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DENTON, Texas – First-year head coach Eric Morris announced the addition of 12 new student-athletes for the Mean Green on National Signing Day Wednesday. That total adds to an impressive group of eight that previously signed in December and January, including seven transfers that enrolled for the spring semester. Of the total group, 17 of the 20 newcomers hail from the state of Texas. Eleven join the Mean Green from the high school ranks, one comes from junior college and eight are four-year transfers. UNT could add more players through the transfer portal following the conclusion of the spring semester. February 2023 Signees (12) Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown / Previous Jayven Anderson DB 6-0 205 Fr. Houston, TX / North Shore HS Evan Jackson DB 6-0 170 Fr. Houston, TX / North Shore HS Kollin Lewis DB 6-0 180 Fr. Gladewater, TX / HS Desmond Magiya OL 6-4 270 Fr. McKinney, TX / HS Ethan Miner OL 6-2 287 Jr. West Hartford, CT / Arkansas St. Dietrich Moore LB 6-0 210 Fr. Broken Arrow, OK / HS Matthew Moore LB 6-2 210 Fr. Killeen, TX / Ellison HS Brian Nelson II DB 6-0 181 Fr. Pearland, TX / Shadow Creek HS Noah Rauschenberg K 6-1 204 Sr. Tulsa, OK / Baylor Isaac Sohn OL 6-4 290 Fr. Aledo, TX / HS Keith Smith DL 6-2 280 Fr. Dallas, TX / South Oak Cliff HS Taylor Starling DB 6-0 170 Fr. Dallas, TX / South Oak Cliff HS Early and Mid-Year Signees (8) Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown / Previous Trey Cleveland WR 6-4 195 Jr. Arlington, TX / Texas Tech Phillip Hill DB 6-0 190 Jr. Spring, TX / UNLV Larry Moore OL 6-6 275 Jr. Missouri City, TX / Texas Tech Marcus Moore DL 6-1 295 Jr. The Colony, TX / Coffeyville CC Chandler Rogers QB 6-0 194 Jr. Mansfield, TX / ULM Landon Sides WR 6-0 185 Fr. Denton, TX / Guyer HS Paula Vaipulu OL 6-3 300 Jr. Channelview, TX / Georgia Tech Damon Youngblood DB 5-10 185 R-Fr. McKinney, TX / Louisiana-Lafayette

Join Evan, Harry and TheRealJD as they discuss newly hired UNT head football coach Eric Morris. The boys give their initial thoughts on the hire and look at the hiring process involving Morris as well as that of newly hired UNT Athletic Director Jared Mosley. They close out by discussing how both will look to build on UNT's athletic success as the program joins the American Athletic Conference (AAC) next year. Direct audio link: https://traffic.libsyn.com/gomeangreen/Morris_hired_mixdown.mp3

his is the first entry in the series that will focus on underrated offense across the FBS landscape. North Texas has produced quality play but the consensus is underrating this group. This might come across as a weird inclusion at first as they ranked 88th in EPA per play last season and 80th in success rate but things change, and Seth Littrell’s Mean Green has upside. Ranking first in players per game, the offense should have plenty of plays to support production if things break right. Additions in the transfer portal highlighted by Grant Gunnell could lead this offense to the next level in 2022. Quarterback Adding quarterback Grant Gunnell in the portal can make or break the season. AARP member Austin Aune has been competent for North Texas, but Gunnell gives the offense a ceiling we haven’t seen in Latrell’s tenure. In 2021’s regular season, Aune ranked 109th among qualified quarterbacks in total EPA with -16.66. The loss of Jyaire Shorter hurt the passing offense but ultimately, Aune was holding the unit back. He started or played the majority of snaps in 11 games. In those games, he had more than 240 passing yards once and under 125 yards five times. His average of 181 yards in games, ranks among the worst in the nation for a team that isn’t primarily an option team. To add, Aune had only 9 touchdowns in these 11 games Comparatively, Gunnell has been productive when starting despite limited reps up to this point. In his career, he’s had significant action in five games at a Power 5 level. In the matchups where he’s thrown more than 20 passes, he’s averaging 272 yards and 2 touchdowns per contest. Accomplished as a true freshman and sophomore, Gunnell also played a struggling Arizona team against quality defenses. In 2021, he was injured before the season for the Memphis Tigers, resulting in Seth Henigan’s breakout. It’s a small sample for Gunnell but it’s clear he represents upside for this offense. read more: https://campus2canton.com/underrated-offenses-north-texas/

