jtm0097

Thanks, they are definitely 3A. I was multi-tasking and made a typo. I stop at their truck stop on I-30 every time I visit my folks in East Texas. Very small town with recent success at the 3A level.

I don't know what the Light the Tower fund not to be confused with Light the Tower master plan is doing with NIL funds. I mean it could be possible that is part of the deal for us signing some of these guys. However, that would be a better question for the boosters and RV.

Alright since I did this for the scholarship guys yesterday, I figured I would show some love for the preferred walk on players as well. These guys are paying their own way for school, and will have to fight and claw for a scholarship. It was mentioned on the Go Mean Green Signing Day show yesterday that this is one of the strongest PWO classes that they remember. I have been following the program since 2006 and I can't remember us getting this many quality guys. This is one of the blessings of the transfer portal. Guys like Blake Fann and Mackenzie McGill would have been signed by other FBS schools, and not available for us to bring on. I think there will be some natural attrition after spring ball, and some of these guys will be able to compete for scholarships. Here's an overview of each prospect. Welcome to Denton and Go Mean Green! 2023 Preferred Walk On List J’Kalon Carter Illinois State (Denton Braswell HS) 6’0 180 WR J’Kalon played his high school ball locally at Denton Braswell. It appears he was a first team all district WR in High School. He played for 2 years at Illinois State University. While he didn’t have a ton of production, he could add depth to our WR room and play on special teams. Since he has some experience playing at the FCS level, this should be a fairly easy transition for him. 2022 Stats: 12 Rec 111 Yards 1 TD HS Stats: 54 Rec 888 yards 10 TD West Wilson Lucas Lovejoy HS 6'2 245 TE/DE It seems that the old Nebraska staff was recruiting him. He also visited Air Force, LA Tech and Boise State. He doesn't have a 24/7 profile and I didn't see any stats on Maxpreps. First team all-district. I watched his HUDL video and he seems to be a good blocker. With Jake and Asher leaving, I imagine he will take on the blocking TE role. He also plays DE. There were a few plays on his HUDL video where he split double teams and made good tackles. Corey Swiney Jr Shadow Creek HS 6’0 185 DB High school teammate of current signee Brian Nelson. Corey was a 2nd Team All District Safety. In 2022, he had offers from Navy and Prairie View A&M. It appears at one point, he was playing ball at Manvel HS. In this hudl video, he was mainly playing free safety. I didn’t see a lot of coverage snaps, but he did come into the box and make several tackles. HS Stats: 37 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass deflection Makenzie McGill Jr Mount Vernon HS 5’10 185 RB Makenzie played his high school ball at Mount Vernon HS in East Texas. He was the 2 time District 5-3A player of the year. 1st Team All Smoaky East Texas RB. He owns several rushing records at Mount Vernon. He had 5 offers to 4 FCS offers and 1 FBS offer. I am really shocked we were able to get a player of this caliber to walk on. If he comes in and practices hard, I could see him being on scholarship next year. Offers: ACU, Grambling State, Incarnate Word, Northwestern State, and Texas State Career HS Stats: 27 Games 530 Carries 4711 yards 8.9 Avg 174.5 Y/G 72 TD Caden Yates Argyle HS 6’2 200 LB/LS I think Caden is being recruited as a long snapper. However he did have a productive year playing LB at Argyle HS. He was an All District Honorable Mention award winner. He played on a talented Argyle team. Our current long snapper JP Hadley was a transfer last season and 2023 should be his last year with the team. Caden could be his potential replacement. 