Give it time people!

ForneyGreen · September 3, 2011

You know what this reminds me of (in-state example version?): When Sherman showed up in College Station. He had the remnants of a coach who didn't recruit size, emphasize strength training or much of the basics. He tried to simplify the schemes on both sides and saw his line get matched by bad teams and dominated by crappy teams. They won 4 games and many fans decided he was a bust and figured it was always going to be more of the same. Flash forward a few years later, and he has a preseason top 10 team and a program on the rise with recruiting back to the expected level for a program of that size.

I like this analogy - and dare I even say this (because I may get slammed), but Dickey basically did the same thing too: came into a situation where he didn't have the horses to compete, simplified things, recruited, improved schemes over time as he brought in more talent, and we became a competitive team.

It really sucks that we're in Year 7 of a big downturn and wasted 4 years of this program's life. It will get better under Mac and Staff - just don't expect miracles in Year 1. I love our guys and our team - but if you watched the game against FIU, the discrepancy in speed and strength was just so obvious. That doesn't mean that we can't win games this year - there will be some good times this year for sure - but we need to realize where we are as a program right now.

If it helps (if you saw the game)... look at FIU's stadium and attendance. Granted, the weather likely played a factor in attendance, but that is just truly sad to see a really good defending conference champion team with one of the best players in college football (Hilton) draw such a pathetic crowd. That doesn't really show a very strong foundation for their program. Finally, I believe our program has a strong foundation.

MeanGreenTexan · September 3, 2011

New to the forums here. I've been a long time reader though.

I think the above post is probably the best analysis of where UNT football stands right now. The last four years set the program back a ways and it's going to take a while for McCarney to repair the damage, my guess is a minimum of three years. I predicted UNT would win somewhere between 2 and 4 games this year and anything more than that and McCarney should be the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. UNT has an unproven QB, is woefully inexpierenced on both lines, the list goes on.

What I find frustrating as a UNT fan, is that the Mean Green are unveiling their new stadium and essentially starting the rebuilding process from square one, not a good combination. Eventually, the novelty of the new facility is going to wear off and if you're not winning attendance is usually going to dwindle. When Todd Dodge was given that 4th year, UNT was banking on him getting this team into a contender status by the time the new stadium opened and it didn't happen. Personally I believe that the writing was on the wall after his 3rd year and a change should've been made to give a new coach time to at least lay a foundation the year before the new stadium opened but it didn't happen. Hindsight always 20/20.

Welcome aboard! Now, where do you stand on conference re-alignment and helmet stickers?

UNTJarhead0802 · September 3, 2011

I like this analogy - and dare I even say this (because I may get slammed), but Dickey basically did the same thing too: came into a situation where he didn't have the horses to compete, simplified things, recruited, improved schemes over time as he brought in more talent, and we became a competitive team.

It really sucks that we're in Year 7 of a big downturn and wasted 4 years of this program's life. It will get better under Mac and Staff - just don't expect miracles in Year 1. I love our guys and our team - but if you watched the game against FIU, the discrepancy in speed and strength was just so obvious. That doesn't mean that we can't win games this year - there will be some good times this year for sure - but we need to realize where we are as a program right now.

If it helps (if you saw the game)... look at FIU's stadium and attendance. Granted, the weather likely played a factor in attendance, but that is just truly sad to see a really good defending conference champion team with one of the best players in college football (Hilton) draw such a pathetic crowd. That doesn't really show a very strong foundation for their program. Finally, I believe our program has a strong foundation.

South Florida has a track record of poorly attended games at anything not involving convicts in orange and green. Fickle attendance is truly the hallmark of all sporting events. Between UM and the beaches, nobody is interested in anything that draws their attention from hedonism (confirmed by a friend who went to FIU). Heck, they even couldn't get loud for a do or die game 6 against the Mavs.

However, we in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. When we were the defending champs, we couldn't draw crowds bigger than 20k. We go to a school where the most popular merchandise seems to be any school not North Texas related. I think this is the plight of most Sun Belt schools. I think the needs are in place to get the new stadium rocking, we have the electric and quotable head coach, we have the student population, and we have the fertile recruiting grounds to do it with.

I just hope that the apathy lifts, because honestly, what 4 star recruit wants to play in front of a rowdy home crowd of 14,000?