Todd Dodge says he's back in comfort zone

Harry · March 29, 2012

ARBLE FALLS, Texas — What most people will tell you about Todd Dodge is that he thinks ahead. Everything he does has a purpose, is part of a plan that might appear hazy in the distance to many but unfolds in vivid 20-20 glory to him.

This is perfect for football, where improvisation generally gets slammed into the turf by a hulking linebacker, and for several high school seasons every Dodge strategy worked — emphasis on high school. His vision has been far from perfect since then.

Dodge left the comforts of Southlake Carroll, a four-time state champion under his direction, for an experiment at North Texas, where in 3 1/2 seasons he won just six more games than you did. Then he landed at Pittsburgh, where his exodus after one season as an assistant was pretty much necessary after head coach Todd Graham split, and now has returned to the high school level, at Marble Falls.

Marble Falls hasn't made a deep playoff run in 20 years. Dodge has a plan, though, if you're willing to believe him.

"He knows the culture he wants to create," says Hal Wasson, who succeeded Dodge as Southlake Carroll coach, "and he'll create that culture."

Marble Falls, a gorgeous, winding 3 1/2-hour drive from Dallas, is a city of 7,500 bordered by hills and water. Dodge bought a three-bedroom house for him and his wife, Elizabeth, that overlooks Lake LBJ, where he used to boat in his younger days. Dodge says his son, Riley, will start as an assistant coach at nearby Austin Westlake in the fall, the same time his daughter, Molly, will enroll at Texas State in San Marcos. It's perfect for his family.

Read more: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/082993b519e4456ca03b9ac9c6374ba6/FBH--Exchange-Dodge-Back-in-Texas/

ChristopherRyanWilkes · March 29, 2012

Read more: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/082993b519e4456ca03b9ac9c6374ba6/FBH--Exchange-Dodge-Back-in-Texas/

Good to see he's back at the high school football level.

El Paso Eagle · March 29, 2012

Good luck to Coach Dodge. I hope he finds his way back to the success he enjoyed before.

MeanGreenTexan · March 29, 2012

I guess I was wrong about coach Dodge. I thought for sure he would get another QB Coach job somewhere at the FBS level. I guess he's back where he's supposed to be.

Too bad. I think the beat-down he took at UNT broke his confidence. I didn't think there was any reason he should fail if he were to take a path similar to coach Graham, coach Briles, or some other successful HS HC who was an assistant for a while before taking over as a HC.

Best of luck to Dodge at Marble Falls.

HoustonEagle · March 29, 2012

I don't mean this as a slam on Coach Dodge, but hindsight says he was more a product of SLC than SLC being a product of him. No doubt he had to be a good coach to collect the wins and titles he did while there. With that said they won before he was there and they have won after he left......

El Paso Eagle · March 29, 2012

To this day I really think things would have been different had TD gone a different way in his hiring of assistant coaches – ESPECIALLY the coordinators. It’s not common for a high school coach to find success at the next level, but remembering the “Dodge Mania” at the time it seems he was allowed to bring in whoever he wanted (I wonder if this had been discussed in the interviewing process) – just seems strange he would not have surrounded himself with “college level” experience verses the “comfort level” of his high school assistants. As they say, hind sight is 20/20, but it’s hard to believe the group of people that did the hiring process really thought out the impact of bringing in so many high school coaches at one time, or maybe Dodge believed and was able to convince everyone that the “system” was the key and these were the people to make it happen?????

Mean Green 93-98 · March 29, 2012

To this day I really think things would have been different had TD gone a different way in his hiring of assistant coaches – ESPECIALLY the coordinators. It’s not common for a high school coach to find success at the next level, but remembering the “Dodge Mania” at the time it seems he was allowed to bring in whoever he wanted (I wonder if this had been discussed in the interviewing process) – just seems strange he would not have surrounded himself with “college level” experience verses the “comfort level” of his high school assistants. As they say, hind sight is 20/20, but it’s hard to believe the group of people that did the hiring process really thought out the impact of bringing in so many high school coaches at one time, or maybe Dodge believed and was able to convince everyone that the “system” was the key and these were the people to make it happen?????

If the staff he had in 2010 had been the staff he arrived with in 2007, he might at least have had a fighting chance.

But I agree with MGTexan's comments that he would have been better served to get more experience as a college assistant first . . . a couple years as a QB coach, a couple years as OC, then he might be ready to try his hand head coaching at the 1-A level.

As far as why he's no longer pursuing the college route, I can only speculate . . . but I imagine he's getting to the age where he doesn't feel like jumping around to new jobs all over the country every two years. Besides, I'm not sure if he could ever become hirable as a 1-A ("FBS") coach at this point with what happened under his watch at UNT.

I certainly do wish him well, and am glad he's somewhere he's comfortable.

MeanGreenTexan · March 29, 2012

To this day I really think things would have been different had TD gone a different way in his hiring of assistant coaches – ESPECIALLY the coordinators. It’s not common for a high school coach to find success at the next level, but remembering the “Dodge Mania” at the time it seems he was allowed to bring in whoever he wanted (I wonder if this had been discussed in the interviewing process) – just seems strange he would not have surrounded himself with “college level” experience verses the “comfort level” of his high school assistants. As they say, hind sight is 20/20, but it’s hard to believe the group of people that did the hiring process really thought out the impact of bringing in so many high school coaches at one time, or maybe Dodge believed and was able to convince everyone that the “system” was the key and these were the people to make it happen?????

