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http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/qb-race-how-unt-got-to-where-it-is-and-what-we-knowhave-heard-about-each-guy.html/?__hstc=167814078.f00461964b7cfefa50ee0c67a9a26e55.1376753247653.1376860235363.1376863445079.9&__hssc=167814078.1.1376863445079
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NT wrapped up its first week of camp with its first scrimmage on Saturday. Practice is closed except for the first few minutes when media members can come in and grab a little video or shoot photos. Scrimmages are closed as well, which makes it tough to draw any hard-and-fast conclusions about how UNT is faring. We are essentially relying on the word of the coaches and players. With that being said, there were some interesting developments over the first six days of workouts: The quarterback race is still wide open for competition. Derek Thompson, Brock Berglund and Andrew McNulty (in no particular order) are all still in the hunt. Ironically, the player who seems to have helped himself the most is Dajon Williams, a freshman who seems destined for a redshirt year. Williams could be the future. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/first-week-of-camp-thoughts-record-picks-update.html/
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EDITORS NOTE: The following is the second story in a three-part series on the 100th anniversary of the North Texas football program. Todays story examines the programs history. Joe Greene kept trying to correct the people he ran into who called him Mean Joe Greene after he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969, fresh off a standout career at North Texas. The UNT football teams mascot is an Eagle, and at the time so was its official nickname, one that was starting to fade away with the rise of the moniker Mean Green. The Mean Green was our defense, but people kept calling me Mean Joe, Greene said. The name elevated me in the minds of people who might not have remembered me as well otherwise. Its not uncommon for football players to have nicknames like that, so I stopped fighting it. Joe Greene was known as Mean Joe from that point on during a career that earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. UNT held out a little longer, but eventually adopted Mean Green as the nickname for all its sports teams as well. The rise of the Mean Green nickname is a part of the colorful history of UNT and its football program that will celebrate its 100-year anniversary this fall. UNT played its first season in 1913 and has left its mark on the college football world. UNT was one of the first schools in the Southwest to integrate its football team in 1956 when Abner Haynes and Leon King joined the freshman team. Greene helped elevate the program in the late 1960s before legendary coach Hayden Fry put it on the national map in the 1970s. UNT will celebrate that history throughout the 2013 season and unveil throwback jerseys in the next few weeks for its season opener against Idaho. Those uniforms will incorporate elements of the jerseys worn in the Greene and Fry eras. The school announced a 100th anniversary team at its spring game. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130728-football-eras-of-success.ece
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UNT had 417 players at Friday Night Lights tonight. Dan McCarney had a smile from ear to ear afterward. It was a great turnout for UNT, which had a couple of good days on the recruiting trail. UNT picked up a commitment from South Oak Cliff wide receiver Fonzale Davis and also landed Deer Park quarterback Connor Means. Thursday night’s Talon Talent camp was when UNT had most of its top targets in, including Davis, who committed afterward. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/10347.html/
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UNT will quickly turn the page from Conference USA media day over the next week or so. Practice will start, and with it, there will be a whole new set of storylines with players who are moving into the two-deep and injuries that could impact the roster. We will talk about the race for the starting quarterback job — and we’ll talk about it a lot. The point that linebacker Zach Orr brought up that I didn’t delve into beyond mentioning it is that UNT is loaded with seniors, and they are not just minor contributors. Orr might be the best linebacker UNT has had since Cody Spencer, who was the last player the Mean Green had drafted in 2004. Brelan Chancellor is arguably UNT’s best playmaker. Derek Thompson hasn’t played at an all-conference level yet at quarterback, but was solid last year. By UNT quarterback standards that makes him look like John Elway, considering some of the guys the Mean Green has run through there since Scott Hall graduated in 2004. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/orrs-comments-raises-the-argument-is-this-a-make-or-break-year.html/ -
