Hey kid. Gee, thanks Rico!

Philip Ferguson · October 20, 2019

My son spotted Rico walking around the stadium and asked him to autograph his helmet. He laughed and and signed it next to MF's signature from earlier this season. I think it's cool these guys will do this sort of things for fans willingly, especially the younger ones. GMG

Edited October 21, 2019 by Philip Ferguson
typo

UNT 90 Grad · October 20, 2019

I saw Rico roaming the concourse during the game as well.

Question for those that would know: Is this a sign that he won’t be coming back as a red shirt senior? Could he be going into the transfer portal or planning to drop his name in the bucket for the NFL? Seems like if he was sticking with UNT, he would have been on the sideline encouraging his team and coaching up receivers.

PlummMeanGreen · October 20, 2019

1 hour ago, Philip Ferguson said:

My son spotted Rico walking around the stadium and asked him to autograph his helmet. He laughed and and signed it next to MF's signature from earlier this season. I think it's cool these guys will do this sort of things for for fans willingly, especially the younger ones. GMG

Love it! “Gee thanks, Rico!”

We miss you big guy—we miss you big time!

GMG!

DeepGreen · October 20, 2019

1 hour ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I saw Rico roaming the concourse during the game as well.

Question for those that would know: Is this a sign that he won’t be coming back as a red shirt senior? Could he be going into the transfer portal or planning to drop his name in the bucket for the NFL? Seems like if he was sticking with UNT, he would have been on the sideline encouraging his team and coaching up receivers.

Sadly, I think you are correct.

Edited October 20, 2019 by DeepGreen

RiseUNT · October 20, 2019

1 hour ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

Love it! “Gee thanks, Rico!”

We miss you big guy—we miss you big time!

GMG!

About three of those catches from the left side would have been TDs if they were rico.

Our offense misses Guyton and really misses Rico.

Even if he isn't coming back he needs to be apart of the team so he can use the facilities and trainers to rehab.

Texas Stranger · October 20, 2019

Wasn't this parents/family day game? If so, not surprising he'd want to sit with family.

BillySee58 · October 20, 2019

2 hours ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I saw Rico roaming the concourse during the game as well.

Question for those that would know: Is this a sign that he won’t be coming back as a red shirt senior? Could he be going into the transfer portal or planning to drop his name in the bucket for the NFL? Seems like if he was sticking with UNT, he would have been on the sideline encouraging his team and coaching up receivers.

I think he’s gone. It sounds like he will be getting an engineering degree from UNT in the spring, which is very impressive for a football player with that much time commitment.

He has done all we could ask from him and more. Going to a P5 school and getting that exposure would be probably the smart move for him, with an engineering degree already in hand. Would definitely be extremely bittersweet to see him get drafted but not have it count towards breaking our streak.

But I can’t wait to see Khatib Lyles next year.

PlummMeanGreen · October 20, 2019

3 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

I think he’s gone. It sounds like he will be getting an engineering degree from UNT in the spring, which is very impressive for a football player with that much time commitment.

He has done all we could ask from him and more. Going to a P5 school and getting that exposure would be probably the smart move for him, with an engineering degree already in hand. Would definitely be extremely bittersweet to see him get drafted but not have it count towards breaking our streak.

But I can’t wait to see Khatib Lyles next year.

For us older UNT pharts with (most likely ) beginning stages of dementia......but who is Khatib Lyles?

jtm0097 · October 20, 2019

BillySee58 · October 20, 2019

17 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

For us older UNT pharts with (most likely ) beginning stages of dementia......but who is Khatib Lyles?

His recruiting thread is posted above. He’s a receiver listed on our roster at 6’2” 216 lbs, so he has prototypical size for an outside receiver and very good high school tape.

He also had one of the most impressive list of offers for any player we have signed in some time. Offers included Utah, Kansas, Indiana, and Texas Tech.

Edited October 20, 2019 by BillySee58

ADLER · October 20, 2019

5 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

I think he’s gone. It sounds like he will be getting an engineering degree from UNT in the spring, which is very impressive for a football player with that much time commitment.

He has done all we could ask from him and more. Going to a P5 school and getting that exposure would be probably the smart move for him, with an engineering degree already in hand. Would definitely be extremely bittersweet to see him get drafted but not have it count towards breaking our streak.

But I can’t wait to see Khatib Lyles next year.

I think he would be better prepared for the NFL staying at North Texas as a primary receiver versus trying to crack an established depth chart at a P5 school. The NFL is going to want to see high production as verification that he has recovered from a season ending injury.

I'm happy for him whatever he decides, especially if its for academic reasons, but his best shot at pro ball would still be by playing where he'll get the most catches.

Great kid, and I am thankful for all he has done here.

