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Since UNT has returned to FBS (Div I-A) Football it seems to me the only offensive position we have been consistently decent at is running back. I wanted to pose the question to the MGB board of why has allowed UNT to be consistent at that position? Perry is the latest departure but it seem that during this run the entire staff has turned over several times but running back play has been a consistent bright spot on offense most years. How does the Mean Green keep the run going? Several other topics inspired this one specifically "Great Mean Green FB You Ever Saw" among others. This definitely concerns me. Seth spent quite a bit of time coaching Running Back at previous jobs but he has a lot more to focus on now. I hope his experience helps him chose another coach to continue the good play we have seen at this position for years to come.

DENTON - The North Texas Athletic Department on Friday announced its 2016 Athletics Hall of Fame class, a group that comes from four decades and three sports. The six-person class is headlined by a pair of alumni currently playing in the NFL, Lance Dunbar and Craig Robertson. Dunbar, the leading rusher in North Texas history, is a running back with the Dallas Cowboys, while Robertson, the No. 2 tackler in school history, is a linebacker with the New Orleans Saints. This year's class also boasts: Susan Waters, one of the best hitters in Mean Green softball history; Calvin Watson, one of the stars of the Mean Green men's basketball run to the 2007 Sun Belt championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament; Andrew Smith, the quarterback who led North Texas to a New Orleans Bowl victory; and Ron Miller, former men's basketball point guard from 1965 to 1967. Lance Dunbar, football Dunbar is the school's all-time leading rusher, amassing 4,224 yards over his four-year career, which is also the third-best individual rushing performance in Sun Belt Conference history. He had 41 rushing touchdowns in his career, which is also a North Texas record and ranks second in Sun Belt Conference history. He is the only North Texas running back ever to rush for three-consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Dunbar was a three-time all-conference selection and earned honorable mention All-America honors from Sports Illustrated in 2010. He is only the seventh player in NCAA history to have over 4,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. In his junior year, he finished sixth in the NCAA with 1,552 rushing yards and 10th with 1,885 all-purpose yards. In his final game in a North Texas uniform, Dunbar rushed for a Sun Belt Conference and North Texas record 313 yards and a school-record four touchdowns in a 59-7 win over Middle Tennessee. Dunbar was an undrafted free-agent signee with the Dallas Cowboys in 2012 and is beginning his fifth season with the Cowboys. Susan Waters, softball Waters was on the Mean Green's first team when North Texas reintroduced softball in 2004. In the team's inaugural game on Feb. 4, 2004, Waters got the Mean Green's first hit, a home run that tied the game against nationally-ranked Texas A&M. She would go on to become the most prolific hitter in Mean Green softball history. Waters was a fixture at third base and the No. 4 slot in the batting order from 2004 to 2007. She was first-team All-Sun Belt her junior and senior seasons after being one of the nation's leaders in home runs per game. She is the author of the No. 1 and No. 2 records for most home runs in a season: 18 in 2006 and 17 in 2007. She also holds the career home run record at North Texas with 49. She is No. 1 all-time at North Texas in career RBI, multiple-RBI games and total bases, and is also in the top five in career hits, doubles, multiple-hit games, slugging percentage and walks. Waters holds the single-season records for RBI, home runs, multiple-RBI games, slugging percentage and total bases. Craig Robertson, football Robertson is the second-leading tackler all-time for North Texas, accumulating 381 during his four-year career from 2007-10. His career tackles rank third all-time among Sun Belt Conference schools. Robertson was a four-year starter and earned all-conference recognition in each of those years, including first team honors as a senior in 2010. His 133 total tackles in 2010 was the second-best ever by a Mean Green defender and is still the fifth-highest total ever in the Sun Belt Conference. He ranked seventh in the NCAA in tackles as a senior. Robertson twice earned the Joe Greene Award as the team's outstanding defensive player. He signed with the NFL's Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and played four years in Cleveland before being signed by the New Orleans Saints in 2016. He has played in 58 games in four NFL seasons, starting 37. He was honored as the Browns NFL Man of the Year in 2014 for his work in the Cleveland community. Calvin Watson, men's basketball In 2007, Watson led North Texas to a Sun Belt Conference championship and its second NCAA Tournament appearance, scoring a team-leading 15.7 points per game. He was the MVP of the 2007 Sun Belt Tournament after hitting six 3-pointers in a 24-point performance in a tournament-final win over Arkansas State, and earned third-team all-Sun Belt honors that season. In that historic season, Watson shattered the school record for career 3-pointers (208) and 3-pointers in a season (90), and finished his career ranked 13th in school history with 1,253 career points. Watson scored 533 points in 2006-07, the 17th-highest season in program history. His career best was 28 points, against UT-Pan American in 2004-05 and against Troy in 2005-06. Watson is tied for sixth-best in North Texas history with a career 3-point percentage of 39.1. He played in 95 games for the Mean Green started 84 games during his career. Andrew Smith, football Smith started 16 games at quarterback for North Texas during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Tragically, Smith died in an automobile accident while returning to campus to begin his junior season in 2004. Smith started the final 12 games in 2002, leading North Texas to eight wins, including a 24-19 win over Cincinnati in the New Orleans Bowl, the Mean Green's first bowl win since 1946. He was awarded the Ja'Quay Wilburn Award as the team's outstanding offensive back for 2002. Smith started four games in 2003, but played in seven. In his two seasons with North Texas, he played in 20 games, completed 104-of-231 passes for 1,393 yards and eight touchdowns. Since his death, his No. 12 jersey has never been issued to another North Texas player. Ron Miller, basketball Miller played for the North Texas men's basketball team from 1965 to 1967 on teams coached by Dan Spike that did battle in the Missouri Valley Conference. The 1966-67 team featured road wins over Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Miller was team captain, point guard and primary assist man during his days at NT. While assist statistics were not kept prior to 1974, Miller's assists are evidenced by the scoring of teammates Willie Davis, the No. 15 all-time leading scorer in school history, and Rubin Russell, the No. 22 scorer in program history. One of Miller's high points came in 1967, in a televised game against Drake. With the score tied at 77-77, Miller hit a shot at the buzzer for a 79-77 win. The 2016 class will be recognized at North Texas' homecoming game on Nov. 5 and will be inducted prior to the Green-White spring football game at Apogee Stadium in 2017. http://www.meangreensports.com/genrel/080516aac.html

