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North Texas began fall practice Monday talking a lot about change, just as it has since the end of a milestone season. Several of the standouts who helped lead the Mean Green to a win over UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl were long since gone when UNT’s returning players sprinted onto the field at the Darrell R. Dickey Football Practice Facility. UNT coach Dan McCarney took time out for one of his long-standing traditions before heading out to begin addressing all those changes and challenges. McCarney picked up the phone and called Hayden Fry. “I talk to coach Fry every year before my first practice,” McCarney said. “I said, ‘Coach, guess what? Thirty-five years ago you and I got together. How time flies.’ I have not lost one bit of energy, excitement or love of the game. I said, ‘I sure enjoyed it with you and hope that I can go out and enjoy it with my guys today.’ It was great to talk to him. I love him.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20140805-football-call-to-fry-now-part-of-unt-preparations.ece

DENTON, Texas - Dan McCarney knows he's a lucky man. Suffering a stroke in 2012 didn't change that. Neither did going blind in his right eye after four surgeries that left it sensitive to light and requiring sunglasses even while indoors. When he steps through the doors of the annual AFCA coaches convention and sees 12-14,000 aspiring coaches, he finds it easy to forget all that's gone wrong in his life and remember he's one of just 125 men on the planet trusted to guide an FBS football program. It's a dream come true, and McCarney's second chance at UNT is something very, very few college coaches ever get. But why? McCarney took over at Iowa State in 1995, piloting an Iowa State program that had struggled historically in the Big Eight into life as a Big 12 member after the league merged with four members of the Southwest Conference. The program hadn't won a conference title since 1912 and had played in just four bowl games in school history, lowlighted by a 16-year drought when McCarney took over. From 2000-05, ISU reached five bowl games, won two and missed the postseason just once. In 2004, the Cyclones shared a Big 12 North title with Colorado. Only a five-point loss to the Buffaloes kept the Cyclones from making their first appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game. McCarney had staked a claim as the best coach in ISU history, racking up a 39-35 record in that six-year span, which included a nightmarish 2-10 campaign in 2003, one of his worst of his 12-year run in Ames. Throughout his tenure, various programs showed interest. McCarney declined to name specific schools, but said he rebuffed "several" schools during the Cyclones' rise. Read more: http://www.foxsports.com/southwest/story/second-chances-in-college-football-are-rare-but-why-080514

After banging out a few stories for the tomorrow’s papers, I’m back with some follow-up thoughts from Conference USA media day. I wrote a main story and a notebook for tomorrow’s DRC (buy the newspaper), so there isn’t much I didn’t get in, but here’s one tidbit I omitted. Dan McCarney talked a little about opening against Texas and facing SMU early in the season … “North Texas has never beaten Texas and is 4-28 against SMU [actually, it's 4-28-1, but who's counting?],” McCarney said. “Rivalry? Rivalry at 4-28? We had better establish one where we have a chance and they have a chance. Do the math, there is no rivalry.” read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/07/c-usa-media-days-wrap-up-thoughts-and-tidbits.html/

UNT coach Dan McCarney was a popular guy at Conference USA media day this week. He took a minute or two to shoot a video with me. We talked a little about the upcoming season and where the Mean Green is at as the beginning of two-a-days on Aug. 5 looms. I wrote a story and a notebook for today’s paper on what went down at media day. The big topic of the day was the changing landscape in college athletics and full cost of attendance scholarships. Conference USA will go in that direction, one that will provide players more money to live than they have in the past. That issue ties in with the top five conferences in college football potentially being granted autonomy from the rest of the schools in college athletics. It’s going to happen — likely in a couple of weeks. We covered both topics in today’s main story. Read more and video here: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/07/mgb-video-mccarney-talks-about-season-at-c-usa-media-day-notes.html/

IRVING — At this time a year ago, North Texas felt pretty secure when it came to a few aspects of its team. Linebacker Zach Orr, running back Brandin Byrd and wide receiver Brelan Chancellor all seemed to be locks to start. And while Derek Thompson didn’t nail down the starting quarterback job until right before the Mean Green’s season opener, he had two years of experience as a starter under his belt heading into his senior year. UNT will have a little less certainty when it opens fall practice Aug. 5 in advance of its Aug. 30 season opener at Texas, especially at skill positions. What coach Dan McCarney and his players have come to believe over the last few weeks is that while UNT doesn’t have as many proven commodities, it does have several options at a few key positions and players who are growing into their new roles. That is true both on the field and off it. “Every year you have guys who graduate and leave,” senior linebacker Derek Akunne said at Conference USA’s annual media day on Wednesday at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott. “It’s a new team every year. There are different personalities. We are adjusting to it. read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20140724-notebook-leaders-emerge-for-mean-green-ahead-of-season.ece

