Collected wisdom: UNT Coach Dan McCarney

Harry · August 18, 2013

North Texas football coach

Age: 60

Residence: Denton, Texas

Dan McCarney grew up in Iowa City, Iowa, played football at the University of Iowa, spent two years as a Hawkeyes' graduate assistant and, at age 24, was hired onto Hayden Fry's first Iowa staff, where his charges eventually included the Stoops brothers.

McCarney eventually became head coach at Iowa State, which stood by McCarney soon after his hiring despite reports of domestic battery against his estranged wife. McCarney was fired after 12 seasons despite the most coaching victories (56) in Cyclone history. Now, despite a stroke in 2012 and heart bypass surgery in April, he's starting his third year as head coach at the University of North Texas, the job Fry held before going to Iowa.

I feel phenomenal. Doing great. What I like about North Texas, location. High school football unbelievable. Fifth-largest media market in the country. Football is so important in this state. People care, they love it. Is it a religion, is it passion? Label it however you want it. It's fun to go to work where people really care about their football in the state of Texas.

This program I stepped into was respected by none. Everybody wanted to play North Texas. They'd count the days until North Texas was on the schedule so they could kick your tail up between your shoulder blades. We want to put ourselves in position to really have a chance to win and bring honor to Conference USA and North Texas.

Grew up in Iowa City. Spent 36 years in Iowa City. Dad was chief of police, mom worked at the dental school for 30 years in Iowa. All I knew for a huge chunk of my life. Iowa City was hard, it was tough. I love it, it's a great college town.

Read more: http://newsok.com/article/3873170

eulessismore · August 18, 2013

North Texas football coach
Age: 60
Residence: Denton, Texas
Dan McCarney grew up in Iowa City, Iowa, played football at the University of Iowa, spent two years as a Hawkeyes' graduate assistant and, at age 24, was hired onto Hayden Fry's first Iowa staff, where his charges eventually included the Stoops brothers.
McCarney eventually became head coach at Iowa State, which stood by McCarney soon after his hiring despite reports of domestic battery against his estranged wife. McCarney was fired after 12 seasons despite the most coaching victories (56) in Cyclone history. Now, despite a stroke in 2012 and heart bypass surgery in April, he's starting his third year as head coach at the University of North Texas, the job Fry held before going to Iowa.
I feel phenomenal. Doing great. What I like about North Texas, location. High school football unbelievable. Fifth-largest media market in the country. Football is so important in this state. People care, they love it. Is it a religion, is it passion? Label it however you want it. It's fun to go to work where people really care about their football in the state of Texas.
This program I stepped into was respected by none. Everybody wanted to play North Texas. They'd count the days until North Texas was on the schedule so they could kick your tail up between your shoulder blades. We want to put ourselves in position to really have a chance to win and bring honor to Conference USA and North Texas.
Grew up in Iowa City. Spent 36 years in Iowa City. Dad was chief of police, mom worked at the dental school for 30 years in Iowa. All I knew for a huge chunk of my life. Iowa City was hard, it was tough. I love it, it's a great college town.
Read more: http://newsok.com/article/3873170

I've got to question the part where he says as a young man he didn't have plans for being a football coach. I know his high school English teacher, and she said he knew at that time he wanted to be a coach.

laxtonto · August 18, 2013

That was an awesome article

Christopher Walker · August 18, 2013

I loved this article because it allows us to see Coach McCarney as more of the person he really is rather than a sporting figure shrouded by 'coach speak' that we endlessly analyze.

I watched a few other interviews that were equally great. I'll post them here once I get back to a desktop.

PlummMeanGreen · August 18, 2013

Iowa State was a rough situation for any Cyclone's coach prior to Coach Mac and you who follow NCAA college football know that school's history. No, he did not leave Iowa State over .500 but Hayden Fry didn't leave SMU anywhere near .500, either, but he was a winner who didn't give up because of that. He kept on plugging along before Jitter Nolen and Roy Busby took him aside for a job offer.

Coach Mac took several Cyclone teams to bowl game"S" (plural) and beat the Iowa Hawkeyes several times in a row, too. For those who will dare take a look

at last year's game results, Coach Mac's MG team just last Fall was a gnat's whisker( and a rare smile for Mean Green football from Lady Luck) of having a 6 win season (of which DT#7 would have been the QB).

Outside the resurrection of Knute Rockne who better could we have even gotten at North Texas from the Hayden Fry Coach's Tree who would have taken this job with so few players left on scholarships and North Texas hardly being known as a coach's stepping stone kind of place since Jerry Moore left for Texas Tech?

Yes, it's been dire of late for dear ol' alma mater's football team, but still no where near as dire as Kansas State, Iowa State and even SMU had post Death Penalty. We have many things to look forward too, folks, and in your heart you know I and many others on this message board are right about that.

Coach Dan McCarney While At Iowa State. Do you seen any spot

on that field you could have gotten to in the same area code?

Edited August 18, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

Christopher Walker · August 18, 2013

Some good stuff:

PlummMeanGreen · August 19, 2013

Some good stuff:

Lots of Iowa State Cyclone football players's love in the 2'nd video.

If we had a real, bonafide diamond (in the rough or not) at North Texas, would we trade it in for a cubic zirconia based on the emotions of the moment?

Outside the last 2 years Dan McCarney had nothing to do with what has happened at North Texas and we should all try to reflect on that thought from time to time.

Many of us were around when Fry won 2 games his 2'nd season at North Texas. No one was ready to hang him in effigy after that season either, but he had such name value that our fans mostly had the attitude of............"Just give Coach Fry more time to get this wrong...righted."

Again, had Lady Luck (whose has been mostly a stranger to us at UNT) only smiled on Coach Mac's football team last season he would have had easily had a 6 win season in his own Year 2. That would have been an amazing feat in light of the fact that he had inherited not nearly enough of NCAA FBS level football players.

Again, Dan McCarney came into a situation where there were hardly any players on scholarship and even on the very first day of his hiring he had already missed out on that year's recruiting season since most all of those in Texas take place with early commitments now.

Oh Brother, Here We Go Again But..........when Coach Fry first addressed the poor Iowa Hawkyee fans that had endured decades of losing and with his first introduction to Hawkeye fans at a basketball game all the Odessa,Texas, native would utter was merely 2 words and those 2 words were: 'We'll win"......................and just him saying those words brought the house down in what I understand was record decibal breaking crowd noise.

GMG!

Edited August 19, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

Stix · August 19, 2013

I've got to question the part where he says as a young man he didn't have plans for being a football coach. I know his high school English teacher, and she said he knew at that time he wanted to be a coach.

Perhaps Mac also learned something about story-telling from Hayden. Which makes me wonder about this quote:

I didn't talk to Hayden (before taking the North Texas job), to be honest with you, because there were other former Hayden Fry assistants that wanted this job. I wasn't going to put him in that position to pick and choose which one he wanted to give a stronger recommendation to.

I'd like to believe that's true.