JUCO LB Courtney Finney commits

[UNT90]

Per Vito

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Cortney-Finney-160430

[BillySee58]

Congrats to Cardinal LB, SWJCFC MVP @numerouno2012 on his commitment to the Univ of North Texas to finish his career! Very proud!! #TVCC2D1

— TVCC FOOTBALL (@TVCCFOOTBALL)

December 14, 2014

[jtm0097]

MVP of the conference, must be a good player.

[Ben Gooding]

I'm liking this guy. And I also like the idea of going heavy JUCO heading into a pivotal season. I still think we need a cowbell for a safety, how be it someone stepping up on the current roster or going JUCO.

Anyways, welcome aboard Courtney! GMG!

[H-towngreen]

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2558992/highlights/172161375

[H-towngreen]

I'm liking this guy. And I also like the idea of going heavy JUCO heading into a pivotal season. I still think we need a cowbell for a safety, how be it someone stepping up on the current roster or going JUCO.

Anyways, welcome aboard Courtney! GMG!

Still need a safety, and probably one more OL. And would obviously love the Juco qb

[Ben Gooding]

Still need a safety, and probably one more OL. And would obviously love the Juco qb

oh the JUCO QB we offered is a make or break commit we have to have.

[ntmeangreen11]

We could still have a couple more JUCO players commit and when you factor in the 3 grayshirts that will be part of the 2015 class we're running out of spots quickly.

[Ben Gooding]

We could still have a couple more JUCO players commit and when you factor in the 3 grayshirts that will be part of the 2015 class we're running out of spots quickly.

That's fine if we run out of spots as long as we get an at least average JUCO QB. A decent QB that can throw the football on time and target to Carlos, Goree, Rutherford, Kidsy and Smith we will be just fine. We have a good RB in Jimmy paired with an up and coming potential star in Wilson. I think we will be OK at OL with the SMU transfer, Kirby, the JUCO guard that committed 2 days ago, a couple that have been waiting their turn to mix in and possibly 1 decent JUCO tackle. Our offense from a personnel standpoint is good, aside from QB (the most important position). That's why getting a JUCO guy in here that can produce at an average pace is imperative. It will also give the staff 2 more seasons to polish the hell out of Connor Means so he can take over as a RS JR.

On D we got a good one LB right here in Courtney coming in. Sed Ellis will be better as will Anthony Wallace and Fred Scott. We have a lot of depth at LB as well with Calvin Minor and Jamal Marshal and also 2013 commit Brandon Gardner. Even with the departure of Akunne I expect us to be solid at LB for the next couple of years.

The secondary will have a couple holes to fill for Jones and Lee. McLain showed promise at S at the end of the year and I expect him to improve vastly with another offseason. I expect Buyers to be our nickel for his Sr season. Chad Davis has some upside and can be an every down corner. Ashton Preston could come in and be a starter from day 1, he's that good. And of course Zac Whitfield will give us good productivity whatever he is asked to do. It wouldn't kill us to get a solid JUCO SS.

DL is the biggest concern though there is some positives. Johnson, Wallace, Tuaalo, Polk, Dilonga, Roberts, Flusche, Orr, Watson and also the 2 grayshirt DT's. That's a good core to start with, but some of these guys have to get a little bigger and faster. Wegmann and Miller coming in to create more depth and fight for PT. Unless Wallace is planning on being an every down anchor in the middle thats a spot of concern. The new DC's philosophy could make people's jobs a lot easier.

I'm usually a pretty hard critic in recruiting, but pending the decision of a few more guys (QB) this class is coming together. I like going JUCO heavy. I think it should be something that North Texas does every year. If we can't get HS guys consistently due to the country plucking kids out of Texas by the hundreds then go heavy JUCO and turn ourselves into the G5's Kstate. JUCO players and coaches would take notice and it could become a JUCO destination of choice and there's not a thing wrong with that.

Ok I'm ranting on Mr. Finney's page. Again, welcome aboard and GMG.

[greenit]

Welcome aboard! Joins his teammate LB Dakota Smith, both from TVCC.

[Marty]

TVCC was where Tommy Perry was recruiting on a Beyond the Green episode earlier this season.

[H-towngreen]

Solid breakdown Ben. Agree with most of it

[BillySee58]

This is the LB I was saying we were recruiting and we would get. An inside linebacker type who has some size and can potentially play SAM as well. I think this kid is our front runner for our SAM position, but could maybe push Scott and Wallace at inside linebacker as well.

This is a good pickup, but expecting this kid to be anywhere near Akunne's level would be very wishful thinking. That being said, he legitimately improves our linebacking core which makes this a good pickup. We really need a significant improvement from the other linebacker positions because of that. We return a lot of bodies, but we're losing our 3 best quality players from our front 7 (Akunne, Mason, Lincoln). That is my biggest concern heading into next year.

[greenit]

Did I see somewhere that Bean had to sit out this year, but will be eligible next season? He has the ability to help at ILB or SLB.

[NT03]

I wonder if there's any chance we move to a 3-4 with the new DC ?