read more: https://swcroundup.com/news/2018/12/11/with-littrell-staying-north-texas-looks-to-keep-historic-class

http://amp.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mac-engel/article218537150.html?__twitter_impression=true All of these great moments currently being collected at North Texas exist because the school narrowly did not choose a coach who would be pushed out at TCU and is now at Kansas. In the fall of 2015, the North Texas coaching position was vacant, again, and the preference of the athletic director to fill the job was then-TCU co-offensive coordinator Doug Meacham. The UNT President wanted Seth Littrell of North Carolina.

I know the first rule of the “Fight Club” movie starring Brad Pitt was you were never to talk about Fight Club. But when it comes to #F19HTCLUB, the official social media moniker for North Texas Football’s 2019 signing class, I feel compelled to break the rule. Not only is this class off to great start with fourteen 3-star ranked commitments in just early July, but potentially looking like it could be one of the best in program history. Perhaps it could even be in the running for one of the top G5 classes in the country. This is new territory for a North Texas program who has struggled at times to land higher ranked players, despite being in a hot bed of Texas high school talent in past years. The 2019 class not only has high rankings, but also many hold quality offers from G5 and, yes even *gasp* P5 programs with significant more funding and resources. One of the only knocks on Seth Littrell in his tenure thus far at North Texas is the perception he has not recruited at a high enough level, certainly in the eyes of the recruiting services. One argument was Littrell’s signing classes did not have enough 3 star ranked players. Another would be that his recruits did not have enough P5 school offers. Here’s the real story, in just over two years Littrell and company has done a remarkable job completely rebuilding the roster and culture of a program that had been decimated after a string of bad hires. You don’t take a 1-win team to a C-USA conference championship game in 2 seasons without upgrading the talent on the roster. Over 50% of the starting line up in the 2017 C-USA conference championship were brought in after Seth Littrell took over. The good news is that the proportion of Littrell recruits will only increase in the 2018 season and there were some good players who redshirted last season making their debut in 2018. And no one has ever questioned Littrell and his staff’s ability to identify and develop talent. One need only look to starting junior quarterback Mason Fine who most every division I program thought was too small to play. Fine passed for 4,052 yards in 2017 with 31 touchdowns making him the #6 ranked passing leader in the entire NCAA. In fact, he sat just one chair behind #5 ranked Sam Darnold of USC (4,143) who just signed with the NY Jets as the 3rd pick in the draft. As North Texas has improved in the win column (9-5 in 2017; 2 consecutive bowls) there are also encouraging signs the recruiting efforts have trended upward each cycle since Littrell’s hiring. That said, the 2019 class – thus far – appears to be the cycle where everything seems to be falling into place. Winning helps for sure, as top players want to join a program that is winning consistently and going to bowl games. In retrospect, the key difference may well be Littrell’s hiring director of recruiting, Luke Walerius. Walerius’ most recent stop was at Kentucky in the SEC and is primarily responsible for North Texas’ recruiting program including organization and talent evaluation. The social media efforts and communication have taken took huge steps since his arrival. When talking to both prospect and commits a common theme is that North Texas is the team showing the most love and the best family culture to them. Another key impact that Walerius has made has been to take the natural resources North Texas has, in terms of staff, location, facilities, academics and communicate it effectively in language that the prospects and their respective coaches understand. Twitter has become the king of football recruiting and North Texas has embraced communicating it’s strengths in that medium under Walerius’ lead. Two positions they may be set in terms of numbers in this class are WR and LB. Littrell and his staff have had great success at the wide receiver position since coming on board. They are returning Jalen Guyton, Rico Bussey, Michael Lawrence and Jaelon Darden, all guys brought in by current staff. They also have some exciting freshman and transfers that could contribute this fall including redshirt Greg White from Georgia and Kansas transfer Keegan Brewer. There are currently 3 receivers committed to North Texas this cycle including Damon Ward and Deonte Simpson both from West Brook as well as Kealon “Action” Jackson from Shadow Creek. All three have two things in common, speed and versatility. All three will contribute and be exciting in this spread offense. North Texas has had great success at LB in recent history including sending Craig Robertson (Saints) and Zach Orr (Ravens/Retired) to the NFL. In 2018 North Texas will have a very veteran LB Squad led by seniors EJ Ejiya and Brandon Garner. The quartet of 2019 LB recruits could be the most talented group of commits as whole by position. Twins Gabriel and Grayson Murphy (Bishop Lynch) and Taylor Jacobs (South Grand Prairie) all listed at 6-2, 215 and have versatility to play both linebacker positions and the potential to move down to defensive end. The fourth linebacker commit Kevin Wood (Judson) is listed at 6-0 200, and on film is a tackling machine with a nose for the ball. Watching his highlight film is exciting. He also has versatility and speed to not only play linebacker but also slide back to a safety position in the 3-3-5. The quarterback commit position is in good hands as well. North Texas went back to familiar territory and went back to Oklahoma landing the commitment of State Champion Owasso QB Will Kuehne. Kuehne is a very good QB prospect with a very bright future and a ton of potential. He held offers from Maryland, Arkansas State and several Ivy League schools. Defensive back is one of the most important position groups in the 3-3-5 defense. Mean Green added 4 safeties in the last class. I project they will add close to the same number this class. Currently they just have one committed but that one is a BIG one. Jevin Murray (Shadow Creek) is one of the top defensive backs in the state. He can be an instant contributor for defensive coordinator Troy Reffett’s defense. He held 13 offers including multiple P5 offers. Jevin’s main recruiter is special teams coach Marty Biagi who is having a great recruiting season so far. Marty’s covers the critical Houston-area region which many believe has more prospects than any other region in Texas and possibly the nation. North Texas is having great success in Houston this year. including two of the top-rated recruits running back Garrison Johnson (Manvel) and tight end Asher Alberding (Clear Lake). Garrison choose to commit to North Texas over P5 offers including Syracuse and Nebraska. He has the talent to fall right in North Texas run of talented running backs. Asher (6-4, 235) is an intriguing combination of old school blocking and new age receiving tight end. Coach Littrell success with Rob Gronkowski at Arizona played a big part in Asher decision. It will be fun to watch him develop. The hardest position groups for G5 and even P5 teams to recruit consistently on both sides of the ball is the offensive and defensive lines. In the 2019 cycle, North Texas has done a great job finding big athletic guys that you can develop. They currently have two offensive linemen in John Brunner (6-5, 300 / Brock) and Chris Cassidy (6-4, 280 /Angleton). Both fit the build of athletic/people movers that can develop for offensive line coach Chuck Langston. Look for UNT to try and add at least one more offensive lineman this class. On the defensive side of the ball they have one defensive lineman committed in Demeco Roland (6-3, 275 / Broken Arrow, OK). He comes from the same school as Derrick Shaw a defensive tackle signee from last year class that the staff is very excited about. Demeco is another guy with a lot of potential. Look for him to have big senior season. With 14 commits so far, I figure the staff has around 9 to 10 more scholarships to fill out. I would expect 2 to 3 more commits before the season starts. Don’t be surprised if North Texas doesn’t save the rest of the scholarships for the frenzy that happens as signing day nears and prospects realize they can’t all go to Texas and A&M. With coaching changes and stuff, it is a mad dash as national signing day gets near. And in Seth’s time at North Texas they have really capitalized on some of these later commitments. There is also the opportunity to add some junior college transfers at positions of need. Of course, when you sign the best, you better be prepared when bigger schools lose their commits and decide to start poaching. In prior regimes, North Texas seemed ill prepared for this annual ritual. With Walerius managing the process, it appears that the program is doing everything you have to do to circle the wagons, maintain strong relationships and keep these committed players in place. Time will tell. This is an exciting time to be a North Texas fan. There can be no doubt that North Texas is trending upward in the college football ranks. Back to back bowl games and a trip to the conference championship is potentially just the tip of the iceberg. Between the talent added last class and the talent currently committed this could be the boost needed to push North Texas to the top of G5 rankings and beyond. For a long time UNT has been referred to as the “sleeping giant” due to great location, and school size. But now all the necessary pieces seem to finally be in place to take that next step. North Texas is benefiting from great leadership starting with university president Neal Smatresk and athletic director Wren Baker. North Texas made a phenomenal coaching hire in Seth Littrell and with the aid of director of recruiting Luke Waleruis. #F19HTCLUB could be the signing class that finally woke the sleeping giant.

