Dissapointed And Embarrassed To Be An Alumni

[bdan2002]

Wow. Where shall I start. First, we have no idea of went on behind the scenes of this search. We are calling this a terrible hire; we are disappointed in RV;here UNT goes again; yadda yadda yadda. We were not in the interviews, we don't know who was in the search or who was not in the search. We have a head coach now, who if I think correctly had the number 4 ranked defense in the country (playing in the SEC) and coached in a national championship - wow UNT you chose a terrible HC. Give me a f'ing break. Yes we loved Coach Chico and he did a great job, Fran would have been a great hire, Mike Stoops would have been great. Yes we are offering him about 500k. Great. That shows UNT is making an effort to do something. But of course - people are saying - well, if we can pay him 500k, then we can pay coach Fran 500k. But this is a coach would could not get the job at UNLV. AGAIN, we don't know anything.

I guarantee you - the same people who are bitchin and moanin about this hire and writing RV and all this other bullshit, are going to be the ones that are going to be on the UNT bandwagon when we go to a bowl, or win a conference championship, or have a huge win at home. This reminds of Ron Washington with the Rangers. Everyone hated him and bashed him until he took the Rangers to a World Series. How about we show some faith and confidence in who was chosen as the HC, rather than trash it.

How about we give the new HC a f'ing chance before we pass judgment.

I could give a damn what Texas State does or UTSA or TCU or SMU - I am a UNT Alumni. I care what UNT does.

It makes me sad as a UNT Alumni to read these comments. Who would wanna come here and coach? UNT has not done shit in years in football, but suddenly we think that the next hot head coaching commodity wants to come here and save the world.

All I can do is laugh. I get so tired of coming on here and reading nothing but negative stuff about this hire. UNT is truly starting fresh - a new $78 million stadium, a coach making $500k (when did we ever think that was going to happen at UNT) and a new coaching staff (hopefully keeping coach Chico).

If I pissed some of you off, I am sure you will eventually get over it. We got the best coach, for UNT, at this moment. Welcome Coach Mac!!!!!

[UNT90]

Wow. Where shall I start. First, we have no idea of went on behind the scenes of this search. We are calling this a terrible hire; we are disappointed in RV;here UNT goes again; yadda yadda yadda. We were not in the interviews, we don't know who was in the search or who was not in the search. We have a head coach now, who if I think correctly had the number 4 ranked defense in the country (playing in the SEC) and coached in a national championship - wow UNT you chose a terrible HC. Give me a f'ing break. Yes we loved Coach Chico and he did a great job, Fran would have been a great hire, Mike Stoops would have been great. Yes we are offering him about 500k. Great. That shows UNT is making an effort to do something. But of course - people are saying - well, if we can pay him 500k, then we can pay coach Fran 500k. But this is a coach would could not get the job at UNLV. AGAIN, we don't know anything.

I guarantee you - the same people who are bitchin and moanin about this hire and writing RV and all this other bullshit, are going to be the ones that are going to be on the UNT bandwagon when we go to a bowl, or win a conference championship, or have a huge win at home. This reminds of Ron Washington with the Rangers. Everyone hated him and bashed him until he took the Rangers to a World Series. How about we show some faith and confidence in who was chosen as the HC, rather than trash it.

How about we give the new HC a f'ing chance before we pass judgment.

I could give a damn what Texas State does or UTSA or TCU or SMU - I am a UNT Alumni. I care what UNT does.

It makes me sad as a UNT Alumni to read these comments. Who would wanna come here and coach? UNT has not done shit in years in football, but suddenly we think that the next hot head coaching commodity wants to come here and save the world.

All I can do is laugh. I get so tired of coming on here and reading nothing but negative stuff about this hire. UNT is truly starting fresh - a new $78 million stadium, a coach making $500k (when did we ever think that was going to happen at UNT) and a new coaching staff (hopefully keeping coach Chico).

If I pissed some of you off, I am sure you will eventually get over it. We got the best coach, for UNT, at this moment. Welcome Coach Mac!!!!!

Don't worry, the bitching stops Tuesday.

I will be on the Mac train, although getting on the Mac train will be more like getting on a commuter train that takes you to work than getting on the party train that takes you to Las Vegas.