BillySee58 · October 21, 2019

2 hours ago, ADLER said:

I think he would be better prepared for the NFL staying at North Texas as a primary receiver versus trying to crack an established depth chart at a P5 school. The NFL is going to want to see high production as verification that he has recovered from a season ending injury.

I'm happy for him whatever he decides, especially if its for academic reasons, but his best shot at pro ball would still be by playing where he'll get the most catches.

Great kid, and I am thankful for all he has done here.

What raises his likelihood of getting drafted is putting on as much quality film as possible and impressing during the combine/Pro day phase.

Getting 75 catches at UNT vs 45 at a P5 probably means he put on more quality film by staying. But if he can find a good situation where he can get good playing time and have comparable production, that means more quality tape for him playing at a P5 because of the competition level.

Plus we all know his chances at getting a combine invite would be much better at a P5. And more attention at a P5 Pro day.

ADLER · October 21, 2019

25 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

What raises his likelihood of getting drafted is putting on as much quality film as possible and impressing during the combine/Pro day phase.

Getting 75 catches at UNT vs 45 at a P5 probably means he put on more quality film by staying. But if he can find a good situation where he can get good playing time and have comparable production, that means more quality tape for him playing at a P5 because of the competition level.

Plus we all know his chances at getting a combine invite would be much better at a P5. And more attention at a P5 Pro day.

Problem is he probably wouldn't be provided that opportunity.

First, he'd be learning a new system and rehabbing an injury; both uphill challenges, but not insurmountable.

Here's the problem, every coach wants quality depth at his skill positions, but every coach wants to look competent at his profession. That coach's own P5 recruits, probably 3* & 4* guys are going to get preferential treatment over the new transfer. Having a 2* kid transfer in from some 'small G5 school' and beat out your highly lauded recruits makes you look like you don't know how to evaluate talent.

Rico, a star player at North Texas, could wind up wasting his time riding the pine at some P5 school.

There's nothing wrong with that if he's only there for academic pursuits, but he does deserve his shot at the NFL.

Edited October 21, 2019 by ADLER

BillySee58 · October 21, 2019

14 minutes ago, ADLER said:

Problem is he probably wouldn't be provided that opportunity.

First, he'd be learning a new system and rehabbing an injury; both uphill challenges, but not insurmountable.

Here's the problem, every coach wants quality depth at his skill positions, but every coach wants to look competent at his profession. That coach's own P5 recruits, probably 3* & 4* guys are going to get preferential treatment over the new transfer. Having a 2* kid transfer in from some 'small G5 school' and beat out your highly lauded recruits makes you look like you don't know how to evaluate talent.

Rico, a star player at North Texas, could wind up wasting his time riding the pine at some P5 school.

There's nothing wrong with that if he's only there for academic pursuits, but he does deserve his shot at the NFL.

Yeah, agree to disagree on this I guess. He should be done or pretty close to done rehabbing by the time he graduates.

And he has a 1,000 yard season under his belt. No coach is looking at him in terms of his high school rating anymore. Plus, the vast majority of schools start three receivers in their base offenses. Coaches want to win, and if they think he would be one of their three best receivers they will give him strong consideration. And there are a lot of P5 teams that don’t have three receivers capable of 1,000 yard seasons, even at the G5 level.

ADLER · October 21, 2019

10 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Yeah, agree to disagree on this I guess. He should be done or pretty close to done rehabbing by the time he graduates.

And he has a 1,000 yard season under his belt. No coach is looking at him in terms of his high school rating anymore. Plus, the vast majority of schools start three receivers in their base offenses. Coaches want to win, and if they think he would be one of their three best receivers they will give him strong consideration. And there are a lot of P5 teams that don’t have three receivers capable of 1,000 yard seasons, even at the G5 level.

Are there any examples of players grad-transferring up to a P5, especially after a season ending injury, and then getting the opportunity to excel?

I don't recall any. I really hope you're right if he does risk transferring but I don't think its in his best interest, at least for football.

American_Patriot · October 21, 2019

Did a bit of research and Rico is more than just a “ North Texas Star”.

outoftown · October 21, 2019

17 hours ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I saw Rico roaming the concourse during the game as well.

Question for those that would know: Is this a sign that he won’t be coming back as a red shirt senior? Could he be going into the transfer portal or planning to drop his name in the bucket for the NFL? Seems like if he was sticking with UNT, he would have been on the sideline encouraging his team and coaching up receivers.

I don't think it means much one way or the other. We have yet to actually see lots of quality G5 players transferring to P5 just to iprove their draft chances. it may start next season, but I am not sure. Also it could be mentally tough to be down with the team when you can do little to help by your own standards.

Edited October 21, 2019 by outoftown