Harry

Don't know what caused us to be down so long but sure glad to be back in the comfy confines of the mothership. Carry on Mean Green, Carry on...

Good news, Ben Leung has committed to both Air Force and North Texas. Because the Air Force has a lot of jets at their disposal he will flying into Denton (DFW) for a week and then spending the next week in Colorado Springs. The bummer is that Air Force has demanded Ben be available for their game with Army which coincides with our game against SMU. More on this soon!

Actually I started the original site in 1996! I know - I am dating myself. http://web.archive.org/web/19981202105555/...n.com/index.htm So you could make an arguement that this could be our 10-year anniversary! GMG!

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic...e=Tank_McNamara

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...1.3747f166.html UNT notebook: UNT picks up Klein tackle Tomlinson is rated among top 100 prospects in Houston 01:28 AM CST on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 By Brett Vito/Staff Writer One of the top offensive line prospects in the Houston area committed to North Texas this week. Matt Tomlinson, a first-team All-District 16-5A tackle from Klein, confirmed on Tuesday that he has orally committed to play for the Mean Green and its new head coach, Todd Dodge Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day recruits can sign national letters of intent is Feb. 7. Tomlinson (6-5, 270) is a member of the Houston Chronicle's list of the top 100 players in the area. "I didn't hear much from North Texas until coach Dodge got there," Tomlinson said. "As soon as he got there, UNT contacted me. They recruited me as a left tackle." Tomlinson visited UNT on Sunday and committed late Monday night. Indiana, UTEP and Rice also offered Tomlinson a scholarship. "Matt's potential is unlimited," Klein coach Stan Labay said. "He was our best offensive lineman and plays on the basketball team. He is a young kid who is going to get a lot bigger and stronger and he has great feet." Tomlinson was a late bloomer at Klein. He did not earn all-district honors until his senior season. "We were thinking he was going to be a really good player last spring," Labay said. "He had a good summer and fall and got better as the season went along. He will be a player in college." Tomlinson played in a run-based offense at Klein and will have to adjust to playing in a spread formation at UNT. The transition is one Tomlinson is looking forward to making. "It will be an adjustment, but I like pass blocking," Tomlinson said. "It will work out great." UNT lost starting left tackle Joel Foster to graduation but returns all three other tackles that were on its depth chart at the end of the season. Josh Alexander, a junior who was expected to start at left tackle last season, will also return. Alexander sat out last season with a knee injury. "Coach Dodge told me to come in with the mentality that I am going to compete for a spot," Tomlinson said. "But I will probably redshirt." UNT has now received commitments from 17 high school players and three transfers, including JUCO running back Cam Montgomery, who will be eligible to play next season. North Texas commitments The following is a list of players who have orally committed to play for North Texas Pos. Player School LB Marquese Davis Atlanta DL Jesse DeSoto San Antonio Lee WR Sam Dibrell S.A. Alamo Heights S Bron Hager Austin Westlake WR Breece Johnson Colleyville Heritage OL J.J. Johnson Plano West WR Marcus King Euless Trinity WR Jason Martinson Birdville RB Micah Mosley Nederland LB Justin Padron Southlake Carroll LB A.J. Penson Lufkin WR Sam Roberson Sommerville DE Kyle Russo Southlake Carroll DT Jordan Scoggins Euless Trinity OL Matt Tomlinson Klein QB Giovanni Vizza S.A. Alamo Heights WR Evan Walker Colleyville Heritage Transfers WR Evan Fentriss Rice* DB Greg Garden Navy* RB Cam Montgomery NE Miss. Junior College** * -- Will be eligible beginning in the 2008 season ** -- Midterm transfer

