BillySee58

Busy week, a lot of offers going out. Here's a good recap, courtesy of Gabe Brooks. Good work Gabe! http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1379407.html

As long as he's not Charles Mann's son.

Ah, beat me to it! Plays qb for Elkins high in Missouri City, same high school as Darvin Kidsy. Likely projects elsewhere for college. Pretty sure he was the starting qb back when Kidsy was a senior. Also holds a Fresno St offer. Impressive stats from his junior season. http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/jonathan-giles/kR-qp_TuEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/football-stats.htm http://247sports.com/Player/Jonathan-Giles-22181 http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=7335802 http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/193179/jonathan-giles Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1394441/jonathan-giles

Yeah, Maple is Vegan as of two years ago. Kerr is the greasiest, Victory is the heartiest food (keep those athletes' stomachs full), and Bruce is just the all-around best IMO, but not super greasy. They redid Bruce a couple years ago as well.

Offensive tackle from Bowie high school in Arlington. 2nd team all district 3-5A. Also holds K-State and Colorado State offers. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Madison-Akamnonu-144802 http://247sports.com/Player/Madison-Akamnonu-28077 http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=6579002 http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/180774/madison-akamnonu Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1700498

New coach. Can't compare that situation to ours for that reason. At least as it relates to the team culture.

Paninis everyday! Vegan paninis! Their vegan cafeteria is actually kind of good. Did I just lose my man card?

There is difference between saying he's a football savior and that he is doing a great job of developing his players. Same with calling him a great teacher of football versus calling him a mastermind play caller. You don't win at North Texas by bringing in 4-star and 5-star football players out of high school. Maybe one day, but not when Coach Mac took the job. You have to develop your players and change the culture. Obvious stuff, but Coach Mac has actually done that, rather than just talk about it. This is becoming too much about Coach Mac, but my point is that he has put our program/team in a situation where they can be successful in 2014, despite losing the great senior class that has made everyone cautiously optimistic about this season.

6'4" 230 lb defensive end from Burleson. 1st-team all district selection for district 8-4A last year. We are his first offer, and that's a really good thing because this kid's offer list could blow up. http://www.cleburnetimesreview.com/sports/x853082697/All-district-list-for-8-4A-football-released?mobRedir=false http://northtexas.scout.com/a.z?s=353&p=8&c=1&nid=7579635 http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/192906/kenneth-mann http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Kenneth-Mann-160816 http://247sports.com/Player/Kenneth-Mann-46745 Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1744491/kenneth-mann

One thing that I think is getting underrated through all of this, is that this is Mac's 4th year here. We all love to praise Coach Wintrich and the job he has done developing the players physically, and he deserves it, but don't underestimate the job Coach Mac and his staff have done with teaching these kids the game of football. The players on our roster have either played only under Coach Mac here, or are entering their 4th season playing and learning from Coach Mac. We were right up there with Rice last year as far as being the most technically sound team in CUSA last year. Coach Mac is a great teacher of the game, and he has made sure that his staff has been as well. Southern Miss was a team made up of much more highly regarded recruits out of high school, and we drummed them by 41 points at their place. You test those guys physical measurables (i.e. 40s, cone drill, bench max, squat max, etc) and they'd come a heck of a lot closer to our team than they would on a football field. And that has more to do with coaching, but coaching is the main reason for that. Not to mention how well we play at home under Coach Mac, and how our road play is starting to translate into wins, and we'll be fine. We won't have as many senior starters as last year, but the coaches will make sure that whoever they put on the field they can trust. Whether they started last year or didn't play at all.

Yes, but it has more to do with the momentum from last season and KP's recruiting track record. We'll just have to see and find out. If he can pull 4-star, national recruits to South Florida, then I'm excited to see what he can do for us. Especially with a lot of d-line spots likely in this class.

It's a mix of both. Position coach will always have his footprint in the players we offer at his position.

I don't know who it's going to be, but I fully expect Coach KP to pull in at least one, likely multiple, high-caliber d-line recruit(s) this class. At least our 7th 2015 d-line offer.

Another d-line offer out for 2015. Around 6'2" 280 lbs. Bakari plays for Mansfield Legacy high school, and plays end in his their 3-4 scheme, but likely projects to d-tackle in a 4-3 scheme in college. http://247sports.com/Player/Taaj-Bakari-22209 http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/186631/taaj-bakari http://tcu.scout.com/a.z?s=360&p=8&c=1&nid=7522460 http://rivals.yahoo.com/texas/football/recruiting/player-Taaj-Bakari-156889 Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1417610/taaj-bakari

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/188111/kingsley-keke http://rivals.yahoo.com/texas/football/recruiting/player-Kingsley-Keke-150178 http://247sports.com/Player/Kingsley-KeKe-28214 http://northtexas.scout.com/a.z?s=353&p=8&c=1&nid=7515909 Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1225010/kingsley-keke Also plays basketball for his high school. Already holds a very good offer list, so he'll be a tough pull. But don't count us out with Coach KP. Not only did he pull JPP, a 4-star and one of the top JUCO players in the country, to South Florida, but he also pulled Ryne Giddins that year. Look at the offer list that kid had. http://sports.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Ryne-Giddins-64247;_ylt=ArUsYK7enYfbu.LlGECRFB5DPZB4 This guy can recruit d-linemen. Should be very fun keeping up with our d-line recruiting while KP is here. Hopefully for a while.

