Mike Leach to FAU

pastorgrant · August 17, 2011

If this happens (big if), we would absolutely lose recruits to FAU from this state.

Don't be naive.

There's no question we would lose recruits, but we would get other ones. If the perception of the Sunbelt raises, then so does our recruiting power.

We are all hoping for better competition, which is why most of us would like to see UNT move to the MWC or some other great conference. The Sunbelt getting better also accomplishes that goal.

NorthTexan95 · August 17, 2011

I think we're severely overrating the McCarney hire. Sure he's a respected coach but unless you're in Iowa or have some sort of connection to Mac nobody really knows the guy. Leach is known and recognizable nationwide. As for FAU getting him....I highly doubt it since he can get something a lot better. But if they do get him then more power to them...it greatly increases the perception of the league.

I think you're seriously underrating the McCarney hire. He is a VERY respected coach and everyone around college football has tremendous respect for the guy.

But let's assume you are correct when you say "unless you're in Iowa or have some sort of connection to Mac nobody really knows the guy". The thing is that he has "some sort of connection" to EVERYONE in college football. Now a lot of that is due to his personality. He's is so outgoing, so energtic that you can't help but like the guy. I also get the feeling he's one who never forgets a name.

KingDL1 · August 17, 2011

I think you're seriously underrating the McCarney hire. He is a VERY respected coach and everyone around college football has tremendous respect for the guy.

But let's assume you are correct when you say "unless you're in Iowa or have some sort of connection to Mac nobody really knows the guy". The thing is that he has "some sort of connection" to EVERYONE in college football. Now a lot of that is due to his personality. He's is so outgoing, so energtic that you can't help but like the guy. I also get the feeling he's one who never forgets a name.

I sure he means the casual fan, and no matter how you cut it Leach has a much higher profile nation wide.

I hope Leach comes to the Belt it will help everyone get better.

I do think that McCarney will be an outstanding coach here and very well may lead North Texas to an Auto bid conference.

Edited August 17, 2011 by KingDL1

filmerj · August 17, 2011

It helps positively impact the perception of the SBC as a quality league. It would be great for the league schools--as has been the McCarney hire.

I think flyer is playing off the misspelling of good (goid) in the topic title.

KRAM1 · August 17, 2011

I think we're severely overrating the McCarney hire. Sure he's a respected coach but unless you're in Iowa or have some sort of connection to Mac nobody really knows the guy. Leach is known and recognizable nationwide. As for FAU getting him....I highly doubt it since he can get something a lot better. But if they do get him then more power to them...it greatly increases the perception of the league.

No one in Florida knows McCarney? Really? I believe he was on Florida's national championship team's coaching staff. Do you think a guy with the fire and personality that McCarney has just sat around the offices at Florida and never was seen in public? Really? Every staff in the Big XII and the SEC (to name just a couple of conferences) knows Coach Mac and so do many of the opposing fans whose teams played against Florida and Iowa State. He is a "Fry guy" and that makes him pretty well known to folks who follow college football, to high school coaches across Big XII and SEC territories and to coaching staffs across the nation.

Nobody knows the guy, really?

I'd take Coach Mac each and every day of the week over Leach...for many reasons. I want UNT to win and to win with respectability. I don't want a coach who is popular because he is a clown around the media, and one who really hasn't won anything...did I miss the year Texas Tech won the Big XII conference crown?

greenminer · August 17, 2011

I don't think it's terrible or wrong to say the casual fan does not pay attention to assistants, and probably knows Leach's name ("Yay pirates!") before knowing Mac's.

Still, I think he is one of the best guys we could have hired. Let him make his mark on the national scene starting in Denton.

LongJim · August 17, 2011

I think flyer is playing off the misspelling of good (goid) in the topic title.

Oh...yeah I see that now. :rolleyes:

Green Mean · August 17, 2011

I sure he means the casual fan, and no matter how you cut it Leach has a much higher profile nation wide.

I hope Leach comes to the Belt it will help everyone get better.

I do think that MaCarney will be an outstanding coach here and very well may lead North Texas to an Auto bid conference.

This.

It looks like McCarney has a little something and will be able to do something with his historically bad program. That being said Leach is a nationally recognized and accomplished figure in coaching. The casual and diehards know Mike Leach. And those casual and die hard CFB fans probably dont know who McCarney is unless they've been locked in to the b12 for several years.

Look it is what it is...I'm not knocking coach mac...I frankly have grown to love the guy and his enthusiasm. But lets not jump ahead of reality.

Edited August 17, 2011 by Green Mean

Green Mean · August 17, 2011

No one in Florida knows McCarney? Really? I believe he was on Florida's national championship team's coaching staff. Do you think a guy with the fire and personality that McCarney has just sat around the offices at Florida and never was seen in public? Really? Every staff in the Big XII and the SEC (to name just a couple of conferences) knows Coach Mac and so do many of the opposing fans whose teams played against Florida and Iowa State. He is a "Fry guy" and that makes him pretty well known to folks who follow college football, to high school coaches across Big XII and SEC territories and to coaching staffs across the nation.

