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Greg’s Hot Sports Opinions (HSO’s) on Wednesday

As North Texas moves away from fall camp into season mode it looks more and more certain that Dan McCarney will hitch his wagon to Andrew McNulty. It makes sense from a coaching perspective, because McNulty is a senior and a leader for the Mean Green. McNulty gives Coach Mac that warm fuzzy and secure feeling when he goes to bed at night. McNulty does not give the fan base that same feeling. Some are willing to see if McNulty has indeed made a Derek Thompson like improvement. Others are dreading the sight of McNulty and his limited talents. Me well I’m kind of in between.

It’s really hard for me to believe that McNulty can make a DT like improvement. What I think North Texas is banking on and what I’m banking on too is the weapons around McNulty. Last year North Texas had a very weak pool of playmakers surround the QB. This year they should end up having the best set of playmakers on offense that North Texas has ever had since McCarney first stepped on campus. McNulty better be able to get these guys the ball in a manner that allows them to make plays. His decision making better be greatly improved from last year. We are led to believe that he knows the playbook and can make quick decisions. Well he better be able to do it with the bullets flying at him come Sept 12th.

Coaches are fired and given extensions based on their ability to hitch their wagon to the right QB. Mack Brown at UT made a killing off guys like Major Applewhite, Vince Young, and Colt McCoy. But when he started missing he was eventually shown the door. McCarney hasn’t even come close to landing a solid starting QB since he has been at North Texas. Here is a list of QBs he has landed in the recruiting process since 2011:

2011

Andrew McNulty

Brent Osborn

Cooper Jones

2012

Brock Berglund

2013

Dajon Williams

2014

Josh Greer

Connor Means

Sam Wells

2015

DaMarcus Smith

Thats the kind of recruitng haul that will get a coach fired.

McCarney was able to keep his job off the hot seat with a 9-4 season in 2013. He got average to above average play from a guy who was already on campus when he got here in Derek Thomspon. Now McCarney’s seat is heating up a bit, and he is about to ride with a guy who was not recruited by one other school to play the QB position. I’m not sure how that could give you a warm fuzzy feeling as a coach. Mac must be feeling extremely good about the running game and receivers. Mac must believe that their play will elevate McNulty’s play to a point where his limited talents are a non-issue. It’s a huge gamble to make, but when you’ve absolutely missed the target on all your other QB recruits it’s a gamble I guess you have to make.


One of the bright spots at UNT right now is the good things that UNT President Smatresk keeps doing. Recently he was interviewed by the Denton Record Chronicle and had some interesting things to say about where he hopes UNT will be in terms of athletics.

“If we’re going to compete as a Tier One institution, our athletics teams need to compete as a Tier One institution as well,” Smatresk said. “So we need to expect to fund athletics in a way that’s consistent with success, and we need that success in turn to yield revenue streams that can support and sustain.

“We need teams that get national attention, because like it or not, one of the biggest ways schools get recognized is the quality of their teams – primarily football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. I’m not saying the other sports aren’t important, but those core sports are what advance your brand … That’s going to have to be another piece of how we get to Tier One, getting recognized however we can at a national level.”

UNT President Neal Smatresk

DRC Bret Vito & Jenna Duncan

As a fan that is great to hear. Finally someone in the top brass who is willing to take athletics seriously. North Texas is in desperate need of someone to raise the standards bar for athletics. North Texas is in desperate need of progressive thinkers when it comes to athletics. President Smatresk looks to be the type of guy who is willing to do that. Now it’s uncertain whether the Board of Regents is willing to listen to him when it comes to athletics, but if he does enough great things in other areas he may just gain more trust from them.

We need Smatresk to shake things up a bit when it comes to athletics. The main sports where Smatresk wants to see national recognition football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball all have been subpar in recent years. I’d love to see men’s basketball get back to 20 wins and tourney appearances. Under the current men’s basketball staff that looks to be impossible. You can’t turn your roster over every year like Coach Benford has, and expect to win. That is not how you build a winning program. President Smatresk came from UNLV where they know how to play basketball. He was probably shocked by what he saw from the basketball programs here. I think the women’s basketball program made a great with Jalie Mitchell. I hope she can get things turned around.

