cl_1_2008

He's only been at OU since mid-January, so I doubt he'd be too discouraged.

Don't be fooled; that's Tom Herman's offense they're running down there in Houston, not Major Applewhite's. Unless he's bringing Herman with him, no thanks. But since I'm here, I'll go ahead and share my thoughts on the topic at hand. There are only three guys who should even be considered for this job: Kendal Briles, Jake Spavital, and Sonny Cumbie, in that order, though I think the last one is the most plausible of the three. If we absolutely have to look outside those three, then there should be two requirements: 1) be from Texas (for recruiting purposes) AND 2) run the spread (also for recruiting purposes).

The root of UNT's problems is that Dan McCarney can't recruit, but why can't he recruit? Well, I'd venture to say that it's because of his coaching. He's coaching at a school in Texas, where 9 out of every 10 high school football teams run some form of the spread offense, yet he insists on his team running an offense that's better suited for the state Wisconsin. Those Big Ten offenses don't tend to be successful unless run by a team that is bigger and better than its opponent. We are neither. Of course UNT has quarterback problems. Why the hell would any quarterback want to come play here? So he can hand the ball off 45 times per game, regardless of the score? Any decent high school quarterback that would even entertain that thought should have his head checked. That's not even the worst part, though. For at least the second time this season, he sent out the field goal unit while trailing by at least four touchdowns. I mean, I understand that it's nice to finally have a decent kicker, but the entire idea of, "at least we didn't get shut out," is ridiculous. Settling for field goals while getting your ass kicked is even worse than getting shut out. No team should ever play that conservatively, but the fact that he's resorting to such tactics against the likes of UTEP is very indicative of the state of the program. If he's going to put a terrible product on the field, he could at least attempt to make it watchable. Is there honestly any reason to believe it's going to get better? He hasn't been able to recruit since he got here, so why would that change? He may fire up the alumni, but no high school kid cares who Dan McCarney is, and they sure as hell don't care about his time at Florida. He spent his entire first season with UNT talking about how little talent was on the roster, thus inflating everyone's view of the job he was doing. We didn't have a talent problem when Dodge was here, we had a coaching problem. Now we have both. But hey, we'll always have that bowl win.

I know you're all aware he was sent to the D-League. Probably a good move for someone who wasn't getting any playing time. But I thought I would let y'all know that you can watch every D-League game live because they stream them on YouTube. So if you're bored, just go to the D-League website, and they have a daily scoreboard at the top. Click on the Mad Ants game and enjoy. I'm actually watching them right now so I thought I would share the info.

All the complaining about not just taking delay of game and punting, but nobody has pointed out that the smart thing to do was just go for it. It's 4th and 4 from their 39, AND its downwind, so stopping a punt is more difficult. That's one of the easier 4th down decisions you can have. You should never punt inside your opponents 40.

The Pistons have been atrocious with Josh Smith, Greg Monroe, and Andre Drummond on the floor together this season, because of spacing issues on offense. Because of this, I would very surprised if they don't trade Monroe before the deadline. They just signed Smith, and they're not trading Drummond because he's already a top 5 or so center at age 20, and he's not even close to the player that he could become. So that leaves Monroe. Once they trade Monroe, I think you might see Tony get a little more playing time. I'm not sure he'll get meaningful playing time until then barring injury. Villanueva comes off the books this summer and won't be back, and Jerebko has a player option that he'll probably decline so he can get a long-term deal. That's 2 guys that are taking PT from Tony. Depending on the offseason moves they make, Tony could be a rotation guy next year. It will be interesting to watch.

I try to watch every Pistons game, just in case Tony gets some run. I know not everyone here has NBA League Pass or the time to actually watch. But NBA.com added a feature last week with interactive box scores, so you can go watch highlights. http://stats.nba.com/gameDetail.html?GameID=0021300315 There's a link to last nights game. If you'd like to see the 4 points he scored, just click the 4 under points. If you'd like to watch the 4 rebounds or the 1 block, then click them. NBA.com is doing a fantastic job of making everything more accessible to the fans, so I just thought I'd share this with you guys so you can keep up with his progress. I expect him to get a little more playing time as the season goes on, but as of now, he's relegated to mop up duty. Just thought I'd share this with everyone.

Just looking at that bracket gave me a stiffy.

I'm sure there are ballots, but a lot of it is listening to who the coaches say are their best players and going off of that. Like I said, these coaches don't go back and watch all the film to determine who actually deserves it. That's why you have guys like Barrett Jones last year winning OL of the year in the country, when he wasn't one of the 3 best linemen on his own team. All coaches have favorites, even Lord Saban.

In the scheme we run, where we run power about 40 times per game, your best and most important lineman is the pulling guard. If Cyril was the best lineman, why is Y'Barbo the pulling guard? Answer: Because he's better. It's simple.

Here's how the all-conference teams work. They have a conference call. All the head coaches are on there. They basically go around saying "here's my guys that deserve to be on the all-conference teams. Lemon is the best lineman we have. Y'Barbo is next." The head coaches of the league don't have time to watch all of the tape to determine who the best players are. If you really wanted to know who the best o-linemen were, you'd ask the defensive line coaches for each team. But that's not how it works. The other coaches just listen to what you say about your guys and they go with what you say. I don't know why this is so hard to believe.

Now I know for a fact that is a lie. Nobody on the entire team would say Lemon was better than Fortenberry last year. At least, not anybody that actually saw the field. And I find it funny that you think that Mac nominating the only O-Line recruit he's gotten that actually plays(Kirby was a walk-on) is such a far-fetched "conspiracy theory." That's how this stuff works. He's the coaches favorite because he was their recruit. That's just the way it is. Every coach does it.

The fact that these are coaches picks are the main reason it's all politics. Who do you think nominates people for all-conference? The reason the coaches want you to believe Cyril is the best lineman is because he's the one they recruited. Period. If you watched any game film whatsoever, you'd know who our best lineman was.

He did get screwed. He's far and away the best lineman on our team.

For those calling for a change on offense: Be very, very careful what you wish for. We're not nearly as conservative as McCarney would like to be. If you think its bad now, go ahead and let Canales walk, and see how it looks next fall. I'm thinking it won't be pleasant.