Who knows, maybe he wins the Sun Belt next year.

[emmitt01]

We got the best coach, for UNT, at this moment.

This, and this alone, is what people are disagreeing with. Many, myself included, believe that we already had the best coach for UNT at this moment. Sure, some are saying McCarney is horrible, etc, etc but most simply feel that the man with the unique combination of personality and ability to win (yes win, it's not like he even got a full year to work with) AT NORTH TEXAS is being put out to pasture. I don't doubt that McCarney will be a good coach. Some just feel that Canales could have been better.

I'll reserve my thoughts on just who was pulling the strings on this hire for a private setting.

[El Paso Eagle]

This, and this alone, is what people are disagreeing with. Many, myself included, believe that we already had the best coach for UNT at this moment. Sure, some are saying McCarney is horrible, etc, etc but most simply feel that the man with the unique combination of personality and ability to win (yes win, it's not like he even got a full year to work with) AT NORTH TEXAS is being put out to pasture. I don't doubt that McCarney will be a good coach. Some just feel that Canales could have been better.

I'll reserve my thoughts on just who was pulling the strings on this hire for a private setting.

My exact thoughts. Will I support this hire - 100%

My question - Canales wanted to be here as the HC. Does Mac want to be here or does he look at this as his chance to "get back in"?

[hickoryhouse]

Wow. Where shall I start. First, we have no idea of went on behind the scenes of this search. We are calling this a terrible hire; we are disappointed in RV;here UNT goes again; yadda yadda yadda. We were not in the interviews, we don't know who was in the search or who was not in the search. We have a head coach now, who if I think correctly had the number 4 ranked defense in the country (playing in the SEC) and coached in a national championship - wow UNT you chose a terrible HC. Give me a f'ing break. Yes we loved Coach Chico and he did a great job, Fran would have been a great hire, Mike Stoops would have been great. Yes we are offering him about 500k. Great. That shows UNT is making an effort to do something. But of course - people are saying - well, if we can pay him 500k, then we can pay coach Fran 500k. But this is a coach would could not get the job at UNLV. AGAIN, we don't know anything.

I guarantee you - the same people who are bitchin and moanin about this hire and writing RV and all this other bullshit, are going to be the ones that are going to be on the UNT bandwagon when we go to a bowl, or win a conference championship, or have a huge win at home. This reminds of Ron Washington with the Rangers. Everyone hated him and bashed him until he took the Rangers to a World Series. How about we show some faith and confidence in who was chosen as the HC, rather than trash it.

How about we give the new HC a f'ing chance before we pass judgment.

I could give a damn what Texas State does or UTSA or TCU or SMU - I am a UNT Alumni. I care what UNT does.

It makes me sad as a UNT Alumni to read these comments. Who would wanna come here and coach? UNT has not done shit in years in football, but suddenly we think that the next hot head coaching commodity wants to come here and save the world.

All I can do is laugh. I get so tired of coming on here and reading nothing but negative stuff about this hire. UNT is truly starting fresh - a new $78 million stadium, a coach making $500k (when did we ever think that was going to happen at UNT) and a new coaching staff (hopefully keeping coach Chico).

If I pissed some of you off, I am sure you will eventually get over it. We got the best coach, for UNT, at this moment. Welcome Coach Mac!!!!!

Completely agree!!! If I could give you a +1 from

My phone I would!

[MeanGreenDan]

Don't worry, the bitching stops Tuesday.

I will be on the Mac train, although getting on the Mac train will be more like getting on a commuter train that takes you to work than getting on the party train that takes you to Las Vegas.

Who knows, maybe he wins the Sun Belt next year.

I feel the same. We all had our favorites, and no choice would have been a consensus.

Tuesday it becomes official, and I have all the faith in the world that our fanbase will get behind DM 100%, for the best interest of our beloved UNT.

Until then, let everyone blow off their steam, and try not to be too disappointed or embarrassed in us. We are acting this way out of passion and love for North Texas, as hard as that seems to be for you, and two or three others to believe.

[VideoEagle]

I feel the same. We all had our favorites, and no choice would have been a consensus.

