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Mean Green Get Another Carroll Committment

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Football: Mean Green gets another Carroll commitment

08:57 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 11, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Southlake Carroll offensive lineman Nick Leppo made up his mind where he wanted to play college football months ago — right after North Texas hired Todd Dodge as its next head coach.

Leppo played under Dodge at Carroll and decided to follow his former coach to Denton. The Dragons’ center made his decision official recently when he orally committed to play for the Mean Green.

Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day recruits can sign national letters of intent is Feb. 6.

“North Texas is the most comfortable place for me to play,” Leppo said. “I know the coaching staff, a lot of the players and the system. That is where I wanted to play from the beginning.”

UNT was the only school to offer Leppo a scholarship, but Middle Tennessee and Louisiana-Monroe had shown interest. Leppo (6-3, 265) is projected as a center in college.

Leppo was a first-team All-District 5-5A selection last season and is one of several current and former Dragons who will play for the Mean Green in the next few years.

Defensive end Kyle Russo and linebacker Justin Padron, a pair of former Dragons, were members of the Mean Green’s 2007 recruiting class. Leppo joins quarterback Riley Dodge and linebacker Derek Tomlin to form a trio of Carroll seniors who will continue their careers with the Mean Green.

Riley Dodge is Todd Dodge’s son.

“I will definitely enjoy coming up there with Riley and Derek,” Leppo said. “We already have that bond as teammates.”

Leppo said he has put on weight since the summer, a process he will continue as he prepares to make the transition to the college game.

Leppo is the 11th member of the Class of 2008 to commit to play for UNT and the first who is projected as a center in college. UNT’s starting center, Kelvin Drake, is a sophomore.

Leppo expects the recruits Dodge has landed to help turn around a program that has struggled the last few years. UNT finished with a 5-18 mark in the two seasons before Dodge arrived in December and has lost its first two games under its new head coach.

“The players are going to have to get used to the system,” Leppo said. “The team will just keep getting better.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .

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NCMeanGreen Newbie

NCMeanGreen

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Keep the Linemen coming!

That gives us these linemen in the '07 & '08 recruiting class thus far:

Eloy Atkinson 6'4" 280

Troy Franklin 6'5" 270

J.J. Johnson 6'2" 280

Jacob Kaiser 6'7" 290

Nic Leppo 6'3" 265

Matt Tomlinson 6'5" 270

Linemen are good. We really need some more beef, however. Some of these guys will really need to put on some weight.

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Censored by Laurie Veteran

Censored by Laurie

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Keep the Linemen coming!

That gives us these linemen in the '07 & '08 recruiting class thus far:

Eloy Atkinson 6'4" 280

Troy Franklin 6'5" 270

J.J. Johnson 6'2" 280

Jacob Kaiser 6'7" 290

Nic Leppo 6'3" 265

Matt Tomlinson 6'5" 270

Mix in redshirt freshmen Esteban Santiago and Matthew Menard...and converted TE Victor Gill (if he can add 40-50 pounds) and thats the start of a pretty good 2-deep line.

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GreenN'walinsVet Collaborator

GreenN'walinsVet

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This offense does not call for 300+ pound linemen. It calls for quick, agile, smart, technically sound offensive linemen to keep guys off the QB. I agree that some of these kids need to gain quality weight, however, they do not have to way over 300 lbs to be a good lineman in this particular system.

Exactly right, keep in mind that in the Dickey offense you need big road graders that could run over and wear down defense lineman, in this offense you need tall guys with long arms that can keep the D-lineman at bay and away from the quarterback, not to mention they need to be quick because they are basically standing up and letting the D-line and linebackers come to them, so they have to adjust quickly.

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adman Apprentice

adman

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Keep the Linemen coming!

That gives us these linemen in the '07 & '08 recruiting class thus far:

Eloy Atkinson 6'4" 280

Troy Franklin 6'5" 270

J.J. Johnson 6'2" 280

Jacob Kaiser 6'7" 290

Nic Leppo 6'3" 265

Matt Tomlinson 6'5" 270

So if Leppo is projected as a center in college do you think Drake slides over and Leppo plays as a Freshman?

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Censored by Laurie Veteran

Censored by Laurie

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So if Leppo is projected as a center in college do you think Drake slides over and Leppo plays as a Freshman?

That may be a bit quick...I think the true freshman starting lineman is extremely rare and used only in cases of extreme lack of depth.

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Guest GrayEagleOne

Guest GrayEagleOne

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He seems to be a good quality player and I'm glad that we have him. I do have one qualm in that there's an even higher rated center that is considering us and will this have any effect on his decision?

As to Leppo playing early, don't forget J.J. Jackson was pretty highly rated as well and he's gaining a lot of practice time as a redshirt this year. If he (or Leppo) reach the point to where they should be starting then I do think that Drake might move to guard as I believe that he is more versatile.

While we don't seem to need the really large linemen (could have been what happened to Foster and now I'm wondering about Banks) I think that you are going to have to have some depth if we are playing with 280 pounders. If you are giving away 20 pounds or more to the opponent that you are blocking, you are eventually going to get worn down.

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Guest ike

Guest ike

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Keep the commits comin.... Heck. bring as many Southlake players as possible.... maybe they don't want to see their old Coach struggle, or its plain loyalty....

And if he can keep'em coming after the Okie trouncing, imagine who he might get with more wins...

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PlummMeanGreen Grand Master

PlummMeanGreen

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Not telling anyone what they already know, but one key factor which allowed Boise State to beat OU last bowl season was their overall team speed. And like any coach (at any level) will tell you: "You cannot coach speed."

I hope we are getting our fair share of speed merchants where we need them to be up in Mean Green Country and in the Mean Green Village.

GMG!

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
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UNTFan23 Community Regular

UNTFan23

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UNT is quickly becoming SLC to the next power. More SLC personnel are coming in the football program in strategic areas. RV would only let TD fire and remove only so many folks last December.

Didn't we start with an entirely new coaching staff? :blink:

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