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EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the first story in a three-part series on the 100th anniversary of the North Texas football program. Today’s story is an overview of the program’s past and its future. C. Dan Smith tucked away piece after piece of the North Texas memorabilia he collected over the years on a bookshelf across from the dark wooden desk in his Plano office. A football commemorating the 1959 Sun Bowl, which Smith played in, sits front and center with a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet signed by UNT legend “Mean” Joe Greene to the right. Just below rests another football commemorating UNT’s 2002 New Orleans Bowl win over Cincinnati. Those mementos — and 12 more that accompany them — represent a few of the great moments Smith has taken part in or witnessed over the more than 50 years he’s been associated with UNT’s athletic department. During that time, Smith has gone from being a player to the chairman of UNT’s Board of Regents to one of the school’s most influential athletic boosters. That experience gives Smith an unparalleled perspective on where UNT has been and where it’s heading as the program reaches a milestone with its 100th anniversary this fall. What excites and concerns Smith — and a lot of other UNT officials and boosters — is that the milestone coincides with circumstances that could make the next few years a tipping point in program history. “The progression over 100 years has been very slow,” Smith said. “As you start growing and things start happening, it’s good to continue that growth, but it has to be accelerated. Once you move up, there is more pressure to continue moving up and get better and better. We are in a position where we could make a tremendous leap in the next three to five years.” UNT made its long-anticipated switch to Conference USA from the Sun Belt earlier this month, a move that will provide the program with additional revenue and exposure. The 2013 campaign also is UNT’s third in Apogee Stadium, a 30,850-seat venue that came with a $79 million price tag, and its third under Dan McCarney, the most highly regarded coach the Mean Green has employed in decades. UNT’s football program has never been in a better position to succeed, or under more pressure to capitalize on the investment the school has made to give it a better foundation. Eight years have passed since the Mean Green last posted a winning record or played in a bowl game. UNT is tied with UAB for the sixth-longest bowl drought in the Football Bowl Subdivision. UNT’s attendance has risen and financial support for the program has increased over the last five years, but both figures lag behind many of the school’s new peers in C-USA. How the Mean Green fares in advancing, from the results on the field to the support the program generates from fans and boosters over the next few years, could impact UNT’s athletic program for decades. “The program has the potential to go two ways,” UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said. “With the investment we have made and the staff we have brought in, if we can get our fan base to come out and support this team in what is going to be a time of transition, I think we have the ability to be a program that is recognized nationally for success. “If we don’t support the program, we could become average.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130727-football-a-critical-time.ece