Tuesday it becomes official, and I have all the faith in the world that our fanbase will get behind DM 100%, for the best interest of our beloved UNT.

Until then, let everyone blow off their steam, and try not to be too disappointed or embarrassed in us. We are acting this way out of passion and love for North Texas, as hard as that seems to be for you, and two or three others to believe.

Great points. Every seems to have had one favorite and one "not him!"

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I feel the same. We all had our favorites, and no choice would have been a consensus.

Tuesday it becomes official, and I have all the faith in the world that our fanbase will get behind DM 100%, for the best interest of our beloved UNT.

Until then, let everyone blow off their steam, and try not to be too disappointed or embarrassed in us. We are acting this way out of passion and love for North Texas, as hard as that seems to be for you, and two or three others to believe.

Agree. I don't like the hire, but come Tuesday I will support him 100% as will almost everyone on here.

[untStein]

My exact thoughts. Will I support this hire - 100%

My question - Canales wanted to be here as the HC. Does Mac want to be here or does he look at this as his chance to "get back in"?

A legit question but to get back in he'll have to succeed here.

[MeanGreen61]

To many people voting with their heart instead of their head. To much inflexibility to look at other candidates and other viewpoints. Like any other polarizing issue, especially when dealing with the type of population you are going to find on college sports message board, you are going to have fragmented factions.

Accept that no one here was privy to the interviews. No one here knows all of the hard and soft criteria. No one here knows who else interviewed and what their salary demands where. No one on here knows who else is targeting any of the HC possibilities for their program as well.

For all of those who are clamoring for Chico would you be happy with him at $550k? Do you know if Chico bombed the interview or has a differnet view of the direction of the program than those making the hiring decision? For those who wanted Fran and Krag would you be still upset knowing they effectively priced themselves out of UNT's range? Those of you who wanted Leavitt and Leach would you change your mind if you knew the lawsuits are going to drag on for years and there is not real possibility of a settlement.

Why not wait a few days and get a little more information how the process was conducted and what happened during it instead of running around like a cicken with your head cutoff screaming "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!".

+1

[3XNTGRAD]

My exact thoughts. Will I support this hire - 100%

My question - Canales wanted to be here as the HC. Does Mac want to be here or does he look at this as his chance to "get back in"?

Can't you really ask almost the same question about Canales? He has been here less than a year and saw this interim position as his big chance to break out as a HC. He has done great things in these few weeks, and I really respect that. But, in the end, Mike Canales is out to be a HC. UNT just happened to be his best shot.

[NM Green]

All I know is that you would not have had this outrage had you hired:

Canales

Fran

Kragthorpe

This guy and only this guy would bring this much frustration and angst. You don't want this from an alum - don't hire a guy from a losing program and expect him to decorate our new palace with W's. Yet you did.

So more old school North Texas is what we are dealt and it will be interesting to see it unfold. We are back at below ground zero and we just didn't have to go there - go green go white.

[STE]

Don't worry, the bitching stops Tuesday.

I will be on the Mac train, although getting on the Mac train will be more like getting on a commuter train that takes you to work than getting on the party train that takes you to Las Vegas.

Who knows, maybe he wins the Sun Belt next year.

Great analogy.

Come tues I'll be on board.

[shaft]

Let the over-reaction begin.

The school does everything they should; upgrade the salary, interviewed experienced head coaches, makes a quick move. And what do we do a a board...

bitch, moan, and over react.

Really your embarrassed/ashamed/outraged/hurt/sad?

Any of the four candidates would have been great for UNT. I'm sorry you had a preface for one of the other candidates.

New Stadium + New Coach should equal a New Era, but with whinny, over-reacting, drama queen, message board fans don't want to let that happen.

[MDH]

All I know is that you would not have had this outrage had you hired:

Canales

Fran

Kragthorpe

This guy and only this guy would bring this much frustration and angst. You don't want this from an alum - don't hire a guy from a losing program and expect him to decorate our new palace with W's. Yet you did.

So more old school North Texas is what we are dealt and it will be interesting to see it unfold. We are back at below ground zero and we just didn't have to go there - go green go white.