Jason Bean QB 6'3" 180 Mansfield, Texas (Lake Ridge HS) Cole Brown OL 6'4" 250 Conroe, Texas (Conroe HS) Keelan Crosby S 6'1" 175 Anna, Texas (Anna HS) Kevyon "KD" Davis LB 5'11" 200 Ennis, Texas (Ennis HS) Jaxon Gibbs S 5'11" 196 The Colony, Texas (The Colony HS) Jordan Hunt LB 6'2" 215 Wylie, Texas (Wylie HS) Dayton LeBlanc DL 6'1" 265 Lexington, Kentucky (Frederick Douglass HS) Kason Martin QB 6'3" 200 Manvel, Texas (Manvel HS) Darrian McMillan DL 6'2" 251 Mobile, Alabama (Butler CC) Larry Nixon III LB 6'0" 210 North Richland Hills, Texas (Richland HS) Austin Ogunmakin WR 6'3" 179 Alief, Texas (Hastings HS) Josh Sa'afi LB 6'3" 272 Euless, Texas (Mt. San Antonio College) DeAndre Torrey RB 5'7" 189 Gautier, Mississippi (Gulf Coast JC) Reggie Williams S 5'10" 180 Grand Prairie, Texas (Grand Prairie HS)

He came on later in the show but offered some exciting news about this weekend and some prospects who may be leaning our way: GOMEANGREEN BARBERSHOP PODCAST #189

I'm freaking giddy. This is Christmas Day 2.0, except it's adult-ier. I missed the 2014 Bowl because I opted for overtime at work. I'm attending this time in the middle of my fellow Mean Green fans and can't wait to take in my first-ever Bowl Game experience. While I've been to a couple of NCAA tournament games when they were in the area in the past, those are going to pale in comparison . . . mainly because I wasn't rooting for a school I attended at those. I look forward to possibly meeting some of you guys/gals there and having a blast as we watch our boys represent us proudly. I'm going to get chills just entering this historic complex and am going to hopefully shed some happy "sports tears" before all is said and done. Now, I'm off to bed to try and at least rest a bit before the big day. Let's do this!!! GMG