If you’re reading this President Smatresk, and are in need of an athletic adviser I’m available and would love to sit down and chat with you on my thoughts about UNT athletics.


My updated NT Football Depth Chart

OFFENSE

QB

  1. Andrew McNulty
  2. Josh Greer

RB

  1. Jeffery Wilson
  2. Antoinne Jimmerson

WR

  1. Carlos Harris
  2. O’Keeron Rutherford

WR

  1. Darvin Kidsy
  2. Tee Goree

WR

  1. Turner Smiley
  2. Thaddeous Thompson

LT

  1. Michael Banogu
  2. Ryan Rentfro

LG

  1. Sam Rice
  2. Harrison Sorge

C

  1. Kaydon Kriby
  2. Creighton Barr

RG

  1. Micah Thompson
  2. Connor Trussell

RT

  1. Chris Miles
  2. Garrett Gunter

DEFENSE

DE

  1. Jarrian Roberts
  2. Chad Polk

DE

  1. Malik Dilonga
  2. Jareid Combs

DT

  1. Mustafa Haboul
  2. J Tauaalo

DT

  1. Austin Orr
  2. Roderick Young

OLB

  1. Sed Ellis
  2. Calvin Minor

MLB

  1. Blake Bean
  2. Anthony Wallace

OLB

  1. Cortney Finney
  2. Fred Scott

CB

  1. Kenny Buyers
  2. Nate Brooks

CB

  1. Jamal Marshall
  2. Chad Davis

FS

  1. Kishawn McClain
  2. Matthew Dash

SS

  1. James Gray
  2. Jaki Moore

SPECIAL TEAMS

K

  1. Trevor Moore

P

  1. Eric Keena
  2. Blake Macek

PR

  1. Darvin Kidsy
  2. Tre Johnson

KR

  1. Tre Johnson
  2. Darvin Kidsy

The Baylor situation is just messy. I’m not sure who to believe Art Briles or Chris Peterson. On one hand I trust Peterson more because he builds his program on strong character players. On the other hand you have the transfer request form that Baylor released. If this happened at North Texas would you want Dan McCarney fired? Or would you want the President of the University fired? Someone has to be held accountable for this situation. I just get the feeling that no one will be held accountable at Baylor.

Also I’m pretty sick of Baylor fans thinking this is an attack on them because they are actually good. No this is an attack on your university because of how they handled this situation. Plus you’ve had 2 players charged with rape in recent times. Get over yourselves, there are bigger things to worry about. And Texas fans don’t act like your university is clean and you can bash Baylor. Y’all have had your issues too. Granted Charlie Strong does it right and more coaches should act like him.


I’m really excited to hear UNT alum Dave Barnett on the radio this fall. I remember plenty of his play by play calls back in the day. Barnett does it right and North Texas is lucky to have him. Check out this great piece on him:

MG Sports


I’m interested in doing a college football fantasy league. I’ve heard a lot about them and they could be a lot more fun than an NFL one. There are just so many choices for players our there. You dont have to pick guys from the big boys either. You could draft the QB from WKU Brandon Doughty. Or you be like Adam and draft McNulty who he thinks is going to break school records vs SMU.

If you guys are interested let us know!


Finally my prayers are with the families and friends of slain journalists Alison Parker, and Adam Ward. Its really a tragic ending to what seemed like two wonderful people.

It does spark the gun control debate again. My thoughts are that people who want to cause harm to others will do so no matter what the means. They will find guns or other weapons no matter how much control you think you have over them.

It’s just really sad that the video of the shooting made it to social media. Social media is a great tool most of the time, but its days like this that you wish we didnt have it. I cant believe that were individuals out there who actually “Favorited” & re-tweeted the shooters video. What kind of sick individual does that? Shame on you.

Again my deepest sympathies to families of Alison Parker, and Adam Ward.

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