Before we get into questions, a few bullet points I’d like to hit. First off, to our fans. It is regrettable that we continue to trot our the 134th rated team in the NDL, and for that we owe you our apologies and also sincerest gratitude for continuing to show up. To my players, keep up the good fight. Things aren’t easy now, but they’ll get better. Probably when I’m fired. To the media, thank you for continuing to write positive things about myself and the program, despite our on field product. With that, I’ll open the floor to questions:
Riley Reid (Denton Record): Coach Drewwbacca, coming into the season Shaadie Clayton-Johnson was your clear RB1, after week 3, he was no longer with the team. We know that he’s popped up elsewhere completely outside the football ecosphere, but can you explain what happened there?
Drewwbacca: Yeah, and thanks for the question Riley. Big loss, with Shaadie moving on. Despite speculation from certain outlets about why he left, lets be clear, under no circumstances was it for punitive reasons. Upmost respect for Shaadie, great player. I’ll choose not to focus on how his moving on impacts us, and rather take a second to tout our NIL program and what it can do for players, such as Shaadie. As you’re all aware, our program made the decision this past off season to partner with “The Hub” if you will, for a new and additional revenue stream, since such vernacular is all the rage amongst our collegiate presidents and AD’s right now. Print this or not, but the truth is, Shaadie is packing a 5 pound tube of hamburger between those thighs. Not only did het get a business deal to shoot advertisements for Jerkmate, he and some of his “study buddy” co-eds, actually started a new, online, nude tutoring program. Only 9’s and above allowed, all rated and approved by NDL’ers Weasel and St. Marion. With the stable of study buddy’s Shaadie amassed in just 3 weeks, he’s making millions more than he could make in college or even as a 1st rd draft pick. So yeah, I think if any of us were blessed the way Shaadie is, we’d have made a similar decision. If you played at Alabama, OSU, Georgia, and so on, maybe Shaadie makes a different decision, but UNT and Denton, TX…there’s bigger and better things for Shaadie out there.
Bill Cowlishaw (Dallas Morning News): Drewwbacca, it seems clear you’re on track for the Lane Kiffin, tarmac treatment come seasons end. Are you prepared for that, and what do you do to keep on track here the remainder of the season, to prepare both your players and yourself, for what is to come in life beyond football.
Drewwbacca: Love the question Bill, thanks. You’re looking good by the way, a little older than when I watched you on Around the Horn in my youth. Say hi to Woody Paige for me, will you? Anyway, my players, myself, life… Super important to us here. You know I grew up a Penn State fan, and so I still follow their program and their success and try to build my program in that mold. James Franklin talks all the time about how being a successful program and good recruiter is based in his philosophy that attending Penn State, “should be transformational, not transactional” and that’s something I’ve really taken to heart. Yes, NIL has allowed it to become more transactional, but the players should be compensated. So again, we’ve just looked for ways to make the guys time here at UNT transformational, while also helping them make it transactional and get that bag!!!! Look, we only just launched this NIL campaign 3 weeks ago with little to no outside noise or initial fanfare, and now that we’ve rolled our guys out onto the OF platform as well… you’d be surprised the market that exists from women, looking for some stud, hung athletes to produce content for them, rather than it always being the other way around. Say what you want, but we’ve started something here in Denton that doesn’t exist elsewhere. And look, as far as I go. Coaching clearly doesn’t seem to be my thing, but if I can get these guys to see the vision, then it seems like a CFB GM may be my true calling. And how would I have found that, without NIL and the sweeping changes over the past couple of years. So maybe you’ll still be interviewing me next season Bill, just as the GM.
Angela White (Houston Chronicle): You’re still using a 2QB approach. Based on performance and production, it appears that you have no QB at all. What’s the remedy here… Mackenzie McGill II seems to have stabilized your backfield since the departure of Shaadie Clayton-Johnson, from your roster, beyond that though, what are we looking at? Your best output of the season was 31 points against currently 5-0 upstart Akron. Since, it’s 14/8/14/21 against teams that are a combined 16-24.