We got there early so we could fertilize and de-ant our tailgating spot. Overcast and cool morning. Most likely one of the most comfortable scrimmages I have ever watched. Sparse crowd was most likely due to the weather or change of start time. Offense in green, defense in white. 1's vs 1's, 2's vs. 2's and mixmatch. QB's with red jerseys and no contact. Did not see Wren Baker, but did see RV in the end zone. Front doors of stadium were closed so you had to walk around to the athletic center and enter across the bridge. One thing that is totally different with Littrell is his itunes songlist is booming over the stadium speakers non-stop. You hear it in the parking lot. When I say loud I mean like have to speak in the guy's ear next to you loud. He seems to like rap but also mixes in some country and classic rock. My favorite song of the day was AC/DC Back in Black, but I have to admit I was tapping my leg to some of the rap and hip hop as well. The only time they turn it down is when there is a special teams play, ie like a field goal or extra point. I found that odd, you would think you want it to be loud during that type of play. I am going to say overall, I really like the rhythm of Littrell's practices and scrimmage. Very upbeat and constantly moving. There is not a lot of debate or arguing over referee calls etc. They keep the chains moving. He personally is starting to show a tad bit more personality as opposed to the spring where he pretty much delegated everything to the assistants. I saw him high fiving guys after plays and yelling a little bit today. The best way I think I can recap everything is on a player by player basis. I was honestly more focused on the offense today. I am going to go through the roster and comment on everyone I can remember anything on. So here it goes: #1 WR Turner Smiley -- Decent day, he had one drop I saw he should have had on a sideline out pattern but he to me runs the best routes and has the best hands on the team. He is sort of the best all around WR we have at this time in my opinion. A shame we won't have him for SMU. That will be a big loss. #2 WR O'Keeron Rutherford -- Clearly the tallest guy out there, still fairly lean but looks like he has put on a little more size. Smooth and fluid. I really like this kid and can't wait to see what he can produce this season. #3 WR Tee Goree -- I was there for most (not all) of the scrimmage and this didn't seem to be his best day. Too many drops. Again it was just one day but not his best work. #4 RB Anthony Wyche -- WOW -- Maybe the MVP of the offense? He had one Sportcenter run where he bowled over a defender and wheeled his way to the end zone on like a 40-yard TD run. Good speed, moves. The entire green offensive sideline came off the bench to congratulate him. Most of what I saw were runs, I would like to see him catch more passes. Definitely a player that will help us THIS season. #5 LB Mylam Peters -- Playing LB on the outside. Made a few decent plays. Interesting body, very big torso with kind of lean legs. Seems to be better against the run as opposed to pass protection. Saw a lot of playing time. #5 QB Alec Morris - Great day. Looked 10 times more poised than in the spring game. Great arm, made some needle through the haystack sort of pass completions. Looks like a leader out there. I kept thinking to myself, "that is a throw McNulty could never make.." Get excited folks. This guy is the real deal, he's the best package at QB we have probably ever had. My only teenie weenie criticism of today, and I have noticed this with him before -- he seems to sit in the pocket a tad too long at times. Wearing a red jersey makes this seem like less of an issue. With our o-line issues, and the fact I saw MANY 4-receiver sets with a back in the backfield, it concerns me. I don't want to understate though, this guy can FLAT OUT PLAY! #6 QB Mason Fine - fun, fun, fun player to watch. Tiny out there but very confident and mobile. Rocket arm and very quick release. Makes mostly good decisions with the ball. He had one interception that was a bad decision but I liked the fact that Littrell ran him right back out there. It seemed he and O'Hara were splitting time with the two's. He's also pretty quick of foot as he had some decent looking runs. My hope is we can redshirt him as physically he needs another year in the weight room but I could see him playing this year if required. #7 DE Jareid Combs -- didn't catch too much of him, but love his size and