I guarantee people would be up in arms if we hired Kragthorpe, probably more so than Mac. Canales doesn't have the HC experience we need and Fran had an equal shot at this job, and MANY others, and isn't getting a job - don't you think there's a reason he keeps not getting gigs? (slight pun intended)

[UNT90]

New Stadium + New Coach should equal a New Era, but with whinny, over-reacting, drama queen, message board fans don't want to let that happen.

Dude, don't be so hard on yourself.

[PlummMeanGreen]

This could have all been prevented the Monday after the week of Dodge's firing with a simple press release:

"We appreciate the efforts of all our assistant coaches hired by Todd Dodge but because of similar reason(s) he has been let go it has been decided by our administration that no one from this coaching staff will be considered for our next HFC's hire for the Mean Green.

Instead, we now have typical North Texas mayhem that should not have ever happened but that is what happens when our leaders don't take care of business in a timely manner.

I was proud of Coach C and the team yesterday as I was setting up for a DJ gig in Santo, Texas, and barely picking up the MGRN out west but as another posted today we still only have a small sample as to Coach C as HFC which includes all the other things that go with the title of HFC of which 2 are:

(1) Recruiting (like it or not, most all those players yesterday were recruited by the most snakebit HFC I've seen at the FBS level--namely Todd Dodge. Consider all the 4'th quarter games last year that had we only won those then what we would have been talking about last season like, "finally, Coach Dodge has turned the corner in his 3'rd year---Dickey was still under .500 in his 5'th year as I recollect.

(2) We now know that the transition from Texas HS to the FBS level does not work at North Texas--we even now know that twice as you also have to count Dennis Parker in that hiriing mix. But what would be the transition to one with "no" FBS HFC experience to such a new lofty position turn out? We will never know at North Texas. I said if Coach Chico beat KSU he should have our job--he damn near beat KSU yesterday but now yesterday is just that.......yesterday and in 10 years that loss against the Wildcats will still show up as a loss in future online media guides. STILL..........Rawlins wanted a new direction with this hire and he will get his new direction with this hire at the announcement on Tuesday AM.

I wanted Coach Fran and Son of Fran at UNT--I will not get my personal preference and will be duly pissed if TSU shows us we (once again) screwed up by not hiring Coach Fran BUT...............I am a forgiving sort and have had to do that (like many of you) too many times in my life with some of life's uglier events, but I will support Coach Mac 110% no matter what he has done because my belief system of Christianity (as I use the same illustration offered to me as a fellow alum) says we are to forgive and forget; you know, like some of us want our Maker Above to do with our respective "mess ups" in life?

There has been a joint statement by Coach Mac and former wife which is on this board somewhere and if that was good enough for those who hired him after all that took place it sure as heck is good enough for me some 15 or 16 years after all that allegedly took place. Seems Urban Meyer at Florida also had no problem as he gave Coach Mac the position of Assistant Head Football Coach to Coach Mac.

I hope if Chico is intested in the job that Coach Mac will offer him the same position he had with Urban Meyer. Many of us have been posting that before we ever knew who our new HFC would be. Some of us merely wanted our next hire to be from a different kind of coach's title of which we had not had since Hayden Fry came to us as the former HFC at SMU; many of us even tried to explain it was never personal with Chico although some did their best to fan that flame of blame to almost the point that it could have become personal with all the PM's some of us got that pissed us off with some of the barbs (and since, very classy PM apologies have been received from those concerned).

We all seemed to get caught up in the emotion of the moment, but at North Texas we need something not predecated purely on emotion but with one who has been there-done that as an experienced HFC at the FBS level. Coach Mac's Iowa State years might make North Texas seem like a cakewalk with what he will hopeully be able to do in Mean Green Country.

All of us who wanted someone different need to act like Coach Mac was our man the whole time if at all possible because he will get that from this one alum who is ready for bigger and better things to start happening at UNT once again.

Edited November 28, 2010 by PlummMeanGreen

[UNT90]

All I know is that you would not have had this outrage had you hired:

Canales

Fran

Kragthorpe

This guy and only this guy would bring this much frustration and angst. You don't want this from an alum - don't hire a guy from a losing program and expect him to decorate our new palace with W's. Yet you did.

