How far up do YOU think we can move?

[10Eagle10]

http://www.athlonsports.com/college-football/ranking-college-footballs-coaching-jobs-2013

While I think Texas and A&M will always be ahead of us and Tech, TCU, Baylor are no doubt better right now, I think with a focus on even better facilities (I'm talkin bout indoor football facility specifically) we could realistically be a top 5 job in the state. I think 9 is probably about right as of now. Before getting to us, I was fully expecting Athlon to have us around #10-11 for Texas. There's no reason we shouldn't realistically be a top 63 destination in 1-A, considering where our base is.

[10Eagle10]

for those who want the basics:

Overall Rank - School

#1 Texas

#13 Texas A&M

#32 TCU

#41 Texas Tech

#51 Baylor

#66 Houston

#74 SMU

#94 UTEP

#95 North Texas

#113 Rice

#118 UTSA

#119 Texas State

and last...our home opener

#125 Idaho No league + Bad location = Very, very difficult job.

[golfingomez]

I like UNT in Denton... I don't think we should move towns at all

[UNT Mean Green]

We should be able to be in the running with UH for sure. I wouldn't expect with Baylor being in the Big XII that we can get near them or Tech unless we have a few nationally recognized successful seasons that get us near a BCS bowl or something.

Probably some ranking in the 60's would be realistic pending on the field success which leads to increased attendance, TV time, etc...

Edited February 27, 2013 by UNT Mean Green

[greenminer]

for those who want the basics:

Overall Rank - School

#1 Texas

#13 Texas A&M

#32 TCU

#41 Texas Tech

#51 Baylor

#66 Houston

#74 SMU

#94 UTEP

#95 North Texas

#113 Rice

#118 UTSA

#119 Texas State

and last...our home opener

#125 Idaho No league + Bad location = Very, very difficult job.

San Marcos > Arlington/San Antonio. Purely personal preference.

[adman]

Tech a better job than Baylor?

[Mean Green 93-98]

I think we could potentially leapfrog every non-Big XII/SEC team on that list to be #6 in Texas. To move higher would require Baylor and/or TCU to back to having the kind of teams they used to have. Even then, I don't think we'd consistently have better support than they would.

[akriesman]

Texas will always be the top dog. There are just too many students/alums and name recognition.

I honestly expect the private schools to take a big nose-dive in the future (football, not basketball). I expect UNT, UTSA, and TSU to pass SMU and Rice. Baylor and TCU will probably hang on a little longer. It could see a future where public and private schools will play in separate FB subdivisions.

Edited February 27, 2013 by akriesman

[PlummMeanGreen]

If North Texas could ever find a way in following former conference mate, ie, the Boise State U model (of whom by the way we still have a 3 W's vs 2 L's all time series lead) that would mean Top 25 ranked Mean Green football teams that would be playing in bowl games; who knows, maybe even a BCS bowl.

If we're ranked anywhere from #75, #76 and higher going to bowl games then we have not improved our program or product from the Sun Belt era; of course, anything would be an improvement at this point but why not go for all the gusto when we hit our winning cycles stride once again?

GMG!

[Cougar King]

You guys have a long way to go if you want to be on par with us. That being said, UNT has the potential to do it. However,at one point or another, North Texas will be North Texas and will find a way to screw up again.

[emmitt01]

You guys have a long way to go if you want to be on par with us. That being said, UNT has the potential to do it. However,at one point or another, North Texas will be North Texas and will find a way to screw up again.

Taking a D & D break?

[PlummMeanGreen]

You guys have a long way to go if you want to be on par with us. That being said, UNT has the potential to do it. However,at one point or another, North Texas will be North Texas and will find a way to screw up again.

Potential is like a large mountain with unlimited and untapped amounts of gold, but at some point you have to have the right gold-miners in place who have the ability to stop marvelling about how large that mountain full of gold is but (instead) start putting that pic into the ground to begin the mining process.

Potential has become a not so popular word at North Texas in recent years, but that doesn't mean our potential is any less.

GMG!

[drex]

When Texas, Arkansas or A&M, etc. used to be in the Cotton Bowl they brought fans who bought lodging, food and gas...when Houston played in one Cotton Bowl the only businesses who made any money from them were the 7-11's.

[GrandGreen]

Realistically, NT is not going to be up there with any Big 12 team and will have hard time to keep from falling far behind the BE conference..

Right now NT has to worry about UTEP, Rice and unfortunately is no lock to stay above the now severed Texas Twins.

NT is going to have to be one of the best of CUSA to move up the Texas football chain. It can be done, but chances don't look all that great now.

[UNTLifer]

Why don't our chances look great, GrandGreen?

[UNTexas]

You guys have a long way to go if you want to be on par with us. That being said, UNT has the potential to do it. However,at one point or another, North Texas will be North Texas and will find a way to screw up again.

You are such a wise internet tough guy.

[emmitt01]

Why don't our chances look great, GrandGreen?

5-7

4-8

Not selling out a new stadium.

This isn't criticism, it's just the lay of the land currently (or until proven otherwise).