After wrapping up a couple of stories for both newspapers and editing a little video, I’m back with some thoughts from Conference USA media day. Before we get to them, the video above features a few thoughts on UNT’s move to Conference USA and the upcoming season from Dan McCarney and linebacker Zach Orr. We went over the news tidbits of the day earlier, but here were the highlights (it wasn’t a huge news day from the UNT end of things): – Defensive tackle Richard Abbe is back on the roster and could be back in the lineup by the season-opener after working his way back into the good graces of UNT’s coaches after his brush wit the law a few months ago. UNT really needs Abbe, one of the few defensive tackles with size on the roster, to play and play well. – The quarterback pecking order of Derek Thompson, Andrew McNulty and then Brock Berglund hasn’t changed since the end of spring practice. With only two major scrimmages in the fall, it seems unlikely that anyone other than Thompson starts the season-opener against Idaho. – Defensive end Quenton Brown and running back Konockus Sashington are the only two players who will not be ready for the start of two-a-days. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/conference-usa-media-day-wrap-up.html/
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And so it begins. The buildup toward the kickoff of UNT’s 2013 season starts tomorrow with Conference USA Media Day down in Irving. This will be UNT’s first season in the reconstituted league after 12 years in the Sun Belt. So what are the storylines this year? Here are some thoughts: 1. How does UNT fit in? The big benefit of the move to C-USA for UNT is it will finally be in a league with three other Texas schools in Rice, UTEP and UTSA. It will be an interesting mix, especially for the first few years because there really hasn’t been any kind of pecking order established, nor a feeling of how those teams will match up nor an idea of how they will approach competing for recruits in the state. UNT has struggled since 2004. Does the move to C-USA provide the boost it needs? Can new head coach Sean Kugler give UTEP a boost and make the Miners competitive right away? And what about Rice? Do the Owls have an edge now as the lone Texas private school in the league after the departure of SMU and the impending departure of Tulsa and Tulane? There are always a handful of players who prefer the private school environment and it seems like more and more top players are gravitating to private high schools. UTSA has a huge local base to draw from in San Antonio, but has little history. Can the Roadrunners ramp up their program that fattened up on lower division teams and do it quickly due to some inherent advantages? Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/conference-usa-media-day-primer.html/
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And in other news, Rivals.com rated Shaquel Jackson, a defensive lineman out of DeSoto, who joined teammate Johnavhon Grahm in committing to UNT this summer. The website has Jackson rated as a two-star prospect. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/sunday-morning-recruiting-notes-2.html/
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After a brief hiatus from our summer questions series on UNT football, we are back at it today with question No. 10 — Does the pressure to break through break UNT? I’ve been working on a series of stories that will run later in the summer on the 100th year of UNT football that will look at the program’s past and its future. The one thing I’ve heard over and over from UNT officials, coaches and fans is the bottom line — “UNT just needs to win some football games.” That isn’t exactly breaking news. It’s the same thing fans and boosters have been saying as well. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/post-spring-questions-series-no-10-does-the-pressure-build-and-impact-unt.html/
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UNT is officially a member of Conference USA today, the big moving day in the latest round of realignment in college athletics. Several schools, including Middle Tennessee, made their big promotional push today. UNT put out a video this morning, but is waiting until Thursday when it will have a captive audience at the annual fireworks show that is moving to Apogee Stadium. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/c-usa-day-arrives-and-a-few-notes.html/
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Here is the package I put together on Tony Mitchell and UNT’s draft party last night. A video interview with UNT assistant coach Rob Evans and Matt Walsh is above. Walsh, one of UNT’s managers, is a good friend of Mitchell. CLICK HERE TO LINK TO VIDEO
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A host of UNT recruiting targets have committed over the last few days. It has seemed like one dose of bad news after another. Nick Orr, the younger brother of Zach Orr, picked TCU. Garland wide receiver James Mayden committed to Rice, which dipped into the Dallas area to land another player UNT had offered. Orr hurt a little, but the bottom line is that we are a long, long way from panic time. UNT is following a pretty reasonable plan that should pay dividends down the line. UNT has bailed on Louisiana, put pretty much all its resources in Texas, handed out offers to a around 50 players it would like to land and has kept the lines of communication open with others. UNT has already picked up a couple of decent defensive line prospects from DeSoto in Shaquel Jackson and Johnavhon Grahm. Now it’s a waiting game. Rice is sitting there with a dozen players committed, so is SMU. Houston has 11. UTSA and UTEP have two each. There are not enough scholarships to go around for all C-USA/AAC-level players in the state, not if they want to stay home. Some of the teams UNT competes against are going fill up. Some already are a certain positions. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/unt-following-the-only-reasonable-path-to-signing-day.html/