speed off of the edge. One guy who looks the part of a D-I defensive lineman. #8 WR Rico Bussy - Only saw one play of his, unfortunately it was a drop. Does have good speed and seems to run good routes. #15 TE Caleb Chumley - was not dressed out but was not wearing a brace as I could see it. If injured it seems to be minor. He casts a long shadow with his height and size on the sidelines. Hope we can make it fit into the program in some way. #17 LB Courtney Finney -- He had an interception and made a very nice read/move to the ball. He looks small out there but he has really good quickness and an eye for the ball. I could see him being a real surprise this year after a rough 1st season as a juco transfer. #18 Devin O'Hara - Every bit of 6-5 but fairly lean. Nice arm, not Morris nice but better than McNulty by a lot. Graham Harrell pulled him after one bad decision but put him back in pretty quickly after. He has a nice zip to his ball and seems to be fairly comfortable with the offense. To me, he is not as good a runner as Morris or Fine and I think he would limit us in the offense to some degree from that perspective. Clearly the #2 guy and getting the most reps other than Morris. A nice addition, if only from an insurance perspective. #19 QB Quinn Shanbour -- was not wearing pads and did not play. #23 DB Kishawn McClain -- had the biggest hit of the day on a receiver. Just slammed the receiver a split second after he caught it. Crowd went wild. #25 RB Andrew Tucker -- had a couple of nice runs. I see him filling a nice jack of all trades type of role this season. He has some ability. #29 WIlly Ivery -- Had a huge showing today with some very impressive and long runs. Guy is just extremely talented and has some amazing field vision. Harrell HAS to figure out a way to get this guy the ball at least 7-8 times a game. On the down side, his punt returns while good were marred by fumbles. SIDE NOTE - - One thing I noticed that there were a fair amount of turnovers. Instead of the Mac regime banishment to eternal hell fire, I sensed more of a "That sucks but get back out there and try not to do it again" attitude. It will be interesting to see how it plays out this season. Littrell seems to value the effort more than the error. I could see this team making more mistakes but also making more plays. #30 Kicker Trevor Moore -- Had some hits and misses. Clearly he is the field goal kicker for this team and I am glad to have him. However, the book on him seems to be great accuracy and not great power. He missed a few mid range FG's he should have made. On the other hand, Our punter #84 Eric Keena on the other hand was killing it with both power and precision. If Keena keeps playing like this he may end up getting some NFL looks. He is that good. I thought he had a 60-yarder out there today and there wasn't much wind. Keena is a VALUABLE weapon for this team. #32 LB Fred Scott made a nice hit on a tight end across the middle play that drew some sidelines praise. #42 LB Corey Mann -- reminds me of Corey Pertile. Lean, very quick. A little on the small side which his why he didn't have more offers. Good nose for the ball. He is going to play at minimum on special teams this year. #50 LB LaDarrius "Hambone" Hamilton -- made a few plays, seemed active. Playing mostly with the 2's. #53 - OL TJ Henson - we got a good one here. He had the best pancake block I have seen in awhile on a pull from the right side, just destroyed a linebacker. He's better than I had hoped. Good feet, good size. Could be a REAL nice surprise this season at a position of need. #58 OL Wylie Reinhardt -- move from TE to OL. Listed at 265 - my guess is he is more about 275, 280. Looks more like a lineman. Gotta keep him eating. #59 O-Tackle Trey Keenan -- Listed at 272 and may be less by the time the season starts with all this heat. Probably our best offensive tackle in terms of defending the rush. Has good quickness and hands. Will be interesting to see how he plays. #64 Center Sam Rice -- had a battle going on with Bryce English for much of the day. I though Sam won. Also, his snapping seemed to be a bit crisper although there were a few low ones. It could take a few games, but he is going to be a very good center. #88 Jason Pirtle -- has a nice long TD catch from QB Fine after wrestling the ball away from a defender. Was nice to see these two hook up again. #86 Kevin Dillman -- wore a knee brace on the sidlelines but did not appear to be anything serious. THE END

