UNT Mean Green

This is good news all the way around! Now if we could somehow get Bamfo and Harlan both...that would be something. Not to mention finish it off with the Mississippi JC guys, which would really put this class over the top.

This is huge. Ausmus has a proven track record, and has his own program and way of doing things. He won't have to visit other places in order to put a program together. He will have big goals and standards for each player, and will do everything in his power to make certain that the players reach those goals.

COMMITED to NORTH TEXAS

For those of you who saw Everman play, you knew this, but Harlan was a WR at Everman. Stud athlete. Raw, but athletic, and a ridiculously good looking frame. 6'4" 255lbs as measured this weekend at the NT Athletic Complex. This is an intriguing recruit who wants to stay close to home.

Interesting note Charlie. That's good news. You'd be shocked at some of the names who have interest in UNT Baseball. It's unlike any sport at NT right now, I'll put it that way. Despite not having a program, you'd be shocked at the interest 'once they decide to start a program'. Try hundreds of different coaches ranging from front offices in Professional Baseball to High School coaches. Can't say much more than that, but whoever gets that job when the program starts will be someone at a high level.

Great post. Rebuilding takes time (though I do expect to see progress i.e. 4-6 wins this season). People forget to realize that he came in with a totally new system offensively and defensively. He inherited fullbacks, and tight ends which weren't needed for this offense. Not many scholarship receivers. A bad offensive line. 2 good defensive ends in Chapman and Gilmore. Jamario. 2007 went as expected. 2008 didn't. However, think about the fact that the staff had to play so many guys out of position or who converted from one to another, and had to play several non-scholarship guys. People can argue what they want to, but the cupboard was pretty bare. As in anything there are some exceptions, but in the whole picture, what this staff inherited was in bad, bad shape. That is why there is some reason to be optimistic about 2009. This staff, despite the wins and losses, can recruit as well as anyone could at North Texas, and it is now time for a number of players from the first two recruiting classes to be on the field.

That's true.

Bamfo is extremely explosive on tape. Reminds me a lot of UNT's very own Brandon Akpunku in that he's around 6'0" around 200+ lbs, and has a quick first step. I'd take this guy in an absolute heartbeat. He lived in the shadows of Heath LB Austin Moss (Arkansas) all season, but obviously his efforts are being noticed at top programs around the state and region. This would be a huge land for sure, but it appears to be a long shot. Hopefully he enjoys the football banquet!

Brett, Thanks for all of your time and effort to keep the North Texas fanbase up to speed on the recruiting process. I know fanbases are biased toward their team, and always pick apart the work by the local beat writer (I am guilty), but you are doing a fantastic job in keeping us in the know.

QB-depth RB-depth DT-immediate playing time candidate DE-projectible guy to add depth MLB-guy who could start next year the fastest player left on the UNT Recruiting Board...speed wins, every time.

Awesome news. The guy looks legitimate on video, and has a good frame. I like the 6'2" and 4.41 40yd part; not to mention the fact that every day in practice he was going up against mostly NFL-caliber DB's and OLB's.

Nice work, Harry. It seems like there could be some viable combinations of players to get to that starting 11. Hopefully some of the young player's experience last year will prove to be a positive from this point forward for them, especially since so many guys were on the field for the first time. My realistic hope. Give up 14 less points per game and score 10 more per game. I think both could be a strong possibility. If Special Teams get fixed, (which was good for giving up almost 1 TD/game) and the Defense is good for 1 TD/10 points less a game, that's where I'm coming up with this. I still believe that ratio could be one of scoring less points than your giving up, however, I am weighing the Alabama game in there. When you throw out a 56-10 type of score, your points scored vs. points allowed ratio would probably be ahead at that point, which means your winning more.

Great news. Good job Coach Rausch!

