Brett Vito

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South Garland defensive back Will Wright Jr. cancelled his visit to Louisiana-Monroe over the weekend and committed to UNT, according to an assistant coach at the school. UNT's coaches were there when I got someone to pick up the phone. Wright had just left for the day, so I won't be able to get anything in the paper until he calls back and confirms and that likely won't be until tomorrow. It's a nice win for UNT over a conference rival in the recruiting game, though. In a side note, I have made all the calls and have yet to hear back on UNT's offensive coordinator job. View the full article

There were a few questions posted on the blog today. Here's my take on a few. First off, I did ask the coach over in Garland about quarterback Henry Hunter. It doesn't look like UNT is in on him. As far as UNT signing a quarterback in this class, I don't think there is any doubt that the staff would like to add one to the roster. Riley Dodge is injury prone. Sorry, after a separated shoulder his last game in high school, a concussion in one of the few games he got onto the field two years ago and a separated shoulder, severely sprained ankle and a broken arm in his one college season at quarterback last year, there is little doubt left. UNT has the good soldier (not to mention a pretty good player and the Official Player of the Mean Green Blog) Nathan Tune back. UNT also has what looks like a player with a ton of potential in Derek Thompson, who will be a sophomore next year after he played a handful of plays at the end of last season. Todd Dodge said he would like to sign a quarterback in every class. Tune will be gone after next year. A run of injuries in an offense that uses the quarterback in the running game quite a bit makes that necessary. There were a couple of questions about William Cole as well. He should be around for spring. He practiced toward the end of the year. One has to wonder if Cole will be what he was in high school after blowing out his knee, but he should help UNT next season even if he is half of what he was. As to the question of counting transfers as part of a recruiting class, sure, that makes sense. When it comes to the way classes are scored, no one does it that way, though. There are a few transfers or guys who won't show up in official recruiting lists around the league who will play big roles next year. One will have to remember that when looking at how teams shape up going into next season. Wesley Carroll is ready to go at FIU. He was the 28th ranked quarterback in the country coming out of high school and was an All-SEC Freshman Team selection while he was at Mississippi State. It's just the way it goes. As far as the rankings go, it's a great spark for conversation. If it the end-all, be-all? No. East Texas Mopar made that point today. Here's the bottom line, though. College football is different than high school football. It's not about your off-season program or having players who are well-versed in a scheme or having great parental support. It's about talent. And a coaching staff that puts that talent in the position to win. Troy didn't win the last four Sun Belt Conference titles because it had players who tried hard. The Trojans won because they had Omar Haugabook and Levi Brown and Jerrel Jernigan and Leodis McKelvin and Sherrod Martin and Brandon Lang and Cameron Sheffield and Larry Blakeney, who put them in position to succeed. When UNT won four in a row, it wasn't because it had a great scheme. It won because it had Cobbs, and Adrian Awasom and Cody Spencer and Brandon Kennedy and Jonas Buckles and Johnny Quinn and Andy Brewster. That's why this part of the year is so interesting. College football is about talent and coaching. Now is when team get that talent. Or they don't. View the full article

I spoke with Cibolo Steele defensive tackle Corey Hill this afternoon. He has yet to commit and will wait to take visits to UTEP during the week and Memphis next weekend before making a decision. Right now UNT is in a dogfight with Stephen F. Austin. The problem is Hill is still holding out hope that TCU will offer. I get the impression that if the Frogs enter the picture, UNT exits stage left. It's hard to blame the guy if that is the case considering TCU busted the BCS while UNT finished 2-10. Memphis and UTEP still have a dog in the fight and could land him as well. UTEP already snatched Javia Hall from UNT and Memphis has a lot to offer. Will Wright Jr. visited Louisiana-Monroe this weekend. I don't have any way to get him on the phone and nothing has come out indicating what he will do. Denison quarterback Jordan Taylor was supposed to be facing a Sunday deadline to stick with Rice and play wide receiver or flip to UNT to play quarterback. Rice was supposed to have a Plan B receiver in place. Taylor isn't picking up his phone, but it is interesting to note that Rice picked up a commitment from Mario Hull out of South Texas. Was Hull the Plan B guy Rice was going to give Taylor's scholarship to? I have no idea at this point, but that certainly could be the case. Hull did commit Sunday morning. Todd Dodge is a great closer. How he convinced Austin Fitzpatrick to pass on an offer to go sit on the beach with Howard Schnellenberger and join the long list of tight ends that Florida Atlantic has cranked out to play in an offense where the position is nothing more than a rumor is beyond me. Landing Taylor would be right up there with Dodge's best sales jobs. UNT has Riley Dodge back for three more years and Derek Thompson back for at least that long. There is also the matter of the potential to pick up a Rice degree. Kudos to Dodge if he can pull this one out of the hat. One other tidbit of note is Honey Grove athlete Zack Patt pass on an offer to play for the Mean Green to play for, you guessed it, Rice. There is one weekend left in the recruiting season and it is starting to look likely that UNT is going to pull out a middle-of-the-pack class in the Sun Belt, despite losing Hall. It's definitely a solid effort by UNT, which has been stuck at the bottom of the league standings for the last three seasons. View the full article