Absolutely. I have a good feeling that KP is going to be the guy to pull the impact d-lineman/linemen that we have all been clamoring for.

Athlete who plays for Rouse high school in Leander. Plays qb, but likely projects elsewhere in college. Fast, tough football player already holds offers from SMU, UTSA, and Texas State as well as us. http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Billy-McCrary%20III-148381 http://northtexas.scout.com/a.z?s=353&p=8&c=1&nid=7034803 http://www.hudl.com/athlete/647287/

Analogies. You're good at them.

I completely agree. If we can get legit tackles this year, then yeah. Mold that body to not get over the 250s and focus on his speed, agility, and quickness and leave him at SS DE. TJ Tauaalo is a good example of a DT with good size who would be a good fit at the 3-tech. But until we get some more pure DTs that have the natural size and skill to play 1-tech, then Tauaalo will be needed there, rather than at 3-tech. Then we'll probably keep playing jumbo defensive ends at 3-tech and so forth. Not entirely a bad thing, as this year proved it can work. But as for Holmes, he looks like a kid who could naturally get up in the 280s very quickly. Maybe by the time he starts college, or at least after a redshirt year. Or he could be in the 240s when he starts college. But it does appear that he has more of a frame to get up to DT weight naturally rather than having to eat 6 or 7 meals a day to get up to 260 like Ryan Boutwell selflessly did for us. Who knows? Just good to see the coaches in first on an under-the-radar local kid with a load of potential.

Did you watch his film? I'm not suggesting, I'm saying it is a possibility. Because if you watch him play and look at his body type, it is. He also does play inside at times for DHS.

6'3" 230 lb defensive end from Denton HS. Could potentially have the size to move to 3-tech. Pretty raw athlete, but if his NCSA profile numbers are accurate, or close to, he definitely has the measurables to be a productive D1 player. We are his first offer. http://www.ncsasports.org/football-recruiting/tx/denton/denton-high-school/dailon-holmes http://northtexas.scout.com/a.z?s=353&p=8&c=1&nid=7579635 http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/193178/dailon-holmes http://247sports.com/Player/Dailon-Holmes-48078 http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Dailon-Holmes-164535 Film: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1345809/dailon-holmes

Sorry, one offer I forgot to list was Coppell tight end Connor Williams. Also holds an offer from TCU. Fits that mold of a traditional run-blocking tight end that Mac loves to have.

I think that's why you see a lot of our offers going out to guys like Jalin Barnett, Dominique Hearne, Ryan Newsome, etc. Guys who we don't really have a realistic shot with, but are clearly worthy of the offer. I agree that being a kid's first offer is risky, but it does mean a lot to those kids knowing that you believed in their ability to play D1 ball first. Although it can be risky if they end up being a reach of an offer. Just the game you have to play being a school from a non P5 conference.

For me, it would take a win over one of the top 5 teams. To give me faith in him, short term. Other than those top 5 teams, we stack up favorably, talent wise, with every other team in the conference and beating them doesn't say we're overachieving. Just would be a sign of not underachieving, which is a good thing in its own. My biggest doubt in Benford is long term, especially once our 7 current juniors graduate after next season. We haven't gotten much production from our posts, and that is mainly a result of how late in the process they have all been signed. It's one thing to have to resort to 5 late signees with 3 starters returning, but to need 7 to come last minute while returning zero starters (which may be the case after next season) would be extremely tough to recover from. He needs to lock up some good players early who will actually make it to campus. JUCO and high school. His track record here scares me with this task.

There is A LOT of benefit to getting commits locked up early. Sure you might not be able to hang on to all of them, but the longer you have a kid locked up, the more not only he, but his parents get settled into the idea of him going to that school. People were nervous about our chances of keeping Fonzale Davis because it was so early, but it ended up helping that we locked him up so early. Another big advantage that happens in the time that we currently live in has to do with social media. You get early commits and they get in the ear's of other prospects to come check out UNT, whether at camps, combines, 7 on 7 tournaments, or especially on twitter. If the kid commits in January of his senior year, he has no time to pull other recruits towards UNT. Plus, with major recruiting websites, kids interested in UNT can see who we have committed. I know you think very little of the star system, but if a kid is interested in UNT and he looks and sees they have a good amount of early commits and they're good/highly rated players it will pique the interest of a 17 year-old kid, since they grew up with the star system. Finally, having a lot of guys locked up by the time your season starts allows you to zero in on the guys you really want. That way you can be more selective later in the process. I'll confess to not having followed recruiting nearly as long as you have, but you can't compare the era of recruiting that we are in to much farther in the past. Social media has completely changed the game and everyone (coaches, players, analysts) acknowledges that. There are plenty of ways to make room for a guy late in the game who falls through the cracks, not to mention you'll still likely have a spot or two open for those guys anyways. The early commits create a great foundation for your class and become ambassadors in the recruiting scene for your school. That is invaluable in today's recruiting.