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Agree I find it insulting that some people assume my good friend would take money or bribes. Here is what you don’t know about Mr. Brian Lewis -Coached youth football and basketball all his life, volunteered countless hours. -Help brought in kids who didn’t have any male guidance in their life or resources. -He is a hard worker and has an awesome job with a good company -Few years ago he won DFW’s YMCA Volunteer of the Year award, a very prestigious award. -Father of two boys, two girls and his married to a wonderful woman. Has a beautiful newly house built in Melissa and has a awesome job. Anything else?

I like it. Especially for Kelvin Smith, who is one of the most versatile weapons on the team. Maybe Chumley will start to show some production as well

You read his bio and what sticks out is "recruiting ... recruiting ... recruiting". Love it.

Texted my buddy Keff Ciardello who covers Tx State football and is dialed in to the program as close as any body. his text read "Damn good recruiter. Brought in Kennan Brown to play TE. He is about to get drafted. All you need to know" So I am sold

Good riddance. That IHOP was way too small and I’ve always thought it looked tacky next to the university seal and entrance way.

Harbaugh better start winning the big games or he'll be paying for his own vacations soon.

I’ve know his dad (Brian) for quite a while and he is a good friend of mine. Great family man and he has coached both of his boys growing up and was an excellent coach. The Lewis family never stops working and always looking to get better. Brendon Lewis is a young man that I hope we can get to play here! Here is what Brendon’s father wrote on his Facebook page today. GMG!

247 Page: https://247sports.com/Player/Brendon-Lewis-46036862/ Hudl Page:http://www.hudl.com/profile/7929951/Brendon-Lewis UNT Football held its 2019 Junior day on Monday February 18, 2019 (Presidents Day this year). A highly ranked group of prospects attended the Denton event. These top 2020 targets were invited to come check out the facilities and meet and hang out with the staff. They also were able to meet with the new staff additions, including new offensive coordinator Bodie Reeder who was previously at Eastern Washington. One of the biggest recruits in New Denton Monday was Melissa High School 4-star Quarterback Brendon Lewis. In his junior season, Lewis led Melissa his with over 4000 total yards and 50 touchdowns. His big junior season has culminated in over 15 offers, including teams like Mississippi State, TCU, Texas Tech and Nebraska. Despite that lofty listing, Lewis likes what he has seen from North Texas so far. Seeing what Seth Littrell and Mason Fine have been able to accomplish together in their 3 years in North Texas has made it a compelling destination for offensive players. I had a chance to talk to the 4 Star QB to see how his visit to New Denton went. GMG: How was the atmosphere at JR day today? Brendon Lewis (BL): “It was great, the coaches made me feel like family. They just gave off a good vibe and I felt a great connection with all of them.” GMG Did you have a chance to meet new Offensive Coordinator Boodie Reeder? BL “Yes, I spent almost the whole day with him. I love him already. He’s a great guy. He’s smart and I just loved talking ball with him. He knows what he’s doing, and our relationship is already great. He made a good impression on me. I could go on and on about him” GMG Mason Fine has had a lot of success with the North Texas offense the last few years. With him graduating after next season does it intrigue you that quarterback position will be wide open, and you could come in and start at QB early? Or is that not a major factor? BL “It is a pretty big factor seeing how well Mason is doing it and Coach Littrell’s history of developing QBs. It makes me excited to have a chance to come in early and compete for the job and playing in that offense that would be a lot of fun.” GMG What other factors are going to be big factors in your decision. Close to home? Biggest offer? or best fit? BL “Really the place that feels like home and the coaches who make me feel like family. And just being real with me. I want to go to the place that is the best fit for me to accomplish my dreams and aspirations which are to play at the next level as well as providing a good education for my life after football.”

Without Woolridge and Duffy we are toast.

https://247sports.com/college/north-texas/LongFormArticle/North-Texas-football-recruiting-junior-day-visitors-list-129240708/ The North Texas Mean Green took advantage of Monday's Presidents Day holiday to host an impressive group of junior day visitors. North Texas, fresh off arguably its best recruiting class in the recruiting rankings era thanks to a 22-player signing haul in the 2019 cycle, hosted 17 prospects in the 2020 class with Mean Green offers Monday afternoon.

https://pca.st/episode/a42ddc10-33a7-49d9-a1ba-15677d20e897

If you donate to an educational foundation that pays for the trip for educational purposes say a 10-14 week study abroad program for the football team, you are within the NCAA rules. (you are bending them pretty good but you have not crossed the line) I love that Harbaugh is thinking outside the box to win the recruiting and retention battle. I only wish I had the money to do this for the Mean Green. I expect to see a rule against this before next year.

The offensive line was not has bad last year as many portray, or the offense would not have the numbers that had. Fine was injured the last part of the season and a lot easier target for the defense. Defenses also were also well aware of NT basic plays at that point. The center of the offensive line should be better as all return. The offensive tackles are the question, and NT actually has some good candidates for those positions. The juco Plantin. returnees Anthony, Parrish and Brammer; as well as some promising young linemen should enable the ol to be an improved unit.

