Coming into the season, there were probably two people on earth who actually saw the potential for North Texas to win seven or eight games this fall, after winning just five in coach Todd Dodge's first three years combined: Dodge, and athletic director Rick Villarreal. Given the circumstances, you could have crossed Dodge's name off that list by the end of September: The Mean Green lost 10 starters to injury in the first four games, including the top two quarterbacks, a third quarterback (Dodge's son, Riley) who moved from receiver in an emergency role and another receiver who suffered a puncture wound in his chest trying to run away from a dog. The team suffered a genuine tragedy when walk-on Josh Rake was killed in a car accident on Oct. 1.But a mandate is a mandate. And with a winning season out of the question following Saturday's 34-10 loss to Florida International in Denton, Villareal is sticking to his guns by giving Dodge the boot:
North Texas fired Todd Dodge late Tuesday as its head football coach after a 1-6 start and will finish the season with offensive coordinator Mike Canales as interim coach, as per an expected announcement by UNT's athletic department on Wednesday afternoon.
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On Monday, Dodge said: "Whether or not I get fired, I want for this place - and I told a lot of people I saw a lot of potential in this place before I came here - if I'm gone, I want to see whoever comes in and gets it to be able to take it and reach that potential. I'm not going to wish any ill will or anything like that. I want to see this place be successful."
Dodge goes out with a 7-37 mark since 2007, with three Sun Belt wins at a truly sad-sack program that still burns for the days of the 26-game SBC win streak over the first four years of the league's existence, a run that only ended two years prior to Dodge's arrival. That will also stand as another red flag (alongside the immortal Gerry Faust at Notre Dame) against hiring head coaches directly from high school. Dodge was "seen as the second coming" when he made the leap from nearby Southlake Carroll, a national powerhouse that dominated the Texas prep ranks with an innovative spread passing game that sent two of Dodge's quarterbacks, Chase Daniel and Greg McElroy, on to college stardom. That didn't amount to much at UNT, especially opposite a defense that finished dead last nationally in scoring D each of Dodge's first two years.
Even if you don't care at all about North Texas, Dodge's exit does leave an immediate vacancy at a large Texas university with a track record of taking a chance on high-octane offense. I can't imagine who they might pursue...
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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