Report Cards for New Coaches

[Mean Green 93-98]

http://www.cbssports.com/#!/collegefootball/story/15575207/mcmurphys-law-report-cards-for-new-coaches

[UNT Mean Green]

Reasonable article. You can't give Coach Mac much less than that. He inherited something that's not good by FBS standards, and is turning it around quickly. This deal is all about leadership, no matter if you are running a business or an FBS football program; we have the right guy and right staff in place to do special things in Denton for many years to come. No question, it'll take time, but it's going to be fun to watch and be a part of!

Edited September 14, 2011 by UNT Mean Green

[UNTLifer]

A report card after two games...really?

[GrandGreen]

Well according to this, McCarney is rated lowest of the three new Belt coaches, not exactly exciting. Too early to tell much, other than McCarney is not a miracle worker. Based on such a small sample the rating may be high. I did not expect NT to be non-competitive against FIU, the game against Houston was better but after an inspired first half the team was man handled in the second half.

McCarney coached under Fry, but I frankly don't remember Fry ever publicly questioning his team's talent. If anything, he constantly build up the team even in the first bad years. McCarney no doubt can accurately evaluate his team but college sports is an emotional game. Inferior teams play over their ability often, I am not sure this constant questioning of the current talent level helps the team. Honest maybe, but is it wise?

I think McCarney is the real deal, and the team will steadily improve, I'm just not sure the program can endure a 4 or 5 year rebuilding cycle after the last six years of decline.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I'd say B- is good. Also, I'd say McCarney's opening slate is a bit more difficult that the other new Sun Belt coaches are facing. That doesn't change this week either.

[Green Jackal]

McCarney coached under Fry, but I frankly don't remember Fry ever publicly questioning his team's talent. If anything, he constantly build up the team even in the first bad years. McCarney no doubt can accurately evaluate his team but college sports is an emotional game. Inferior teams play over their ability often, I am not sure this constant questioning of the current talent level helps the team. Honest maybe, but is it wise?

I've been wondering the same thing. Although on his radio show last Monday his message was more like "we have good players, just not enough of them".

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I've been wondering the same thing. Although on his radio show last Monday his message was more like "we have good players, just not enough of them".

Hey, the man said, "No excuses or finger pointing" after the first game. We should hold him to it.

Look, I gave Dodge no quarter upon his hire because we had nearly the entire defense returning - and, the defense hadn't been the problem in 2005 or 2006. He wasted that badly. And, wasted experienced QBs for the sake of throwing his guy Vizza in there too soon.

I love McCarney and was 111% for his hiring. But, he can't throw the players under the bus after two games. He'll lose his locker room if he does.

Against FIU, they damn well shouldn't have been kicking the ball to T.Y. Hilton. And, in my opinion, there should have been more rotating of DTs in both games. We need bodies in there. No one on the roster was proven going into the season. Can't understand why Brooks and Thompson were not - and have not - been rotated in.

Again, how much is there to lose when no returning DT really was an known impact player anyway?

I said it during the Dodge Era, and I'll say it again now - somehow Kragthorpe at Tulsa and Graham at Rice took their prior coaches players and turned them around in one season. Stoops did it in the Big 12 with John Blake's players; Mack Brown with Mackovic's.

Maybe guys aren't buying into McCarney the way those other school's players bought into Kragthorpe, Graham, Stoops, and Brown.

[UNTLifer]

You know, I just think this is the result in a difference in coaching philosophy between Dodge, rather passive, and McCarney, quite a bit more fiery. Some players that were used to Dodge's style probably didn't take to Coach Mac, and that's alright.

[Green Oracle]

Hugh Freeze, Arkansas State: The Red Wolves hung with Illinois in an 18-point loss in Freeze's debut, but that was quickly forgotten after last week's seal-clubbing of Memphis. The Red Wolves rolled up 611 yards in the 47-3 victory under Freeze, who was ASU's offensive coordinator last season. Grade: A

611 yards? Why are the Indians and Troy and FIU and FAU able to have success early on, and we're stuck in our downward spiral? Did they have new stadiums too? Former Big 12 stand out coaches?

We need wins this season. This season. No where else to go but up. We need wins. This season.

Go Mean Green.

[ColoradoEagle]

Troy hasn't had success yet this season. They got beat pretty soundly by a Clemson team that doesn't even look as good as the one we played last year. FIU is coming off a bowl win and looks like a solid top 50 team.

As soon as we play a team as bad as Memphis, maybe we can put up 611 yards too.

[clonefan]

you guys played a solid FIU team and a possible heisman candidate in keenum and now you face bama. i would get discouraged yet. your non conf schedule is rough this year but once you get into conference play i expect you guys to do much better. winning conference games and getting a softer non-conf schedule in future years will drive this program back to where it belongs. im sure coach mac would have greatly taken a B- in his first 2 games at ISU. we had doughnut and 1 win seasons when he first started so just give it time guys. i think i heard you guys lost 58 of your last 71 games IIRC thats a big rebuilding project (similar to what ISU was) it took dan about 4-5 years to make ISU decent so just give him time

[houstonmeangreen]

Really...we don't seem to be able to throw the ball downfield...611 yards is a stretch.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Freeze reeks of Todd Dodge smell. Remember the SMU/Navy games? He has that same kind of system offensively... He just also happens to have a decent DC that could hold a horrible Memphis team at bay. Soon, AKSt. fans will be asking themselves how an offense that rolled up 611 yards against Memphis can only muster 201 yards of offense against Army... AKSt. may beat us this year, but give coach Bowen time to figure out play calling tendencies and their offense will be beatable.

