GrayEagle

That bold statement pretty much says it for me and I won't change. Of course, you only have a few years (or less) to sweat me out. Occasionally, for the sake of brevity or to clarify an article that could be confused with another local entity, I would be OK with NT or UNT.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Coach 24 on this. Worse than that, he seems designed for our Metroplex rival who could use a very good running back. Really hope I'm wrong on this.

When you only complete 6 TDs passing with 5 interceptions in 261 attempts you can't be expected to rank very high nationally. Even Morris threw for 9 TDs with 76 less attempts. We can blame the offensive line or receivers but Morris was less mobile and still managed to be more productive with the same line and receivers. Fine needs to make quicker decisions to avoid sacks. His accuracy is fine but one TD per 40+ throws is not good for a passing team. Hopefully, an improved offensive line, improved receivers, and experience will move Fine much higher on the list this year.

Notice who he is being recruited by from Minnesota...

We didn't forget and I agree that Cameron Johnson may be a real gem. I do think that Davis is underrated because he may have been judged on running back or linebacker criteria instead of strong safety where I believe he'll be a natural. If Hall is coming here, I smell a blueshirt for him.

I'm not sure who Moore is. If it's Jameel Moore, he played last year some and will be a sophomore this fall. As to others in addition to Johnson, we've added Tyreke Davis and Makyle Sanders.

What if he had said 'thus far' at the end of his first sentence? With this kid's size and strength I have no doubt that he would get other offers. I took it to mean that if he waited too long that North Texas might not want to take many more linemen in this class. He indicated that everything just felt right so why wait? Sometimes I think that we put too much validity into the number of offers being a test of the recruit's true ability. That's especially true for late bloomers or those that don't have the publicity to make them star quality and an early evaluation by the scouts. Kishaun McClain and Jeffrey Wilson, for example, were never rated by any of the evaluators and I'd say that they turned out very well. I'm not knocking offers and/or ratings but they aren't always the only answer. Of course, you can't have an entire team of under the radar players but at this stage I'm glad that we sometimes dig deeper.

Grand, what is the next level? Not seeing the field to backup? Backup to starter? Starter to stat leader? HM all-conference? Second team all-conference? First team all-conference? Or, just a vast improvement over last year's performance? Are these the levels for a breakout season? Must you jump more than one level? I know that sportswriters have used this term but I can find no clear definition for it.

Maybe I'm short-sighted but I look at breakout as producing far more than you produced the previous season. Since Nic Smith was red-shirted last year the only thing that he learned was the offense. So that whatever he produces this year will be far above zero. Frankly, I expect him to produce more than Ivery produced last year and depending on how much he gets used, perhaps even close to Jeff Wilson. While there is no question about Wilson's ability, there are questions about his durability. My wish is that both get used at the same time; swapping running back and h-back slots without the opposition knowing who is the hot back so that they cannot key on just the running back. Now if I'm right on the "breakout" definition the next two will be Jalen Guyton and Bryce English. I expect Guyton to be the top receiver and English to be the top defensive lineman and since neither played last year let's hope that their stats will be better than those of last year.

What does that mean for Creighton Barr? He was a highly rated lineman out of high school who had apparently worked his way back into the starting lineup. Will he be moved to guard, backup Pahinui, or returned to starting center with Pahinui backing him up?

I believe that our last football game against UTA was at Fouts in 1985. We won 23-20.

I think that this could be the best returning roster from an 8-win team in the country. That is, if Combs returns healthy and Frazier decides to try another year. They have been spectacular in other years. Combs could be a hard sell because he was a strong Benford supporter. I don't expect Frazier back but another good year just might get him a good chance in the NBA as opposed to going overseas. A.J. Lawson and Ryan Wooldridge are all-conference at some level soon. A key returner in my view is Ricky Brice. He is an exceptional shot-blocker and rebounder. He's even a good scorer when you look at his work. If you average his statistics with minutes played he was comparable to the others except for Combs. He may just need a little coaching and more opportunity to play. I believe that there are two openings if Combs and Frazier decide to return. Hopefully, that could include a couple of the players that GMac was recruiting for Arky State (depending of Balado). Temara, Brown and Holston are somewhat proven Division I players (especially Temara) and I believe that with Wainwright and Simmons, McCasland just might be looking at another 20-win season.