It's possible, but his system and offensive high school assistants came in year 1 and set all kinds of records (the good kind). So it's a head-scratcher that he could not parlay that into more success... seemed like the offense just got worse as time went on. Maybe the experienced d-coordinators and head coaches figured out his system and he could not adapt? If so, that would be a trait he would learn coming up the ranks and working with an experienced HC.

The defensive assistants were a complete nightmare from day 1 (Mendoza in particular). I don't think defense was part of coach Dodge's "football system"? Or, he subscribed to the "The best defense is a good offense" philosophy, which failed him miserably here. As great as DeLoach 1.0 was here under DD, DeLoach 2.0 was a failure as well. Maybe Dodge hamstrung DLo, but he was not the fix for the horrid defense, so maybe it wasn't a coordinator issue...

UNTLifer · March 29, 2012

I don't mean this as a slam on Coach Dodge, but hindsight says he was more a product of SLC than SLC being a product of him. No doubt he had to be a good coach to collect the wins and titles he did while there. With that said they won before he was there and they have won after he left......

First, I wish Coach Dodge nothing but the best. Yes, he made some mistakes in his time at North Texas, but he handled the situation with extreme professionalism and class that many could learn from.

Regarding HoustonEagle's comments above though, I totally agree. He was a .500 coach pretty much until arriving at SLC. There he found endless resources, kids from wealthy families willing to spend money on the kid's development and the ability to install his system at the 7th grade level, so that it was second nature to these kids when they entered Carrol High. He won't have the same resources, nor the pool of talent at Marble Falls so this should test his coaching ability. Again, I wish him much success, but Marble Falls isn't Southlake.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · March 29, 2012

To this day I really think things would have been different had TD gone a different way in his hiring of assistant coaches – ESPECIALLY the coordinators. It’s not common for a high school coach to find success at the next level, but remembering the “Dodge Mania” at the time it seems he was allowed to bring in whoever he wanted (I wonder if this had been discussed in the interviewing process) – just seems strange he would not have surrounded himself with “college level” experience verses the “comfort level” of his high school assistants. As they say, hind sight is 20/20, but it’s hard to believe the group of people that did the hiring process really thought out the impact of bringing in so many high school coaches at one time, or maybe Dodge believed and was able to convince everyone that the “system” was the key and these were the people to make it happen?????

Agree. But, I think he also needed some seasoning. I think he had the tools to go the Gus Malzahn, Art Briles, and Todd Graham route. It just doesn't seem to me that any of those guys had any more or less on the ball than Dodge - and, Dodge seemed to have more.

The thing that was a shame was that 2007 defense had eight or nine starters returning and they were wasted. Also, Daniel Meager wasn't Troy Aikman, but he wasn't so bad as to have to pull Vizza's redshirt. The QB position was misplayed.

Too many things to re-discuss here. Happy for Todd Dodge, happy for us as well.

With Texas State and UTSA moving up, I guess it isn't inconceivable that he perhaps takes a job at either of those places in the future. He's got roots in that region.

Edited March 29, 2012 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

GreenFlag · March 29, 2012

Marble Falls is one nice area, I would love to retire to Horseshoe Bay. I think he will be happy there. Fran and Dykes both have places there.

emmitt01 · March 29, 2012

Does. Not. Coach. At. North. Texas. Anymore.

UNT90 · March 29, 2012

Agree. But, I think he also needed some seasoning. I think he had the tools to go the Gus Malzahn, Art Briles, and Todd Graham route. It just doesn't seem to me that any of those guys had any more or less on the ball than Dodge - and, Dodge seemed to have more.

The thing that was a shame was that 2007 defense had eight or nine starters returning and they were wasted. Also, Daniel Meager wasn't Troy Aikman, but he wasn't so bad as to have to pull Vizza's redshirt. The QB position was misplayed.

Too many things to re-discuss here. Happy for Todd Dodge, happy for us as well.

With Texas State and UTSA moving up, I guess it isn't inconceivable that he perhaps takes a job at either of those places in the future. He's got roots in that region.

I don't know. I think Malzahn, Briles, and Graham were smart enough to know what they didn't know about college football. Coach Dodge's arrogance (ignorance, loyalty or whatever you want to call it) in bringing in high school coaches to fill major roles (especially defensive coordinator) shows that he wasn't nearly as smart as those three in that area. It cost him a college coaching career.

Maybe after we are assured of entry into whatever MWC/CUSA turns into I can let go of some of my football hate for Coach Dodge. Maybe not.

Time heals all wounds?

Edited March 29, 2012 by UNT90

oldguystudent · March 30, 2012

Todd Dodge is back in my comfort zone. Far, far away from Denton. Not only was he horrific at the X's, O's, and most importantly, the W's of college football, but he also carried such an SLC cult of personality with him that as a new fan of UNT football, I found him incredibly divisive. Love him or hate him. Nobody had a lukewarm opinion, and that made for some heated debated among people who are supposed to be on the same team.