The reason for posting this quirky story is that text messaging has become a bigtime way to communicate with recruits.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/hssport...in.1f893b3.html<H2 class=vitstoryheadline>Mark Wangrin: Text messages become recruiting's new frontier</H2> <H5 class=vitstorydate>Web Posted: 01/30/2007 07:12 AM CST</H5> Express-News YM, PLZ peep this. BCNU @ the F2F Saturday. Bring the OM and OL. B 9. It will B OTH. DEGT about the Escalade. OJ. P911? GGOH. HAGD. Coach* Got it? If you're a hot high school football prospect, you just might. Text messaging has rapidly emerged as a preferred way of communication, according to some input received by the NCAA from student-athletes. College coaches have jumped on the opportunity because the practice is currently unlimited. Letters are limited and phone calls are limited, but coaches can text an athlete 100 times a day if they want. And if their hands don't cramp up. Anything unlimited is subject to abuse, and that's where the NCAA needs to weigh in. The Division I Management Council recently shot down a proposal to limit text messaging in recruiting but sent a measure to ban it altogether back to the schools for more input. Banishment is the favored position of the Student-Athlete Advisory committee, which called the practice "intrusive, impersonal and too costly," according to the NCAA News. Many other student-athletes, though, have told administrators they prefer the practice. So what to do? Banning text messages would be easy, but it would be denying the evolution of technology. Limiting them to certain days and times would be progressive, but it would create one more area for the NCAA's overextended enforcement arm to police. Still, that has to be the way to go. It appears the rejection of the legislation limiting text messaging isn't a rejection of the idea, just the specifics of the proposal. Administrators appear to be hesitant about making sweeping rules about a new technology until they learn more about it. They'd better hurry. Generation TXT isn't going anywhere. ;-) (*—Translation: Young man, please listen to this. I'll be seeing you at your visit Saturday. Bring your mom and dad. Dress to the nines. It will be off the hook. Don't even go there about the Escalade. Only joking. Parents in the room? Gotta get out of here. Have a good day. Coach.)

He is in good shape. Saw him at the banquet and the year off has allowed him to get a lot bigger. He will have three years to show what he can do and I am excited to watch him.

Nice post Brian!

Nice post Cool.

Trying to garner info on a service academy player is like pulling teeth. I cannot verify that he played for Navy last year but I know he was a coveted recruit that had offers from Tulsa and Rice. If he played he will sit out a year, if he was on the Prep team he would be eligible to play...

It sounds like they are hinting it may be McElroy from Bama but he has denied that he is looking to move per the DRC.

ATH Greg Garden, Denton Ryan, Navy (6-0,190, 4.4) Greg was listed as a RB on the Navy Roster. He was a 3 year starter at Ryan playing DB/OLB and also as RB his Sr. year. Sr. Stats: 70 carries for 425 yds and 9 TD's while continuing to start on Defense. Greg was All District 5-5A 1st Team LB his Sr. year. http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...s.62b339df.html Recruited to play safety. He was injured and didn't play last year per DRC. Assuming redshirt status DRC stateshe will be able to play (elgible) in the 2008 season. COMMITTED TO NORTH TEXAS Harry's Take: I think UNT could have signed Garden out of high school and opted not to for reasons unknown to me. He made quite an impression at Navy where he was thought to be one of the best athletes on the entire team and would have played if not for injury. Fits the speed movement that Dodge is trying to infuse the program with. Oldtimer's Take: Its nice to see NT recruit a Denton HS player. One of the 5 new receivers which the new offensive system requires. He will be able to participate in spring training while sitting out a required redshirt required by his transfer. This will give him a leg up when he does play because he will already know the Dodge system. He has the size and speed needed in a DB.

Talk to the Athletic Department about this and I would bet that they would work with you.

