top of my list.

This is just how I feel. I think there are some way better choices out there. Is Bower a good coach? Yes. Is he better than the previous endless list of coaches we've had here? Certainly is on paper. ...but I think there are better choices that we may be in a position to get.

eppy4life · October 26, 2010

If Bower is hired and at the announcement RV says, 'I did contact Coach Fran. Mike Leach, Jim Leavitt, the Bowden Brothers, and all those high profile names mentioned on gmg.com and none of them were interested' would everyone still be frustrated with Bower? Of course if you start throwing out a bunch of 'sexy' names Jeff Bower becomes very boring. But if, as I suspect, none of them are intersted, I'd love to have Jeff Bower.

Edited October 26, 2010 by eppy4life

TheTastyGreek · October 26, 2010

#1. What recruiting connections did June Jones have when he came to SMU? He has done alright. And with UNT in the Sun Belt, he would be recruiting players to play in the same general geographic area as C-USA.
#2. If he was on a decline anyway, maybe some new assistants would do him good? With the exception of Coach D-Lo, he would probably have his pick out of the coaches we have left. Besides, I just don't see that clear a decline from his earlier years at Southern Miss. His last 2 years he went 9-5 (6-3, won conference and GMAC Bowl) and 7-6 (5-3).
#3. If you take away his 1-AA wins and end up with 6 wins, you still end up with a winning record.
#4. Bower never got Southern Miss into the same class as a powerhouse Alabama or Notre Dame, granted. But he still got the name wins that this fanbase has been dying to see for so long.
#5. It seems his biggest problem at Southern Miss was that he had been in Hattiesburg so long. People were ready for a change, and he may have been stagnating a little bit. Maybe a change would do him good.
#6. The Sun Belt is also easier to win in than C-USA. We'll call it a wash.
#7. Most of us would be happy with Franchione, who has also been out of coaching for 3 years. Lou Holtz was out of coaching for 3 years before he came back to make an awful South Carolina program at least respectable.

1) June Jones, because of his Hawaii position, recruited nationally. He's done the same since coming to SMU. If Jeff Bower had a history of bringing in people from all over the country, awesome. But we are not a nationally recognized football school, and he is not a name that rings in the ears of 17-18 year old kids (all of whom were still in 6th or 7th grade the last time he finished a season with fewer than 5 losses). He is not going to be the North Texas version of June Jones. He doesn't have the national connections, he doesn't have the name recognition that Jones did (because of his BCS appearance and his tenure as an NFL coach), and he won't be able to recruit anywhere near what Jones has done.

2) If we're hoping for new assistants to get Bower back on his 90's track... Why don't we get a guy (like Leavitt or Fran) who can do it himself, and get those super assistants to support THEM?

3) Not true. You get a lot of .500 or worse records. Like 2007 and 2002, for example.

4) From an article I linked to earlier:

Three Conference USA titles in the league’s first four seasons were met with just one over the last eight, and the "winning record" streak consistently hinged on salvaging unfulfilling, 7-5 records against UAB, East Carolina or Arkansas State at the end of the year, even as Louisville and TCU bolted for greener pastures and a respectable league rapidly deteriorated into a midweek distraction, the MAC of the South, with no teams anywhere near the polls. His teams are 16-36 this decade against teams that finished with winning records, any teams, and of the big wins over BCS teams in that span – over Alabama and Oklahoma State in 2000, Ok. State again in 2001, Illinois in 2002, Nebraska in 2004, N.C. State in 2006 – only that Nebraska team (final record: 5-6 in Bill Callahan’s first season) even finished within a game of .500. The biggest victory of the last three seasons was an ordinary home win last year against Houston, which later avenged the loss in the conference championship.

5) The reason he was in Hattiesburg so long was that, according to a lot of the articles written in the wake of his firing, nobody else tried to hire him away after the turn of the millennium. If we're counting on him doing BETTER once we take him OUT of the situation where he was a former player, former assistant, and a local hero... I don't think we're making a very smart bet. He couldn't cut it there anymore. Take away the unique advantages he had there, and he's going to do better? When he's spent the past 3 years fishing and living the retired life? Everyone has an opinion, but I don't agree with the opinion that he'd get better here.

6) This is a guy who, with the exception of one year (2003), didn't get out of C-USA play with less than 3 or 4 losses in this decade. After the 90's ended, he was mediocre in his own league. Do that in the Sun Belt (if he even could... Again, I have serious doubts about his effectiveness away from USM because of the roots he had there) and you'll never break .500.