Edited December 15, 2014 by NT03

[GOMG2013]

Did I see somewhere that Bean had to sit out this year, but will be eligible next season? He has the ability to help at ILB or SLB.

Bean had to sit out, but he will play this year. I am assuming they tried to get him in for this past season, because he was on the 2 deep in the spring and pushing hard for that starting spot. he played in the spring game, and then it went quiet.

I know he had minor hand surgery (twitter) so maybe they decided to wait or the appeal was denied.

Either way, I think he becomes a factor at lb considering he had a good spring, was scout team MVP, and has D1 playing experience.

I think all 3 lb spots will be wide open. We will have a new DC and depending on the system, everyone may be learning it from the very beginning. A new set of eyes may see things totally different and we may have 3 new linebackers...or maybe 4?

[Harry]

Did I see somewhere that Bean had to sit out this year, but will be eligible next season? He has the ability to help at ILB or SLB.

Solid point - they think Bean will help us right away. He got screwed over on his eligibility last season.

Also there are some good young LBs coming off their redshirt years as well In Garner and Monty.

[MeanGreen13]

lb is actually the most stacked position on this team in my opinion. we have a lot of guys who could end up starting next year at all three positions.

WILL: Marshall, Ellis

MIKE: Scott, Wallace, Finney

SAM: Minor, Bean

then we have the guys that provide depth:

MIKE: Montgomery

SAM: Garner, A. Smith

WILL: D. Smith, L. Smith?

linebackers are a pretty strong unit as long as they develop into next season. Adding Finney and D. Smith has definitely solidified the unit though... they can go hard all game with fresh legs!!!

[BillySee58]

lb is actually the most stacked position on this team in my opinion. we have a lot of guys who could end up starting next year at all three positions.

WILL: Marshall, Ellis

MIKE: Scott, Wallace, Finney

SAM: Minor, Bean

then we have the guys that provide depth:

MIKE: Montgomery

SAM: Garner, A. Smith

WILL: D. Smith, L. Smith?

linebackers are a pretty strong unit as long as they develop into next season. Adding Finney and D. Smith has definitely solidified the unit though... they can go hard all game with fresh legs!!!

We have bodies/names/candidates at linebacker, but we need them to prove something. All those guys you've mentioned who played last year didnt show the ability to consistently give good play over any legitimate amount of time. The one we had graduated. Until those guys prove something I just don't think you can refer to them as a strength. Also, linebacker isn't really a position you want to keep a constant rotation, like defensive line. Depth is invaluable, though.

[Aldo]

I wonder if there's any chance we move to a 3-4 with the new DC ?

Are any of the DTs we are recruiting big and physical enough to be a nose tackle? We currently don't have any on the roster.

[MEANGREENCOACH2]

TJ Tauaalo he is big enough to play the nose, Sir Calvin, and Orr is close to being that size.

[Aldo]

Ah right Tauaalo! Can't wait to see that guy play. And his hair.

[Ben Gooding]

Tauaalo is going to be a stud. Hopefully he's gotten bigger and faster. He was 288lb as a RS Fr. I would like to see him, Wallace and Orr take control of the inside of our defensive line. If they get it together going into fall camp that is a great core of players inside. I like Polk, but he is more of a walk up DE in a 3-4; not really an every down DE. If our new DC is a 3-4 guy then we have the personnel to run especially with all the lb's we have.

[MeanGreen13]

We have bodies/names/candidates at linebacker, but we need them to prove something. All those guys you've mentioned who played last year didnt show the ability to consistently give good play over any legitimate amount of time. The one we had graduated. Until those guys prove something I just don't think you can refer to them as a strength. Also, linebacker isn't really a position you want to keep a constant rotation, like defensive line. Depth is invaluable, though.

I think that ellis has shown he can play and minor is pretty solid in backing up akunne. I think the weakness was fred scott and anthony wallace in the middle. It looks like finney is coming for that spot now though so we may actually see an improvement at lb next year.the pivotal positions in skladany's defense were the guys in the middle of the field being solid so the perimeter guys could run freely to the ball. That was why abbe, orr, and trice/lee(in certain situations) were so successful. They cleaned up and filled in the potential weak spots in the defense. Fastforward to this past season and scott/wallace were missing assignments left and right while there was noone in the middle of the d line to keep the ols off our lbs. The middle is going to be key to fixing the defense. It even helped cover for the corner backs in 2013 as they struggled early on.

[Harry]

I think that ellis has shown he can play and minor is pretty solid in backing up akunne. I think the weakness was fred scott and anthony wallace in the middle. It looks like finney is coming for that spot now though so we may actually see an improvement at lb next year.the pivotal positions in skladany's defense were the guys in the middle of the field being solid so the perimeter guys could run freely to the ball. That was why abbe, orr, and trice/lee(in certain situations) were so successful. They cleaned up and filled in the potential weak spots in the defense. Fastforward to this past season and scott/wallace were missing assignments left and right while there was noone in the middle of the d line to keep the ols off our lbs. The middle is going to be key to fixing the defense. It even helped cover for the corner backs in 2013 as they struggled early on.

Damn good take mate.