Defensive Newcomers

[emmitt01]

9 hours ago, TheReal_jayD said:

I know we get reminded alot that we went 1-11 last year. But this is a completely new team i feel like.

New Schemes 

New coaching staff (that the full staff recruits/and promotes team thru social media) 

New QB

Several New faces across OL

A ton of new faces on D. A completely revamped D. And several key contributors are returning with an extra years of experience (Brooks, TJ, Roderick Young, Roberts, Mcclain, Combs, Gray) 

It really is a new era. And im def drinking the Kool aid. But im taking the over on the 2 wins.

We get reminded that we went 1-11?  

 

You mean like in every one of Vito's blog entries, and every one of his articles, and every time he writes a Christmas card, and when he orders lunch...

[MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF]

Let's see how many make it to campus, first.  Then, let's hope they can all learn a new defense and gel as a unit within just four weeks.

It's a tall order.

[UNT Mean Green]

53 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Let's see how many make it to campus, first.  Then, let's hope they can all learn a new defense and gel as a unit within just four weeks.

It's a tall order.

Good point. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Realistically, if 80% of them make it that'd be excellent. 

[TIgreen01]

I'm most excited about watching our defense next year.  They were genuinely fun to watch during the spring game.  If we are that aggressive during the season, we're going to make a lot of plays regardless of how many of this year's JUCOs turn into immediate impact players.  Probably going to give up a bunch of plays and points, too....hopefully we make more than we give up.  :)

[GOMG2013]

16 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Well, Gray was solid last year, but Combs, Finney and Thompson didn't show much.  I hope that are solid contributors this year, but my point is that we are all really excited about the newcomers and history has shown there is an acclimation period.  I hope this year is an exception.

Finney came in from JUCO with offers from D1 schools and was DPOY in JUCO.  He had a nice Spring game and showed something.  He split time at linebacker and had 46 tackles.  Not great, but he now has D1 experience. He has a much better chance of having an impact than someone that hasnt played D1 football next year.  Like many have said, it takes 2 years for JUCOs to pan out, and Finney is a prime candidate.

Jareid Combs is another one that came in with some JUCO hype.  He had several offers from D1 schools. He was also in a rotation at DE.  I think he battled injuries off and on, but got some decent experience.

Both of the guys I listed came in with just as much, or even more JUCO sucess than any of the new adds.  Seems like some are writing these old JUCOs off and are ready to plug in the new JUCOs without allowing the ones that have experience to improve in year 2.

Finney was robbed of CUSA defensive player of the week by Chico and that offense the last week of the season vs UTEP. Finney forced a fumble that could have lead to at least 3 points, but greer threw a pick 6, and he had a recovery he ran in for a TD.

I'm hoping the new Jucos can come in and hit the ground running, but it's hard to put in a guy that has never played over one with experience.  

[Harry]

The entire defense looked like they were thinking too much last season.  My high school linebacker coach always said "don't think...react!"  I can see things becoming clearer under Ekeler and Reffet this season.

[North Texas Shep]

I am excited about some Mean Green Football! These new defensive players have speed and can lay the wood. It is great to see us getting some larger guys to play LB. It does bother me how thin we are at DL, but who knows if any of these kids can produce in D1 football. We will see. Either way... I am pumped.

Edited July 6, 2016 by North Texas Shep

[MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF]

1 hour ago, UNT Mean Green said:

Good point. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Realistically, if 80% of them make it that'd be excellent. 

I've said before, if just half qualify, that would be an excellent mark.  Once you look into these guys a little closer, you see that they have been to several schools - and, had either grade or legal problems.

It's one way or the other:  Littrell becomes a Bill Snyder-like JUCO guru...or, an Art Briles, taking on many players with known problems in their past.  I'm hoping for more of a Snyder-like result, obviously.  Many of these guy they are snapping up this summer are still available for a reason - and, most are not good reasons.

[TreeFiddy]

20 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

I've said before, if just half qualify, that would be an excellent mark.  Once you look into these guys a little closer, you see that they have been to several schools - and, had either grade or legal problems.

It's one way or the other:  Littrell becomes a Bill Snyder-like JUCO guru...or, an Art Briles, taking on many players with known problems in their past.  I'm hoping for more of a Snyder-like result, obviously.  Many of these guy they are snapping up this summer are still available for a reason - and, most are not good reasons.

Haven't both of our leading presidential candidates 'had a little legal trouble'?  

[TheReal_jayD]

5 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

We get reminded that we went 1-11?  

 

You mean like in every one of Vito's blog entries, and every one of his articles, and every time he writes a Christmas card, and when he orders lunch...

Absolutely

 

[MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF]

3 hours ago, TreeFiddy said:

Haven't both of our leading presidential candidates 'had a little legal trouble'?  

Ha!  Yes.  And, in my opinion, when one or the other wins, the whole country loses.

Let's hope UNT football gives us something better than the Idiocracy match-up that is Trump vs. Hillary.