Or, 'Make North Texas Athletics Great Again'...you can't say there haven't been slumps there.

I understand that but I still get confused about the 'blue shirt thing'. We've been a little spoiled with our kicking game. I doubt that Williams will be the equivalent of Moore on FGs nor Keena on kickoffs. Ditto for McGeehe on punts. Keena was a tremendous punter.

I think so too. He might even have to pay his way this coming season but then he'd get Trevor Murray's scholarship beginning in 2018.

AMEN and AMEN. That is as impressive a video as I've seen for a running back. Not only was he dominating in strength and balance but he was pulling away from the DBs throughout the clip. Very nice speed. Let's hope that Seth can convince him that he can be another of our national champion running backs early, that he truly likes his potential teammates, that he has a better chance to start at North Texas, and then hang onto him for dear life. I really like this young man's playing abilities.

That doesn't really surprise me. While Reffett gives the defense some continuity the OL must start over with a new coach. In addition, there's an injury or two who won't work this spring and I expect two (possibly more) in the two-deep to be freshmen who won't report until this fall. This is perhaps the weakest unit but when everyone's healthy it looks as if the starters will be OK. The backups are pretty well unknown. Let's hope that they can be coached up.

I'd bet that this one stands. UK likely wouldn't want his dad coaching him unless he was a 4* recruit for fear of favoritism or the opposite, making him have to be far above other recruits in order to play. Because it's North Texas and he committed so early, he will likely remain at the low 3* level, thus not that vulnerable to P5 school.

Someone posted that it was April 1. That is a Saturday but it is also April Fool's Day. I dunno.

I do know that he was once quoted as saying that he would be happy to spend the rest of his coaching days at UNT.

Call me a cock-eyed optimist but I find it hard to believe that this fact-finding trip would be taken at this time unless there was some kind of financial impetus for the IPF in the works. Baker, Mosley and Smatresk have all been known for finding some donors in their time. It would also not surprise me that the other two on the trips (Littrell and Peek?) might not have a connection also. It used to be an unwritten code at UNT that a project was not to be publicized until at least 60% was funded. I believe that a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility would be second only to a vastly improved win record in gaining recruits in several sports. Furthermore, I expect to see it completed in my lifetime.

You'd better go back and check your figures on Pete Shands. He coached here what seems like forever. I believe that he was at North Texas part of the 30s. all of the 40s and part of the 50s. If I remember correctly (doubtful anymore) he won more than 400 games but he also lost around 600. The only Super Pit sellout that I remember was SMU but there were a number of near sellouts, especially in Bill Blakeley's first three years.

Would really love to have him for this year but it will be for this year only. His clock runs out next season. I consider linebacker our weakest defensive position and one person with a little Zach Orr in him would be sheer entertainment for me. But, last year was so disappointing that Ek has lost confidence in his situation and work closer with players that will be here only one season.

Jim, they're pretty much two different situations. Abner, who I believe is in the AFL HOF played when the league was separated and wouldn't have had the chance to be in the NFL Hall of Fame regardless. (By the way, someone said or implied that Abner is not in the Texas Sports HOF but he is...inducted in 2007). Had Ray Renfro played for the Giants there is a chance that he might have been better known. But, Paul Brown's team was the darling of the old AAC and received a lot of publicity on their own. Also remember, the Browns were largely a running team so Ray did not get as many opportunities to show his receiving skills. Now, if somehow we could have magically transported Renfro to the era of Joe Namath quarterbacking the Jets, then I could see a great deal more publicity coming his way by being in New York. After all, he was a three-time all-pro receiver.

He seems to have great speed and good instincts. Maybe we can fatten him up. Seems tall enough.