Monday marked the last time several players will walk through the halls of Valley Ranch. The Cowboys have 18 unrestricted free agents, and it’s a safe bet most of them will find new homes this off-season. Running back Lance Dunbar and defensive lineman Jack Crawford expressed an interest in returning to the team. Others, such as linebacker Rolando McClain, refused comment as they packed up their belongings. For a guy such as Dunbar, the Cowboys are the only team he has known in his professional career. The North Texas product carved out a niche as a third-down back and returner before sustaining a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury in Week 4 at New Orleans. Dunbar, 25, said his rehab is going well, although he has no timetable on when he’ll be cleared for football activities. “Why wouldn’t I want to be here?” Dunbar said. “There’s not much I really can do. I got hurt. Whatever happens, happens. “I’m not really focused on that. Just trying to get back healthy before anything happens, so I can get back to playing at a high level like I was before.” Dunbar, who joined the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2012, finished this season with 67 rushing yards on five carries, and 215 receiving yards on 21 receptions. Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-corner-blog/article53007765.html#storylink=cpy

WAY TO GO -- HUGE PLAY!!!

“It was like starting all over, starting my life all over, making new friends,” Dunbar said. “It was a pretty crazy experience, but I think it made me who I am today, a better person.” Dunbar ran for 3,025 yards and scored 25 rushing touchdowns in his 21/2 seasons at Haltom and earned a scholarship to North Texas. He finished his four-year college career as the Mean Green’s all-time leading rusher, with 4,224 yards, and all-time leading scorer, with 49 touchdowns. Now in his fourth NFL season, Dunbar has earned a bigger role with the Cowboys. “I feel like the game is what made it a whole lot easier for me and my family, because the [Haltom] football team was like a family,” he said. “They accepted us, took us in like their own. They made it a whole lot easier. My coaches helped out as much as they could. They felt the pain we were going through. They made it easier for us. … My coaches did a hell of a job helping us out.” read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article31724472.html Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article31724472.html#storylink=cpy