2022 Stats: 88 tackles 11 TFL 5 Sacks Tim Madison Frisco Lebannon Trail HS 6’0 173 WR Tim is a speedster that played his ball at one of the newer high schools Frisco Lebannon Trail. He was a 2nd Team All District WR for district 6-5A. Tim is a sprinter on the track team. He ran a 10.8 100 meter dash and a 21.8 200 meter dash. He has a very long stride and it shows when he is running routes. I was impressed with the double moves he had on his routes. Since we have a deep WR room right now, I imagine he would be a candidate for a redshirt. However, he could develop into a quality WR like former walk on Roderick Burns. It appears that he was getting recruited by the old staff. He also had walk on interest from SMU, Tulsa, Houston, SFA, UL-LA and Miss State. Stats: 22 Receptions 428 Yards 5 TDs Devin Strange Flower Mound Marcus 6’3 235 DE He has the size to play at this level. First team All-District 6-6A DE. It looks like he was at Argyle Christian in 2020 and then transferred back to Flower Mound Marcus. At one time he had offers from Michigan, Kansas State, and Southern Miss. After a few years of coaching and bulking up in the weight room, he could be on the rotation in the DL. Size is one thing that you can't coach, and he already has a good frame. I hope he works hard and earns a scholarship. Blake Fann Frisco Lone Star 6’2 230 LB Another prospect that I am in shock we landed as a PWO. 1st Team All District and 1st Team All State Linebacker. He had offers from FBS ULM and a couple of D2 schools. Just looking at his tape, he has the size to play MLB right now in this 3-3-5 defense. He can take on blocks while our other guys run free. He also does a great job of avoiding blockers and getting to the ball carrier. I was impressed with his tackling skills. If he comes in and works hard, I could see him getting put on scholarship next year. Stats: 12 games - 152 Tackles - 3.5 Sacks - 2 Forced Fumbles - 21.5 TFL’s - 8 QB Pressures - 7 PBU’s Mikaeli Nguma Sharyland HS (Mission, Tx) 5’10 150 K/P Mikaeli has a strong leg. I’m not sure if they will use him as a kicker or punter. He had a career long field goal of 53 yards as a Junior. He received walk on offers from McNeese State, UTEP, and North Texas. 2022 Stats: 45/46 PAT 11/17 FGs Long Distance of 44; 36 Punts 38 yard average Long Distance of 56 yards;14 were within the 20 yard line Christian Hurd Katy Paetow HS 5’10 190 DB Christian’s HS had some drama this year with the coach being dismissed in the middle of the season. They won the state championship in 2021. It looks like they used him as a Safety or Nickel Cornerback. He did a good job in coverage swatting away passes. He also did a good job tackling guys in space. I see that he tagged Coach O in a few tweets during the regular season. I am assuming that's how we was discovered. He played ball at a big high school in Houston, so he shouldn’t be intimated by the FBS talent. Either way, not a bad addition to the secondary. Stats: 27 Tackles 2 INT Keon Johnson Archbishop Hoban High School Akron, Ohio OT 6’5 385 He’s massive, I feel for those small DL that were trying to get past him. I’m interested to see how his size translates to FBS football. I imagine they will get him on a nutrition plan to get him in shape for playing at this level. Keon chose North Texas over PWO offer from Bowling Green, scholarship offers from Maine (FCS) and Livingstone College (D2). His high school made it to the state championship. It looks like he went on a visit to Syracuse, but never got an offer. Overall, Keon has a high ceiling. He will need to shed some weight but has the frame to play at this level. 2023 Preferred Walk On List.docx

