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Watkins Out As Unt Track Coach

Brett Vito

By Brett Vito
in Mean Green Athletics

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Brett Vito Grand Master

Brett Vito

Posted
Posted

UNT announced today that Rick Watkins' contract will not be renewed.

Watkins was the head coach with the longest tenure at UNT. He took over as the Mean Green's head coach in 1997 after spending the 1992-97 seasons as an assistant coach.

He had some great times at UNT. He led UNT to five conference titles and was the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year four times from 2000 to 2005. Click below for in depth story:

DRC

Click here to view the article

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KRAM1 Rookie

KRAM1

Posted
Posted

This is on the football board????

Sorry to see this move, but I do think there is a move to get all of UNT's programs competing for championships every year. Track program seems to have fallen a bit "off" the last few years as WKY rose to dominance in the Sunbelt. With a new track facility in the planning stages maybe RV felt it was time to make this move. Good luck Coach Watkins...great job bringing the program back to where it is today after being neglected for Cross Country for so many years.

Best wishes on whatever you decide to do next with your career.

GO MEAN GREEN!

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KRAM1 Rookie

KRAM1

Posted
Posted

Nice reward for years of service to NT. Good luck Rick.

I agree, drex, but this is the way it goes in the coaching profession these days it seems. Non-revenue sports are no less immune to this than are the revenue producers it seems. Check with the golf, volleyball, etc. programs at UNT in the recent past.

drex, what would be your "reward for years of service" in this case? Is RV simply supposed to keep coaches because they have been at UNT for a certain number of years?

Coach Watkins has done a fine job, but like Tina Slinker, seems to have fallen back a bit in the results category in recent years. I hope RV finds a replacement more successful than "Ms 10 Feet of Heat", but, being on the outside, one really has no idea of what all the issues were/are behind this move. I personally hate to see Coach Watkins go...thought he did a great job with the program after it was turned into pretty much a cross country program (maybe due more to finances than anything else...who knows), but much like golf at UNT, UNT has decided, rightly or wrongly, that all its programs need to compete for championships.

Do you know if Coach Watkins was offered any other assignment within the department? I have no clue, so am just asking if you know due to your inside info abilities.

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