UNT Press conference notes (Justin Manu gone)

MeanGreenTexan · August 28, 2013

UNT will recruit another good QB between now and DW's 4th year...redshirt or not. If Mac thinks DW can help the team win now...then great. Get him playing behind DT and get the experience.
Folks talk here about winning now, and then say they will be mad if the guy Mac sees can help is actually played! I'll take 4 years for DW if he is the guy Mac needs to win now behind DT.

Bingo. Need to win. If Mac feels Dajon is going to give him a better chance to win over Berglund, then by all means...

untjim1995 · August 28, 2013

So my thoughts are Berglund is just not going to happen. (not sure why....but they don't like him)

Mac knows this is a make or break year for him. (at least it should be) so he is going with what he knows in DT. That doesn't mean DT hasn't shown improvement....even though he's not going to win a game for Mac, he's hoping he won't lose one.

I think he wants Dajon. But it's too risky to start a freshman in a year as important as this. At the same time.....you keep him in the loop, practicing with the 1st team and you play him as much as possible early in the year. If DT doesn't get it done.....it's desparation time anyway so let's throw the wildcard out there and see what happens. And if you're going to throw the wild card out there, you want him to get some experience early.

(As for burning the redshirt) Mac is not thinking about Dajon's 4th year.....Mac (I think) wants to be here after Dajon's 3rd year. And if he doesn't show something quickly...that may be his last. It's a win-win for Mac. Go with what you know...it doesn't work out, hope the kid shows improvement then you can spend all offseason selling the kid.

Next year is his make or break year. Unless we just tank and only win 2 or fewer games, he isn't going anywhere. North Texas isn't going to buy out more than one year of a high priced contract. We couldn't even buyout Dodge's contract after he managed to win 5 games out of 36 in three years and the contract buyout would have only been about 550k if we got rid of him when we should have. Instead, we watched him go 1-6 to start the next year and let him go then, meaning we only bought out one year of that contract. McCarney makes $600k per year--we aren't going to buy off two years of his contract. Not saying that we shouldn't if we 4-8 again, but it speaks volumes to how we look at athletic spending at UNT. Same thing goes for Benford--he can win 3 games in the next season and will still be back for a 3rd year. His make or break year wouldn't be until the 2015 season, but if he even won 10 games in that season, he'd get a 4th year here. The buyout would be steep for what we are willing to pay, basedon our history. We gave Todd Dodge and Vic Trilli each a 4th year of their 5 year contracts, even though they combined for somewhere below a .200 winning percentage.

Barring a complete fiasco, like winning just 1 or 2 games this year, Coach Mac will be here in 2014. If he cannot get to bowl eligibility in 2014, he will surely get fired then, since it will be more affordable. That's just how it is here.

Edited August 28, 2013 by untjim1995

Cerebus · August 28, 2013

If DW is going to play, then lets make sure he gets a ton of playing time.

This years schedule is about as good as it's ever going to get for breaking in a new QB. Two of the first four are are at home, including an opener against someone we are a double digit favorite, one of road games is someone at our level, the only huge challenge is @GEO.

New QB's make mistakes. Let him go out there and make them and give him some experience by the time conference play roles around.

This is in no way a shot against DT. I hope he goes out there and dominates, wins conference MVP gets us a bowl win. However, if you have a talented backup who can push him, lets see what that guy can do and if he is the future or not.

Marty · August 29, 2013

That stinks--for us, and I'm sure much worse for Justin. The guy just looked like a hoss who could dominate on the OL. Again, it's one of those situations where it's hard not to think that a UT or Alabama would find a way to get the kid's eligibility back.

Thanks for your hard work, Justin--sorry it didn't work out, but MG Nation wishes you all the best.

You gotta feel for Manu, he's been out there in the hot Texas sun for 3 weeks running and hitting. 4 days before the first game, the NCAA tells him that he can't play. Best of luck to you Justin, hope you stay at UNT and get your degree.