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When it comes to sports, I’m of the belief that teams make their own luck, that good teams seem to get all the breaks because they are, well, good. One can point to a bounce here or there that is completely random and changes everything, like UNT’s “Miracle in the Desert” win at New Mexico State years ago, but those breaks are few and far between. Still, as UNT enters the 2013 season, it seems like it is due for a few of those timely and inexplicable bounces to go its way. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/post-spring-questions-series-no-9-will-the-ball-finally-bounce-unts-way.html/
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Over the years, there have been a series of key players who have either come pretty much out of nowhere or seen their roles expand unexpectedly and really help UNT. Jeremy Brown was a former walk-on, so was Ivan Delgado. Both ended up playing key roles for UNT. A few years ago, Casey Fitzgerald came out of nowhere to have a really good career at UNT. Scholarship players are a different story when it comes to unexpected contributions, but I dont think anyone expected Zac Whitfield to win a starting job and then play pretty well after making the move from running back to cornerback. Carlos Harris contributed after being thrust into the lineup after Brelan Chancellor broke his collarbone. And that brings us to this season, and the key question Does another difference-maker emerge? Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/post-spring-questions-series-no-7-does-a-difference-maker-emerge.html/
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Over the course of a season, there are always turning points or highlights one looks back on. Last season, on the positive side, there was Antoinne Jimmerson’s long catch-and-run for a touchdown that gave UNT a win over Louisiana-Lafayette on national TV and Hilbert Jackson breaking up a fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter that gave UNT a win over Florida Atlantic. On the other end, UNT blew a ton of chances, missed three field goals and failed to convert two red zone opportunities in a 14-7 loss to Troy. And that brings us to question No. 6 in our off-season series: Can UNT improve its efficiency offensively? A look across the board shows that UNT didn’t resemble a well-oiled machine at times last year. UNT ranked ninth out of 10 teams in the Sun Belt in completion percentage (57.1), passing efficiency (121.0 rating), third-down conversion percentage (33.1) and was last in red zone offense (71.4 conversion percentage). The easy thing to do is place all the blame on the offensive coordinator and the quarterback. I’m sure both Mike Canales would like to change a call or two and Derek Thompson a throw or two, but UNT’s problems were deeper than that. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/post-spring-questions-series-no-5-can-unt-improve-its-efficiency-offensively.html/
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UNT head coach Mike Petersen said a few weeks ago that he was on the verge of signing a top prospect who could make an immediate impact on the program. Petersen confirmed today that player is Janis Peterson. The 2011 California Junior College Co-Player of the Year is in the process of finishing her two-year degree and will enroll at UNT this summer. Peterson originally signed with San Jose State but did not qualify academically. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/unt-women-add-top-juco-player.html/ This post has been promoted to an article
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Phil Steele came out with his annual list of the percentage of total offense each team in the country has returning today. UNT came in at No. 42 nationally with players returning who accounted for 79.2 percent of its offensive yards. And that brings us to question No. 7 in our post-spring blog series — Did UNT fill a few key holes adequately? I have been accused over the years of over estimating the value of returning players and underestimating the potential of newcomers to dramatically impact the prospects of a team immediately. That’s a fair point. I do value experienced players over newcomers. UNT doesn’t have a ton of guys to replace when it comes to next season (there are eight players coming back on both offense and defense), but it does have some key players to replace. How the Mean Green fares in doing just that will have a big impact on how UNT’s season goes. K.C. Obi was not one of the elite defensive linemen in the Sun Belt last season, but he played pretty well for UNT, leading the team in sacks (5.5) and tackles for loss (10.5). Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/post-spring-questions-series-no-7-did-unt-fill-some-key-holes-adequately.html/