Despite Riley Dodge probably being the Quarterback and being a good athlete, I would like to see North Texas use a version of the 'Wildcat' aka 'Glorified Single Wing'. This formation gives you an offensive wrinkle, and in this offense, it is pretty cut and dry, and we aren't beating anyone by alignment or motion/shifting. We normally line up with 4 WR, either 2 on each side of the QB, or some Trips Set. We occasionally go Empty/5 WR, every once in a while use a TE/H back formation with 3 WR and 1 RB, or a 3 WR alignment with 2 RB's in the backfield. James Hamilton was a high school QB at Cedar Hill who showed flashes of incredible ability late in the year with the ball in his hands. I would like to see us utilize him and Dunbar more. I think an option/zone read package with them could be very fun (and the many plays you can run off of this) would just show a different look and be effective, especially if using motion/crossing in the backfield like Florida, West Virginia, or Oregon do. Both #2 and #5 are great athletes (barring 5 recovers from surgery, keep your fingers crossed!) and need to be used. Also, other options for a 'Wildcat' would be RS Freshman Willie Taylor of Dallas Hillcrest, who's a water-bug type of guy, and also DeWaylon Cook was an outstanding QB/ATH at Dallas Samuel. I feel like we have weapons and need to use them in some different ways. Another option would be RS Freshman Forrest Rucker as a H-Back, who is more versatile than solely being a blocker. In the past, UNT has used the H-Back/TE as primarily a blocker because they were limited athletically. Rucker brings adequate size to accomplish this as well as being able to catch the football, and being a height mismatch. He was an outstanding WR and hoops star in high school. Now, with Riley taking snaps, I would like to see a good variety of roll out passes. He has good speed and acceleration to tuck it and get upfield. Not to mention, it seemed like he was really accurate on the run at SLC. I also like the 'double option' that Florida used quite well in the National Championship game with their TE/H-Back Aaron Hernandez going behind the LOS, and keeping forward pitch relationship with Tebow, while also having the traditional pitch man outside and behind Tebow. It gives the QB 3 options, and it puts the edge player on defense in a real bind, if blocked correctly (and it's not hard to block, since your reading the end man on the LOS). You can bring that underneath guy from anywhere (RB under & WR behind; TE under & RB behind, WR under from motion or a close set & RB behind) and it keeps the defense on their heels. I really like playing with the defender on the edge and keeping him thinking, instead of pinning his ears back and coming for the QB 40+ times a game. I also like in the goal line sets, when teams bring a 'heavy set' in there using DT's, LB's, whatever as extra blockers. It seemed like last year, UNT had a difficult time in short yardage situations, and didn't get a great push up front. If you bring in 500-600lbs of extra beef with just 2 blockers in there, sure you tip your hat as far as 90%+ chance of running it, but it will cause you to be more effective on 3rd and short, and 4th and short, and near the goal line. Also, you can have a great play action game off of this if used correctly, and you don't have to be under center. Anyway, these are just a few thoughts I had. I feel like we have the necessary playmakers, a good O-line, and a versatile & smart QB, and this gives you the opportunity to do more things and create more mismatches, instead of just being your basic 4 WR offense and checking plays at the line every down. I know many people are going to post on this that they want to see the QB under center, and see a TE regularly, etc. So I thought I would post my thoughts in line with doing what this offense does, and that is being a shotgun team.

Do you have facts to back that up? I don't have the time (and am just curious to see the results) to check it out. I would imagine you start with the D/FW Area ranked Top 100 and work from there, since your statement regards getting our butts kicked in recruiting the DFW area. Start with the 2007 class and the 2008 class and compare to SMU. I think (don't know for sure, and again am interested to find out) that Dodge has had the upper hand in DFW high school recruiting in his 2 years over SMU (could be wrong). If you have time, would you provide this data?

Nice observations TFLF. We do need someone who can mix ghetto and Christian into our team. That way you have the best of both worlds!

You must be joking.

Just another perspective regarding the coaching staff, but do you think that since the season is still in full swing that Dodge did not want to start controversy (like last year with Mendoza in avoiding that he already knew RM would be gone) at this point? Makes a little sense doesn't it?

huh?

Those of you saying Under Armour is ashamed of UNT having their logo on Football gear because UNT is the worst football team in the country need to apply your principle to Utah, South Florida, and others who are clearly not the worst team in the country. You can't get Utah, USF, etc. gear on their website. Instead all you can get is Maryland, South Carolina, Auburn, and Texas Tech.

nice find flyer. some interesting rankings in there.

Against a team from the southern part of Florida where they are bred to be faster...no way! I bet you did a double take on that one...

IF the new president follows through with all of his promises (big IF), those people in the top 5% who own businesses, create jobs, etc. it will certainly not help those people (though they were led to believe this during the campaigns) who are making minimum wage or a little higher. In fact, personally being someone who falls in that category, if (and again big IF) Barrack follows through and increases minimum wage to $9.00+ I will be replacing many workers who do work for minumum wage or close to it with machines, thus eliminating jobs. In visiting with other men who own businesses in different parts of the US, they say the same thing. In all honesty, this guy is going to effect those who think he is a saving grace more than he is the top 5%, and the people making more than 250K, oh wait 125K, oh wait 90k, oh wait....you get my point. It's a joke and some time into this new regime, those who thought he was the answer to the problems 'created' by the past administration will see that is in fact not even close to the truth.

amen Shoss!

In case some of you want to come out and congratulate the players on a job well done, the buses will be arriving in Denton around 1:00AM.