So more old school North Texas is what we are dealt and it will be interesting to see it unfold. We are back at below ground zero and we just didn't have to go there - go green go white.

That guy would have invoked these feelings from me.

It would signal a complete give up by the AD.

[vpackrats]

All I know is that you would not have had this outrage had you hired:

Canales

Fran

Kragthorpe

This guy and only this guy would bring this much frustration and angst. You don't want this from an alum - don't hire a guy from a losing program and expect him to decorate our new palace with W's. Yet you did.

So more old school North Texas is what we are dealt and it will be interesting to see it unfold. We are back at below ground zero and we just didn't have to go there - go green go white.

First off, let me say I was in favor of Canales getting the job based on the effort put forth over these past 5 games. It was like watching a different team!! And, it made the season actually enjoyable again. That being said, a lot of people think like NM Green when it comes to McCarney, so I feel a rebuttal is in order. My wife went to Iowa State so I have had the opportunity to follow that program a lot more closely than normally would be the case. They were HORRIBLE prior to McCarney. In fact, they pretty much were the laughingstock of the Big XII. I never thought I would see the day when they were THISCLOSE to being in a Big XII championship game. That's right, little ol' Iowa State was a shanked FG away in getting there over the likes of Nebraska, Missouri, etc. After having seen their on-field product previously, that kind of end result was about as impressive as Al Gore inventing the internet in my opinion.

When Iowa State ended up canning McCarney because he didn't seem like he could "take them to the next level", I remember telling my wife that Iowa State is in trouble and probably headed for similiar fate as Texas A & M. Namely, A&M got greedy because all Slocum was doing was taking them to Cotton Bowls and other pretty good bowl games but that wasn't enough for Aggie alummni -- they wanted National Championships. Up until this year, they've been pretty much forced to wander in the wilderness with some pretty mediocre football & many people now wished they hadn't run Slocum off after all. It's the ol' "you don't know what you have till it's gone" problem.

That is pretty much what happened to Iowa State. McCarney was 18-18 his past 3 years at ISU, they run him off & the "great" Gene Chizik promptly went 5-19 with most of the same players. If McCarney was such a dud, why didn't Chizik kick more ass up there?

The moral of the story is let's just wait & see how things unfold. I think McCarney will be a solid coach & you will like the results.

[KRAM1]

Really, you are "embarrassed to be an alumni"??? I do think that's a bit of a stretch. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a message board...get over it.

If you are an alumni...and if you buy season tickets, are a member of the Alumni Association and give to the University then you know you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about...rather you have much to be very proud of in your association with this great university.

Many of those yo seem to be embarrassed about or for are actually big supporters of the university and give both of their time and dollars in support. A little ranting about a coaching search on a message board is really nothing to get "embarrassed about" in the scheme of things. Pretty good post, BTW, but the title is a bit over the top.

I am very...VERY...proud to be a two time graduate of the UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, and I am proud each and every day...and I, for one, am never embarrassed by that association. Perhaps the idea that one can be embarrassed by an association with UNT is part of the challenge UNT faces in trying to move forward.

[eulessismore]

Really, you are "embarrassed to be an alumni"??? I do think that's a bit of a stretch. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a message board...get over it.

If you are an alumni...and if you buy season tickets, are a member of the Alumni Association and give to the University then you know you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about...rather you have much to be very proud of in your association with this great university.

Many of those yo seem to be embarrassed about or for are actually big supporters of the university and give both of their time and dollars in support. A little ranting about a coaching search on a message board is really nothing to get "embarrassed about" in the scheme of things. Pretty good post, BTW, but the title is a bit over the top.

I am very...VERY...proud to be a two time graduate of the UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, and I am proud each and every day...and I, for one, am never embarrassed by that association. Perhaps the idea that one can be embarrassed by an association with UNT is part of the challenge UNT faces in trying to move forward.

+1, Mark, and I know you (and yes, I also) would have liked things to go differently. We'll all be behind the new coach. Really we just want someone who can win, sell the program, and not cause US any embarressment.

[DanMacFan]

How about we give the new HC a f'ing chance before we pass judgment. . . . We got the best coach, for UNT, at this moment. Welcome Coach Mac!!!!!