Nice job. Great commentary and analysis!

Nice job Emmitt!

If Phillip Hill can play like he did in 2021 for UNLV, I could see him playing right away.

Thanks! It was a slow day of work. This was more enjoyable than messing with my normal excel spreadsheet.

Thank you!

Since I was iced in and work was slow, I thought I would compile a list of our signing's today. I pulled information from Max Preps, 247, Mean Green Sports, and Twitter. I tried to give insights on each player and my thoughts (not that they really matter) on each signing. While 247 has this class currently ranked as 117, I think it will end up being a little higher. This staff did a great job signing local prospects and hitting the transfer portal. I'm not a recruiting analyst, just a bored work from home financial services consultant. So if you don't agree with something, take the time and do your own analysis. Thanks and Go Mean Green! 2023 Signees: Marcus Moore-Coffeyville C.C. (The Colony, TX) Defensive Line 6-1 / 295 Marcus is originally from The Colony, Texas. He spent 2020 at ULM before transferring to Coffeyville CC. In high school he was the district 5-5A DL of the year. This past year he was an honorable mention All-KJCCC selection. North Texas beat Arizona State for his services. I imagine he will immediately be in the DT rotation. 2022 JUCO Stats:33 Tackles 3.5 Sacks Offers out of HS: Arkansas State, Army, Grambling State, Hawaii, Houston Baptist, NMSU, Northwestern State, Southern, Texas Southern and Toledo Landon Sides-Guyer (Denton, TX) Wide Receiver 6-0 / 180 Landon played his ball at Denton Guyer. He was OU signee Jackson Arnold’s top target at WR. First team 6-A All- State WR. He also excels at track. Ran a 10.54 100 Meter dash as a junior. Chose North Texas over Incarnate Word. 2022 Stats: 60 receptions for 1,358 yards and 16 touchdowns Offers: Incarnate Word, Army, and Colorado School of the Mines Damon Youngblood-McKinney (McKinney, TX) University of Louisiana Lafayette Safety 5-10 / 180 Damon played his high school ball at McKinney High. After a redshirt year at UL-LA he decided to enter the transfer portal. Impressive high school tape. He made several INTs and pass break ups. A little undersized, but he’s not afraid to tackle in space. Our new defense has 5 DBs on at one time. He will compete for playing time. 2021 HS Stats: 77 tackles, 7 PBUs, 8 INT and 3 FF. He also scored 2 TDs Offers out of HS: UL-La, Air Force, Army, Arkansas State, Buffalo, Colorado St, Dartmouth, Furman, Liberty, Navy, New Mexico, North Texas, Rice, Tulane, and Utah State Larry Moore-Fort Bend Marshall (Missouri City, TX) Texas Tech Offensive Tackle 6-5/ 275 Larry played his high school ball at Fort Bend Marshall. He committed to Texas Tech and was eventually on their depth chart as a back up OT. Larry has great size and should compete for playing time. Offers out of HS: Texas Tech, Kansas, Colorado St, Georgia Tech, Houston, UL LA, ULM, NM St, Oklahoma St, SMU, Tulsa, Toledo, TX Southern, Tulane, UTSA, and Utah State Phillip Hill-Klein Collins (Spring, TX) UNLV Safety 6-0 / 183 Phillip played his high school ball at Klein Collins in Spring, Texas. He has spent the last 4 years at UNLV. He didn’t play last year as he was recovering from an injury. Phillip had a productive 2021 season at UNLV. He should compete to be a starter this upcoming season. 2021 Stats: 46 tackles, 3 int, and 1 sack Offers out of HS: UNLV Trey Cleveland-Arlington (Arlington, TX) Texas Tech Wide Receiver 6-3 / 175 Trey played his high school ball at Arlington HS. Emmett Jones found him and extended him an offer. Played at Texas Tech the past 4 seasons. He appeared in all 12 games for the Red Raiders. I imagine he is in the WR rotation this season. 2022 Stats: 22 receptions for 344 yards Offers out of HS: Texas Tech and Southern Illinois Paula Vaipulu-Channelview (Channelview, TX) Georgia Tech Interior Offensive Lineman 6-3 / 305 Paula played his high school ball at Channelview High School. His high school coach was Jalen Hurts’ father Averion Hurts. Paula is also the cousin to Manase Mose. Paula played at Georgia Tech for the last 3 seasons. He started 9 games at guard and center. I imagine he will be either our starting center or guard next season. Offers out of HS: Georgia Tech, Arizona, Boston College, BYU, Colorado St, FIU, Hawaii, Houston, Liberty, Louisiana Lafayette, Missouri, Nebraska, North Texas, Rutgers, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas State, Tulsa, Utah State, and UTSA Chandler Rogers-Lake Ridge (Mansfield, TX) University of Louisiana Monroe Quarterback 6-0 / 194 Chandler played his high school ball at Lake Ridge HS in Mansfield. Fun fact, he was the QB that shared playing time with Jason Bean. Originally signed with Southern Miss and took a redshirt. After 1 year, he transferred to Blinn, where he started 4 games. Chandler transferred to ULM for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, where he was very productive. I see him as QB 1 next year. Very excited for this addition. I forgot to mention, 68% completion percentage this past season. 