The Story So Far Part 3

[Harry]

The Story So Far, Part 3

Without playing a game, UNT has brought a substantial pool of fans to the 2011 season that have a limited history with the program. These are fans who, while interested in the new stadium, coaching staff, or the new direction and attitude of the athletic department, may not be as familiar with the history and storylines of the program. The product on the field and at the stadium will ultimately determine how many of these newfound fans stick around. However, an understanding of the path football has taken at North Texas has the power to help those on the fence become invested in the story of Mean Green nation.

To that end, the maiden voyage of the 20-20 will take new fans, as well as those who might have taken a vacation from Mean Green football, down the corridor of years to examine a brief history of events leading up to the 2011 season.

Previously on the 20-20, we took a look at how Mean Green football fared in the wake of Hayden Fry’s departure. We examined how community sentiment, misguided decisions, and unmet expectations contributed to UNT’s drop from 1-A to 1-AA competition. We told the story of Corky Nelson’s swashbuckling squads, and ruminated upon the value of playing like you have nothing to lose.

While the 20-20 has the best of intentions, however, July intervened with a frantic schedule of meetings at work. As this is a labor of love and not a true business for us at GMG.com, the stuff that pays the bills needed to come first. So… we will be putting in several stories leading up to two a days in early August. Hopefully, by the time we begin bringing you close coverage of practices and events, the full Story So Far series will be completed.

This week, we will take a slight detour from the lineage of UNT head coaches to examine a key thread in the evolution of athletics at North Texas. Throughout the program’s history, there has existed a tension between coaching, the community, and university leadership. Part II of the Story So Far discussed the community in detail (which, as demonstrated by the often vehement responses I received, is both passionate and vocal about their views). Also, as the entire chronology of this series is loosely based upon the tenures of various coaches, we also discuss coaching to a great extent.

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[GrandGreen]

The penny pincher attitude of NT toward athletics starting probably long before Fry. I know a very good coach who never got much credit, Rod Rust was a big victim. Rust was highly successful but was then made AD. A common practice in those days due in part to save money and also pay the football HC more. His budget was substantially reduced and that combined with much more competition for Afro-American athletes and changes in the juco eligibility rules killed any chance he may have had to continue his success. Then Fry came in and actually got budget increases but even after his great teams, the administration wanted to cut their loses in athletics. I doubt it would have made any difference but I think the NT administration made little effort to keep him. They then brought in Jerry Moore and were actually happy that he had reduced the loses although he successful turned a 10-1 team with almost all the players back to a mediocre team.

Moore was hired away, a move by Texas Tech that nobody understood. The Bob Tyler disaster only took a year and Corky Nelson and 1aa purgatory begin. NT major problem in 1aa was not resources but academic standards, as most of the league was made up of players that couldn't get admitted to NT. This changed late in NT's 1aa when NCAA minimal standards were upgraded. Parker was hired to take the team out of 1aa and into 1a competition. A high school coach who was out of his league but also had little to work with.

Helwig and Hurley despite their many athletic detractors, actually did bring NT back to the highest football competition. Problem was they provided the minimum of resources and heavily relied on guarantee games. Simon was brought in and did win the Southland in NT's last year but the first schedule in 1a was the most brutal at NT and in fact the team performed better than expected. NT joined the Big West to survive as a !A program much like the Texas Twins joining the WAC. The opposition in the BW was unappealing and the travel awful. Simon could not recruit and became too verbal in his comments and was terminated.

Enter Vito's great coach D Dickey, who was another economical hire.

[FirefightnRick]

Matt, the "Program Alchemy" is a great analogy that describes exactly what NT was doing at the time.

Rick

[Harry]

What got me about this well written article, was the schedule that Simon was forced to play in our first year of D-I in 1995. What a travesty although at the time I was so caught up in the fact that we were finally playing recognizable teams and figured this was what you had to do as an independent. When you look at what teams like South Alabama and others are doing to ensure success from a scheduling perspective it makes you think we might have been the example of what not to do. I know parts of Matt's 3-part article are painful to read, I really think he has done a nice job of providing a history of how we got here. Whether you agree or disagree, I promise you he spent a lot of time and put in a lot of research in regards to the subject matter. The silver lining to this story is where we find ourselves as fans today. I believe we are in the best position we have ever been in historically to achieve success. GMG!

[FirefightnRick]

What got me about this well written article, was the schedule that Simon was forced to play in our first year of D-I in 1995.

Exactly and in reading that I couldnt help but think about poor ULM who did the very same stupid thing the year before in '94. That year, their first as a 1-A independent, they played Colorado, Auburn, Georgia, Nevada, BYU and Kentucky. In '95 and '96 they had similar schedules and before long it completely destroyed the great home crowds they were used to during their great 1-AA days.

Rick