GMG.com mailbag Thanksgiving 2014

[Harry]

Q: Harry, with the 2014 season in the books, which players will Mac be counting on to get us over the hump next season and back to a bowl? Can this team get back to a bowl in 2015?

Good question and let me try to address by position.

QB: McNulty will be returning with the upper hand as a senior, but I expect Dajon Williams and Conner Means to battle it out for the #2 spot in the spring. Word on the street is that Mac will not take another QB but this is a good year for QB's in Texas high schools so if a good one drops I wouldn't be shocked to see them pick one up late as an insurance policy.

RB: UNT has a pretty good stable of running backs coming back with Antoine Jimmerson, Jeff Wilson and Erick Evans returning next season. What they will miss is a power back like Byrd and Pegram. I expect they will sign another one out of the high school ranks but this is not as big a need area.

TE: Marcus Smith returns for his senior year but UNT loses versatile Tanner Smith. I could see UNT perhaps sign a juco blocking TE here (ie Andrew Power) if available to help bridge the gap after Smith graduates.

OL - Many are concerned about the significant OL losses that UNT will have with Lemon, Y'Barbo and McKinney graduating. The good news is that SMU transfer Sam Rice should be able to step right in and K-State transfer Aderius Epps will be eligible. There is some decent size and talent waiting in the wings including Harrison Sorge, Ryan Rentfro, Michael Banogu and others who should be able to hold their own. I would not be surprised to see UNT try and land a juco tackle if a good one is available.

WR - This position loses 4 seniors and has been an area where - other than Carlos Harris - UNT has struggled. Turner Smiley will return and has some potential, and if Darvin Kidsy can improve his hands we know what type of athleticism he has. UNT never truly replaced the deep threat that Darnell Smith provided on the outside. The East Texas duo of Tee Goree and O-Keeron Rutherford will need to step up and make contributions. UNT needs more speed and size and it would again not surprise me to see them land a juco if quality is available. Next to QB and DLine this is the biggest area of concern for this program.

Defensive Line: There are signs of hope here as Sir Calvin Wallace logged a lot of playing time at DT and seems to be improving but the rest of the tackle group has been undersized outmatched against the better C-USA teams. The good news is other than Alexander Lincoln most of them will be back in 2015. The bad news is none of these guys are prototypical and in general are undersized. I think #63 Sid Moore can play and will only get better. After redshirting, TJ Tauaalo will be available and could help depth. At defensive end you lose Daryl Mason and there is not a lot behind him. Tillman Johnson will be a good player but Chad Polk is undersized and mainly can help you on the pass rush. Line Coach Kevin Patrick needs more playmakers. Again like many positions, this is an area where an impact juco or transfer could really help the defense.

Linebacker: Very concerning position on the defense as you lose your MVP Derek Akunne and there does not appear to be anyone ready to fill that void. Calvin Minor has been the lone bright spot of the younger guys. I hear that Buffalo transfer Blake Bean would have helped us but his paperwork did not get processed so he will be back next season and may crack the starting lineup. Anthony Wallace has been a bust. You will have Brandon Garner and Jalen Montgomery in the mix this spring so you hope that they will bring something and that you can get Fred Scott, Jamal Marshall and Sed Ellis to improve. UNT desperately needs to get more physical at this position, especially with the issues on the d-line.

Secondary: The heart of the defense Laramie Lee will be the #1 loss for this defense... you just can't replace a hitter like him. James Jones did not have his best season but he will be greatly missed. Buyers returns and you will need his leadership. The biggest bright spot on the team is Kishawn McLain who should be able to shore up the safety posiiton for the next 3 years if he stays healthy. He is that good. UNT really needs the Jackson twins who transferred from New Mexico to come in and make an immediate impact. Chad Davis has shown ability at corner. Again, like pretty much every position on the team you could use a juco impact player (ala James Jones) to help solidify things.