A few schools have a head start in that regard. UTEP and Rice have been playing annually since 1996 when they were in the WAC together and both jumped to C-USA in 2005. Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss have some history that will now be enhanced with Southern Miss moving to the Western Division, while Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee were geographic rivals in the Sun Belt who are now reunited in C-USA. As one of the nation's newest programs, the fourth year team at UTSA doesn't have much history on its side, but can develop some quickly. "I'll say it will be Rice, North Texas," Roadrunner offensive lineman Scott Inskeep said. "It's all still fairly new competition, but we can all sense it coming. There's going to be rivalries with all the Texas schools. We're still all getting to know each other." "Not everybody can jump on a plane and fly; our fans can drive to Houston," UTSA coach Larry Coker said. "North Texas could be a good rivalry for us." Read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_26203930/realignment-settling-c-usa-schools-can-finally-find

"You never know when it can happen," he said of another NFL opportunity. "I'm staying in shape. I told myself that I'll give it this season, then one more off-season and if nothing happens by then, it's probably time to go on to the next chapter of my life." That will include working for the foundation he established in honor of his mother, who died in 2007 of cancer. It will include building group homes for low-income children. It could include coaching. "It depends on a lot of things," said Wallace, who will run a football camp Saturday in Ankeny. He can be picky. He doesn't need the money. He is passionate about his alma mater. His former college coach, Dan McCarney, is the head coach at North Texas, not far from Wallace's Dallas home. Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/isu-football/2014/06/18/campus-blitz-seneca-wallace-football-coach/10734685/

Man I don't recall us ever getting in front of so many hotbeds...kudos to Mac and this staff. There are some outstanding football players in Mesquite. http://starlocalmedia.com/mesquitenews/sports/mean-green-instruction/article_311b6926-f652-11e3-ad3d-001a4bcf887a.html

Would the University of Iowa fork over more cash for a nonconference football game than would the biggest financial behemoth in college football? Absolutely. The Hawkeyes are paying North Texas $900,000 to compete in a 2015 football game at Kinnick Stadium, according to the game contract. The Longhorns will write a check to the Mean Green for $875,000 for this season's Aug. 30 season-opener in Texas' Texas Memorial Stadium. Of course ... North Texas will bus to Austin, a four-hour ride from Denton — not including Texas Interstate 35's 24-hour traffic jam. So the $875,000 will seem like a lot more, considering there won't be an expensive chartered plane to rent. And of course ... The first guy off the Mean Green charter when it lands in Cedar Rapids on Sept. 25, 2015 will be coach Dan McCarney, who's probably not bringing a bunch of patsies into the stadium in which he once played and worked as an assistant coach. Win or lose, McCarney's program receives a $900,000 check from Iowa. Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/2014/06/04/iowa-hawkeyes-north-texas-dan-mccarney-texas-longhorns-ncaa-football/9969567/

UNT announced the addition of Matthew Dash, a safety from Pierce College in Los Angeles on Tuesday, when coach Dan McCarney confirmed that former Ryan standout Jordan Richmond is no longer with the program. Dash was a highly regarded player coming out of Pierce and had offers from New Mexico and Wyoming. “Matthew is a big-hitter and will come in and provide us more competition at the safety position,” McCarney said in a prepared statement. “He’s a physical player and I want him to come in and compete for playing time in the secondary and on special teams.” read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/05/unt-adds-juco-safety-richmond-long-gone.html/

54. Dan McCarney, North Texas (+29) other notables 61. Larry Coker, UTSA (-8) 101. Justin Fuente, Memphis (-21) 103. Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe (-10) 111. Sean Kugler, UTEP (+13) 80. Willie Taggart, USF (-26) 95. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee (+2) Read more: http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2014-04-30/coach-rankings-nick-saban-steve-spurrier-urban-meyer-bob-stoops-brian-kelly/slide/22

New head coach Charlie Strong and his Texas Longhorns will wrap up the second phase of the season on Saturday with the annual Orange-White game. During a media availability on Tuesday, Strong acknowledged that there have been some ups and down for the Horns throughout spring practice, but said that the spring game will represent an opportunity for the players to "just go out and play and have a good time." It's also going to feature a slightly different format than in years past -- where former head coach Mack Brown liked to match the first-team offense against the second-team defense and vice versa, Strong will have the ones against the ones, the twos against the twos, and the threes against the threes. So even though there hasn't been an official depth chart released to this point in Strong's tenure, it will be on full display Saturday minus the injured players, a group that now includes quarterback David Ash, wide receiver Jake Oliver, safety Erik Huhn, and the handful of players that have been out all spring with injuries, which is a reasonably substantial list of its own. Read more: http://www.burntorangenation.com/football/2014/4/16/5621520/texas-longhorns-offense-david-ash-tryone-swoopes-charlie-strong

The video at the top of this blog is of Dan McCarney and I chatting a little about the spring game and how spring practice went in general for the Mean Green. McCarney has some interesting things to say, as always. And while we are at it, Im going to break one of my unwritten rules and allow myself to be drug into a ridiculous debate after being called out for not agreeing with a readers opinion on a topic that really doesnt matter in the large scheme of things. The topic? Is this the deepest batch of running backs UNT has ever had going into the 2014 season? Watch video here and more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/04/mgb-video-mccarney-talks-spring-game-is-this-unts-deepest-batch-of-backs-ever.html/