the backfield yet, but running back Lance Dunbar has been shining at OTAs. Per ESPN's Todd Archer, Dunbar stole the show at Wednesday's practice. "If they handed out MVP of the day trophies, then it would have gone to running back Lance Dunbar. He caught four passes from Tony Romo in the two-minute drill work to close the first-team’s work in practice and had the linebackers on skates in seven-on-seven drills. Perhaps this really is the year the Cowboys use Dunbar more." Dunbar is expected to compete for the third-string running back position, but with Darren McFadden sidelined with a hamstring injury, he got a few extra carries on Wednesday. The former UNT produced has a unique skill set that other Cowboys running backs don't have. The 5-8 scatback can get to the outside quicker than the rest and has excellent hands out of the backfield. read more: http://dal.247sports.com/Bolt/Lance-Dunbar-draws-praise-from-Cowboys-OTAs-37594830

This writer seems to believe (as we all do here at GMG.com) that Lance was under-utilized, and his contract extension should mean more touches. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/03/18/roster-rundown-dunbar-was-underutilized-during-disappointing-2014-campaign?adbid=10153751933252814&adbpl=fb&adbpr=99559607813&campaign=social_20150318_42328296

Unless the Cowboys start giving him more playing time I wonder if it wouldn't be better for his career to play with another team?

IRVING, Texas -- Lance Dunbar's journey to the NFL has been the result of perseverance. Were talking about a guy who left his hometown of New Orleans after his sophomore season because of Hurricane Katrina and spent his last two years at Haltom High School. Now, he wasnt a big-time recruit, even though he was a quality runner, because he is only 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds. And hes more quick than fast. But hes always believed in himself, even when others didnt. Frankly, that is one of the reasons he went to North Texas. He figured if the played well, the NFL would find him no matter where he went. Lance Dunbar took a difficult path to the NFL, but always believed he would make it. These days, he is a big part of the Dallas Cowboys' offense, though we havent seen it much in the first three weeks. That is because the Cowboys trailed 28-3 against San Francisco in Week 1 and 21-0 against St. Louis last week. With the score out of whack, the Cowboys shelved many of the packages that featured Dunbar. Here is what Dunbar has to say about his journey to the NFL: Read more: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4734342/football-journey-lance-dunbar

Video from Cowboys training camp: http://www.dallascowboys.com/multimedia/videos/Helmet-Cam-Lance-Dunbar-Shows-Off-His-Speed/fa3d2dfd-de03-448f-a80f-9a81d46bea93

Dunbar is even younger, and thus fresher, and coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged an impressive 5.0 yards per carry (albeit on a tiny sample size of 30 attempts). Before suffering a season-ending knee injury last November, the 24-year-old was tearing it up with 102 yards on 15 carries over a two-game stretch, twice busting free for 18-plus yards. Dunbar has only experienced 144 regular-season NFL snaps, but the Cowboys cherish the North Texas product so much right now that he was among the healthy scratches for last week's preseason opener. They're already thinking about preserving the guy. "Certainly we have a good feel for what he can do," Garrett said of the decision to hold Dunbar out, per ESPN.com's Todd Archer. We just want to be selective with certain guys in preseason. DeMarco Murray did not play in the game. We felt the same way about Dunbar." Archer concluded that "the Cowboys believe Dunbar will be a big part of their offense," and that's now impossible to dispute. Read more: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2162274-running-back-committee-might-be-exactly-what-the-dallas-cowboys-need