Nobody knows the guy, really?

I'd take Coach Mac each and every day of the week over Leach...for many reasons. I want UNT to win and to win with respectability. I don't want a coach who is popular because he is a clown around the media, and one who really hasn't won anything...did I miss the year Texas Tech won the Big XII conference crown?

Yep that is what I said.

I am not talking about the coaching fraternity. Hell you talk to coaches and they'll convince you what a great coach Todd Dodge is. I wasn't talking about coaching people who know McCarney. I am talking about the public in general whether its the casual fan or in many cases the die hard cfb fans.

Your post is nothing but a homerism blow fest. Look I get it...I am excited about McCarney just as much as you but lets face the reality of public perception.

You can go with McCarney every time over Leach or anybody else. I am pretty positive you probably said the same thing when Todd Dodge was hired 4 years ago and we all know what he did to this university.

LongJim · August 17, 2011

That being said Leach is a nationally recognized and accomplished figure in coaching.

I will agree he's nationally recognized. His accomplishments are nowhere near the same proportionally.

MeanGreenTexan · August 17, 2011

This.

It looks like McCarney has a little something and will be able to do something with his historically god awful program. That being said Leach is a nationally recognized and accomplished figure in coaching. The casual and diehards know Mike Leach. The diehard CFB fans and the casual fans also know Mike Leach and the vast majority of the diehard CFB fans probably dont know who McCarney is unless they've been locked in to the b12 for several years.

Look it is what it is...I'm not knocking coach mac...I frankly have grown to love the guy and his enthusiasm. But lets not jump ahead of reality.

Are we absolutely sure that Mike Leach is a "nationally recognized" name? Sure, he's very popular... in Texas. But, that's because he coached here. I wonder who the bigger name is in FL? The former defensive Coordinator of USF when they were #2 in the nation and the Defensive Line coach of the national champion Gators... or, Texas Tech's former head coach?

People who have followed the big 12 for quite a while will know both. People who have not followed for very long will obviously know Leach and not McCarney. And, the longer Leach sits out there, the more obscure he becomes.

OwlFamily · August 17, 2011

I have no idea if this will happen or not, but I sure wish it would. It would give a real boost to the program.

He would most likely be making less money then he could get elsewhere but there are other intangibles, (that have been mentioned in this thread), that might make him want to do it.

Top it off with the fact that he is good friends with our AD (The went to BYU, studied the same subject, and have stayed in contact all these years) and it starts to add up. I dont put any stock in what a 2* recurit says, he is just voicing his opinion. But I think this IS a possiblity, just not a probability. Its not like AQ schools are knocking on his door in the Keyes and beggin him to come back.

BTW congrats on your naming rights, and that other huge donation you got. Great news for your school.

Mean Green 93-98 · August 17, 2011

Yep that is what I said.

I am not talking about the coaching fraternity. Hell you talk to coaches and they'll convince you what a great coach Todd Dodge is. I wasn't talking about coaching people who know McCarney. I am talking about the public in general whether its the casual fan or in many cases the die hard cfb fans.

Your post is nothing but a homerism blow fest. Look I get it...I am excited about McCarney just as much as you but lets face the reality of public perception.

You can go with McCarney every time over Leach or anybody else. I am pretty positive you probably said the same thing when Todd Dodge was hired 4 years ago and we all know what he did to this university.

In fairness, you are probably talking as someone who lived in Texas during Leach's entire tenure. While your average person on the street may not know who Dan McCarney is, your average person on the street outside of Texas has no idea who Mike Leach is. Now, those who follow football do, but anyone who was following college football in the late '90's knew what Coach Mac was doing at Iowa State.

I'll give Leach the slight nod in name recognition, but outside of Texas the gap isn't as big as you think.

EDIT: Well, it looks like MeanGreenTexan just said pretty much the same thing I was typing. Well done.

Edited August 17, 2011 by Mean Green 93-98

greenminer · August 17, 2011

If Leach and DMac coach up against each other in the same conference again, I wouldn't mind nabbing a second coming of Seneca.

Hopeful · August 17, 2011

I saw leach on that video and not Mccarney. So that means... Leach is more well known on youtube?

golfingomez · August 17, 2011

Are we absolutely sure that Mike Leach is a "nationally recognized" name? Sure, he's very popular... in Texas. But, that's because he coached here. I wonder who the bigger name is in FL? The former defensive Coordinator of USF when they were #2 in the nation and the Defensive Line coach of the national champion Gators... or, Texas Tech's former head coach?