http://www.meangreensports.com/collegesportslive/?media=533970 and as a bonus:

Took a few pics this afternoon when Coach Seth Littrell came and met us in the new Union. Mr. and Mrs. Littrell laughing, having a good time! You can tell he doesn't like being talked about that much. I think he's a "Down to business" dude. Quality of this one is not nearly as good, but that's because it's a phone pic. I got to meet the dude. Coach Littrell is a really cool guy. I think fans are going to love him!

The players were in shorts/jerseys and helmets. No Pads. The following is only based on 1 practice, so take it with a grain of salt, but this is what I saw: The first 1/4 of practice was primarily stretching/warmup, 2nd 1/4 was individual positional drils, 3rd 1/4 was team/group drills (QB/WR vs DBs, Linemen together, ST), and the last 1/4 was 11 on 11 touch with 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, and 3 vs 3 (although there were 5 QBs that saw action). Not surprisingly, I spent a lot of time focused on the QBs, so I will just summarize them in this post. The good news is that I don't think there will be as much of a logjam as people thing. The bad news is that some of the people that are expected to be part of that log jam did not look like they were close to competing (at least for today). In terms of who was getting the most reps, it seemed pretty clear that McNulty was getting the most, then Greer, then I would say DW, then Means, then the rest (although Cousins did get a series during 11 on 11 and the rest of the rest did not). McNulty - Looked pretty much like the end of last year. He did not get an arm transplant over the winter. Greer - Seemed to get reps as the #2 most of the day. I hope he was just having a bad day, because IMO he looked bad. Really bad. Even in individual drills he took way too long getting rid of the ball and accuracy was not there. It did not get any better for him in the skill position drills or the 11 on 11. I would not even have him in the top 4 based on what I saw today. I am sure Greer will continue to get opportunity since he is starting out at 2 on the depth chart, but would not surprise me to see him drop down before end of spring if any of the guys below can push him. DW - Looked similar to last year. Not much extra bulk from what I could tell. Some positive moments, but then would follow it up with mental mistakes, fumbled snaps, etc... Means - Maybe just a bad day, but I did not think he looked good at all. His accuracy was off most of the day. Release was slightly quicker than Greer. Did not seem to have a lot of zip on the ball to me. I was disappointed by what I saw today. Chumley - Man is he athletic, but raw/raw/raw. His mechanics make Jameis Winston look like Tom Brady. He was clearly lost during most of the early drills, could not throw a spiral, and was throwing everything high, real high. Maybe some of it was nerves. He settled down a bit, but not before setting a first impression. It would be hard for me to envision him making the top 3 or 4 of the depth chart by the start of the season, but not sure that is the plan anyway. I expect him to work his tail off during a redshirt season if he wants to play QB. Wells - Lefty. Reasonably strong arm with decent speed. Not tall. Actually got in a series during the 11 on 11 drill. It would surprise me if he is ready to make the jump into the top 3 on the depth chart, but if he keeps working, he has some potential/ability down the road. Cousins - Makes McNulty's arm look strong. Not sure the story here, but will need to continue working hard and increase arm strength to see time as a QB. Shanbour - Did not participate in 11 on 11 so did not get to evaluate with active linemen rushing him. Of the drills he participated in, I would say he looked the most impressive. He seemed to be the smallest of the QBs. Maybe the same height as Wells, but not the girth. Strong, accurate arm. Kept the ball down. Looked very good in the WR vs DB drills where there were 3 or 4 WR in the pattern. Picked apart the defense in the drill. Quickest release of the QBs I saw today. Canales had him (only him) signalling plays during the 11 on 11. He was coaching up some of the new guys (Chumley for example) during the drills when they didn't know what to do. Showing leadership. Grimm - Seemed to have a decent arm. Speed did not stand out to me. Did not get in 11 on 11 and I am not sure if he got in the WR vs DB drill. Kind of gets an incomplete since I did not see him enough to form a strong opinion. I say it was Grimm that I was watching. The payer had a red jersey with #16 on it. Grimm is listed on the roster as a WR. There was also a WR wearing #16 white jersey. I was not watching close enough to see if it was the same player and just removing the red jersey, but the WR #16 seemed to have a little something and definitely had some size on the outside. Would like to know who it was playing WR if it was not Grimm. If I had to knee jerk rate the QBs after day 1, mine would be (I am sure others would see it differently): McNulty Williams Shanbour Wells/Means Greer Chumley/Cousins/Grimm

Like I said in the other thread, I'm more of a video/film guy but wanted to try my hand at taking some stills with my new toy. It took a while to post them because I cleaned them up a bit, but let me know what you guys think! I also give permission for anyone to use them if you want under Creative Commons Licensing. -- Stephen QB Connor Means: K Trevor Moore: Coach Mac and TE Chris Loving: QB Josh Greer tossing to TE Chris Loving in the flat: More to come in a little bit!

The 2015 version of UNT’s Spring Game did not offer any major surprises. The chance for that set sail when it was announced talented junior college transfer quarterback DaMarcus Smith would not be eligible to participate in Spring Ball due to academics. There was however some interesting footnotes which are worth mentioning. I will preface this by restating a recurrent theme of my close to 20-years of following UNT football. In the bigger scheme of things, the Spring game doesn’t matter that much. Sure, it matters to the team and certainly the players who are vying for playing time at their respective positions. But it’s one day out of 20+, which is a small subset of the total evaluation. Too often, players who make the biggest impact in the game end up not returning in the Fall or drop back down the depth chart once a bevy of scholarship and preferred walk-ons enter the picture in late August [see Erick Evans last year who barely played on Saturday]. Junior college guys who just arrived are still learning the plays and the schemes. Injuries keep some of the better players off of the field [Tillman Johnson]. With that disclaimer out of the way, it is still exciting to be in beautiful Apogee stadium one last time before the dreaded UNT 5-month off hibernation period begins. The weather Saturday was nice, almost too nice as the 1st half of the game got pretty hot. I saw some older fans leave prior to 2nd quarter due to the heat. Cloud cover saved the day at around half time and by the second half things started cooling off and actually perfect game day weather as the sun set in the west. Read more: This post has been promoted to an article PS thanks to UNT 90 Grad for the pic!

