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Is this the most pre season hype we have ever seen for football or maybe any UNT sports team? Mason, pre season conf pics, forcasted to win the West, Mason top 20 qb and more!!

I don’t care how many other offers these recruits have as long as we keep landing in conference championships and bowl games.

I stated it because we have more young depth than ever before. Plus, UCLA is a "P5" in LA. I know you are the recruiting expert, but there are different opinions on this board that are also valid.

I almost never downvote people based on different opinions. I usually reserve it for posters who are clearly trolling. Upvotes/likes/thanks I use very liberally.

I can’t imagine any tougher place to recruit than UTSA! No real facilities and not viewed as an academic juggernaut! This seems to be an academic type kid based off his offers, but this is stupid!

Hm, I always seem to get a downvote notification when I get a response from you. Wonder why that is. I mean, it's promising because Littrell and Harrell have done such a good job with Fine, but there's zero indication that the other guys who have never thrown a division one pass would provide tougher competition than UCLA's QBs. And from the standpoint of a recruit, they aren't committing to UCLA because they're scared off by competition from a bunch of G5 signees who have never thrown a division one pass. I think we'll sign a good QB this class, and with no other QB commits, plus a junior QB who will be gone after they redshirt, the situation actually should be in our favor for a high school QB.

That’s a terrible way to compare the state of the programs. We rewarded a walk on who proved his value and, it’s probably safe to say, WKU has probably done the same. having said that, this kid is going to make WKU an absolute terror to handle in CUSA and beyond.

Interesting. Thanks! I don't know what to call this, but I see it a lot on here. People think just because they can name players on our roster, that makes our depth chart better and more daunting to incoming recruits than the depth charts on other rosters. It's pretty prevalent on here, but I'm slightly surprised that it even extends to P5 teams like UCLA.

SMU has name recognition and conference advantages over NT. The problem is that SMU is one of the worst programs in D1 and maybe a middle tier G5 program. I or nobody else can deny that they have consistently and easily beat NT in recruiting. They are an area team and that makes them particularly relevant to NT. That private school advantage is largely myth. Ask Rice, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. SMU historically recruit well based on their relative lack of success, but in actuality the gap between SMU and NT is much more do to NT's poor recruiting than SMU's good recruiting.

I like this class. Every one has earned inclusion and alums can be proud of this class.

It was pretty good night. I would guess approximately 75 people there. Coach Littrell had to head back to Denton, so he wasn't there. Coaches Hedlund, McCasland, and Palileo were there and shared some stories about their season. WB was there to lead things off.

I did a visual count and came up with about 87 in attendance minus the coaches and UNT employees. I thought is was a good event. I was able to personally talk to 4 coaches (Littrell, McCasland, Hedlund, and Palileo) as well as Wren Baker. All were down to earth and willing to take time with each group that they visited. Summary of my personal conversations: AD Baker - Talked about being home. Loving the town he lives in and being close to family. Coach Littrell went further to say that not only does he love his job he loves being close to his family. We talked about his hometown and how much he loved being close enough that his kid can have a relationship with their grandparents instead of only seeing them 2-3 times a year. He said "I hope y'all keep me!" I replied "I think we are more concerned about you getting lured away." He squared up to me looked me in the eye and said "anyone who thinks I would leave does not know me very well!" Coach McCasland - talked about the support from the President down to ensure he had what he needed to be successful. He really enjoyed the atmosphere of the Super Pit at the end of the season and through the CBI. Really a nice person who is excited about his team next year. Coach Hedlund - Can not wait for the soccer and track complex to start. Talked about having a home since he has played on 7 different fields in his 25 years at North Texas. He is happy with winning the C-USA but is ready to make a run in the NCAA and is setting that expectation with his players. Coach Palileo - is happy Volleyball won the C-USA so Coach Hedlund will stop busting his chops about not having a championship. Is looking forward to next season and is ready to repeat. I asked each one the same group of questions: "Do you have everything you need to be successful?" - everyone of them said YES emphatically. They said that from the board, president, and AD that they have amazing support and love the direction the university as a whole is going. "Are you still enjoying what you do?" - All said yes! "What do you need from us?" - All said butts in seats in one way shape or form, that it makes a big impact on the team and more importantly recruiting. Overall I was very impressed with the AD Baker and all of the coaches (I was not able to get to talk to the track coach who was there as well). My wife and daughter went as well and my 17 year old daughter (who wants to be an athletic trainer) was even invited up to visit by Coach Littrell and Coach McCasland and said that they would talk to the head of Sports Medicine to ensure that she was able to watch a practice during her visit. All of the coaches talked directly to her and made her feel like she was being recruited by them. At the end of the event she looked at me and said, with the way things are going at UNT why would I go anywhere else? I asked her what she meant and she quoted the fact that this past year was the best athletic year since 1975 as a whole for the university (something AD Baker said earlier in the event). New fields, IPF, and a commitment to the student athletes. She said that it felt like she would be getting in on the start of something great and that she could be proud of going forward. I liked it and thought is was a successful event and even if no one else liked the event, I think they made a decision for at least one future student last night!