UNT picked up at least one commitment today. Diboll offensive lineman Antonio Johnson just told me that he has committed to play for the Mean Green. He didn't end up taking his visit to Texas State. Johnson chose UNT over offers Louisiana-Monroe, Lamar, Texas State and UTEP. Johnson was committed to Louisiana-Monroe before the school changed coaching staffs. He is 6-6, 270 and was recruited to play left tackle by UNT. He only played left tackle as a senior and said he expects to spend his first season at UNT as a redshirt. Johnson was a Spencer Leftwich recruit. As a senior, Johnson was a first-team all-district selection. Johnson has family in the Dallas area, which helped UNT's cause. For those of you out there wishing on a star for a ton of impact defensive linemen in this class, don't count Johnson as a guy who will fill that role. I asked. The topic of defense was never part of the recruiting process. At this point, it looks like UNT's best defensive line recruit is Everman defensive end Aaron Bellazin. I have received a couple of questions about UNT;s mystery quarterback recruit. I made a few calls and have ruled out a handful of prospects, including Sachse's Henry Hunter. As far as UNT's non-conference football schedule goes, the Mean Green will face Clemson, Rice, Army and Kansas State. View the full article

Dallas Skyline quarterback Javia Hall finally made a public statement about ditching UNT in favor of UTEP and took what almost sounds like a shot at UNT on the way out. I don't think Hall really meant any harm by what he told Eddie Delgado, the guy who runs Minersdigs.net, but here is: "Yeah I'm a solid commit. I feel like I'm at home. I'm comfortable with the program and what direction they are going in, which is up!" said Hall. "I like the program, I also like the coach staffing." UTEP went 4-8 last season, which I wouldn't consider up or a sign of greatness to come. And I don't think this is over with Hall's visit to LSU coming up. What it probably came down to was Hall would get a chance to play quarterback at UTEP without the coach's kid sitting there all but assured of starting. UNT's record probably didn't help either. View the full article

I had the day off today since UNT didn't have a basketball game. Saturdays off are rare and cherished in this business, but I am checking in on the blog to post a state of the union as far as recruiting goes heading into Sunday, which at this time of year usually means it's time for wild goose chases and hunting for random 18-year-old safeties cell phone numbers. First of all, it's looking more and more like UNT can kiss Javia Hall good bye. The kid is not going to talk to me at this point after telling me two or three times that he was going to stick with UNT. He has told everyone else that he has switched to UTEP, pending a visit to LSU. If LSU offers, he's going to go to Baton Rouge. Who knows how this will all end up, but I would be surprised if he signs with UNT. I was surprised he committed to UNT in the first place considering he has a lot of options and Riley Dodge is going to be a sophomore. If UNT loses Hall, and I think that will be the case, UNT will drop in the recruiting rakings quite a bit. I don't see UNT landing another nationally ranked player of Hall's caliber. There are a number of other prospects who could very well make up their minds this weekend. Jordan Taylor is facing a Sunday deadline with Rice. He can stick with the Owls as a wide receiver or flip and sign with UNT as a quarterback. My guess is he sticks with Rice after talking with his coach. Defensive tackle Corey Hill is visiting Stephen F. Austin and has a number of options. UNT is in the race, but I haven't talked to the kid or anyone close enough to him to have a guess as to how that will play out. Defensive back Will Wright Jr. is headed to Louisiana-Monroe. I don't have a feeling on that one, either, but the Warhawks are pulling some kids out of the area. Offensive lineman Antonio Johnson is at Texas State, where he is visiting with a staff that includes several former UNT coaches who know where the bodies are buried in Denton. I think UNT has a good shot with Johnson after talking to him, but you never know. There was no basketball game to look for players in on visits, but I would expect UNT to have several guys in. We should see in the next day or so how UNT's class will shape up. From the looks of it now, UNT is looking at a middle of the pack class in the Sun Belt again this year. A question was posted on the blog about Gilmer quarterback Darian Godfrey. I have not seen his name come up in connection with UNT, but he is still on the board. This is a look at the hits and misses with Hall on the misses list. It also includes Houston St. Pious athlete Venric Mark, who passed on an offer from UNT to commit to Northwestern: UNT commits DE Aaron Bellazin, Everman RB Brandin Byrd, Copperas Cove WR Brelan Chancellor, Copperas Cove S Ryan Downing, Butler (Kan.) CC LB Blake Dunham, Argyle CB Vincent Eddie, DeSoto OLB Brad Graham, Navarro JC OL Graylin Hawkins, Dallas Skyline S Jamison Hughes, Pearl River (Miss.) C.C. OLB Forlando Johnson, Butler (Kan.) CC CB DeLeon McCord, Butler (Kan.) CC K Zach Olen, Richardson Berkner LB Zach Orr, DeSoto OL Mason Y'Barbo, Sulphur Springs Players with UNT offers who have committed to other teams CB Jimmie Anderson, Kilgore, Troy OL Josh Allen, Cedar Hill, Minnesota CB Bernard Blake, Bastrop, Colorado State WR Kelvin Bolden, Miss. Gulf Coast CC, Mississippi State OL Zach Bolton, Klein Forest, Kansas S Barry Browning, Everman, Stanford ATH Stephen Bryant, New Deal, TCU OL Luke Burleson, Allen, Baylor DE Dartwan Bush, Brazoswood, Texas Tech CB Aaron Colvin, Owasso, Okla., Oklahoma LB Lavonte David, Fort Scott (Kan.) CC, Nebraska DE Adam Davis, Hutchinson (Kan.) CC, Kansas St. OL Tayo Fabuluje Jr., Arlington Oakridge, BYU RB Daryl Fields, Madill, Okla., SMU WR Carey Fortson, Longview, Louisiana Tech LB Toquavius Gilchrist, Butler County (Kan.) CC, Houston LB Quentin George, Arkansas Van Buren, Tulsa DE Anthony Gonzales, Blinn CC, Baylor DB Justin Goodman, Blinn CC, Louisiana Tech OL Bob Graham, Jenks, Okla., Iowa State QB Javia Hall, Dallas Skyline, UTEP S Jeremy Hall, Brenham, SMU RB Broam Hart, Alvarado, Air Force S Sam Holl, Katy, Baylor OL Kason Hostrup, Sachse, Kansas State DB Saheed Imoru, Navarro JC, Pittsburgh S Dan Jackson, Trinity Valley CC, Louisiana-Monroe ATH Venric Mark, Houston St. Pious, Northwestern S Desmond Martin, Round Rock Stony Point, Texas Tech DL Jonathan Mathis, Blinn, Texas A&M OL Mason Myers, Southmoore, Okla., Colorado State OL Trevor Murphy, Jefferson, Colorado State LB Ryan Oppman, Sugarland Clements, Tulane RB Reggie Pegram, Dallas Madison, Purdue OL Chase Petersen, Bentonville, Ark., Louisville RB James Sims, Irving MacArthur, Kansas S Xavier Smith, Edmond (Okla.) North, Missouri CB Lionel Stokes, Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) JC, UL-Lafayette OT Javius Towsend, Dallas Madison, Texas Tech OL Davonte Wallace, El Paso Irvin, New Mexico State WR Chris Young, Trinity Valley, Iowa State DL Darrell Zellers, Hutchinson (Kan.) CC, Tulsa View the full article