Final thoughts -- part of the frustration of the UNT fan is it is hard to see the youth movement getting us back to where we were last season when we almost won the C-USA west and won a bowl game. Mac has stayed true to sticking to high school talent and only sprinkled in juco players in his 1st 4-years. This appears to be a season where the temptation to bring in more jucos seems to strong. If you look at the teams who handled UNT in conference play ALL 3 (UTEP, UAB and La. Tech) had transfer QB's who made big impacts in their turnarounds. In Rice's case, they are just recruiting at a higher level and had more athletes across the board. I'm torn as I don't like the idea of selling out juco, as it can backfire and set your program back 3-4 years. The problem is there is not compelling evidence our younger players will get it done. The C-USA schedule next season will be tougher; there is no way that UNT will get both Florida schools in the east crossover games again...more likely Marshall and WKU or Old Dominion. Every single school in the West with the exception of UTSA will be improved. UNT fans need some hope that th team can turn things around or at least we are heading in the right direction. I think we could be a better team next season and it still not show up in the W/L column because the team in C-USA West are improving and we will draw a tougher slate in the East crossovers.

[cogido]

Excellent assessment Harry, thanks. There is also the Skladany factor. I feel confident Mac has a short list ready, but again Mac is losing a capable and long trusted friend.

[JesseMartin]

I already was thinking about all of our redshirts and transfers that are sitting out this year, which is why I'm not as concerned as many are who have been negative and freaking out. They'll get rolling a bit next year, and hopefully we'll hit a bowl game, but 2016 is likely to be pretty freaking stellar.

[Marty]

TE is always a hot topic on this board. Harry, what's your take on Wylie Reinhardt? Just based on his demeanor, I thought he would have gotten a lot of PT this season. Noticed him on special teams against FIU Saturday but I think that's the first time he's been on the field all year.

[Harry]

TE is always a hot topic on this board. Harry, what's your take on Wylie Reinhardt? Just based on his demeanor, I thought he would have gotten a lot of PT this season. Noticed him on special teams against FIU Saturday but I think that's the first time he's been on the field all year.

I would say that he's just a redshirt freshman so its to early to say where he is however, I would have though we would have seen more of him on the field especially in blocking situations. He's a big strong kid -- and I would hope that with Tanner Smith graduating he would get some more time to prove what he can do next season.

[Travis]

Thank you Harry!

[Harry]

One other thing that Mac alluded to on the show -- the entire program needs to evaluate the scholarship players on the roster in particular upperclassmen and determine whether or not they are just getting in good workouts with Coach Wintrich and reaping the benefits of having their education paid or actually earning it by their performance on the field. For him to say this tells me that it is an issue which needs to be addressed. He went a step further to say if a player wasn't working out he would be discussing it with the coach that recruited said player to North Texas. So it made me feel a lot better about the offseason and what will be happening internally to address the personnel issues which led us to this disappointing season.

It's easy for us to speculate and second guess here on what went wrong. The fact is Mac has been around the block a few times and I think he will be able to review the organization from top to bottom for flaws or weaknesses that need to be addressed.

My biggest issue is the organizational structure of these new era college programs are built around recruiting. I have been taking a look at some of the up and coming college programs and there is one consistent theme -- they hire good coaches who are GREAT recruiters. Our structure has been placing our top recruiters at the bottom of the salary totem pole. I think this has to change. Look at Ryan Walters --- most would say he was our top recruiter on the staff a year ago. Young, could relate to the top prospects and highly respected. Memphis hires him away and we state it is because he is getting a six figure increase. I do not doubt that we will lose some coaches to bigger programs with bigger budgets but maybe we should be looking at placing more importance on what we are compensating guys like Walters who have proven that they will bring good players into the program.

This is not to say that coaching is not important because it absolutely is. I don't doubt that what Frank Wintrich does in the strength and conditioning program makes a difference as well. It's just that you HAVE to bring in the best talent or yo u are swimming upstream. This year was to be the year that Mac's recruits were taking us to the next level. In hindsight, the evaluation of prospects - especially at QB - was not good and our program is suffering because of it. And don't give me it i hard at North Texas. I remember when it was really hard at North Texas! When we were in the Belt, playing at Fouts and didn't have ANY facilities worth a damn was when it was hard at North Texas and yet we were still able to land guys like Booger Kennedy, Adrian Awasom, Patrick Cobbs, Darrell Daniels, Jamario Thomas, Mike Pruitt and many more. Todd Berry at ULM gets it done with a 4th of the resources we have here. Heck a high school coach at UAB was able to turn around that program and they can't even build a stadium due to Bama boosters! And if you can't get it done with high school players then bring in more jucos or transfers. We have the best location for jucos and transfers in the entire conference who want to come home.