Says every college team in every college in the world in every year all the time....

Well, heck yes...the “negotiation” process with the wife was epic! When you “win one” you got to spread the good news! 😂😂😂

UNT golf alumnus Sebastian Munoz finished tied for 6th on the web.com tour this weekend. It was his sixth top 20 result in the last seven tournaments. It could have been even better, as he had a couple of day two leads the last three weeks. More importantly, it sent his seasonal winnings above 160k, and the last few seasons that was always good enough to make the top 25 of the web.com tour rankings, which in turn gives you a PGA tour card the next year. With how well he has been playing, it is hard to imagine he would not do decent at the PGA level, which would be good exposure for UNT golf. The two other UNT alumni on the web.com tour: Carlos Ortiz hasn't played the last three weeks (not sure if he is injured or just taking a break). He is still very much in the running for a card though, having made 120k so far this year, currently ranked 21st. At the very worst he'll have another Web.com tour card next year. Rodolfo Cazaubon, on the other hand, might not. He is on a streak of 7 missed cuts in a row and is currently 128th in the money list at 11k. You gotta be 75th to be assured a web.com final spot and a tour card for the next season, although 85th will still give you start opportunities.

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/news/charles-bassey-western-kentucky-5-star-center-commits-reclassifies-2018/1m66gxyf4cckf1v8jl85tntac4

DRC: McCasland, UNT players cite untold story of the moments that made their breakout season possible https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/an-unforeseen-journey-unt-s-run-to-cbi-title-contained/article_ab110c87-cbcd-5fbb-936f-b09feba50037.html

I know the last few weeks have been tough as far as recruiting goes. Having to watch rivals UTSA and SMU have early success has been rough. But I do have some positives. BE PAITENT!!! It's about to heat up. And I can say with out a doubt. This will be UNT best class in the last decade. The director of recruiting Luke Walerius has been doing some very good thing. UNT is in on some VERY big names!! We already have a 3 star RB ( multiple P5 offers) and a 3 star WR! So the cupboard is not bare. Things are going to really start heating up. We should star expecting some commitments the rest of this month and July. So be PAITENT Mean Green Nation we are in for a fun and exciting summer! It's a long way until Feb!!

With early signing period are 3 star players being forced into making decisions? 4 and 5 star kids can pick where they go but the 3s have to make a choice before schools move on just to fill their class.

Guy might need to change his last name...

That and a coach on the hot seat.

I am also the one that downvoted your post. I thought that was tr purpose is we were in disagreement with the post. Honestly, I don't expect everyone to be in agreement with what I post but you come across as condescending when you don't agree with what someone states. I appreciate your input, know that you have some connections in regards to recruiting and you have taken the time to create a rating system based on the caliber of offers a player receives but this is an inexact "science" so there is more than one valid opinion to how and why players decide where to sign. By the way, I also upvote your posts I like. I am not one to downvote everything based on a perception of the poster.

Texas has done it on the football field. I watched an old game for a few minutes on the Longhorn Network when Ricky Williams was a Freshman wearing number 11 and it had the Longhorn Logo over the state of Texas. That should give people a time frame if they want to see if they can find a video of when Texas had their logo over the state of Texas. However, I really don't care about any other school other than North Texas. I just watched for a few minutes to see how many players on the two teams went on to successful NFL careers.

As long as the players we recruit win, we recruited just fine. Some of the folks on this board seem to think recruiting is a separate sport from football. You drool over stars & class rankings. Dudes, none of that matter. What matters is winning the games.

At this point...lolzzzz What else is there to do except laugh

But why do we recruit poorly?

If we were really serious about these traditions, we would make freshmen wear beanie caps.

I'll always welcome big time talent to the conference to raise our league's profile. This, along with the schedule creativity announced a couple weeks ago only helps the effort to become a multi-bid conference. Has to be the biggest CUSA freshman recruit since Derrick Rose (not counting Mitchell Robinson's no-show last season), right? This will only further motivate Coach Mac and the squad.

I went back and looked at SMU's record over the last 10 years: 2008--1-11 in June Jones first year 2009--8-5, won the Hawaii Bowl over Nevada 45-10 2010--7-7, won CUSA West, lost in CUSA Championship Game at UCF 17-7, then lost Armed Forces Bowl to Army 16-14 2011--8-5, won the Birmingham Bowl over Pitt 28-6 2012--7-6 won the Hawaii Bowl over Fresno State 43-10 2013--5-7 2014--1-11--June Jones resigns after losing to us in Denton 43-6 in second game of the season, finished as worst team in FBS 2015--2-10--first year of Chad Morris, defeated North Texas 31-13, who was the worst team in FBS that season 2016--5-7, beat us 34-21 in Denton in Seth Littrell's first game ever as a head coach 2017--7-6, beat us 54-32 in Dallas, then had Chad Morris leave for Arky, crushed in Frisco Bowl by La Tech, 51-10 They went 51-75, and went 3-2 in bowl games and went 3-1 versus us head-to-head, while playing in a much better conference. Add in SWC legacy, cash, and a private education, and you get their recruiting advantage over us and the other Texas SBCUSA public schools.