OXNARD, Calif. Even the lead running back is calling for Lance Dunbar to get touches this year. Anyone whos watched Dunbar since the North Texas product came to the Cowboys in 2012 has seen that the 5-8 running back brings an added dimension of quickness, speed and agility no others possess on the roster. Theres no question DeMarco Murray is the leader and bell cow of the group, but Dunbars the back everyones waiting to break out. Dunbars a special guy, Murray said. He definitely gives a great chance to do some things. I definitely want to be in there as much as I can. But I definitely know and feel he needs to get some touches, get on the field and make some things happen, because hes definitely a spark for our team. Read more: http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/article-RowanKavner/Murray-Im-Lead-Guy-But-Dunbar-Needs-Touches/b19b5a2d-1a26-4d7b-8d05-bc1d33b808f5

1. Lance Dunbar is poised for a huge year... if he stays healthy. The running back out of North Texas showed flashes last season before a knee surgery shortened his 2013 campaign. Dunbar told me he was nervous going into the procedure -- "that was the first time I'd ever had surgery!" -- but is really excited to have new Cowboys play caller Scott Linehan around. Linehan was very good getting the ball to running backs in the passing game in Detroit last season (Reggie Bush, for example). Dunbar was described to me by Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown as an unbelievably gifted RB in the passing game -- "He runs routes so well; it's a natural gift. He just sees things and angles really well." Linehan told me he really likes what Dunbar can add to the passing game, though he was quick to point out DeMarco Murray is still the main guy. I've been told the two things Dunbar needs to show are that he can stay healthy, and that he needs to be better in pass-blocking (a trait that has become crucial for running backs in today's NFL). Read more: http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-star/Six-Early-Observations-from-Cowboys-Camp-268821981.html

OXNARD, Calif. -- In some ways Lance Dunbar still carries himself as an undrafted running back from North Texas. It doesnt matter that this is his third training camp with the Dallas Cowboys. It doesnt matter that he already has a role as the third-down back. It doesnt matter that he could be a core player on special teams. I wouldnt say I like it that way better, but it kind of pushes me, made me work harder, made me the guy I am today, Dunbar said. Dunbar is not established the way DeMarco Murray is established. He had just 30 carries last season and caught just seven passes before suffering a knee injury last Thanksgiving against the Oakland Raiders. But it was what Dunbar did in that game -- 12 carries, 82 yards; one catch, 12 yards -- that has many intrigued about his role in 2014. Read more: http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/132761/lance-dunbar-still-carries-undrafted-chip

According to running back coach Gary Brown, there’s a very good chance Dunbar gets an expanded role in an offense that didn’t really have any use for him during his first two seasons in the NFL. Well, he’s a guy that’s going to be a complete weapon. We can line him up anywhere on the team-tailback spot, at the wide receiver spot, in the slot. He has tremendous hands and he’s just not a specialty guy. He could play tailback if you need him to go out there and give you 15 or 20 carries. He’s that type of kid. He brings a whole different dimension, a whole different vibe in our room as far as what he does and we’re looking forward to using him as a weapon as well. Sometimes it takes guys, especially specialists, a few years to come into their own in this league. With the Cowboys not looking like they’ve upgraded significantly, maybe salvation and finally making it to the playoffs can be achieved only by getting even more creative on offense with the likes of Dunbar playing a bigger part. Read more: http://sportige.com/nfl-rumors-dallas-cowboys-have-big-plans-for-lance-dunbar-06-27-2014/

Read more: http://thelandryhat.com/2014/06/19/cowboys-x-factor-candidates/

I noticed something in the DMN. Lance Dunbar showed to be on the active roster. I went to the Cowboys website and there he was still on the active roster not IR. Do they think he might play if they can get a ways into the playoffs?

DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) – After suffering a sprained left foot in Saturday’s preseason game, the Cowboys aren’t certain if running back Lance Dunbar will be ready for the team’s opener. That didn’t keep Cowboys owner Jerry Jones from making a lofty comparison on Tuesday. In his weekly segment on 105.3 The Fan’s New School, Jones compared the second-year running back to one of the NFC’s most dynamic backs in the past decade. “This is probably a stretch, but I know what [brian] Westbrook did to us for 100 years in Philadelphia,” said Jones. “I couldn’t figure it out, but all he did was go out there and make plays anyway he could touch the ball.” Link to article and radio interview: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/08/20/jerry-jones-likens-cowboys-dunbar-to-phillys-westbrook/