Josh Allen, a highly rated center out of Cedar Hill, decommitted from Minnesota a few days ago. He was one of UNT's targets when the recruiting season kicked off. I made a call to the coaches at Cedar Hill, and it looks like Allen might end up playing in the Sun Belt. Minnesota asked Allen to gray shirt. For those of you out there not familiar with the term, all it means is a player delays enrolling until the semester break and then counts toward the following year's scholarship total. Allen slept on it and decided it wasn't in his best interest to wait until December to start his college career. Louisiana Tech immediately jumped in and had him in on a visit. Louisiana-Monroe also got in the race early and is hosting Allen this weekend. The coaches at Cedar Hill said UNT may try to get into the hunt and there is one weekend left before national signing day. It looks like Allen is likely headed to ULM or Tech at this point, though. View the full article

This whole Javia Hall-UNT situation is getting more interesting as the afternoon progresses. I finally got Denison head coach Cody White on the phone to talk about his quarterback/wide receiver Jordan Taylor. Taylor is committed to Rice, but UNT head coach Todd Dodge and recruiting coordinator Chuck Petersen, one of the team's ace recruiters, had an in-home visit and put on the full-court press. Taylor has to make a decision by Sunday morning or Rice is going to go with its Plan B prospect for a slot receiver. Taylor was an all-state selection at receiver before moving to quarterback. UNT is recruiting Taylor as a quarterback. White was in on the talks and he said he was left with the impression that UNT had lost or will lose Hall. That's the story I would tell a potential quarterback prospect as well. That doesn't mean it's a done deal yet, but there is a whole lot of smoke floating around for their not to be a fire somewhere. I asked White if he had a guess as to what Taylor would do. He said he expects Taylor to stick with Rice. View the full article

I spoke with Dallas Skyline's recruiting coordinator R.J. Bond a couple of minutes ago about Javia Hall. Apparently, ESPN had a source that told them Hall had decommitted from UNT to commit to UTEP. The network ran with the story, but then decided their source wasn't solid enough and pulled it off after it was on there for about five minutes. Hall is in class and has basketball practice after school, so Bond hasn't had a chance to talk to Hall and doesn't know for sure what the story is. In a somewhat funny aside, Bond got a call from one of UNT's coaches while I was on the phone with him. Hall is visiting LSU, where he went to camp over the summer. Hall had a good showing at the camp, and I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that he ends up committing to the Tigers. LSU has a commitment from McKinney quarterback Zach Lee, but he is a really good pitching prospect. He could be taken in the draft, which could leave LSU without a quarterback. The only other quarterback LSU offered has committed to USC and there are no other really good prospects left on their board. Hall has always been a soft commitment to UNT and seems like he would be the easiest player for LSU to flip. UTEP could also be attractive to Hall, who would have to compete with Riley Dodge at UNT, where the future of the coaching staff is in question heading into the season. View the full article

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