M3S, Just going to throw my two cents in. Farmer and I are very close friends and we bounce a lot of ideas off of each other, but haven't really gotten too detailed on this topic. Prized Recruits in the Dickey era were: QB Andrew Smith (sadly passed away prior to 2004 season) RB Patrick Cobbs (NFL; 2003 national rushing champion) RB Jamario Thomas (returning; 2004 national rushing champion; SBC POY, SBC Offensive POY, SBC Newcomer of Year) WR Johnny Quinn (school's all time leading WR, ) TE Andy Blount (out of football) OL Andy Brewster (Out of football; 3 Time SBC 1st Tm All Conference) OL Dylan Lineberry (Out of football; 3 time SBC 1st Tm All Conference LB Cody Spencer (NFL) LB Brad Kassell (NFL, former SBC Defensive POY)) DE Adrian Awasom (NFL) DT Brandon Kennedy (CFL; former SBC POY) DB Jonas Buckles (4 Time SBC 1st Tm All Conference) DB Aaron Weathers (SBC Newcomer of Yr 2005) *These were all over the course of 4 seasons* If I recall correctly, Jamario Thomas, Jonas Buckles, and Brad Kassell were all State top 100's. I don't believe any of the others were. I do know that Patrick Cobbs was a steal for UNT out of Oklahoma. http://www.5atexasfootball.com/forum/vB/sh...353&page=14 Sadly enough, these players accomplished these accolades without having any discipline in the program. They were not held accountable for their actions, and really did not expect to win. If these kids could have played for TD and his staff, they would have been even better. This years class has a lot of players who are more highly regarded than any of the players listed above in this post. I don't think that them performing on the field will be a problem either. Those of you who know TD know that he and his staff will not recruit a student-athlete who they don't feel has a lot of heart and won't sell out for his teammates. He is going to instill a "don't know how to lose" attitude in addition to teaching these players how to be men. In my opinion, the number one asset that TD and co. have is their network with the high school coaches in the state. This years class is better than any I can remember at UNT by far. __________________ "When is the last time someone asked how much an English classroom cost"? Denton ISD Athletic Director Ken Purcell on the cost of the multi-million dollar high school football facilities popping up around Texas

http://meangreen.beloblog.com/ Frazier still going to UTEP</H3>Duncanville running back Vernon Frazier was as surprised as most North Texas fans on Sunday morning when he saw UNT next to his name on a list of the top college football recruits in the area. He confirmed on Sunday night that he is still committed to UTEP. It appears to be just a misprint.

http://www.dallasblog.com/david-mcnabbs-high-school-spor/ Texas A&M, trying to match Texas' startling '07 start last February, has picked up a major commitments this weekend from three of the state's projected top '08 class: Nederland LB Dravannti Johnson, Brenham LB Kyle Mangam, Pearland OL Brian Thomas, and Houston Yates DE Damian Square and OL Leroy Chevalier . Roscoe OL Britt Mitchell committed last week. No coincidence it's strong defense _ Aggies hottest recruiter is secondary coach Van Malone (a former Longhorns standout) ... North Texas coach Todd Dodge secured in my humble opinion, his top recruit, highly recruited Lufkin linebacker A.J. Penson (6-1, 225). Penson told rivals.com he picked UNT over OFFERS from Houston, Iowa State and UTEP _ that's a pretty good group for North Texas to beat out ... TCU gets Paris' Quin Ashley, who played QB but will move to WR/S for the Frogs. Paris WR/DB Dewey Hall committed to Idaho ... Kansas picked up a commitment from Cedar Hill WR Dezmon Briscoe, a terrific late-bloomer ... Pinkston speedy DB/WR Richard Evans committed to K-State.

I am hearing at least one and maybe more will be greyshirts meaning they will have to pay their own way the first semester of school and then will receive a full scholarship in 2008 thus counting against next years allotment. Also, if we have some players who leave or are not academically eligible - that could change the number as well. Last but not least, Dodge could be holding back a ship that could be used for a late qualifier ala Cody Spencer or a homesick player who returns home and transfers ala Evan Fentriss.

The story on him all along has been grades. If he is not currently qualified he is a major risk to any program because if he doesn't qualify that is a lost scholarship spot that you really never get back.

Looks like Todd WIllis updated that paper listing late last night. Could be that they didn't have a chance to get the story updated.