2021-2022 ULM Stats: threw for 3714 yards, 24 TDs, 10 INT. He rushed for 720 yards and 6 TDs. He also had 1 receiving TD. 66% career completion percentage Offers: Cal, Indiana, Sam Houston, and “every Sun Belt school per his Mean Green Show interview” Dietrich Moore-Broken Arrow (Broken Arrow, OK) Linebacker 6-0 / 205 Dietrich played his high school ball at Broken Arrow HS in Oklahoma. Number 24 prospect in Oklahoma. Number 1 LB in Oklahoma according to his Twitter page. He flew to the ball in his highlight tape. An injury during his junior slowed down his recruiting process some. I think he will be a solid LB for us in a few years. 2022 Stats: 80 tackles, two sacks, four int, and one FF Offers: Incarnate Word, ULM, New Mexico St, Southeast Missouri St, Lindenwood, and UCO Desmond Magiya-McKinney (McKinney, TX) Offensive Tackle 6-4 / 270 Desmond played his high school ball at McKinney High. First Team All-District 5-6A OL. I was impressed by his run blocking. He is not afraid to get in a 3 point stance and block down on a LB or DE. I liked the effort he was giving on runs that were several yards down field. He was still sprinting downfield looking to make a block. His pass blocking was not bad against the small DEs he was facing. I imagine he will need a year in the weight room to add strength for blocking FBS DL. Overall, I think he has a lot of potential. This is a good pickup for 2-3 years down the road. Offers: Alcorn, Pittsburg State, Weber State, Northern Arizona, Kilgore JC, Abilene Christian, Southern Arkansas & Incarnate Word Evan Jackson-North Shore (Houston, TX) Safety 5-10 / 170 Evan played his high school ball at North Shore. First Team All-District 21-6A DB and Returner. Very athletic DB and played for one of the top high schools in the country. He might be a redshirt candidate but I could see him contributing down the road. 2022 Stats: 62 tackles, 4.0 TFL and 7 PBU 3 punt return TDs Offers: Grambling State, Lamar, Marshall, Northwestern State and SFA Brian Nelson-Shadow Creek (Pearland, TX) Cornerback 6-0 /181 Brian played at Shadow Creek in Pearland, Texas. He had 27 offers and we beat several G5 schools for his services. 7 INTs on the season. I was impressed with his coverage skills and how he would jump routes for INTs. There were a few plays where he fought off WR blocks and made tackles. That is a skill he definitely will need at this level. It's good to see that he is not afraid of contact. He didn't have a ton of tackles the year, but that could be due to QBs not throwing his way (7 INTs). Great addition to the defense! 2022 Stats: 14 Tackles 7 INT 4 Passed Defended (I assume this is similar to pass break ups) Offers: Akron, Coastal Carolina, Miami (OH), New Mexico, New Mexico St, North Texas, Old Dominion, Texas St, ACU, Air Force, Navy and 16 FCS offers (Yes 16, I am not going to list them all). Isaac Sohn-Aledo (Aledo, TX) Offensive Tackle 6-5 / 280 Played his high school ball at state powerhouse Aledo. He has more pancakes than IHOP. Ok, that was a corny joke, but he was mauling guys in almost everyone of these cherry picked clips. Aledo played a lot of schools with FBS talent and he even labeled some of the guys "3 star DT of 5 star LB" that he was going against in the video. I was impressed seeing him go out and block on screen plays. This is a good addition to the OL. He is recovering from an injury and could be a redshirt candidate. Offers: UTSA, Air Force, Lamar, Dartmouth, La Tech, New Mexico St, Sam Houston St, San Diego St, SMU, and Texas St Matthew Moore -Ellison (Killen, TX) Linebacker 6-2 / 210 Played his high school all at Killeen Ellison High. Two-Time First Team All- District LB. He runs track and is a very good student. I was impressed with his closing speed on plays. He did a good job fighting off blocks and making tackles. He's very athletic and should be a solid contributor in a few years for us. Honestly, I think this is one of the kids that is getting hurt by the transfer portal. OU, Texas Tech, and TCU were all showing interest. I