People who have followed the big 12 for quite a while will know both. People who have not followed for very long will obviously know Leach and not McCarney. And, the longer Leach sits out there, the more obscure he becomes.

wurd...

plus... what is Leach's selling point? he had a run of some good seasons and almost won the Big 12 once? He is not well liked by ESPN... so they are gonna try to screw him with what little coverage FAU already gets... he's had some great offenses but never a great team

UNTflyer · August 17, 2011

It helps positively impact the perception of the SBC as a quality league. It would be great for the league schools--as has been the McCarney hire.

Interesting. So having Schnellenberger, a national champion coach, as part of the league didn't do that.

How will hiring someone who has never won a national or conference title going to change that? Someone that clearly no other school will touch with a ten foot pole.

Did the hiring of Isiah Thomas help the perception of Sun Belt basketball?

Daddy Dumpsalot · August 17, 2011

Uhhh....we are still talking about FAU right?

greenminer · August 17, 2011

but never a great team

What? What are you trying to do here?

Am I hallucinating? I thought the media freakin' loved putting Leach on TV. Behind OU and UT, I can't think of another Big XII team that was on TV as much while he was there? OSU might come close, but that's it.

untjim1995 · August 17, 2011

Interesting. So having Schnellenberger, a national champion coach, as part of the league didn't do that.

How will hiring someone who has never won a national or conference title going to change that? Someone that clearly no other school will touch with a ten foot pole.

Did the hiring of Isiah Thomas help the perception of Sun Belt basketball?

Schnellenberger did help, since he started the program at FAU, instead of them hiring some no-name assistant to start the program. The problem is that he won his national championship over 25 years ago. People remember Leach had success at Tech just a few years ago and all of the media attention he got, which was not even close to being the same when Howard was patrolling the sidelines in the Orange Bowl for Miami in 1984.

What Leach has accomplished as a head coach in college football is light years ahead of anything Isiah Thomas had accomplished as a basketball coach/GM, especially since this is his first college job. Literally, this is apples versus oranges, in regard to helping national perception improve for the SBC.

KingDL1 · August 17, 2011

wurd...

plus... what is Leach's selling point? he had a run of some good seasons and almost won the Big 12 once? He is not well liked by ESPN... so they are gonna try to screw him with what little coverage FAU already gets... he's had some great offenses but never a great team

Leach's name was on the Nation Stage for a long time and his results are record setting. He took a perennial bad team ranked near the bottom of D1 and took them to number 2 in the nation. At Lubbock of all places.

Don't kid yourselves Leach was well known outside of Texas.

Mean Green 93-98 · August 17, 2011

He took a perennial bad team ranked near the bottom of D1

No, he didn't.

They always had winning records, and were in the top half of the Big XII. He definitely took them to the next level, but they weren't anywhere close to the bottom of D1 when he took over.

KRAM1 · August 17, 2011

Yep that is what I said.

I am not talking about the coaching fraternity. Hell you talk to coaches and they'll convince you what a great coach Todd Dodge is. I wasn't talking about coaching people who know McCarney. I am talking about the public in general whether its the casual fan or in many cases the die hard cfb fans.

Your post is nothing but a homerism blow fest. Look I get it...I am excited about McCarney just as much as you but lets face the reality of public perception.

You can go with McCarney every time over Leach or anybody else. I am pretty positive you probably said the same thing when Todd Dodge was hired 4 years ago and we all know what he did to this university.

Remind me again how many championships Leach recorded as head coach or assistant? I think the homer here is Leach himself...he's a PR machine for himself and his over sized and overrated ego. And, again...Maryland took a pass on the guy and no other college at any level has hired the guy...so, not everyone thinks he's a great coaching prospect. If you are looking for a guy to give your Brett Vito's of the world a good quote, well, Leach may be your guy...until Leach has won something he's simply another big mouth also ran in my book and one with an ego that doesn't match his output.

Also, I doubt you'd get many Big XII or SEC coaches touting Coach Dodge right now as a head coach at a D-1 school. Hopefully, again soon, but probably not right now.

We've had this Leach is great...Leach is not great stuff here several times...I think it's time some folks get over Leach and let the man pat himself on the back as he is so prone to do.

Proud to be a "homer" for the Mean Green!

SUMG · August 17, 2011

When 60 Minutes does a story on any Sun Belt coach....get back to me on how much of no-name Leach is.

KingDL1 · August 17, 2011

No, he didn't.

They always had winning records, and were in the top half of the Big XII. He definitely took them to the next level, but they weren't anywhere close to the bottom of D1 when he took over.

I did not dig through the records but I do remember us beating Tech a few times and if I remember correctly we beat them 1997 and then again in 1999 the year before Leach took them over. I don't think we won again after that. So I would not have guessed Tech to be in the top half of the Big XII and I don't remember Tech being regularly in the top 25 but it seems like they were in the top 25 not too long after Leach arrived and stayed there. But that may just be my perception.