Drewwbacca: Angela, really nice to see you. Happy that you seem to have found your second calling. I saw a heck of a lot more of you when you were in your prior career field, but still, happy to have you here. Looking like a treat, as always. Next, you mention Akron. What a squad this year, eh? Shoutout to NayDog for representing Northeast Ohio well, and putting the most entertaining sports product on a field/court since Lebron left, all those years ago. Credit to Beercop, FootballKelly, Meros, and Untouchable. They may be closer to me in talent than they are a Jiggy or Bucknut, but still, imagine the pressure of playing UNT each week. Go ahead, be that fuckin guy that loses to UNT. You’ve got 134 other coaches, fan bases, and communities absolutely waiting to skewer your ass. So, it could be easy to overlook a team like us, but they didn’t, each and every team pissed in our asses, just like everyone thought they would. So, give credit where it is due. About UNT though… McGill is a stud. He’s going to have a great career by the time things are said and done for him, either here at UNT or elsewhere. I hope I'm around to see it. Poffenbarger…… BUM. Bro shoulda stayed at FCS Albany, but we’ll continue to work with him, and develop him the best we can. Biggest issue facing Reese is, with the influx of NIL cash filling his pockets and the move to Texas from Upstate NY, he’s hooked himself on the Sinaloa Sinus Sauce, and the nose candy is really doing a number on the grey matter between his ears… Put it this way, UNT is yet another in the growing list of case studies in the mold of Florida State 2024, that demonstrates the difference between a portal pickup with “potential” versus a portal guy with proven FBS production. We went out and tried hard, with the resources we have, but the P4 continues to strip, on a yearly basis, anything good from the G5 ranks. We banked this season on potential, and that failed. It's proven production that can really build out a roster, not hopes and prayers. All of ours and for many programs like us, watch all that proven production disappear yearly. It's totally deflating.
Mia Khalifa (Austin American-Statesmen): Drewwbacca, I want to circle back to the unconventional nature of your coaching style. In your block 1 presser you were asked about your lack of a DC/OC and how that whole idea came to fruition. Now that you’re essentially half way into the season, what’s your assessment of that?
Drewwbacca: Always loved your work, Mia. Thanks for being here today. So yeah, lets just be frank, complete failure, from a performance standpoint, and a complete success from an operational standpoint. I think what we’ve learned as a staff during our time here in Denton is that the OC/DC are probably more fundamental to the success of the program than the HC is. Especially with the advent of the GM at the college level, essentially molded after an NFL GM. James Franklin and PSU this season could be a perfect case study of that. Franklin has long been “overrated” as deemed by the fans, and yet, he’s actually, one of the most properly rated coaches in the game today. He beats the teams he should, and without fail, loses to the teams he needs to beat, to get the program where they want to go. Now, he’s got the mad hatter in Andy Kotelnicki and a fucking STUD, in DC Jim Knowles. Franklin has always been a better program builder than X’s and O’s guy. He may just go out and prove, if you arm yourself with good coordinators, the HC can be a program builder while letting the team do their work. I think the same can be said here. We’ve elevated this program to a place its never been before, from a cultural standpoint, now the good folks of Denton just need some real football minds, ball knowers, as you like to call them, to bring the Mean Green to that next tier. I don’t expect to be in coaching after this, but should I find an AD absolutely dumb enough to hire me, I will definitely be looking to bring in Belichick level minds and ball knowers, like coach PettyD or Vegas. I don’t think we can afford someone like a Jiggy or a DCanady, but you best believe we will do everything in our effort to raise UNT from the 130 range of the NDL power rankings, to at least the 120 or 110’s.
I’ve got time for 1 more question...
Alexis Texas (Waco Tribune): Drewwbacca, your next block could be the toughest one yet. A big matchup with USF and the dynamic Byrum Brown/DCane combination and then your rivalry game with UncleLbo and UTSA. Any thoughts?
Drewwbacca: Some of you may know, that I was in the military prior to becoming a CFB coach. Navy specifically. Why does that come up? Well, that’s because Alexis was one of the ladies that got me through 7 months of deployment. One of the few stress outlets was her body plastered on the screen or magazine in front of me, while I conducted business. I know you didn’t ask that, but I wanted everyone to give her a big round of applause in recognition of her contributions to the war effort. About USF/UTSA... We simply don’t have the horses to keep up with DCane and USF. One of the better prepared coaches and teams in the NDL. Any time you face them, you can expect a disciplined, well coached team, and it’ll be a dog fight. UTSA being a rivalry game, is always fun for us here at UNT. I’ve faced off with UncleLbo before, and he’s actually one of the few coaches in this league I manage to possess a win against. I guess you could say that provides a little spart of motivation for us, but also likely for him. He won't want to possess the title of only 2 time loser to Coach Drewwbacca. Rarified air if you achieve that... But that UTSA team has some speed, and they certainly won’t go down easy. Don’t skim over the fact that we just went out and played 5 road games in 6 weeks to open the season. Unprecedented yes, but we needed those guaranteed pay days… Now, for the first time all season we’re playing at home, and B2B weeks at that. Maybe our players sleeping in their own beds, next to their favorite mattress actresses will be the remedy they need to finally come out and play a full 4 quarter game without the mental lapses we’ve endured. All we need is 1. If we can get the goose egg out of the W column, maybe our guys can go out and play a little faster and a little looser, and if we can, great things are certainly achieveable.
Again, thanks all. That’s going to do it for today, I appreciate your attendance and Go Mean Green!
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