DaMarcus Smith will not participate in spring practice

Harry · February 6, 2015

DaMarcus Smith, a former Butler County (Kansas) Community College standout and arguably the most important signee in UNT’s 2015 recruiting class, will not participate in spring practice.

Smith was listed among the players who will enroll over the summer on UNT’s official signing day list.

Smith was scheduled to transfer to UNT at the semester break and participate in spring practice when he committed to UNT in December.

A school spokesman confirmed on Friday afternoon that those plans have changed. Smith will still have a chance to compete for the starting job in the fall, but will miss what would have been valuable practice time in the spring. He is enrolled in classes at UNT.

UNT will begin spring practice March 10 with its spring game to follow on April 18. Spring practice is considered vital for junior college transfers. The players who arrive at the midterm break are able to adjust to playing at a higher level, not to mention adapt to a new system and new coaches, before the opening of fall practice.

read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2015/02/damarcus-smith-will-not-participate-in-spring-practice.html/

UNT90 · February 6, 2015

Awesome...

Harry · February 6, 2015

So it sounds to me like he did not get his classes he needed to be able to transfer in and participate in the spring. That hurts.

But it looks like they did the wise thing which is to get him enrolled here and take advantage of our academic support. It also allows him to be with the team and learn the plays.

Would I have preferred to see him out there sure but I am glad he is in Denton and we can keep an eye on him as opposed to praying that he is taking care of business at Butler...we've seen that play out badly before.

This will give us the Spring to evaluate the guys we have including Means and Chumley. And whomever wins the job will know that Smith will be waiting in the wings this Fall if they falter.

untjim1995 · February 6, 2015

McNulty's grip on the sterring wheel of the bus just got a lttle tighter...not that he wasn't going to be kicked out of the seat anyway. A Senior QB that Mac trusts--there is no way he is going to give up the spot to someone else besides Mini Mac. He learned his lesson last year by trying to go with the better arm or faster feet--and Coach Mac couldn't handle the turnovers and the freelancing play at that position. He wants the guy who will hand the ball off, throw a short screen or bubble route, and will occasionally throw deep when the defense isn't ready for it. He's basically wanting MiniMac to be the Derek Thompson and Scott Hall of the offense--don't lose us the game, just keep us in it until our defense or special teams makes plays for us to score points.

SilverEagle · February 6, 2015

Awesome...

My bullshit-o-meter just went off the scale.

GOMG2013 · February 6, 2015

A look on the bright side...

Well, if McNulty is going to be the starter for the opening of the season like most of us assume, I rather McNulty gets as many reps as possible this spring.

Hopefully he will look better and gives us a decent chance of winning our first two games against what appears to be favorable defenses.

SilverEagle · February 6, 2015

Welp, keep a happy thought. True freshmen have come in and started for some programs and did well. Scott Hall started for us as a true freshman. At least Mr. Smith will have had the advantage of spending a full semester getting used to the play book.

Coach Davis · February 6, 2015

I believe Means will lock up the starting spot

Harry · February 6, 2015

Welp, keep a happy thought. True freshmen have come in and started for some programs and did well. Scott Hall started for us as a true freshman. At least Mr. Smith will have had the advantage of spending a full semester getting used to the play book.

Scott Hall did ok but he was running for his life and took a terrible pounding as a true freshman.

Harry · February 6, 2015

I honestly though McNulty made strides last season. That said Mac made it very clear he was disappointed with all three QB's last season.

SilverEagle · February 6, 2015

Scott Hall did ok but he was running for his life and took a terrible pounding as a true freshman.

That may be, but it (hopefully) doesn't have anything to do with our current OL situation. My point is that Smith will have a bigger head start than Hall did. Smith has at least faced some college competition.

UNTcrazy727 · February 6, 2015

McNulty's grip on the sterring wheel of the bus just got a lttle tighter...not that he wasn't going to be kicked out of the seat anyway. A Senior QB that Mac trusts--there is no way he is going to give up the spot to someone else besides Mini Mac. He learned his lesson last year by trying to go with the better arm or faster feet--and Coach Mac couldn't handle the turnovers and the freelancing play at that position. He wants the guy who will hand the ball off, throw a short screen or bubble route, and will occasionally throw deep when the defense isn't ready for it. He's basically wanting MiniMac to be the Derek Thompson and Scott Hall of the offense--don't lose us the game, just keep us in it until our defense or special teams makes plays for us to score points.

Everything Mac has done in recruiting and said to the media completely contradicts your statement. I don't think Mac trusts McNulty at all.

UNT90 · February 6, 2015

Everything Mac has done in recruiting and said to the media completely contradicts your statement. I don't think Mac trusts McNulty at all.

