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Eric Morris was officially named as the 20th head coach of UNT football on December 13, 2023. That is 29 weeks or two hundred days ago. He has yet to coach a game but that will change in a couple of months. And yet there has still been a fair amount of analysis on how Morris has fared in terms of his short tenure, with a primary focus on recruiting. While many UNT football recruiting fan heads have been spinning with the advent of NIL and the Portal, Morris has put together a solid recruiting team that has had its share of success along with a normal amount of disappointment that was to be expected this early. The real tell on how good a recruiting class can be occurs years after the class is finalized. The recruiting databases, and school offers are typically the only data points we have. The recruiting services have never invested a lot of resources into analyzing borderline 3-star recruits and so you could argue that offer lists may be even more important. One aspect that could differentiate Morris from his predecessor in Seth Littrell could be how many of these classes and players inside these classes stick and stay with the program or leave, commonly referred to in the business world as attrition. Under Littrell, it was pretty bad. Just eyeing 2022, UNT showed twelve signees and nine transfers for a total of twenty-one. Of that total, six have already headed to the exits or 30 percent. Not to mention existing players who also have exited the portal, like Jyaire Shorter and Larry Nixon That 30% seems like a lot, but in this era of portal and NIL it will become a lot more commonplace. If Morris can keep that attrition down and lower the number of players entering the portal due to NIL, it could make a big difference for the program, but UNT will need to ramp up NIL funds to aid him in that regard. GMG

Gumms eventually showed why he garnered early attention from the likes of the Longhorns and Tigers. He was one of the best young tight ends in the country last season, breaking North Texas single-season records for receptions (34) and receiving yards (458) by a tight end. His five touchdown catches were one shy of tying the school record. Pro Football Focus gave him a 71.9 overall grade on 444 offensive snaps and he earned first-team All-CUSA honors from the league’s coaches. The Athletic and College Football News named him a second-team Freshman All-American. That kind of production made Gumms a prime candidate to hit the transfer portal and pursue better opportunities, especially after North Texas fired Littrell, but he originally chose to stick around and play for new head coach Eric Morris. He discussed that decision in an interview with the Mean Green Show on Dec. 20. “I can feel the energy…when he goes out to the public and even when he came in for the talk with us,” Gumms said. “I felt the energy that he was going to bring and I feel like he was a great fit for here, so I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m staying.’ I trust what he’s going to do and I trust that who he’s going to bring in is going to produce and change this thing around and get stuff started around here at North Texas.” As the Mean Green prepared to begin spring practice, Morris talked about Gumms being a key piece to what he hoped to do offensively. “Gumms is perfect for what we want to do and is someone we can keep on the field,” Morris said before spring drills began. “He is skilled enough to play wideout and is strong enough to play in the core as a tight end.” However, just a few minutes after tight ends coach Chris Gilbert talked about him being part of North Texas’ plans on March 23, Gumms announced his intent to enter the transfer portal when the spring window opened April 15. It was a situation reminiscent of a couple of former Arkansas football players. Defensive end Jordan Domineck announced he would return for his super senior season with the Razorbacks only to change his mind about a month later and enter the transfer portal. He ended up landing with Colorado. Read more: https://www.bestofarkansassports.com/arkansas-football-north-texas-tight-end-varkeyes-gumms-transfer-portal-2023/

ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia has signed seven newcomers who will join the Bulldogs for the 2022-23 season, head coach Mike White announced on Monday. The group includes a fifth-year player (Mardrez McBride from North Texas), a senior (Terry Roberts from Bradley), three juniors (Frank Anselem from Syracuse, Justin Hill from Longwood and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe from Oklahoma State), a sophomore (Jusaun Holt from Alabama) and a true freshman (KyeRon Lindsay from Denton, Texas). Because of eligibility extensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anselem, Hill, Holt, Moncrieffe and Roberts could play one more season than their classifications would traditionally indicate. "We're very excited about this group of signees," White said. "These young men represent different positions and skill sets individually. Collectively, they represent versatility and an excitement to be at Georgia. All of these young men have been a part of winning at at least one spot along their journey." Of the transfers, five (Anselem, Hill, Holt, McBride and Moncrieffe) played on teams that reached the NCAA Tournament in either 2021 or 2022 and the sixth (Roberts) helped lead Florida SouthWestern to a No. 1 ranking in junior college during 2020. The freshman, Lindsay, played for two top-10 ranked teams in Texas 6A at Denton Guyer High School. McBride is a 6-2, guard from Augusta, Ga., who has played the last two seasons at North Texas. He was one of only two players to start all 60 games for the Mean Green during that span, helping UNT earn bids to the 2021 NCAA Tournament and the 2022 NIT. McBride averaged 11.3 points per game last season for North Texas, which finished 25-7 and reached the second round of the 2022 NIT. He was a major contributor in UNT's 2021 postseason run that included the Mean Green's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. After averaging 6.7 points and scoring in double figures in four of 28 regular-season outings, McBride contributed 11.3 points per game and posted five double-digit outputs in six postseason contests. McBride also played two seasons of junior college basketball at USC Salkehatchie in 2019-20 and McCook (Nebraska) College in 2018-19. He was the Most Valuable Player of both the basketball and football teams as a senior at Butler High School and led the Bulldogs to back-to-back appearances in the Georgia Class AA state basketball tournament in 2017 and 2018. read more: https://georgiadogs.com/news/2022/5/30/mens-basketball-bulldogs-add-seven-newcomers-to-roster.aspx

Coaches like UTSA's Jeff Traylor, North Texas head coach Seth Littrell and Texas State's Jake Spavital view the transfer portal as way to improve roster, chances at success in 2022 college football season. Listen to a press conference or sports radio or the loud voices on Twitter and it’d be easy to think that the advent of the transfer portal is sure to damage college football, especially at the G5 level. But most of the coaches, at least in Texas, disagree. The transfer portal presents new challenges, and it isn’t a perfect system, but many head coaches argue that their rosters have never been as talented. The sky isn’t falling. The game of football isn’t dying. Like most changes, the outcry outweighs the outcomes. The seven G5 programs in Texas added an average of 9.7 transfers to its programs between the end of the 2021 season and the beginning of fall camp in 2022. SMU led the way with 17. UTEP was the lowest with one, but the Miners did add nine JUCO players to the roster. Of the 68 incoming transfers at the G5 programs in Texas, 43 came from the Power Five level. That’s 63 percent. The talent is trickling down more often than it is bolting for greener pastures. And the more successful and attractive programs are attracting the best talent, and retaining its starters. The foursome of SMU, Houston, UTSA, and Rice brought in 43 transfers with 35 arriving from Power Five Programs (81.3 percent). Those four teams went 36-16 last season. Take away Rice and the three remaining schools went 32-8. Rice's academic reputation and a few more hires on the recruiting staff helped the Owls keep pace. The trio of North Texas, UTEP, and Texas State combined to go 17-21 in 2021. Only eight of the 25 transfers signed by those three schools arrived from Power Five programs (32 percent). read more: https://www.texasfootball.com/article/2022/08/17/in-state-g5-coaches-view-transfer-portal-as-a-net-positive?ref=article_preview_img