Very nice addition. Looks like Mainord will take more role for both wide receiver groups. And more emphasis on tight ends in New offense https://txstatebobcats.com/coaches.aspx?rc=897

Actually... https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tennessee-docs-take-us-inside-the-strange-process-of-hiring-a-college-football-coach/ "Dana Dimel of Kansas State, Bryan Harsin of Boise State, Seth Litrell of North Texas, Mike Bobo of Colorado State and Neal Brown of Troy all applied through their agents." Forgive the writer's mis-spelling.

I felt that we underutilized TEs in our pass offense last year. Between the addition of Reeder and Hayes should help in that regard next season.

Hope it looks better on television than last year. I know the crowd probably scared FIU, but it looked terrible on the small screen.

Fine was, at least in part, injured multiple times bc of the beating he took due to a lack of blocking!

It's done: https://www.ntdaily.com/off-campus-ihop-closes-doors-relocating-to-rayzor-ranch/

Add this young man's assessment to the growing list of reasons #NewDenton is real. Getting players the caliber of those we signed for '19 and these who came to town this weekend is proof that Wren, Seth, and their staffs have reshaped the reputation of the North Texas football program in high school locker rooms. Add to that the work Smatresk has done to improve the perception of the University as a whole, and we have much to be proud of these days. Mr. Lewis sounds like he would be an incredible addition to the Mean Green Family

Some of the comments in this thread might lead one to believe this young man and his family are looking for the highest bidder. Based on @Big Z's post, his father sounds like a man of class and character. If he ends up going somewhere else, I'm going to assume they made their choice based on the right criteria. If he comes to UNT, I'll know they did. And I'll be jumping up and down like a schnockered kangaroo.

I believe there will be a rule because one was passed to stop his spring practices in remote locations in 17 and a rule was passed to eliminate trips during the school year I think last year, after he took the team without practice to France. This year he is taking them during the summer break. Logic follows that a new rule is on the way. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2017/01/...harbaugh/96836772/ NASHVILLE – Though it won’t officially be called the “Jim Harbaugh Rule,” the NCAA’s five power conferences passed a measure Friday ending trips like the one he took over spring break with the Michigan football team at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., last March.

The AAC has been quick to push their agenda onto the NCAA and viewing audiences. ESPN is starting to fall for the self proclaimed trap the AAC set. They are starting to be called a "power" league in a major sport by media outlets and pundits alike. There is no evidence of this happening in football, but if one sport is starting to get this kind of attention and respect one has to assume that all sports will start to gain the same attention and respect sooner rather than later. Their TV deal in both football and basketball far outweighs the likes of CUSA, MWC, SunBelt, and MAC conferences. These are supposed to be their 'peer' conferences and yet with their initiative to push their agenda, to add Wichita State as basketball only, and to have presidents and AD's to speak out openly has started to bring their conference full circle. Of course it helps their case having a 25-1 team being ranked in the top 10 in basketball and a 12-1 team ranked in the top 10 in football. But if we peel the onion back, the AAC has 4 teams with 19 wins or more. They also have every team with a .500 record or better except for 2 (ECU and Tulane), a per capita statistic that is only seen in "power" conferences. Michael Aresco since taking over the AAC as conference commissioner in 2012 has done a commendable job. But his athletic directors and university presidents have gotten on board with his vision and has helped push their narrative. Here is a recent basketball article on ESPN with "power" verbiage being attached to their conference name... http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26025764/how-rank-top-seven-conferences-college-basketball CUSA really, really must push Judy MacLeod out the door and clean her house behind her. UNT, with CUSA, is being left in the wind yet again.

Not sure as to why you believe there will be a rule next year as opposed to this year or last? This is the 3rd year they have been doing these trips. I think this is bending the rules, but is good experience for the players in general. But it's doing something, financially, that gives them a recruiting and branding advantage. Programs financially stacked as Michigan could afford this, and that's it. Unfortunately, it needs to stop.

AAC is a mixture of left behind BIG East and good CUSA. CUSA is a mix of left behind CUSA and Sunbelt. College Basketball conferences are seen different than Football. The Big East is a power conference in basketball but doesn't even have FBS football. The AAC is a power conference in basketball but the money divide between them and P5 is drastic. CUSA Presidents and Ads need to wake up and put out better products plain and simple.

I would say that it's pushing the limits where donor rules are concerned. Paid vacation for the team, by an Alum. Doesn't sound proper.

Aresco and the AAC is wipping the floor with MacLeod and CUSA. CUSA Presidents better wake up.

The OL is the key to our sucess. Give Mason time and on his feet and he will kill the defense. He seems to spend a lot of his time running for his life. Hopefully the new OC can put in some plays to slow down the defense. I hoping the OL improves greatly and stays healthy.

