North Texas Makes Koonz Hire Official

[MGNation92]

For those that wanted to know

http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/021617aaa.html

[MeanGreenTexan]

This is a guy I'm very excited about.  I doubt he's here very long if Reffett's defense does well.

[Harry]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 16, 2017

Contact: Jordan Stepp

jordan.stepp@unt.edu/940-369-8329

 

FOOTBALL

Littrell Adds Jeff Koonz as Linebackers Coach

Koonz Joins North Texas After Spending 2014-16 at Cincinnati

 

DENTON – North Texas head football coach Seth Littrell announced Thursday that former Cincinnati co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Jeff Koonz has been named the Mean Green’s linebackers coach.

 

“We are extremely excited to welcome Jeff to our staff,” Littrell said. “He is a young, energetic coach with a lot of quality experience at Cincinnati, around the Big 12, and in Conference USA as well from his time at Louisiana Tech. He is an excellent teacher and we look forward to immediately hitting the ground running with him this spring. Jeff comes very highly recommended from two coaches I have a great deal of respect for in Sonny Dykes and Gene Chizik.”

 

Koonz spent the last three years at the University of Cincinnati and was elevated to his most recent role of co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach prior to the 2016 season under former head coach Tommy Tuberville. He coached safeties in 2014, his first year with the Bearcats, and linebackers in 2015.

 

In 2015, Koonz mentored second-team All-American Athletic Conference selection Eric Wilson and freshman standout Bryce Jenkinson, who finished first (106) and third (59) on the team in tackles, respectively.

Cincinnati finished its 2014 campaign with a 9-4 record, an American Athletic Conference Championship and a matchup against Virginia Tech in the 2014 Military Bowl.

Prior to Cincinnati, Koonz spent four seasons at Louisiana Tech. During the 2013 campaign, Tech’s first as a member of Conference USA, Koonz directed a revamped linebacking corp, which was led by Conference USA honorable mention player Daniel Cobb, who finished the season with 82 total tackles.

In 2011, Tech’s starting linebackers Adrien Cole and Jay Dudley accounted for 230 total tackles - 65 percent of Tech’s tackles for the season. Cole led the team with 128 tackles and 13 tackles for a loss as he was named first-team All-Western Athletic Conference and the WAC Defensive Player of the Year. Dudley was responsible for 102 tackles, eight tackles for a loss and four interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns.

In 2010, Koonz’s first year at Louisiana Tech, three of his linebackers finished the season in the top four on the team in tackles, with Cole earning second-team All-WAC honors.

The Wallkill, New York, native previously served as a defensive quality control assistant at Texas, helping lead the Longhorns to a Big 12 title and an appearance in the 2009 Bowl Championship Series national championship game against Alabama. He also served at Texas as a graduate assistant from 2005-06, and linebackers coach for the 2006 season.

Prior to his second stint at Texas, Koonz was the secondary coach at Iowa State for two seasons under Chizik, while also assisting with special teams from 2007-08.

Koonz was also a graduate assistant coach at Auburn during the 2004 campaign under Tuberville, coaching the secondary. While at Auburn, he worked on staffs that led the Tigers to the 2002 Capital One Bowl championship, a 2003 Music City Bowl victory, the 2004 SEC championship and a win in the 2004 Nokia Sugar Bowl.

 

 

[greenjoe]

Do we have a "quality control" position at NT ?

[BTG_Fan1]

4 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Do we have a "quality control" position at NT ?

I don't believe so

Just going to say I'm even more impressed that he was down at UT as well during that time as well... I'm not sure we knew that about him when we first found out about him. Doubtful that he still has those connections, but atleast he has some experience recruiting in Texas as well.

Edited February 16, 2017 by BTG_Fan1

[DeepGreen]

Some of the fans at Louisiana Tech had great things to say about Koonz.

[UNTFan23]

53 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Do we have a "quality control" position at NT ?

 

49 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

I don't believe so

Just going to say I'm even more impressed that he was down at UT as well during that time as well... I'm not sure we knew that about him when we first found out about him. Doubtful that he still has those connections, but atleast he has some experience recruiting in Texas as well.

John David Baker is listed as "Quality Control" per the current FB Coaching Staff page on MGS.com

[MeanGreenTexan]

1 hour ago, Harry said:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 16, 2017

Contact: Jordan Stepp

jordan.stepp@unt.edu/940-369-8329

 

FOOTBALL

Littrell Adds Jeff Koonz as Linebackers Coach

Koonz Joins North Texas After Spending 2014-16 at Cincinnati

 ...

 

Hey Harry, 
I thought we weren't supposed to post entire articles here?   Or did you strike up an exclusive rights deal with the AD? 

[MCMLXXX]

44 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Hey Harry, 
I thought we weren't supposed to post entire articles here?   Or did you strike up an exclusive rights deal with the AD? 

Press release from AD can be fully posted.

[greenminer]

2 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Hey Harry, 
I thought we weren't supposed to post entire articles here?   Or did you strike up an exclusive rights deal with the AD? 

Harry requests this because sites like the DRC/DMN, etc seek revenue from hits/ad clicks.

That's not an issue with a website like MGS.com.  Er, I think it's not an issue...

Back on topic: I wonder what this guy can do for recruiting.

[BTG_Fan1]

2 hours ago, greenminer said:

Harry requests this because sites like the DRC/DMN, etc seek revenue from hits/ad clicks.

That's not an issue with a website like MGS.com.  Er, I think it's not an issue...

Back on topic: I wonder what this guy can do for recruiting.

People at other schools have talked about how he is a solid recruiter... I'm not sure if he is an "recruiting-guru" like we have been hoping for, but again he should be one of our better recruiters(I think).