SilverEagle

I would give my "knucklehead" vote to the ones who payed him 12mil+.

I'll buy one of these "as illustrated". This is a great opportunity to get some North Texas gear, and get a choice in the matter. From what Rick tells me, this will be available in Chrome or Green ("powder coated"). The prices that are being speculated on are very reasonable.

Don't we already have a QB coach with an "attitude"?

I decided to go up and watch yesterday's practice. The team practiced in helmets and shoulder pads only. Here are a few of my impressions. I didn't stay for the whole practice, so illuvius32 might add/fill with his own comments/observations QB Didn't see much of Daniel Maeger or Matt Phillips except in warm-ups. I mainly watched Steve Prince (#5) and W. Wilson (#8). Prince Physically, Prince is slightly taller than Philllips and Wilson. He has a good arm, but his release on short passes is a bit too deliberate and takes a little too much time. Of course, this might be because he's a bit distracted by learning a new system. His best pass (yesterday anyway) was his long ball. I saw him under pressure once and he seemed a bit flustered and dumped the ball a bit too soon. He ran once. He has pretty average speed and make ok yardage on his scramble, but he got mugged on the tackle. Again, he's learning a new system. Wilson The smallest (but not by much) QB out there today. Probably the fastest QB that I've ever seen at North Texas. He's working on his throwing mechanics and has a strong arm (the long ball was his best). I'd say that if he keeps developing, he'll be pretty close to Maeger's accuracy....maybe better (Phillips still has the better arm of all of them). When he takes off, he is very confident in his running ability and he's very good at following his blockers. When he makes the decision to run, he tucks the ball under his arm and RUNS. Again, I've never seen a QB at North Texas this fast. OL I'm excited about this group....especially Ajani Banks (#54). This guy is a LOAD and this guy can MOVE. The other "usual suspects" were out there, and the only other person that I noticed was a lineman wearing #69. He was running with the 2nd team and looked to be about 6'5" X 285.....maybe 290. If he continues to develop, he should add a lot of back-up to the OL. (That's assuming of course, that the coaching staff will start playing back-ups in situations other than injuries to starters.) WR Good looking group....although none of them caught a long pass thrown yesterday. I'm intriqued by a walk-on who is wearing #27. Besides his number, he looks like the second coming of John Love. He's very quick and (like John Love) looks like he could get a lot of YAC (yards after catch). #21 (Fernandez) looked like he had a lot of potential (tall and fast), and there was another walk-on who was wearing #83 who looked like he might have something as well. TE The new guy from Kilgore is a LOAD. He's wearing #85 (AA's old number) and he's every bit as big as AA. I only saw him in blocking situations and he seemed to move pretty well. DL Thomas is back and he was keeping two or more blockers busy on almost every play. And (as Illuvius32 pointed out) he didn't give any ground to them. I saw Burruss (#89) out there. Didn't that guy break his forearm? If so, this guy is one tough dude! You really can't watch the defense practice without spending most of your time watching Bliel coach the guys. Illuvius is right, this guy is a teacher/coach. I spent more time watching him than watching the defensive players. The DB's were looking pretty good in practice. On the passing drills, they were covering the WR's to the point that there were no long balls completed. Not while I was watching anyway. RB Walk-ons #39 Molvanado (sp?) from Sachce(sp?), and James Thokey #34 from Dallas (First Baptist Academy) thru an Oklahoma college, to here. Molvanado says that he is a freshman walk-on. Thokey says that he is a Junior. Thokey said that he was moved from Safety to FB. He looks pretty much like a FB. Neither of these guys may make it past spring, but in the case of Molvanado it won't because of a lack of effort. Molvanado is small (maybe smaller than Robertson..who wasn't out there yesterday) RB but that kid is fearless.....and fast. On one play he was given the ball on an off-tackle play and disappeared into a huge mass of players. He suddenly re-appeared and took-off around the other side. He seems to have only one speed and that is "missle-launch". It's like watching a smaller James Mitchell.....but a step faster. Ja-Mo was out there. It's 2004 again (hopefully without the hammy situation)...nuff said. Devin Cox looked like he has never been moved to defense for two years. He is a very natural runner with great vision. If we lined up to play Texas tomorrow, it would be (IMHO) up in the air if he or James Mitchell would back-up Ja-Mo. Cox has the edge in natural running ability. Kerona Henderson looks like the starter at FB. Let's put it this way. I would not want to be the one who gets in his way when he's at full speed....or half speed for that matter. Illuvius32 stayed for the whole practice, and may want to add comments.

Not me. I'm tired of the "12 volt" coaching system that we've had for so long. I'm ready for most of the coaches to be wired for "220".

Well, FWIW he was listed on the 05 roster as wearing #73.....of course, so was Drew DuBose. But since Chris Miller #52, Jason May #64, Ephraim Patterson #69, and Robbie Vanderslice #77 are all gone, Bryan could have decided (as players often do) that he liked any of those numbers better.

Well Ramone, I make my comments toward a whole group, and you are the one that reacts. My comments weren't directed at you. You're not the only "reporter" out there. Mr. Vito gets paid to cover NT and he didn't seem to know. If I had been out there here's how the conversation would have gone. I would have said "Dang! who is that #5 out there throwing the ball? Then, someone would have said "well, Cullen Mills has been wearing #5 for a couple of years". Then I would have said "Cullen Mills? hasn't he graduated by now?"

A few years ago, an "unknown" QB was walking on in the spring. FFR Rick and I just walked up and asked him his name and what school he attended. I don't understand why #5's identity is still somewhat of a mystery after a week of practice.

Speaking of Vidal Carlin, I seem to remember that he was a JUCO transfer. Does anyone have any information on this? I know that John Love was a JUCO transfer.....and probably one of our most successful ones at that.

If it was John Love, then the QB was Vidal Carlin.

Jim, I keep telling you, if you leave then you're letting them (the athletic dept) off the hook. Keep participating and make their lives miserable. Right now the only thing that your declaration is possibly doing is causing some of the employees of the North Texas athletic dept to do their version of the Snoopy "Happy Dance". ........as well as some of the regular posters on this board.

Yep.

Well, this just goes to prove that some people will always need "mature adult supervision"......even when they go off to an institution of higher learning. The real scary thought is how many situations like this are never discovered.....and the culprits are eventually let loose on society....with a college degree in hand.

Has anyone seen the DL transfer from Tulsa out there. His last name is Collins.

What sort of competition did James Mitchell get his HS stats against? Just a guess, but I think that the competition Bishop Lynch plays against is a bit tougher than Liberty Christian.

You mean Colt Mahan?

Kyle Story at Decatur ran a very similar offense in 2004.

If you had asked me I would have guessed that they were about 125. They weren't very big, but they moved fast, and they could play circles around any other band in Texas....or most of the nation for that matter. It was kind of like having a 125 member marching lab band out there. I also liked the uni for the drum major (very OU or Ohio State-ish), and I liked the classic design of the band's uni's as well. They were like Ohio State's uni's. They also had a little cape on them that folded to the middle to reveal a "N and T" on each flap. They wore black shoes and spats.

Huff, I really appreciate that. I hope that the picture takes in all of the bands on the field and that it's fairly clear. Again,... thanks

Part of the problem with our image has been that for decades we HAVE been relaxing........too relaxed in fact.

So.....what's the grade?

I tend to agree with this. I still would like to see the picture that PMG was requesting. If someone has it and can scan it into their computer, please send me a PM.

Taking them where?

It's my belief that if T.J. was back and eligible to practice, Vito would have mentioned it in his article.

He was pretty impressive at RB in fall practice his freshman year.