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...8.27ac8963.html Colleges: UNT holds annual football banquet WR Quinn named team's MVP <H5 class=vitstorydate>11:51 PM CST on Saturday, January 27, 2007</H5> By Todd Jorgenson/Sports Editor As much as the 2006 Mean Green football banquet was about providing a postscript to the past season, it was more about a prelude to the future. It had the usual tributes to seniors and team leaders, and reflected some of the positives from North Texas’ 3-9 season in 2006. But the primary reason for the enthusiastic, capacity crowd at UNT’s Gateway Center on Saturday night had nothing to do with UNT’s recent football past. University officials spent much of the night praising new coach Todd Dodge, hired in December to replace Darrell Dickey, as the catalyst for increased early season ticket sales and booster club memberships. And they hailed the highly decorated former Southlake Carroll coach as their primary reason for optimism about the program’s future. “I think he’s going to make a tremendous impact here,” said athletic director Rick Villarreal. “We wanted somebody who was not only a proven winner, but we wanted somebody who had a proven track record in building great young men.” Besides Dodge, the other star of the hour-long program was senior wide receiver Johnny Quinn, who last season became the leading receiver in UNT history. Quinn received three of the team’s 10 postseason player honors, the first player ever recognized with three awards in the same season. In addition to the Odus Mitchell Award for team Most Valuable Player, Quinn was named the top offensive player and the top offensive back, an award he has won each year since 2003. “It’s really a team record,” Quinn said about breaking the school receiving mark this season against Louisiana Tech. “For a receiver to catch a ball, all 10 of your teammates have to be doing their jobs. This is a team accomplishment.” Dodge, who received a standing ovation upon his introduction at the banquet, talked about his excitement in returning to the school where he served as the offensive coordinator for two seasons ending in 1993. “I know the potential of this university, and I know the potential of this university’s football program,” Dodge said. “[The senior class] has proven that it can be done, and now it’s our job to build on that.” He talked about creating a sense of loyalty and family among his players and coaches, about his expectations for players in terms of accountability, and also about breeding an atmosphere of encouragement rather than criticism among players and fans. “We’re going to play full speed for seven seconds each time the ball is snapped,” he said, adding the foundation is in place for immediate success at UNT. “We can win. We can win big, and we can do it the right way.” Besides Quinn, a few other 2006 players were repeat award winners from 2005, including Aaron Weathers (outstanding defensive player), Maurice Holman (linebacker), Dylan Lineberry (offensive lineman) and Jeremiah Chapman (defensive lineman). TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com. North Texas banquet award winners The following were the award winners at the North Texas football team's annual banquet on Saturday: Odus Mitchell (Team MVP) -- Johnny Quinn Steve Ramsey (Outstanding Offensive Player) -- Johnny Quinn JaQuay Wilburn (Outstanding Offensive Back) -- Johnny Quinn Phillip Armour (Outstanding Offensive Lineman) -- Dylan Lineberry Abner Haynes (Outstanding Special Teams Player) -- Zach Muzzy Shawn Kramer (Most Inspirational Player) -- Denis Hopovac Joe Greene (Outstanding Defensive Player) -- Aaron Weathers Byron Gross (Outstanding Linebacker) -- Maurice Holman Bill Brashier (Outstanding Defensive Back) -- Antoine Bush Bill Bishop (Outstanding Defensive Lineman) -- Jeremiah Chapman

Also info on a possible new transfer signee!

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...p;ATCLID=776271

http://www.gomeangreen.com/mgr/inc/gmgpodcast012807.mp3 Recap, thoughts and impressions from the banquet and a special guest to boot. GMG!

http://meangreen.beloblog.com/ <H2 class=date-header>January 27, 2007</H2><H3 class=entry-header>UNT banquet award winners</H3>The following is the list of the award winners at the North Texas football banquet on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was on the way to Mobile for UNT's basketball doubleheader against South Alabama. Look for a report from Todd Jorgenson in tomorrow's Denton Record-Chronicle. North Texas banquet award winners Odus Mitchell (Team MVP) -- Johnny Quinn Steve Ramsey (Outstanding Offensive Player) -- Johnny Quinn JaQuay Wilburn (Outstanding Offensive Back) -- Johnny Quinn Phillip Armour (Outstanding Offensive Lineman) -- Dylan Lineberry Abner Haynes (Outstanding Special Teams Player) -- Zach Muzzy Shawn Kramer (Most Inspirational Player) -- Denis Hopovac Joe Greene (Outstanding Defensive Player) -- Aaron Weathers Byron Gross (Outstanding Linebacker) -- Maurice Holman Bill Brashier (Outstanding Defensive Back) -- Antoine Bush Bill Bishop (Outstanding Defensive Lineman) -- Jeremiah Chapman Posted by Brett Vito at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0