(08-16-2019 03:17 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 02:51 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 02:41 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 12:47 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  I basically agree with everyone of the quotes and especially the UNT, UAB and FIU quotes. It was very clear when Fine went down in the bowl game...he was the offense. Not just his arm but his quickness and vision, it was like two different teams. Three years into a system (if its coaching) you should have a decent backup qb that can at least run a offense.

With UAB was it the coaching or was it having way more experienced players? My personal opinion having that much experience that practiced 2 years together then played 2 years together, along with their age was a huge bonus. Time will tell.

It was very clear FIU had the best coached team in the conference....now is the right type of talent there.

Some of you seem to not want to acknowledge that Clark 1st season was coaching a team that had just went 2-10 in 2013 to a 6-6 record in 2014. That team did not have a bunch of 24, 25, and 26 yr old players.

And most of you didn't think Clark would even be able to have a winning record upon UAB's return to football due to the two year absence. Even when you knew he would have older players on the team due to allowances the NCAA allowed for UAB to recruit during that period.

So Clark has proven he can coach and win with players of any age in any situation presented to him so far. Now a new challenge awaits Clark, winning with a bull's eye on your back. Should be a fun season in CUSA!

6-6 is not winning, improved yes but that's not a winning record. Why would anyone think it was going to take year for UAB to get some wins when the NCAA was letting UAB take players that could not cut it at other schools and basically stop their clock. Not only that but allow a ton more scholarships than the rest of us could take. There's a ton of players that for whatever reason, cant make it at one school and no other school is willing to chance it. Or dont have the scholarship to offer.....

UAB could take that chance with huge number of scholarships to offer. Add in the fact those players could be replaced without penalty because UAB was not playing if they did not make it. So Clark basically had 3 years to build a team that practice and practiced and practiced.

So maybe there are still questions....

Clark has not shown he can put a winning team on the field....without help from the NCAA. Time will answer that question

Frank Wilson took a 3-9 UTSA team to a bowl game the very next year does that make him a great coach?
Dan McCarney took a awful UNT program to a 9 win season in 2 short years...fired 2 years later

So you're all over the board with your comments:

1. Taking a team with players recruited by another coach from 2 wins to 6 wins is a significant achievement. Don't know many who would disagree with that.

2. Response to your second question. Maybe it was because history had shown that teams that had received that death penalty or disbanded football and brought it back had not been successful immediately. There were plenty of posters here that thought UAB would win maybe 2-4 games upon their return. You can research the old threads yourself.

And I'm going to respectfully disagree with you about the rest of what you said since you are truly trying to downplay Clark having a .500 record in his first season with a team that went 2-10 the previous year. And mind you, a 6-6 record with lousy facilities and a down trodden fan base. And also there is this little fact, Clark went 11-4 in his only season as HC at Jacksonville State and without help from the NCAA. So 2012 and 2013 he had a a winning record and a .500 at two different schools without as you put it "help" from the NCAA.

Clark has been a winner basically his entire coaching career.

Carry on guy!

Please explain to me what lousy facilities and a down trodden fan base has to do with a 4 game increase in the win column? But that's OK, let me play that game....

so you are agreeing that it took NCAA help with UAB putting a winning team on the field?

I think you know I was talking about FBS but again lets play that game...

Bobby Wilder was 46-14 in the FCS over 5 seasons so

If I remember correctly those predictions were before NCAA let UAB recruit under special rules. Did the NCAA give those other programs the same recruiting rules? Clark very well could be a great coach. I think at this point he's a good coach that got a ton of help from the NCAA that helped UAB to get where they were in 2017 and 2018. So as I said before....

time will tell

Bill Clark should never be underestimated. He has done much with little.

It looks like the coaches are not as confident as our fans that Healy's simple presence on the field is worth an extra win or two over Lambert. It will be an interesting season to watch. From a distance (you know, up in the stands) it was easy to see why Charlotte got picked apart by other teams, but our coaches just could not see it. If Healy just makes better decisions than the last coach we are going to do better this year, and that bar is not too high.

I am looking forward to enjoying the games more this season, and I am going to be following Marshall closely to see why they brought Lambert in as their DC.