I think they are doing a great job with the walkon program right now but I need to see some more Cyril Lemon stories where we beat out some quality programs to keep a guy in state..

As we head into the offseason, I just hope that some of these deficiencies will be addressed. You have an opportunity here to make some adjustments that could be very beneficial. GMG

[SilverEagle]

One other thing that Mac alluded to on the show -- the entire program needs to evaluate the scholarship players on the roster in particular upperclassmen and determine whether or not they are just getting in good workouts with Coach Wintrich and reaping the benefits of having their education paid or actually earning it by their performance on the field. For him to say this tells me that it is an issue which needs to be addressed. He went a step further to say if a player wasn't working out he would be discussing it with the coach that recruited said player to North Texas. So it made me feel a lot better about the offseason and what will be happening internally to address the personnel issues which led us to this disappointing season.

It's easy for us to speculate and second guess here on what went wrong. The fact is Mac has been around the block a few times and I think he will be able to review the organization from top to bottom for flaws or weaknesses that need to be addressed.

My biggest issue is the organizational structure of these new era college programs are built around recruiting. I have been taking a look at some of the up and coming college programs and there is one consistent theme -- they hire good coaches who are GREAT recruiters. Our structure has been placing our top recruiters at the bottom of the salary totem pole. I think this has to change. Look at Ryan Walters --- most would say he was our top recruiter on the staff a year ago. Young, could relate to the top prospects and highly respected. Memphis hires him away and we state it is because he is getting a six figure increase. I do not doubt that we will lose some coaches to bigger programs with bigger budgets but maybe we should be looking at placing more importance on what we are compensating guys like Walters who have proven that they will bring good players into the program.

This is not to say that coaching is not important because it absolutely is. I don't doubt that what Frank Wintrich does in the strength and conditioning program makes a difference as well. It's just that you HAVE to bring in the best talent or yo u are swimming upstream. This year was to be the year that Mac's recruits were taking us to the next level. In hindsight, the evaluation of prospects - especially at QB - was not good and our program is suffering because of it. And don't give me it i hard at North Texas. I remember when it was really hard at North Texas! When we were in the Belt, playing at Fouts and didn't have ANY facilities worth a damn was when it was hard at North Texas and yet we were still able to land guys like Booger Kennedy, Adrian Awasom, Patrick Cobbs, Darrell Daniels, Jamario Thomas, Mike Pruitt and many more. Todd Berry at ULM gets it done with a 4th of the resources we have here. Heck a high school coach at UAB was able to turn around that program and they can't even build a stadium due to Bama boosters! And if you can't get it done with high school players then bring in more jucos or transfers. We have the best location for jucos and transfers in the entire conference who want to come home.

I think they are doing a great job with the walkon program right now but I need to see some more Cyril Lemon stories where we beat out some quality programs to keep a guy in state..

As we head into the offseason, I just hope that some of these deficiencies will be addressed. You have an opportunity here to make some adjustments that could be very beneficial. GMG

Bingo! Ever since spring and the Greer situation, I've been concerned about how our coaches evaluate/assess players. Raw talent is certainly important, but assessing players also includes recognizing the "intangibles". By that I mean recognizing players that can not only run fast enough and throw and catch the ball, but players that have that burning desire to succeed and compete. You have to be able to tell when you have someone that just LOVES to compete. The Chris Hurds, Ryan Boutwell, and Marcus Trices of the world. The Scott Hall's, Patrick Cobbs and Casey Fitzgeralds of the world.

How did the coaching staff see the greatness of Wilson from tiny Elkhart Texas and not see the "deer in the headlight" thing with Greer until he was out there facing UT? How did we get out evaluated by the coaching staff at La Tech with their "one year and done" QB who tore us a new one?

PS. It was mentioned earlier that we needed to find someone next year like Pegram to give us a strong between- the-tackles runner. We already have one.....#39. Find a way to get him more involved in the running game. Plus, he can catch the ball coming out of the backfield too.

Edited November 25, 2014 by SilverEagle

[DeepGreen]

"...deer in the headlight" thing with Greer until he was out there facing UT?"

Is it possible McCarney implemented the "hands off the quarterback" during Spring and August practices? Greer was not use to the hits he would be subjected to at the FBS level. So, he comes out of Junior College, never gets touched or chased down during spring and August practices, then he lines up against the Texas Long Whorns before 92,000 fans.