bet if his high school had a better year, he would have had more offers. This staff is turning over rocks to find kids and I like it. 2022 Stats: 129 Tackles 17 TFL 3 Sacks 3 PBU 1 FF Offers: Arkansas State, Midwestern State, Cisco College, Blinn, Kilgore JC, Southwestern, McPherson College and Texas Lutheran Kollin Lewis-Gladewater (Gladewater, TX) Defensive Back / Wide Receiver 5-11 / 170 Kollin is the lone East Texas recruit this year. He played at Gladewater High School and was the 6-3A Co-Offensive Player of the year. He is very athletic and plays DB and WR. Kollin is a coaches kid. He also plays basketball and runs track. He has speed and decent hands. He reminds me of Loronzo Thompson that is currently on the roster. He was previously committed to Texas State and recruited by Clay Jennings. 2022 Stats: 37 tackles, one sack and two interceptions; 12 total touchdowns; 41 receptions for 693 yards; 74 carries for 514 yards Offers: Arkansas St., LA Tech, TX State, and UTSA Jayven Anderson-North Shore (Houston, TX) Safety 6-0 / 205 Jayven played his high school ball at North Shore. He was high school teammates with Evan Jackson. This is the highest defensive recruit that we have signed in the modern era. He had 4 INTs on the year and 64 tackles. It seems they either had him deep covering guys or brought him down in the box to defend against the run. He was very explosive and a bully on the defense. There were several plays where he took great angles and made solo tackles. I really liked his film and I imagine he would probably compete for playing time as a freshman. He has offers from 7 P5 schools. This is a big win for the defense. 2022 Stats: 64 Tackles, 16 PBU, 4 INTs (if I am reading the stats correctly, they were all returned for TDs) Offers: Arkansas, Arkansas State, Colorado, Houston, Indiana, Ole Miss, Purdue, SMU, Texas, UTSA, and Grambling Ethan Miner-Kingswood-Oxford School (West Hartford, CT) Arkansas State Center 6-2.5 / 283 Ethan played his high school ball at Kingswood-Oxford in West Hartford, CT. He was a 2 star recruit out of of high school with offers from Arkansas State and Navy. Ethan played 32 games and started 24 of them at Arkansas State. Last season he started at center, but he also has experience playing guard. Ethan should be a starter for us at guard or center. Noah Rauschenberg-Union (Tulsa, OK) Baylor Kicker 6-2 / 185 Noah played his high school ball at Union High School in Tulsa Oklahoma. He spent the last 4 years at Baylor where he was their kickoff specialist. Noah chose us over an offer from Oklahoma State. No. 1 rated kickoff specialist for 2022 according to Pro Football Focus. He should compete to be our starting kicker. HS Stats: Owns every Union High School record including 185 career PATs … Converted 10-of-16 field goals as a senior … Had a long of 54 yards … Also booted two field goals from 53 yards … Connected on 52-of-54 PATs … Had touchbacks of 50-of-65 kickoffs with an average of 67.95 yards per kickoff (Source Mean Green Sports) Offers out of HS: Baylor, Tulsa, and Houston Keith Smith-South Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX) Defensive Line 6-2 / 280 Keith played his high school at South Oak Cliff, where he was a part of back to back state champion teams. I couldn’t find his 2022 stats, but he had 17 sacks over the last 2 years. I know he was a big reason for their dominance. Keith is a solid addition to our defense and should be a key contributor in the next few years. 2021 stats: 64 tackles, 19 TFL, five sacks, two forced fumbles, and three recoveries Offers: Arizona State, Arkansas State, Incarnate Word, La Tech, ULM, Morgan State, Sam Houston State, Texas State, and Toledo Taylor Starling-South Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX) Cornerback 5-10.5 / 170 Taylor played his high school at South Oak Cliff, where he was a part of back to back state champion teams. I couldn’t find his 2022 stats, but he played on a loaded defense. Taylor is very fast and athletic. During track season he ran a 10.49 100 Meter dash. Taylor chose us over Texas State and UTSA. He was previously committed to Colorado. Since our new scheme is a 3-3-5 there is a chance that he gets to play early. I look forward to seeing him play at UNT. This was a big win for the staff. 2021 Stats: 51 Tackles, 2 TFL, 1 Sack. 1 PBU, 2 INT, 1 INT TD Offers: Colorado, Arizona, Buffalo, Grambling State, Houston Christian, Kansas, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Purdue, Texas State, Toledo, UAB, and UTSA 2023 North Texas Signing List.docx