Hey, everyone,

I believe so strongly in Dan McCarney (DanMac to many of we Iowa State fans) as a man and as a coach that I could not resist commenting here. I hope most of you will not mind my presence and will listen (read) what I have to say about your new coach.

First, you cannot understand what DanMac's hiring will mean to NTU before you get to know the man, imho. He is an exceptionally fine person; this will be important to many of you. But, like any fan group, you have members who not give much of a hoot about that but will be concerned only about what happens on the football field. I believe you will be happily surprised there, too.

Quick point: DanMac resigned at Iowa State two-thirds of the way through the 2006 season, his 12th in Ames. He was followed by Gene Chizik, who stayed two seasons in Ames before bailing for Auburn. (I haven't looked, is Auburn ranked No. 1 in the polls?) Chizik was 5-19 in his two seasons with the Cyclones (a win percentage of 20%). Chizik had far more capable players to work with than did DanMac when he arrived to takeover the ISU program in 1995. The program was in shambles. It took DanMac six years to turn the corner at ISU, in 2000 posting a 9-3 record and defeating Pitt in the Insight Bowl. In those first five seasons, DanMac's win percentage was 23%. In my opinion DanMac did far more with what he had at ISU than did Chizik, who took over a program that had been to five bowl games the previous seven seasons.

DanMac the man? He is irrepressible, indefatigable, and always, always positive. This wore on some persons in the ISU fan base over the years, because through the ups and downs DanMac did not change. He was always up, it's his nature, who he is. Those fans who rode the football roller coaster and were mentally down when the team troughed did not want to hear DanMac always finding positive things to talk about when the going was tough. But, that's who he is. He WILL NOT be mentally defeated.

My personal knowledge of DanMac goes back to his high school days at Iowa City High. An older brother of mine is one of DanMac's better friends; my brother was a weightlifting maniac, and it was he who introduced Mac to training for football. They are close to this day. (I know Mac personally only to say hello.) Mac was an OG starter at Iowa when the Hawkeyes were mediocre at best, but he excelled through his dedication and willpower (as do many athletes, of course). He was a grad assistant at Iowa when Hayden Fry was hired at Iowa in 1979 (from NTU, where his six-year record was 40-23-3, iirc). One coach from the previous Iowa staff was retained, and one Hawkeye grad assistant was hired as a full-time assistant coach. DanMac so impressed Fry, as Fry has discussed over the years, that Mac (maybe 26 at the time) was the only Iowan on a staff of Texans. Unusual position for a young man in his first full-time job.

Iowa had not had a winning season for 20 years (1961-80), yet in Fry's third season at Iowa the Hawkeyes tied for the Big Ten crown and won a trip to the Rose Bowl, its first since January 1959. More Big Ten titles followed, and DanMac's defensive lines were tough, rugged mainstays of those teams. He was a key man in Iowa's rise to national prominence under Fry. Just as key, DanMac became known as a terrific recruiter; his energy and positive outlook were great assets.

Another first year coach on Fry's staff was Barry Alvarez, who became the Wisconsin head man in the late 1980s. Before accepting the Wisconsin DC job offered by Alvarez, DanMac turned down an assistant's job at Notre Dame. You're all familiar, aren't you, with the fantastic turnaround job Alvarez did at Wisconsin? Big Ten championships resulted, and DanMac's role as DC was key. Iowa State came calling.

You cannot know, likely, how moribund was the ISU program. If not the worst Div. I program in the land, it was close. The school to this day has never won a football conference championship outright, a singular fact for a BCS school, I believe. (For such a fine school and beautiful campus, it's a sad state of affairs. But with Paul Rhoads at the helm, a DanMac protege, the football roller coaster is grinding upward.)

Sure, DanMac was 13-42 in his first five seasons at Iowa State, but unless you understand the context in which DanMac labored, I contend you cannot understand, and cannot fairly evaluate, DanMac the coach. He would not be deterred, he was irrepressible, he was always positive. Season six was the breakthrough, the 9-3 record was the most single-season wins in school history (that tells you something important). Five bowl games in the next seven seasons followed. He laid the foundation for unmatched success (we believe Rhoads is on his way to even greater success) at what arguably is the toughest Div. I job in America.

