Huge P5 Talent Coming To Denton

[untbowler]

1 hour ago, UNTexas said:

And many want Littrell gone. Dude can recruit. Wow.

yeah he can recruit, but can he coach when it's needed? the last 2 yrs seem to say he can recruit but not coach.

Edited December 16, 2020 by untbowler

[Marty]

Why not North Texas!!!

[UNT18Grad]

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

To leave Littrell and Walerius out of this is ridiculous.

Fixed that for you.

 

51 minutes ago, Udomann said:

And, despite this great recruiting, do we ignore the fact that we are legit bottom feeders in the worst conference in college football? I want to join in on patting everyone on the back about how bright the future looks, but unless we get coaching that can deliver, the recruits are going to be wasted again.

Honestly, we are looking down the barrel of a beatdown this weekend by a sunbelt team. Our issue isn't recruiting...

The current team has recruiting classes ranked as 8th, 11th, and 8th in conference as our upperclassmen, we finished about 9th last year and 7th this year within conference so pretty much right where you'd expect.  Finishing above 8th would be over achieving based on the recruits we have on this team, don't let years of Mason Fine/Graham Harrell mess up expectations of how good we should have been.  

The good news is that our next 3 classes are ranked 4th, 2nd, and 3rd (currently) so reasonable expectations would be a top 4/5 finish within conference next year and then competing for conference titles the next few years after that.  Our first "good" recruiting class was 2019, those players would be either freshmen or sophomores right now, so a bit of patience is needed before we should be saying recruits are being wasted.

The issue with this current team is absolutely the poor recruiting done by Littrell his first 3 classes.

[drycreek]

2 hours ago, MattDamon23 said:

What's amazing to me is how quickly our recruiting has picked up. Of the top 10 all-time recruits to ever commit to the University of North Texas, 6 of them have been in the past five years. That is absolutely incredible and speaks volumes on the potential we are blessed with here.

Our perception is slowly but surely shifting and I can't think of anyone who I want to thank more for their hard work and dedication than Wren Baker and Neal Smatresk! 

I 2ND THIS POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MGNation92]

4 minutes ago, UNT18Grad said:

Fixed that for you.

 

The current team has recruiting classes ranked as 8th, 11th, and 8th in conference as our upperclassmen, we finished about 9th last year and 7th this year within conference so pretty much right where you'd expect.  Finishing above 8th would be over achieving based on the recruits we have on this team, don't let years of Mason Fine/Graham Harrell mess up expectations of how good we should have been.  

The good news is that our next 3 classes are ranked 4th, 2nd, and 3rd (currently) so reasonable expectations would be a top 4/5 finish within conference next year and then competing for conference titles the next few years after that.  Our first "good" recruiting class was 2019, those players would be either freshmen or sophomores right now, so a bit of patience is needed before we should be saying recruits are being wasted.

The issue with this current team is absolutely the poor recruiting done by Littrell his first 3 classes.

Is that really true though? How many guys from the 2018/2019 are full time or part time starters? I'd imagine at least half

[UNT18Grad]

5 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

Is that really true though? How many guys from the 2018/2019 are full time or part time starters? I'd imagine at least half

2017- Tre Siggers, Jaelon Darden, Greg White, Cam Johnson, Tyreke Davis, Dion Novil, Makyle Sanders, Jacob Brammer, Manase Mose

2018- Cole Brown, Daizion Carroll, Austin Ogunmakin, Jason Bean, Austin Aune, Deandre Torrey, KD Davis, Larry Nixon, Jyaire Shorter

2019- Deonte Simpson, Oscar Adaway, Grayson/Gabriel Murray, Kevin Wood, Quinn Whitlock, DeShawn Gaddie

2020- Anterrious Gray, but could also count Upton Stout, Devontae McCrae, and Jordan Rucker

Might have forgotten a couple but the majority of our snaps come from guys who were part of bad overall classes.  We managed to find some diamonds in the rough, but I'm looking forward to combining good overall classes with diamonds in the rough instead of constantly hoping we over achieve our recruiting rankings.

[BillySee58]

36 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

Is that really true though? How many guys from the 2018/2019 are full time or part time starters? I'd imagine at least half

Confused what you mean by “is that really true though?”

As for starters from the UTEP game, here’s the breakdown:

2017 HS - 6

2018 HS - 7

2018 JUCO - 1

2019 HS - 4

2019 JUCO - 1

2020 JUCO - 1

D1 Transfer - 1

Former walkon - 1

Pretty bad that we didn’t have a single 2016 redshirt senior starting.

Edited December 16, 2020 by BillySee58

[El Paso Eagle]

2 hours ago, UNTexas said:

And many want Littrell gone. Dude can recruit. Wow.

Many want Littrell to Hire a good (not even asking for great) DC

[El Paso Eagle]

21 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Confused what you mean by “is that really true though?”

As for starters from the UTEP game, here’s the breakdown:

2017 HS - 6

2018 HS - 7

2018 JUCO - 1

2019 HS - 4

2019 JUCO - 1

2020 JUCO - 1

D1 Transfer - 1

Former walkon - 1

Pretty bad that we didn’t have a single 2016 redshirt senior starting.

Actually it is a sign we are recruiting better players

[El Paso Eagle]

2 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Also, average rating was highest in this class. Just need to land home one more class like this and we’ll pretty much have P5 talent across all grades and position groups.