There are already two post-millennial Boweresque performers in the Sun Belt: Steve Roberts and Rickey Bustle. They'll both probably get fired after this season ends.

You can call it a wash. I'll consider it proof that during the 2000s, the guy coached teams that were mediocre at their conference level, then limped to 7 win records by scoring annual wins against 1-AAs and Sun Belt schools. If he's coaching AT a Sun Belt school and he loses 3 conference games per year... Where are the games going to come from to even get us to 7 wins? You can't play more than one 1-AA team per year and count it towards eligibility.

7) Franchione has won at 8 different spots, 6 in his first year and 2 in his second. Bower spent the 2000s in a downward suck spiral and his own alma mater fired him despite his deceptively adequate record. Franchione spent much of his career working in Texas and the west, and his name and track record in building TCU and coaching at A&M gave him the recruiting connections we would need to get the ship righted. Bower hasn't coached in Texas in 25 years, hasn't coached west of the Mississippi River in 20. The only time he coached and recruited in the state of Texas was a brief period that ended in 1986, and back then he had the assistance of SMU booster payoffs helping to lure in players. Franchione has spent the past 3 years pursuing other head coaching opportunities. Bower has spent the past 3 years pursuing fish.

Anything anyone can say in support of Bower is something that Southern Mississippi knew of and heard about from everyone who supported him. And, even though he was an alum and a local hero, they fired him anyway.

Maybe we know better than the people who educated him and then employed him for 24 years. Maybe, somehow, they got it wrong.

But I don't think they did.

MeanGreenTexan · October 26, 2010

If Bower is hired and at the announcement RV says, 'I did contact Coach Fran. Mike Leach, Jim Leavitt, the Bowden Brothers, and all those high profile names mentioned on gmg.com and none of them were interested' would everyone still be frustrated with Bower? Of course if you start throwing out a bunch of 'sexy' names Jeff Bower becomes very boring. But if, as I suspect, none of them are intersted, I'd love to have Jeff Bower.

No.

Of course, I doubt he would come out and say that. I think it would be up to Vito and Phillips and the media world to find out if they were in fact contacted.

If they were NOT contacted, then my answer would change to Yes.

MeanGreenHoops · October 26, 2010

<Cont'd.>

It seems that before TheTastyGreek posted a negative opinion about Bower a few weeks ago, everybody was high on Bower. All of a sudden, he is a terrible hire, to the degree that some are saying they would quit following/supporting North Texas football if he were hired. But Tasty's post did nothing to indicate that he was a bad coach, or a morally inferior person. He did a good job pointing out Bower's flaws, but they don't necessarily make him any less hireable (is that a word?) than Leach, Leavitt, or Mangino with their transgressions. The bad points about Bower include:

Not true, there were a few others including me. I'd rather have let Dodge keep trying to figure it out, than have Bower. What I'd really like is a Harbaugh type hire from the last go around. Someone who just has it. But those are hard to find. I think there are blemishes on all of these retreads. I'd prefer Franchione, Leach or Leavitt if we are going to go that route. Leach would be successful for the same reason Bobby Knight was. Franchione as Tasty pointed out, has proven he can win. Leavitt built a team from nowhere. While impressive, I think it's easier to build from nothing that to overcome apathy. There are two ways to overcome apathy you need even more buzz (like Leach) or you need to turn it around fast and exceed expectations (like Harbaugh at Stanford).

Hopefully there is a Harbaugh out there and RV and the Prez can recognize it.

GrayEagle · October 26, 2010

All of the coaches on meangreenbob's list except Major Applewhite would be acceptable to me. There are a few others who I believe could do the job as well but I'm afraid there's little likelihood of getting them.

Initially, I didn't have a #1. Of the five, I have doubts that Mike Leach would be a serious candidate. I just don't think that we are high-profile enough for him. As for Bower, I'd have to be convinced that he has the fire in his belly to continue coaching. Jim Leavitt would be an excellent choice but the fact that he could be distracted by his lawsuit and the negative publicity that surrounds it gives me cause for alarm. If he could get that behind him he just might do the best job of any of the candidates. Terry Bowden has been, and is, an excellent coach. My only concern with him is that he has only coached within the state of Alabama and to my knowledge has never recruited Texas.