For me, the OL will hinge on Plantin being the real deal at LT. If he is, we're going to be MUCH better than last year. I think Brammer, with a little experience last year & another offseason to get bigger/stronger, will be able to step right in at RT and be as effective as Mayfield... possibly moreso. The Mose brothers now have a ton of experience, and will only get better. I really hope Littrell leaves Woodworth at LG this offseason and allows him to prepare to play that position & excel. I think part of his struggles last year was practicing during the Spring & Fall at LT, which requires a different set of skills in blocking, then moving back to LG just before the season started. He is good & has a shot at the League.

Im sad that the Eagle Car Wash will be gone as well...

6’6” 305lbs

I actually think the writing on this one was fine.

Looks like I need to go to the center for kids that cant read good. You said it above

Its not like he's wrong. Two years ago, he applied for the Tennessee job and this past off season was a hangnail away rom being K-State's new coach...

You know, as much as I respect Brewer's ability as a receiver I think he made the right decision to move on to his chosen career path when it presented itself to him. If he stayed, he would have always been a "solid' receiver but he probably wouldn't have set any receiving records. With his performance in the Arkansas game, he has cemented his place in North Texas football history. The only thing he could do in the future that might be more spectacular would be a last second Bussy vs UTSA-like catch for a win in a bowl game against a B-12/B-10/SEC opponent. Good luck to Firefighter Brewer.

Maybe the CUSA folks listened to the criticism since the layout has now changed.

Maybe some passerby might scroll a little too quickly down this page and lump all this discussion into an assumption about your friend. But if you read through it, no one here accused him of anything. The thread just got derailed.

And the Big East has been able to hang onto power conference status by name. Though they have backfilled with quality programs and do have 3 or 4 historically good programs left. It's not sustainable for them though. Their a product on par with the AAC, which has never been considered a basketball power conference until very recently (posted article). Football has "P5" and basketball has "P6", with the 6th conference being the BigEast. But not having all year exposure on their universities such as football in the Fall and basketball in the Spring will eventually make their basketball programs suffer. Without Villanova's run, the BigEast would've already dropped down a perceptual ring in my opinion.

And if he asks NT to beat that hypothetical "offer", we'd better tell him "bye". I'm proud that NT has never ever been under NCAA sanctions for that kind of conduct. And I don't want to start now.

Haters gonna hate

What a refreshing departure from Kee's reign of terror. Sounds like the Softball Ladies are starting to really enjoy themselves out there & are being rewarded.

Wby would he be put off by it. He was probably drooling over on the on deck circle himself.

This won't be popular to say, but it needs to be said.... Our offensive line was not "solid" as this article suggests. In our 4 loses, the offense only managed to produce a combined 15 points in the second half of those games. And, we all know we have some of the best skill position players in Texas, and certainly in C-USA. Sure some of it was play calling, but a lot of it was also the o-line too. Fine was running for his life way too often. The lines remain a question mark for me. Until I actually see an improvement in the trenches, and see a greater focus on recruiting both offensive and defensive linemen, I will continue to have my doubts about how productive our offense will be. Plantin could be a great addition, and I hope he is. But, don't think he is not enough. We need more higher end talent in the trenches. Games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage.

The primary issue here is similar to what was seen with Fball and WBB. Gmac had to basically cycle the whole roster and when you do that you will have some hits and misses, especially when year 1 had a shortened recruiting window. Benford took a lot of swings at JC/transfers and many missed, there was less developing guys where they stayed in the program for several years. There were a few exceptions but the roster was not well managed as a whole - we don't have to rehash it. He also recruited players not suited for Gmac's scheme. Gmac was left with a raw incoming Freshman in Simmons, Woolridge and Draper. Draper is great but he is clearly best suited as a roll player who can stick the 3. So he had to bring in 12 players in short order. Same with WBBall after Peterson left, Jalie had to basically recruit an entire team. She had to take a student who used to play basketball in high school and recruit her as a walk-on to get more depth. Seth had a big handicap in terms of quantity of players on the team when he came in. I think this year the football depth issue should finally be mostly addressed - it just takes time. When you are left with a hole on the roster you have to take some chances. When you roll the dice on transfers and JC players you will have some misses and then you add in injuries to a thin roster and you can get into trouble. Football is obviously more of a slow build from a roster perspective, but this is only Gmac's second year. He is doing the right thing, redshirting folks to get the roster built back up to normal D-1 standards. It helps you to build continuity and culture - the culture has already improved if you listen to the players speak. Players will always transfer, but we should be able to build teams that are solid and then have an even better peak every two or three years as our stars mature into Juniors and Seniors. Finally Gmac is smart and he understands that they need more bodies in the event the injury bug strikes again. If you listen to him talk he is honest about the shortcomings of the team and where the coaching staff needs to improve.

VVIP forum will have a private stream available for the LT game. on the call will be our very own #GMGDCRN. chat room is being considered. Will likely require a one-time fee of Mac-n-Cheese with Pace Picante sauce (hot).