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Tommy Perry wasnt expecting to be impressed last fall when he visited North Texas for the first time as an assistant coach at South Alabama, not after what he had been told about the school and its football program for pretty much his entire life. Perry grew up in East Texas before going on to play at Texas A&M and heard about UNT during its days playing in a rapidly deteriorating Fouts Field as a member of the Southland Conference. Coming out of high school, North Texas, to me, was so far down there compared to A&M, said Perry, who is entering his first season as an assistant at UNT. When I came back with South Alabama for the game last year and saw the new football stadium and the dorms right there, I could see its a great situation. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130608-football-summer-sales-pitch.ece
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Iseed Khoury, a UNT Hall of Famer who was the a standout kicker as well as a soccer star for the Mean Green, is leaving town. Khoury has been the head girls soccer coach at Denton for more than a decade and had a ton of success there, including winning state titles in 2003 and 2004. He also essentially founded the Denton Soccer Association. Khoury is to Denton like the Statue of Liberty is to New York, like the Space Needle is to Seattle, like really bad garage bands are to Denton. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/a-unt-legend-leaving-denton-gaines-looking-more-certain.html/
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Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/a-unt-legend-leaving-denton-gaines-looking-more-certain.html/
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Cincinnati center Kelvin Gaines, who we have talked about a bit over the last few days, has arrived in Denton and is taking the tour of campus/town as we speak. As of this afternoon, it sounds like this has a pretty good chance of working out for UNT. There are always loose ends to tie up, but this just makes too much sense for everyone involved. To review: Gaines has spent three seasons at Cincinnati and is coming off pretty major shoulder surgery. Jermaine Lawrence, one of the top power forwards in the country, was a late add for Cincinnati, which is now one player over the scholarship limit. Gaines has barely played for the Bearcats and is highly expendable. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/kelvin-gaines-in-town-heres-the-situation.html/
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UNT fans were pretty spoiled for years when it came to watching great defensive fronts. UNT had Brandon Kennedy, a two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year; Adrian Awasom, who went on to play for the Giants; Evan Cardwell, who played for the Dallas Desperadoes; Michael Pruitt, who passed on an offer from Kansas to play for the Mean Green. The list goes on and on. As UNT heads into the 2013 season, its defensive front is a huge question mark instead of the strength of the team it used to be. UNT lost its most productive player in defensive end K.C. Obi and a nose tackle with size in Tevinn Cantly to graduation at the end of last season. The situation has only become more dicey since. JUCO defensive end Quenton Brown looked like he would step in for Obi, who led UNT in sacks 5.5 and tackles for loss 10.5 last season, but tore his ACL late in spring practice, an injury that will likely put him out for at least the first few games of the season. UNT head coach Dan McCarney later indefinitely suspended Richard Abbe, one of the only guys the team had left with the size to play nose tackle, due to off-the-field issues. High school signee Dylan McDorman had to give up football due to shoulder injuries. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/post-spring-questions-series-no-5-is-unt-in-trouble-up-front-defensively.html/
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UNT offered a player from Oklahoma with one of the best Twitter handles Ive seen recently: Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/05/sunday-morning-recruiting-notes.html/
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We reported earlier today on the blog that UNT defensive coordinator John Sladany was at Ryan this afternoon, talking with Raiders offensive coordinator and former UNT assistant coach Conroy Hines. Ben Baby, our man at the scene at Ryan, was able to confirm that UNT has offered Raiders defensive lineman J.T. Williams. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/05/unt-offers-ryan-star.html/
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The final stop in the Mean Green Caravan (the annual pep talk for UNT fans) was tonight over in Fort Worth. I swung by after arriving back in town. UNT fans really seem like they could stand to have a morale-boosting evening. And the UNT athletic department puts on a pretty good show. It was a tough year in the land of the Mean and the Green with UNT going 0-fer in the big three sports when it comes to posting a winning record football, mens basketball and womens basketball. There were a lot of good things that happened, but its been a long time since UNT went without a winning season in a revenue sport. The theme for the night was why there is hope that type of year will soon be only a memory. The highlights: I asked Rick Villarreal about the 2015 football schedule and the possibility that UNT will have just five home games. Villarreal said the schedule is far from done and the plan is to have six home games every year. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/05/notes-and-thoughts-from-the-final-stop-of-the-mean-green-caravan.html/