Commits to Air Force

@El Paso Eagle

Hats off to this staff. They did a remarkable job getting local and instate kids to sign here. The transfer portal additions were solid as well. I'm ready for the spring game now!

@UNT Family Man should be happy about this.

He's coming here as a PWO. This is a big pickup. Hopefully he gets a scholarship offer after fall camp.

Highest ranked defensive signing for the Mean Green. I'm pumped for this signing. It's been mentioned several times, but he should compete for playing time immediately. Obviously rankings don't matter once you step on the field. However, he played and dominated at the highest level of HS Football in Texas.

Ultimately it's his call and what he feels the most comfortable with. He had a visit here, so that should give him some familiarity with Denton and the staff. Houston just offered and hasn't really visited or had him on campus. So it comes down to a service academy, UNT, or dirty Houston.

Wow, huge pick up by the coaching staff. This guy will fight for playing time. I'm pumped for this addition to the defense.

I re-watched his highlight tape from this season. I think we will be fine with the addition of the 2 Moore LBs. Dietrich and Matthew both look quicker on film. I would have been happy if he stayed, but this is not the end of the world. Maybe he goes to Florida St and dominates. Or he ends up in the portal in 2 years and comes back to North Texas.

I was impressed by his run blocking. He is not afraid to get in a 3 point stance and block down on a LB or DE. I liked the effort he was giving on runs that were several yards down field. He was still sprinting downfield looking to make a block. His pass blocking was not bad against the small DEs he was facing. I imagine he will need a year in the weight room to add strength for blocking FBS DL. Overall, I think he has a lot of potential. This is a good pickup for 2-3 years down the road. One other note, the RB he was opening up holes for is a highly ranked prospect in 24. Bryan Jackson, averaged 128 yards a game and 2 TDs. I see his top 6 schools are OU, Michigan, UT, USC, Tennessee, and Baylor. We recently offered Bryan as well.

Oh well, I would be more upset if we didn't have 2 other LBs committed to us. Kids are not loyal. Best of luck at Florida State.

Lol, I just looked at his Twitter. He’s preparing to play in the XFL. At least he’s trying to follow his dreams.

I hear Rayveon might finally be eligible and play this year.

Unfortunately, inflation and this crappy stock market has stopped me from buying a Delorean. I can't go 88 miles per hour and look forward to the future.

https://www.kwtx.com/2023/01/04/classroom-champions-ellisons-matthew-moore/ He excels in the classroom, I'm very impressed. For some reason, his recruiting just took off late. His high school was 5-5 on the year and just missed the playoffs. I imagine that impacted his exposure. I think he will end up being a very good player for us.