I posted a low resolution copy of the UNT helmet the Associated Press moved the other day and noted that there is a good chance that the Mean Green would wear that design this season. It was one of the more popular blog posts of the last few days, which A. makes me sad and B. prompted me to ask for some additional information on this important topic. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/08/welp-this-is-unts-helmet-for-the-season-better-file.html/

North Texas opens its football season at 7 p.m. Saturday at Texas. Here’s a quick scouting report of the Longhorns: 2013 record: 8-5 Key number: 0 — The number of times North Texas has beaten Texas in nine meetings. 1. A new era: Texas will have a new coach on the sideline for the first time since in 1998 in Charlie Strong. The former Louisville coach takes over for Mack Brown, who led the Longhorns to some lopsided wins over the Mean Green later in his career at Texas. The Longhorns beat UNT 65-0 in 2004 and 56-7 in 2006. Strong and his defensive coordinator Vance Bedford worked with McCarney at Florida. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/08/know-your-enemy-texas-edition.html/

Texas opens its football season at 7:00 p.m. Saturday against North Texas. Here’s a quick scouting report of the Mean Green: 2013 record: 9-4 Key number: 7. North Texas won seven of its last eight games in 2013. 1. No Cupcake: The Mean Green have long been known as an easy in-state win for Texas gets each time they meet, but that is no longer the case. North Texas head coach Dan McCarney has turned the Denton program around, leading them to a 9-4 record last season and a victory in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, the team’s first bowl victory since 2002. 2. Fresh Faces: The core of last year’s historic team at North Texas is almost entirely gone. The Mean Green lost their starting quarterback and running back, their top two receivers, top two tacklers and top two pass rushers from last season. This team will look entirely different from the one that knocked off UNLV in January. Read more: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/five-things-texas-fans-need-to-know-about-north-texas.html/

2013 SEASON IN REVIEW: North Texas had a memorable 2013 season after finishing 9-4 overall with an impressive 6-2 mark in Conference-USA that left the Mean Green in a tie for second in the West Division standings. North Texas concluded its 2013 campaign with a resounding 36-14 victory over UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Jan. 1. Despite the long break from Nov. 30 until the team's bowl game, the Mean Green were still able to handle the Runnin' Rebels with no problem. The blowout was reminiscent of the team's final regular-season contest - a 42-10 destruction of Tulsa. Defense was the strong point for the Mean Green in 2013. Led by Zach Orr, who registered 123 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and three sacks, North Texas held opponents to just 231 total first downs on the season, and limited teams to a mere 120.5 rushing yards per outing. Marcus Trice registered nine pass breakups and intercepted a team-high five passes to bolster the defensive backfield. Head Coach Dan McCarney returns for his fourth season at the helm, and will try to improve on his 18-19 overall record with the Mean Green. North Texas started 2013 strong with a 40-6 win over Idaho, and won five straight games in the middle of the season to help the team achieve the winning record. Read more: http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot/news/newstest.aspx?id=4717067

North Texas has dropped all nine all-time meetings in this series, with each of those affairs taking place in Austin, which is important to consider when making your NCAA football picks in Week 1. The Mean Green have been outscored by a 148-7 combined margin in the last three meetings, while they’ve dropped their last 15 road openers versus BCS teams. The program is going to have a hard time reversing that trend due to welcoming back just nine overall starters. The OVER is 7-1 in the Mean Green’s last eight games versus Big 12 Conference opponents. The Mean Green will be replacing their quarterback, a 1,000-yard rusher and their top two receivers offensively, while they also benefited from a plus-11 turnover margin in 2013. North Texas will rely heavily on its experienced front to move the football, as the group opens the year with 123 career starts—making it one of the best offensive lines nationally—not just in Conference-USA. Read more: http://www.madduxsports.com/blog/ncaa-football-week-1-picks-north-texas-mean-green-vs-texas-longhorns-34497/