Commits to UTSA

It thrills me to no end that UNT is doing more and more of these sort of things because these are exactly the traditions that help to build a lifelong connection between alumni and the university. When I first arrived at UNT, students often tended to see it as stopping off point for a few years that created little long-term connection. That has really changed over the last several years and things like this reinforce it.

Keep in mind that I'm experienced too. I just can't run, throw, catch or tackle. GO MEAN GREEN

Give me 2 more 9 wins seasons. I'll worry about 2020 when it gets here.

Littrell signed a lot of good player with Fine being the best. There are two facets to recruiting, one is identifying players that play division one ball, the other is being able to beat out rivals for players. Littrell has been great at identifying those players with few offers that can contribute at NT. What he has not demonstrated is that he can beat out peer programs in recruiting athletes with multiple offers.

I honestly thought he was headed to North Texas for sure. He committed to UCLA this morning.

Melvin "Lurch" Davis At least 3 (legit) Hall of Fame starters from Bill Blakeley's 75-77 teams. Congratulations Lurch! http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/061418aaa.html

As SUMG reminded me, one of our best patterns recently has been bringing coaches back closer to home and family. Aston, Littrell and McCasland all did well their first year coming back closer to home and Jalie is heating up. DeLong's father is currently the head baseball coach at Lawton McCalister High School in Oklahoma. So Coach is just 156 miles from his family now. That has to feel good and I bet he's extremely excited to hit the recruiting trail here and get started. Rick

I disagree but here's why. If it was take Kansas or stay at UNT, perhaps he leaves. But if it's take Kansas or stay at UNT with Mason Fine as your QB and wait for good job that pays as much or more than KU and you can actually win, he waits. I'm confident the latter is the case. SL is about 40. So probably at least 15 more years to coach. Every coach that has gone to KU has been fired. He knows that.

I respect your opinion, and if it were a different non-revenue sport, I would totally agree. But, I believe softball is an emerging sport, and will one day soon be the top women's college sport. I believe it is important for North Texas to place our program among the best, before coaching salaries reach levels that would make it harder to catch up. I believe DeLong has been a good coach everywhere he has been, and he might get us where I want us to be. I just wanted to get a known talent that had a national name among the best high school players in the country. Yes, it would have been more expensive to hire Lombardi, but in the long run, I believe it would have paid off. Having said that DeLong could have great success. I certainly hope he does.

History plays a role, but it certainly doesn't explain why as noted above SMU as usual is clobbering NT in recruiting at this point. If history is the key what is it that SMU sells to recruits: that 51-10 bowl loss to La Tech to end last season or their sterling 109-237-3 record since the death penalty? We see new coaches all the time come into bad programs and recruit relatively well from the start. Littrell didn't do this, but the positive is that IMO his recruiting is steadily improving. I think NT's football recruiting woes are primarily a function of some bad hires and not a function of a lackluster football history.

This is good for our conference. Therefore it is good for us. Our wins over WKU will be more meaningful.

How was it?

No real pressure to coach at KU...they gave up football a few years ago.

I'm with you. I'm middle of the road politically probably leaning left. Certainly in the minority in Texas. But I despise the ole hire a female to coach females stuff. I have 3 daughters. Two played sports and they never cared about the gender of their coach. Never came up one time. What I want is the best coach available who will teach kids about sports and life at my alma mater. If there's a tie, hire a female. Otherwise hire the best coach.

what would lead us to believe that there would not be quality depth behind these guys? This isn't 2013...LIttrell is not winning with McCarney recruits, he is winning with mostly young guys that HE recruited. Stands to reason he would continue to recruit and restock the pipeline, unlike Mac.

Great thing about that is we only have one Sr in our entire WR corp. Guyton, Bussey Jr, Lawrence are all Juniors. Chumley is a Jr. Darden is a soph. Mason Fine is a Junior Nick Smith is just a Soph If we can turn over some of the OL successfully, This thing could be scary in 2019

I don’t know if this is a generational thing but why are some against streaming? Cable is dead except for sports and even then I stream everything through my phone or tablet and pretty much everyone I know does the same. I obviously don’t know the specifics about the deal but it appears we are sacrificing revenue for exposure on an emerging new media platform? Although the schools are seeing an increase in revenue and lowering production costs? This seems like a great deal IMHO. -GMG

Mr. Shaw's teammate! Hope Derrick gets in Zach's ear.