UNT Mean Green

Mendoza will do good things for the Longhorns of Cedar Hill and will continue to send his good friend Todd Dodge some of the incredible talent from that school.

Great win for the Mean Green! Sloppy at times, but had the resiliency to pull it out in the end! Great team effort. Let's use this as a springboard to finish on a very high note and roll into Mobile with some confidence to defend The Belt title.

Isn't it interesting that the conference champion is last in "Rivals Rankings"???

One positive observation from the article is the fact that almost every one of the schools mentioned in the article was in a bowl this past December/January. Looks like Dodge has us headed for bowl games again!

Top Non BCS Recruiting Classes according to ESPN Interesting article I came across on ESPN.com about the success Coach Dodge is having recruiting.

Looking forward to the banquet tomorrow night! Who all is going to be there? I'll be there +4 others in my party.

DE Alonzo Horton 6'4" 260, 4.65 DE Eddrick Gilmore 6'5" 250, 4.7 Looks like we could have a pair of bookends similar to what MUTS has had the privilege of having the past couple of seasons! Awesome, awesome, awesome pickup! This one is HUGE!!!

don't quote me on this, but I heard that it will be the fall when they come out with Under Armour products for NT. They don't even offer "kelly green" in their colors of their apparel yet. They probably have to start offering their retail apparel in kelly green prior to coming out with UNT products.

Great news! We can now begin our uprising to being back on the college football map! We will have an outstanding offense no doubt, and a defense that will compliment that nicely. I think DeLoach has some good players to work with and he will put them in positions to succeed. He is a master of preparation and pays attention to details. Great job TD in bringing him back to Denton. Can't wait to hear about it at the banquet Saturday night.

This is a great non-conference pickup! Should be some good matchups in the future. Look forward to them coming to ___________ Stadium in 2013 and playing in front of a packed house in Denton!

They love to pound their chests on the hilltop! Can't wait till Dodge shoves it up JJ's rear on the field next time out!

Haha! There's not a lot to do in 'Cruces'! I played baseball for the Aggies, and it's certainly not the most desirable part of the country. Those were some good games (the most recent with NMSU), and I believe SMU can certainly replace that void of having a rival.

Dodge will hire someone he trusts and believes in and then he will let that person do their job.

I believe the reason Dodge did use Clayton George as a shield was due to the fact that the coaches at La-Monroe and Middle Tennessee knew his signals from SLC (remember he got the no-huddle from MUTS, and the La-Monroe coach is a longtime friend of his). There are several methods to signaling using multiple signalers, changing the "indicator", etc. I think Dodge does it this way because 1) it is what he has always done and 2) since we do have 6 players at a time getting a signal it is easier for them to only look at 1 person. Other methods with the multiple signalers (I coached and have been a signaler) is to use position coaches as the signaler for their position (i.e. offensive line coach signals in protection, etc.), another method is to use multiple guys and one be live on pass plays and the other on run plays, or another is to have 1 live guy and as many dummies as you want...however the last one is the easiest to pick up as he usually always has something unique on his uniform (backward hat, off-colored wristband). I don't know if he will change or what will happen, but you gotta know he'll do whatever is in the best interest of his team!

I am under the impression that it was the only viable option at the time in Coach Dodge's mind. He was so rushed after the hire that he probably felt like Mendoza was the best option at that time and would give him a year to evaluate if he was capable at that level. I do feel that of the high school hires that Todd Ford and Robert Drake are certainly capable. Ford with the Offense and QB's and Drake with the D-Line (note I did not mention special teams...think we need to re-assign that to Chuck Petersen).

Imagine DeLoach working with a defense with a stud DE, a stud DT, 2 stud OLB's in the front 7 alone...and with recruits who have speed...exciting to speculate!

Good call by Coach Dodge and Rick V. in pulling the trigger already...I had heard a few weeks back that this was certain to happen, but did not know it to be 100% true. Coach Dodge has big time plans for this football program and I know he doesn't want anything to inhibit those plans (like a horrific defense). Also, best of luck to Coach Mendoza wherever his journey stops next. Him and his family certainly have my best wishes. Gary Deloach or Phil Bennett as associate head coach/defensive coordinator anyone?!?

18,250 is my non-educated guess.

Yeah, no kidding, poor guy! Oh well, now you have Todd Dodge and Rich Rodriguez to root for (2 great ones!). Surely UM fans are excited!