That gets me to my #1...Dennis Franchione. Coach Fran has produced winners everywhere that he has been. The only stop where he had an overall losing record was New Mexico (3 games under .500). When he went there the Lobos were dismal. They had three winning seasons in the last twenty). In the six seasons that he was there he had three winning seasons. He took them to a bowl for the first time in 35 years. A possible plus that I can't erase from my mind is that he might be able to lure his son, Brad, to join him as his DC. Brad has coached NJCAA Blinn College to a national championship. Another plus is that Franchione is better known in Texas (except for perhaps Leach) and has done an excellent job recruiting in this state.

A major consideration is who can best fill the new stadium. Who will draw the casual fan to the new green palace? Franchione, Leach and Bowden all have name identification around these parts. Leavitt is a Texan by birth and a Floridian by upbringing. That should eventually give him good standing in recruiting both states. Bower would have the least name identification but he may be more talented at finding raw talent because he had to at USM.

While Coach Fran is now my favorite, I'd be happy with any of the above five and if somehow Tommy Bowden decides to unretire I'd be happy with him as well. The rest are, well, who we don't want as a head coach.

Edited October 26, 2010 by GrayEagle

PlummMeanGreen · October 26, 2010

All of the coaches on meangreenbob's list except Major Applewhite would be acceptable to me. There are a few others who I believe could do the job as well but I'm afraid there's little likelihood of getting them.

Initially, I didn't have a #1. Of the five, I have doubts that Mike Leach would be a serious candidate. I just don't think that we are high-profile enough for him. As for Bower, I'd have to be convinced that he has the fire in his belly to continue coaching. Jim Leavitt would be an excellent choice but the fact that he could be distracted by his lawsuit and the negative publicity that surrounds it gives me cause for alarm. If he could get that behind him he just might do the best job of any of the candidates. Terry Bowden has been, and is, an excellent coach. My only concern with him is that he has only coached within the state of Alabama and to my knowledge has never recruited Texas.

That gets me to my #1...Dennis Franchione. Coach Fran has produced winners everywhere that he has been. The only stop where he had an overall losing record was New Mexico (3 games under .500). When he went there the Lobos were dismal. They had three winning seasons in the last twenty). In the six seasons that he was there he had three winning seasons. He took them to a bowl for the first time in 35 years. A possible plus that I can't erase from my mind is that he might be able to lure his son, Brad, to join him as his DC. Brad has coached NJCAA Blinn College to a national championship. Another plus is that Franchione is better known in Texas (except for perhaps Leach) and has done an excellent job recruiting in this state.

A major consideration is who can best fill the new stadium. Who will draw the casual fan to the new green palace? Franchione, Leach and Bowden all have name identification around these parts. Leavitt is a Texan by birth and a Floridian by upbringing. That should eventually give him good standing in recruiting both states. Bower would have the least name identification but he may be more talented at finding raw talent because he had to at USM.

While Coach Fran is now my favorite, I'd be happy with any of the above five and if somehow Tommy Bowden decides to unretire I'd be happy with him as well. The rest are, well, who we don't want as a head coach.

wardly · October 27, 2010

i think we need to get real as to what we offer a new head coach besides money. such as,1]a brand new state of the art stadium 2]the worst 1a program in the worst 1a conference 3]a small but loyal fan base starved for a winner that is more mouth than money 4]a chance to make a name for yourself by turning our program around a good academic university in an excellent recruiting area. i am sure i have left some negatives as well as positives off my list, but if we get a "name coach" its because something has gone very wrong in his career. having said that, i feel that rick can find a successful head coach who has the character to lead our football program. but he better be hungry.

Graddean · October 27, 2010

As I said in an earlier thread, Bowden's success at North Alabama is due to recruiting that cannot be duplicated at the DI level. He has recruited players that have had to leave bigtime programs for disciplinary or academic reasons. I am not saying he is not a good coach or that he might not work out, but don't expect him to be able to bring to UNT what he has done the past couple of years. The players he has made his rep on there could most likley never get in UNT.

Harry · October 27, 2010

As I said in an earlier thread, Bowden's success at North Alabama is due to recruiting that cannot be duplicated at the DI level. He has recruited players that have had to leave bigtime programs for disciplinary or academic reasons. I am not saying he is not a good coach or that he might not work out, but don't expect him to be able to bring to UNT what he has done the past couple of years. The players he has made his rep on there could most likley never get in UNT.

I agree 100% that comparing I AA recruiting to IA is apples and oranges. Not saying he isn't a good coach just different playing field.