'WKUYG Wrote:so you are agreeing that it took NCAA help with UAB putting a winning team on the field?

You're trolling. You have a great day and good luck to your team.

(08-16-2019 08:21 AM)Up2stuff Wrote:  I felt great about most of the comments on Southern Miss until I read the last (and one of the most important) one.

Quote:Southern Miss

“They’ve got war daddies on defense; they have real SEC size at some spots."

"If they get the offense going, they could win the conference.”

"The receiver (Quez Watkins), he’s unbelievable. He’s the real deal for them."

"Outside of maybe UAB and their circumstances this is the team in the conference that shows the most raw talent, but the coach hasn’t figured out how to really push them to that next level."

Try this link

I think that is how most of our fans feel about him. He just isn't a very good coach, but isn't he in the bottom 5 of salary in this conference? You get what you pay for.

(08-16-2019 12:29 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  I don’t know Grand Green.

Yes UNT was good at jumping on team with a lead. Even against Tech.
Even though Tech lead majority of the game vs UNT, remember Tech lead at the end of the first half. I have seen this stated incorrectly by UNT fans.

But UNT did not have the talent to hang on to the lead and rotated talented players basically no talent beyond UNT’s 1. That’s UNT achilles heel

North Texas lost those leads because our OC lacked the ability to make adjustments once teams figured out they could blitz on our O-line. Harrell is gone. Our new offensive system will severely impact opposing team's ability to pressure Fine. Plus, this is the first season where our offensive line will actually be a strength instead of a weakness. Do not be surprised if UNT features one of the better O-lines in the conference this year.

Years of poor recruiting led to systemic depth issues on both sides of the ball. Fortunately, Littrell recognized the problem, overhauled the recruiting coordinator's office, and has now pulled in a couple of years of much higher quality recruits. He has also brought in key transfers. Depth is no longer an issue. North Texas is stacked on offense, and much deeper on defense too.

I'm hearing and reading good things our of our fall camp, but until I actually see the backup QB's in real game action, I will have to withhold my judgement of their progress. I expect we will see the backup at least a few times in mop up duty. Both QBs currently battling for the backup job have the physical gifts to be quality starters in the future.

Last season, most defenses tried their best to knock Fine out of games. None could. The guy is tough. It took him shredding his hamstring to knock him out of our bowl game. Given the nature of our upgraded offense, blitzing Fine will lead to a host of problems for opposing defenses, but I expect them to try anyway.

(08-16-2019 08:30 AM)Dawgxas Wrote:  UAB:

"They’re solid in their schemes but nothing stands out. It will be interesting to see how much they drop off once they cycle through those guys."

That’s the question for UAB, how much they drop off after the NCAA players are gone

UNT:

“They live and die on the quarterback play, more than any other team. He just makes great things happen with a mediocre cast.”

So true. UNT has been blown out in bowl games by G5 because mediocre talent

I think UAB has the best coach in CUSA so they will be tough again this year

Fine is the best QB in CUSA so they will also be tough and we won't have Ferguson out there to put as much pressure on him

We have lots of talent as usual but our season hangs on our QB play which is anyone's guess... Sad to say when you have 3rd year starting senior QB

The west is wide open I think

(08-16-2019 05:00 PM)HiddenDragon Wrote:  

'WKUYG Wrote:so you are agreeing that it took NCAA help with UAB putting a winning team on the field?

You're trolling. You have a great day and good luck to your team.

Anyone that won as many games as Clark (HS, FCS, UAB) knows how to coach. They also are good at getting their players to buy in and play hard. You dont win that many games if not. I honestly dont know if Clark is a good coach or a great one at the FBS level.

In my personal opinion, I could be very wrong, it helped UAB more than it hurt by not playing football for 2 years. It also left the door open to question if it was coaching or a recruiting advantage. This question will be answered over the next couple years. If I'm wrong it will show on the field and if it does....

I have zero problem in admitting I was wrong.

I will still believe last season the conference was the weakest since Western joined. Especially on offense and that played right into a very good defensive team winning a championship. Not for a second do I think last years UAB defense would have stopped, FAU's offense or Marshall's 2014 offense or Western's 2015 and 2016 offense. But then again...UAB didnt have to and your championship counts just the same.