Yep.

Allowing McNulty to throw about 7 passes against FIU illustrates distrust.

If McNulty starts the SECOND week of the season against SMU, that means no other QB has been able to beat him out and will spell disaster for the season. Like 3 wins maybe disaster.

Edited February 6, 2015 by UNT90

97and03 · February 6, 2015

Yep.
Allowing McNulty to throw about 7 passes against FIU illustrates distrust.
If McNulty starts the SECOND week of the season against SMU, that means no other QB has been able to beat him out and will spell disaster for the season. Like 3 wins maybe disaster.

I totally agree with both of you. Mac doesn't bring in Smith at all if Mini had this locked down.

DeepGreen · February 6, 2015

DeMarcus Smith may never see the field at UNT.

GreenMachine · February 6, 2015

DeMarcus Smith may never see the field at UNT.

You could say that about every single player.

emmitt01 · February 6, 2015

McNulty's grip on the sterring wheel of the bus just got a lttle tighter...not that he wasn't going to be kicked out of the seat anyway. A Senior QB that Mac trusts--there is no way he is going to give up the spot to someone else besides Mini Mac. He learned his lesson last year by trying to go with the better arm or faster feet--and Coach Mac couldn't handle the turnovers and the freelancing play at that position. He wants the guy who will hand the ball off, throw a short screen or bubble route, and will occasionally throw deep when the defense isn't ready for it. He's basically wanting MiniMac to be the Derek Thompson and Scott Hall of the offense--don't lose us the game, just keep us in it until our defense or special teams makes plays for us to score points.

Yes, because if there was one thing we could count on with McNulty it was the lack of turnovers. :whistling1:

MeanGreenTexan · February 6, 2015

When McCarney addressed the media about the signing class, he spent about 1/4 of the time talking about QB play. He had plenty of time to say, "Hey, McNulty came in and did a fine job", or "I was pleased with what McNulty was doing at the end of the season."

He said nothing of the sort. He's not happy with the existing QB situation at all, and UNT90 is right... If no one can beat out McNulty, we're in serious trouble next season.

Although, this all sounds eerily similar to what we were saying in the spring of 2013 about Thompson.

UNT90 · February 6, 2015

and UNT90 is right...

I read your complete post, but I just wanted to highlight the most important part. ;-)

Oh, and "everyone" wasn't saying that about DT.

untjim1995 · February 6, 2015

Everything Mac has done in recruiting and said to the media completely contradicts your statement. I don't think Mac trusts McNulty at all.

We'll see...I just don't see anyone else starting here.

FirefightnRick · February 6, 2015

Well, look on the bright side.............

Rick

Cr1028 · February 6, 2015

We went 4-8 last year with a cake schedule coming off of a bowl win. This year we may have our toughest schedule in a decade and are not sure we have fixed our most glaring error(quarterback play).

This could be a long season and Damarcus not being here in the spring really concerns me. Is it a lack of effort a la Dajon?

Everyone is high on Connor because he hasn't played meaningful snaps yet. He looked good in the spring but MiniMac and Greer looked pretty good too. I am concerned that he is just our typical best guy on the team until he sees the field quarterback a la Osborn. With poor qb play we could seriously be looking at a one or two win season.

Marty · February 6, 2015

Damarcus may not physically be able to participate in spring practice but I bet Chico will force feed him that playbook. He can stand on the side and watch, the practices are open to the public according to Mac.

GOMG2013 · February 6, 2015

We'll see...I just don't see anyone else starting here.

Wasnt it a surprise that Greer got the start considering he never played in a D1 game? Then Dajon came in off the bench before McNulty and got the start. It took two bad games each from 2 qbs before he put in McNulty.

Even if McNulty is his guy, it took a lot of bad play for him to finally get in there. All McNulty had to do was not be terrible.

adman · February 6, 2015

Wasnt it a surprise that Greer got the start considering he never played in a D1 game? Then Dajon came in off the bench before McNulty and got the start. It took two bad games each from 2 qbs before he put in McNulty.
Even if McNulty is his guy, it took a lot of bad play for him to finally get in there. All McNulty had to do was not be terrible.

Not a surprise considering Greer is a Chico guy. (Meaning Chico recruited him.)

you heard Mac say in the press conference he doesn't want position coaches crying: "I don't have the players." Go out and get them. Well Chico did with Greer. He'd be hard pressed to do that and then say a guy who was suppose to come in and win the job couldn't.

not to mention Chico seems to be in the hole when it comes to his recruiting - seems several of "his guys" have been busts or haven't even shown. (Manu, Denucci, from Snow come right to mind but I feel like there are 3-4 more "impact"recruits of his that have been a wash.)