Sounds like he was a serious football fan! Great story...thanks for sharing!

Good luck to Coach Lineweaver and his Trinity Trojans! He has built a dynasty at Trinity that is something to contend with. He has had the Trojans in 3 State Championship games in a row (I am going to say last years Carroll-Trinity game was the 2 best teams in the state) and continues to put great teams out there. I wish him and his team the best of luck, and please beat Judson!

Good post...and I think it all goes hand in hand. The numerous secondary recruits that we are getting obviously show that the coaching staff feels that was an area of concern that needs immediate attention. I feel they have addressed this in a big way to make an immediate impact with the Junior College guys (remember 2 of these guys are redshirt sophomores coming out of JUCO, so they already have, call it what you want, but 3 years of college ball under their belts in the secondary) and are stocking the cupboard with the high school guys like Hamilton, Phillips, Shorter, and Williams to go along with Ealey from last year coupled with transfers in Nurudeen and Garden. I think there are some guys 'hanging on' in the program who are just practice type guys and what not who will never play, and TD could very well not re-new their scholarships to free up roster space back there. I don't think just fixing the secondary alone will completely lift our defense, but it will certainly help. I think getting the necessary athletes back there who can run, cover, support the run, and play well in space will make things much better. I think one real weakness of our defense this last year was out on the perimeter, due to the fact that we were basically slow. In the 4-3 scheme, you have to have guys who can run at LB and in the Secondary in order to compensate for the space on the outside you give up by alignment; whereas in the 3-4 you have those 'alley players' (like Demarcus Ware) who, by alignment are already in good contain position out on the edge. Therefore, I believe with the 2 wonderful athletes we are blessed to have for 3-4 more years at Outside Linebacker in Penson, and Robertson, along with the speed of these new secondary guys, I think we will be less vulnerable out on the edge where teams gashed us all year. I can specifically remember several teams who just murdered us out on the edge, be it with toss sweeps, outside zones, option pitches, or quick passes like bubble screens, and we looked completely helpless because we couldn't get anyone out there fast enough to contain and then to make a tackle. For crying out loud, OU threw a bubble screen to Gresham #18 their TE, and he turned the corner and ran up the sideline like it was nothing! That is good enough evidence that we were slow! On the D-Line, I really like Gilmore. I think he now has his feet wet after a year, and will give us 2 more great years as a bookend defensive end here in Denton. He is an outstanding looking specimen, and from an athletic standpoint is pretty darn impressive. Gilmore is only going to be better next year. IF we can find someone or sign an immediate impact JUCO guy on the other side to compliment Gilmore, I think our defense will be SIGNIFICANTLY improved, no matter who is calling the game. From my understanding, Russo has been a slight disappointment so far. I don't get the impression that he has "turned the corner" yet and figured out the speed and intensity of the Division 1 game. I think we need to be patient with him though, as he will do some good things here. Another guy who saw a lot of time this year who is a good athlete is Sam Owusu-Heming. Coach Dodge seems to like him quite a bit and feels comfortable with him contributing. We are very strong at the DT spots. Miller, Thomas, DeSoto, and Scoggins should make up a strong 4 man rotation at DT. I think we could afford to sign 1 and only 1 more DT, but unlike some people, I don't think we need to sign an army of DT's. In my opinion, Scoggins and DeSoto are going to be forces. Miller is only going to be better, and he was solid all year long. A big question mark for me is who is going to play Middle Linebacker? I have no idea...and a good solution doesn't ever seem to pop into my head. Unless Marquise Davis is ready, who else do we have? Padron did not participate in anything this past year as he was injured. Could Bron Hager be an option? It may sound crazy, but the guy brings the wood all the time. Very physical, downhill player. Anyone have thoughts on this position? However, all in all, I think with the recruits we are getting who are going to make an immediate impact, along with the experience we have returning (players and coaches) that we are going to be MUCH improved as a whole on defense. Will we be as good as our offense, heck no (but wouldn't it be sweet if we were! ). Call me crazy, but we could improve as a unit by 20-30 spots in my opinion, which would be great.

I am sure that Dr. James Andrews performed this surgery, and he is the best in the world at shoulders & elbows. Prayers sent to Riley and the Dodge family for a speedy recovery.

UCF's Bright House Networks Stadium is a glorified erector set....kind of like Penn State's stadium... this is the first time I have seen drawings of the Arkon facility, and it looks beautiful! Very impressive!

Doing good coaches! Keep it up!