Editor’s note -- Since we launched the Mean Green Blog several years ago, we have put an emphasis on covering recruiting when we get the chance. In the past, we have written several posts that we later turned into stories that appeared in the paper on recruits who have committed to UNT. What we haven’t done — until now — is write a lot about prospects UNT is pursuing. I will make an effort to get more material on the blog on prospects going forward. We have already written a about a few UNT targets. Today, we continue the series after talking with Plano offensive lineman Beau Hott. North Texas head coach Dan McCarney made quite an impression on Plano offensive lineman Beau Hott during one of the Mean Green’s workouts this spring. Hott, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound lineman, has been a regular at practice throughout the spring and has been in contact with special teams coach Tommy Perry for months. Hott knew that McCarney knew who he was. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/04/unt-recruiting-target-series-plano-ol-beau-hott.html/

UNT went through its final scrimmage before its spring game next week today. We kept a running blog going throughout the proceedings. I shot a little video with Dan McCarney, who gave his thoughts on where things stand at this point. It’s at the top of this post. And now for some thoughts. The story of the day was the improvement of UNT’s defense, which is what I wrote about for tomorrow’s paper. There are a few news tidbits I wanted to get to before then, starting with some injury/who’s not playing information. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/04/scrimmage-wrap-up-with-mccarney-video.html/

The chatter started as Erick Evans broke to the outside and scampered down the field, leaving defenders at the Darrell R. Dickey Football Practice Facility in his wake. A few North Texas players jumped up and down, while others looked at each other. Fellow running back Antoinne Jimmerson just smiled. Spring practice is a time when players whom no one expects to contribute emerge. It’s a time that helped Casey Fitzgerald go from being a walk-on to one of the most productive receivers in UNT history, a time that offered defensive end Brandon McCoy a chance to develop into an anchor for the Mean Green’s Heart of Dallas Bowl championship team. More and more, it appears as if Evans could be the next in line. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20140326-football-evans-speeding-toward-shot-at-rotation.ece

It really feels good to see our University step up and make this type of commitment on Coach Mac. It shows me that they are serious about competing at the highest level. It's exciting to think that we will have the majority of this staff in place for a good while with both Skaldany and Chico getting extensions. And shout out to our students and the fans as well. The turnout and success in Dallas at the Heart of Dallas Bowl had an impact on this deal getting done. It's exciting to think about the future of our football program with the pieces we now have in place. GMG!

DENTON, Texas -- North Texas coach Dan McCarney is getting a new five-year contract after leading the Mean Green to nine wins and their first bowl victory in 11 seasons. School officials said Tuesday, only hours before spring practice began, that the deal was imminent. Attorneys were reviewing the new contract that will take McCarney through the 2018 season. "What they did was, in putting a contract in place really, is showing appreciation for changing the culture at this place. It's showing appreciation for how we do it, and the way we've done it on the field, in the classroom, in Denton, and how we handle things," McCarney said. "I think it's a sign of support for all of my guys, all of my staff, my program, our program. ... I appreciate that opportunity to stay here. I'm not looking to leave. I love this place." read more: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10552286/dan-mccarney-getting-new-5-year-deal-north-texas-mean-green

According to ESPN/Vito Mac made $545,300 last season. That doesn't include his additional compensation like for the coaches show, car, country club etc...but if you look at pure salary - and he is indeed to be among the tops of C-USA this list should give us an idea: Middle Tennessee State CUSA Rick Stockstill $701,504 Southern Mississippi CUSA Todd Monken $700,000 Rice CUSA David Bailiff $646,386 Marshal CUSA Doc Holliday $607,070 Tulsa CUSA Bill Blankenship $619,549 Alabama at Birmingham CUSA Garrick McGee $550,000 North Texas CUSA Dan McCarney $545,000 Louisiana Tech CUSA Skip Holtz $500,000 Florida International CUSA Ron Turner $500,000 Texas-El Paso CUSA Sean Kugler $500,000 Florida Atlantic CUSA Carl Pelini $496,124 Texas-San Antonio CUSA Larry Coker $350,000 Link: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/

We have been saying this for weeks, but it is worth reiterating that UNT and Dan McCarney are about done with a contract extension for the Mean Green’s head coach. The deal that has been agreed to in principle would be a new four-year deal with a vesting option for a fifth year based on a milestone for wins in a season. I was told that bench mark for the extension to kick out to five years is very attainable, but was not given the exact figure on the record. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/02/tuesday-afternoon-notes-mac-contract-update-assistants-update.html/

During the early stages of his tenure at North Texas, Dan McCarney talked a lot about his belief that there would be a senior class at some point in the Mean Green’s near future that would remembered for a long time. It would be the group of guys who banded together and brought UNT out of its near decade-long football funk. After the Mean Green finished 9-4 and beat UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, we now know that class finished out its time at UNT last fall. There is no way to under estimate the impact guys like Zach Orr, Derek Thompson and Brelan Chancellor made in their time at UNT, and especially their last season. That trio is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the players who finished out there careers at UNT in 2013. And that brings us to No. 3 on our list of key questions for UNT headed into spring practice: Can UNT overcome the loss of so many key players, coaches? read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/02/off-season-questions-series-no-3-can-unt-overcome-the-loss-of-so-many-key-players-coaches.html/