[JesseMartin]

If not for our period of practically dropping off of the map for close to 20 years, I think we could already be one of the "big boys". We've had to spend so much time recapturing the hearts of members of our own culture that we haven't had the opportunity to get back to where we should have been. If we keep moving forward as we have been lately, within 2 decades we will be at the level of Tech, Okla. State, and others in the top conferences who aren't quite to the level of UT, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc but are damned close. Also, keep in mind that when we were at our peak in the 60s-70s, alumni participation was discouraged and there was no chance of even allowing funds to be proffered. With the bureaucratic problems (at least of that sort) behind us and our current progress in the right direction, I like where we're headed.

Edited February 28, 2013 by JesseMartin

[risinggreen]

We can go as far as we want to go.

[UNT90]

We are ranked way too high. UNT is where head coaching careers go to die (especially High School coaches).

Poor recruiting possibilities+almost a complete lack of winning history+student apathy+community apathy+2 far better funded FBS athletic departments within 50 miles+ an administration that only wants success if it comes on their terms (see: within their budget framework)= One of the worst jobs in the nation.

It is what it is.

[meangreener]

I wouldn't say student apathy anymore. Only bad student turnout was USA. Students sold out their section versus TSU and ULL and our student section trumps many similar sized schools. Like UH, for example.

[PlummMeanGreen]

5-7

4-8

Not selling out a new stadium.

This isn't criticism, it's just the lay of the land currently (or until proven otherwise).

+1

I think (and hope) Coach Mac & staff have their Year 3 turnaround which many of us have predicted they would in, uh, Year 3, but we GMG.com sooth-sayers have not always been too accurate in the past, either.

GMG!

[akriesman]

I have come to this forum pretty much since the beginning. I honestly believe that we NT fans are about as down and depressed as I have ever seen here.

I remember the excitement in the 80's from moving to 1AA to 1A. After some apathetic times in the 90's, we had the Sun Belt winning streak in FB. Even during the TD years, we had the stadium to get excited about. And, the mens BB program was consistently winning 20+ games. Recently, we finally get the CUSA bid we have all been waiting for, only to see some of the important CUSA teams bolt and get replaced by our former peers (and some that were never even on the radar......UTSA).

Our athletic programs need a quick jolt in a major, major way right now. Apathy is setting in again and that is a thing worse than anger IMO.

There is still a lot to be proud of as we all know. To me, getting new facilities funded and built is more difficult than hiring the right coaches. The latter can be a quick fix. The former can take a decade or more as we found out.

We are also due our share of luck. I feel like the injury Gods have been more than unfair to NT over the last 5 years. Maybe we catch a break and our FB team can overachieve this coming season. This program needs some momentum to build from.....ANY momentum.

To the athletes and coaches on our sports teams, we have your back and will be cheering. But, your school needs your full dedication and effort right now. You guys can help kick-start some great things at UNT. We don't expect you to go out and win the CUSA West this coming FB season. Make us proud. Give it your best and please find a way to pull out some wins (5 or 6 would be nice).

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

These lists are stupid. It's not the school that makes the football program a success, it's the coach.

The other stupid thing about the list is it does what every other list does - it gives preference to schools who built their glory in the without facemask and "white only" era.

Texas, Michigan, and Notre Dame fit squarely into that category. Only Notre Dame has more than one national title among those since 1970...and the last one for them was 1988!

Look, each school is different. You either find a guy who can handle what is given to him at any given school or you don't. Darrell Dickey won here. Hayden Fry won here. Odus Mitchell won here. All different eras, with different circumstances for each.

Plenty of coaches have been through the Texas', Michigans, Notre Dames', Alabamas, and Oklahomas and not "succeeded" to the pre-facemask/white only era standard set for them.

Alabama farted though a few coaches between Gene Stallings and Nick Saban. Ditto Texas between Darrell Royal and Mack Brown, OU between Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops. Michigan and Notre Dame are still farting through coaches.

A coach can either do the job or he can't. Just having a famous schools' helmet on 100 players' heads at kickoff isn't enough.

What the list should be called is, "Schools Where Coaches Really Have No Excuse For Mediocrity Or Outright Failure." Looked at properly, we are a school where medicority and failure are largely expected from the national standpoint. And...that's why we pant over transfer QBs and potential transfer QBs who can't win starting jobs anywhere else.

Until we find a coach who makes no excuses, takes the reins, gets the players to buy in from day one, that will always be us. Until then, I'm happy we are succeeding in the classroom and in the area of coaches not molesting minor children. If that ever does happen, I hope our off the field successes remains a top priority.

Edited February 28, 2013 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[Eagle61]

I like UNT in Denton... I don't think we should move towns at all

I think at some point we will be UNT-Denton, and it could be near. And as to PlummMG's signature: This site is the greatest tool an opposing recruiter could have, especiailly basketball. If I were recruiting against UNT, I would hand the recruit a paper with this site address and say, "Here kid, look at this. You want to be a part of that." I would never lose a recruit to UNT. It is like a family where the parents are divorcing trying to adopt I am not a cheerleader. I just don't air dirty laundry.