[CaribbeanGreen]

I said it during the Dodge Era, and I'll say it again now - somehow Kragthorpe at Tulsa and Graham at Rice took their prior coaches players and turned them around in one season. Stoops did it in the Big 12 with John Blake's players; Mack Brown with Mackovic's.

Maybe guys aren't buying into McCarney the way those other school's players bought into Kragthorpe, Graham, Stoops, and Brown.

It can happen in the Belt, too. See Cristobal, Mario.

I can't imagine the winless mess Don Strock had been rolling out had much more than Dodge left here. I hope for/expect the same sort of turnaround that Cristobal has led FIU to... inheriting an absolute MESS - a winless Strock team - Cristobal had this sort of "purge" year in 2007 with just 1 win (over Todd Dodge), and then had seasons of 5, 3, and 7 wins. Huge numbers? No. But a respectable and frankly, amazing turnaround of a program with a brief history of only horrible failure (and far less to recruit to than we have).

McCarney's turnaround took 5-6 years at ISU, but I'd expect it to be faster here. It has to be.

[ColoradoEagle]

McCarney's turnaround took 5-6 years at ISU, but I'd expect it to be faster here. It has to be.

The thing with his record at ISU, is he was playing at least 9-10 games a year against Big 8/12/10/SWC opponents. The only bad losses he had early on were against a 7-6 Wyoming and a 3-9 Minnesota, otherwise he beat every team they should have. The only thing that concerns me in his record is 2003. A rebuilding year is one thing, but man what a hit they took.

We don't need to wait 4-5 years to recruit athletes who should be able to compete in the Sun Belt. On top of that, he should have a much easier time recruiting kids to play 40 miles north of Dallas than in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa. And no, I'm not exaggerating. If you ever get bored, count how many farms are within a 10 mile radius of Ames on Google Maps. Not a knock on the school, just the reality of where Ames is located.

Edited September 14, 2011 by ColoradoEagle

[UNT90]

Right now I'd give Coach Mac a C. An A for the Houston game, and an F for the FIU game.

These things are stupid after 2 games, though.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Guys, Memphis is horrible. They were 1-11 last year, and have a realistic shot at going 0-12 this year.

Their coach, Larry Porter, was a position coach at LSU. He'd never been a coordinator anywhere.

Memphis made the mistake of kicking out a guy who had taken them to five bowl games in nine years - five of the six in school history. He'd taken the Tigers to bowls the two seasons prior to his firing in just past midway through the 2009 season.

It was a stupid move by a basketball school that gives little to its football program. Schools like Memphis deserve to have their asses kicked for firing hard-working coaches dealing with few resources, but who succeed most of the time anyway.

I hope Memphis does go 0-12. What happened to Tommy West at Memphis in 2009 reeks of Rocky Long's departure at New Mexico and Jeff Bowers at Mississippi State - unrealistic athletic directors taking very successful head coaches at their money-strapped programs and replacing them with garbage.

(Yeah, I know Southern Miss still makes bowls...but, their records and fate are no better off without Bowers than it was with him. Stupid. Fedora's first three years at USM have been 7 wins, 7 wins, 8 wins - Bowers' last three years were 7 wins, 9 wins, 7 wins. Stupid. Bower was 20 wins from becoming the schools' winningest coach, and had led them to bowl season in his final six seasons, and they tossed him out. Stupid. They deserve the mediocrity that remains with them.)

Edited September 15, 2011 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[UNT90]

Guys, Memphis is horrible. They were 1-11 last year, and have a realistic shot at going 0-12 this year.

Their coach, Larry Porter, was a position coach at LSU. He'd never been a coordinator anywhere.

Memphis made the mistake of kicking out a guy who had taken them to five bowl games in nine years - five of the six in school history. He'd taken the Tigers to bowls the two seasons prior to his firing in just past midway through the 2009 season.

It was a stupid move by a basketball school that gives little to its football program. Schools like Memphis deserve to have their asses kicked for firing hard-working coaches dealing with few resources, but who succeed most of the time anyway.

I hope Memphis does go 0-12. What happened to Tommy West at Memphis in 2009 reeks of Rocky Long's departure at New Mexico and Jeff Bowers at Mississippi State - unrealistic athletic directors taking very successful head coaches at their money-strapped programs and replacing them with garbage.

(Yeah, I know Southern Miss still makes bowls...but, their records and fate are no better off without Bowers than it was with him. Stupid. Fedora's first three years at USM have been 7 wins, 7 wins, 8 wins - Bowers' last three years were 7 wins, 9 wins, 7 wins. Stupid. Bower was 20 wins from becoming the schools' winningest coach, and had led them to bowl season in his final six seasons, and they tossed him out. Stupid. They deserve the mediocrity that remains with them.)

Dickey comparison posts in 3, 2, 1...

[UNTMike81]

In a couple of games the more realistic coaching comparison might be made between Coach Mac. and Coach Canales. I'll be the first to admit I was in coach Canales's corner for a promotion from IHC to HC. Didn't happen, but we'll see if this team has as many total wins as last years team.

[HoustonEagle]

I will give coach Mac a c-........ I could go with a c+ if he would ever take off those damn sun glasses. Seriously it can't still be the eye surgery.

[greenminer]

We can now add couch eye-surgeons to our gmg.com repertoire. yaya!