[GMG24]

On July 5, 2016 at 7:24 PM, GOMG2013 said:

Brooks got picked on last year. That's why he had so much activity.  He was a freshman corner.  I'm not trying to be biased either and say that Davis is all that and should be avoided.  It's really football 101.  You pick on the most inexperienced cover guy.  Why throw at a vet, when you have guys out there like Brooks and Preston who have never been on a college football field.  And they got beat often.  Its not even close.  

The hype about Brooks is that he looked a lot better when tighter coverage was allowed instead of the "mandatory" 10 yard cushion.  He looked a lot better in man to man too.  He looked good for a freshman and showed lots of potential.  Lets not get carried away.   

He did not look scared out there either.  Even when he got beat, he came right back out there with the same enthusiasm.  If he continues to improve, Brooks will be a 4 year starter and as a 6 foot corner, he will be looked at as a serious NFL prospect.  

They both looked so good Ekeler went out and got multiple JUCO corners/safety type kids. 

 

I am not one to bash our guys, they play really hard, work harder, and spend a TON of time away from typical college activities and have a lot of pressure to perform.  I do think Brooks is a ALL CUSA corner in a year or two.  Ekeler either wanted more competition or didn't feel great about what he had.  Either way I do still see one of Davis or Brooks starts at one corner and the other rotates as nickel with a JUCO guy.  May see Preston moving to safety. 

Edited July 6, 2016 by GMG24

[jtm0097]

One thing that will help the defense out the most next year is that Cosh wont be around. I think we were the only team in college football that lined the corners 10 yards back from the line of scrimmage.

 

[GrandGreen]

10 hours ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

I've said before, if just half qualify, that would be an excellent mark.  Once you look into these guys a little closer, you see that they have been to several schools - and, had either grade or legal problems.

It's one way or the other:  Littrell becomes a Bill Snyder-like JUCO guru...or, an Art Briles, taking on many players with known problems in their past.  I'm hoping for more of a Snyder-like result, obviously.  Many of these guy they are snapping up this summer are still available for a reason - and, most are not good reasons.

Yes, when you recruit from the bottom; chances usually have to be taken.   NT is no more likely to get a front line juco player with no issues than they are a 4 or 5 star high school recruit.  Jucos or no different than hs players, the power schools are going to get the pick of the litter.   

NT needs immediate help and it is much more likely to get that from a high potential juco with issues than a bottom tier high school recruit.   

 

[UNT Mean Green]

8 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

Yes, when you recruit from the bottom; chances usually have to be taken.   NT is no more likely to get a front line juco player with no issues than they are a 4 or 5 star high school recruit.  Jucos or no different than hs players, the power schools are going to get the pick of the litter.   

NT needs immediate help and it is much more likely to get that from a high potential juco with issues than a bottom tier high school recruit.   

 

Amen, and this staff has done a really good job of working to accomplish that. 

[TreeFiddy]

As we have seen this summer, there are jucos with potential available that were not available for Spring practice which turns a lot of P5s off.  There were also some that are having to take a summer class, which also turns some schools off.

We have seen Marshall accept commits from recruits who were not qualified at the time of commitments and wondered why Marshall was able to sign certain 3/4 start recruits in the recruiting rankings.  Many schools will not pursue these types of players until they qualify.  I believe Marshall has used this approach to sign highly ranked players out of high school and then work hard to get them qualified after the fact.  Some of them never qualify or they end up having to go the juco route, but they have been successful with the approach.

There are lots of ways to go in recruiting.  It is nice to see the current staff thinking outside the box and doing everything they can to get quality players to Denton.  eventually, if the results show up on the field then they will be able to go with more traditional high school recruits.  I am just glad they are trying something different.

[GrandGreen]

24 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

As we have seen this summer, there are jucos with potential available that were not available for Spring practice which turns a lot of P5s off.  There were also some that are having to take a summer class, which also turns some schools off.

We have seen Marshall accept commits from recruits who were not qualified at the time of commitments and wondered why Marshall was able to sign certain 3/4 start recruits in the recruiting rankings.  Many schools will not pursue these types of players until they qualify.  I believe Marshall has used this approach to sign highly ranked players out of high school and then work hard to get them qualified after the fact.  Some of them never qualify or they end up having to go the juco route, but they have been successful with the approach.

There are lots of ways to go in recruiting.  It is nice to see the current staff thinking outside the box and doing everything they can to get quality players to Denton.  eventually, if the results show up on the field then they will be able to go with more traditional high school recruits.  I am just glad they are trying something different.

Old Belt rival, Troy, was a master of the kind of recruiting you are citing.   Of course, the rules have changed were they can't substantially over-sign players, and it makes it a lot more difficult to take those risks.  

Littrell really is not taking that big of risk because if the players don't make it to NT, nothing really is lost.   It is not like NT could have gotten highly sought out high school players with those ships.   The bigger risk factor is that the jucos qualify and are not big contributors on the field, and take up a ship from the 2017 class.