DanMac will represent NTU with the highest integrity, unbridled enthusiasm, and a positive outlook unmatched by few human beings. What a wealth of football knowledge the man possesses. Including a national championship earned under Urban Meyer at the U. of Florida.

His greatest negative, in the view of many ISU fans, is his extreme loyalty. While the wide consensus in Cyclone country is that ISU intercollegiate athletics has never had a better ambassador, many of us feel he was reluctant to fire assistants when performance called for it. A case in point was when OLine coach Marty Fine was replaced in DanMac's last couple of seasons with Barney Cotton, who joined the staff after serving under Frank Solich at BC's alma mater, Nebraska. Cotton became an escape goat for those ISU fans who were disappointed with ISU's OLine performance the last few seasons. Yet, today, Cotton is the OLine coach and assistant head coach at Nebraska. . . .

My bottom-line contention: If you believe you know DanMac the man and coach based on his overall win-loss record at Iowa State University, you do not. Fry's Iowa program owned the state of Iowa at the time DanMac became ISU coach. It took a little time, but eventually he wrested control from Iowa and won five consecutive games. ISU has the Big 12's smallest financial budget, it is overshadowed yet in Iowa, where the population is under 3 million, and the primary recruiting grounds of Texas and Florida are far away.

DanMac saved Iowa State football; it is hard to imagine that the school would have survived to remain in the Big 12 without DanMac's relentless effort at resuscitation. If you don't understand how mighty this achievement is, that's understandable. You're Texans, you expect much more than this.

But DanMac, in many ways, is Atlas. I'm one Cyclones fan who can't wait to see what he can do in assets-rich Texas. Can't wait. The man is strength from his toes to the hair on his head. I hope most of you will give him a fair chance. If not, I'll wager he'll win you over eventually, anyway.

Best wishes.

Edited November 28, 2010 by DanMacFan

[Green Mean]

Wow. Where shall I start. First, we have no idea of went on behind the scenes of this search. We are calling this a terrible hire; we are disappointed in RV;here UNT goes again; yadda yadda yadda. We were not in the interviews, we don't know who was in the search or who was not in the search. We have a head coach now, who if I think correctly had the number 4 ranked defense in the country (playing in the SEC) and coached in a national championship - wow UNT you chose a terrible HC. Give me a f'ing break. Yes we loved Coach Chico and he did a great job, Fran would have been a great hire, Mike Stoops would have been great. Yes we are offering him about 500k. Great. That shows UNT is making an effort to do something. But of course - people are saying - well, if we can pay him 500k, then we can pay coach Fran 500k. But this is a coach would could not get the job at UNLV. AGAIN, we don't know anything.

I guarantee you - the same people who are bitchin and moanin about this hire and writing RV and all this other bullshit, are going to be the ones that are going to be on the UNT bandwagon when we go to a bowl, or win a conference championship, or have a huge win at home. This reminds of Ron Washington with the Rangers. Everyone hated him and bashed him until he took the Rangers to a World Series. How about we show some faith and confidence in who was chosen as the HC, rather than trash it.

How about we give the new HC a f'ing chance before we pass judgment.

I could give a damn what Texas State does or UTSA or TCU or SMU - I am a UNT Alumni. I care what UNT does.

It makes me sad as a UNT Alumni to read these comments. Who would wanna come here and coach? UNT has not done shit in years in football, but suddenly we think that the next hot head coaching commodity wants to come here and save the world.

All I can do is laugh. I get so tired of coming on here and reading nothing but negative stuff about this hire. UNT is truly starting fresh - a new $78 million stadium, a coach making $500k (when did we ever think that was going to happen at UNT) and a new coaching staff (hopefully keeping coach Chico).

If I pissed some of you off, I am sure you will eventually get over it. We got the best coach, for UNT, at this moment. Welcome Coach Mac!!!!!

That's the way fans go.

[UNT Mean Green]

Good viewpoints on our new football coach. Thank you for sharing.

[Graddean]

How dare these ISU fans claim it is the most difficult Div I school to have a winning team. We all know from former comments that we have that title.