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

It’s clear Seth can get recruits here, but now it’s time to develop them and produce on the field.

I’m very confident that it’ll happen this upcoming year.

[El Paso Eagle]

1 minute ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

It’s clear Seth can get recruits here, but now it’s time to develop them and produce on the field.

I’m very confident that it’ll happen this upcoming year.

Seth knows his future will be guided by his success in the upcoming seasons. I am optimistically hopeful we see a big turn around on defense with a full off season and the incoming talent. With the offensive fire power we have we do not have to have a great defense, not that it would not be welcomed. 

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, UNT18Grad said:

Fixed that for you.

 

The current team has recruiting classes ranked as 8th, 11th, and 8th in conference as our upperclassmen, we finished about 9th last year and 7th this year within conference so pretty much right where you'd expect.  Finishing above 8th would be over achieving based on the recruits we have on this team, don't let years of Mason Fine/Graham Harrell mess up expectations of how good we should have been.  

The good news is that our next 3 classes are ranked 4th, 2nd, and 3rd (currently) so reasonable expectations would be a top 4/5 finish within conference next year and then competing for conference titles the next few years after that.  Our first "good" recruiting class was 2019, those players would be either freshmen or sophomores right now, so a bit of patience is needed before we should be saying recruits are being wasted.

The issue with this current team is absolutely the poor recruiting done by Littrell his first 3 classes.

Hate the comment, "fixed that for you".  No, I stand by what I posted.  If you want to disagree, go right ahead, but don't change my comment. 

I won't type my opinion on this subject again, but the main point is that when SL arrived he had to build relationships with HS coaches that were nonexistent, build a nonexistent recruiting department, etc...  Those things don't happen overnight.  Partner those efforts with WB changing the culture of the overall department and providing needed facilities and Smatresk and the BOR making a commitment from the top levels of the university that have never been seen in Denton and this is what you end up with.  Efforts from all levels are now paying off.  IT is now on SL and staff to develop this talent and deliver championships.

Edited December 16, 2020 by UNTLifer

[MeanGreen22]

2 hours ago, untbowler said:

yeah he can recruit, but can he coach when it's needed? the last 2 yrs seem to say he can recruit but not coach.

And back in 2017/2018 the narrative was he could coach and not recruit.
 

Maybe becoming a great coach isn’t a steady climb but instead has its peaks and valleys just like anything else

[UNTexas]

54 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Many want Littrell to Hire a good (not even asking for great) DC

Yes. The D is a big problem. 

[El Paso Eagle]

7 minutes ago, MeanGreen22 said:

And back in 2017/2018 the narrative was he could coach and not recruit.
 

Maybe becoming a great coach isn’t a steady climb but instead has its peaks and valleys just like anything else

Heard parts of a good interview with Northwestern's HC, Pat Fitzgerald. Talked about how in 2017 and 2018 everyone said he was doing a great job, and last year when they went 3-9 fans and reporters talked about he had "forgot" how to coach. This year the same reporters are saying he could get an NFl job and the fans hope he stays. 

[GreenN'walinsVet]

I think this just shows how a great QB can masks lots of problems...Mason hid so many flaws it wasn't funny.  Hopefully drummend is a much bigger poor mans version of mason and this thing goes through the roof. 

[PlummMeanGreen]

5 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

We see P5 offers from our commits every year. Usually it’s teams like Kansas, Purdue, Illinois, and other programs where there isn’t much to sell the kids on outside of the conference the team plays in. This year not only did we see a lot of P5 offers from our commits, we also saw offers from some of the biggest brands in college football.

Almost always, this does not mean we went head to head with these programs and came out on top, but instead were able to strike after the player waited too long and saw those offers evaporate. But even then, we have never seen offer lists like this because even if a guy’s offer from USC, Texas, or LSU expires, there are a bunch of other top P5 programs waiting to scoop them up. This year it was us, multiple times. Starting to see talent end up in Denton like we haven’t seen since our move back up to FBS/1-A. Here they are:

Caleb Johnson - OU, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Texas A&M, TCU, Tennessee

Var’Keyes Gumms - Texas, LSU

Gabe Blair - USC, Virginia Tech, Colorado, Syracuse

Keith Jackson - Ole Miss, Tennessee

Rayvon Crum - West Virginia, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Kansas

Zhighlil McMillan - Vanderbilt

*Bryson Jackson (Offer List Out of High School) - TCU, Alabama, LSU, OU, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Penn State, Wisconsin, Arizona, Arkansas, Duke, K State, Louisville, Miami, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State

**Jacob Farrell (Offer List Out of High School) - OK State, TCU, Texas Tech, Kansas

**Logan Wilson (Offer List Out of High School) - Kansas State, Iowa, Arizona, Kansas, Rutgers

*JUCO Transfer, didn’t get to play season because it was moved to spring

**FBS Transfer

I think most of you who’ve been around UNT recruiting for 2 or more decades would agree that we have never competed against so many P5 schools with each of our Mean Green signees.  Without getting melodramatic about it—today was amazing. 

  I’d wager that each of these new signees will also not freak out if we (as some have suggested) get schooled at Myrtle Beach on Monday, but will rather see opportunity to come to Denton, play early & help the present team put thIs Mean Green ship back in the right direction. Seth Littrell & his staff all became better coaches today.  

❇️ GMG! 

[Coach Andy Mac]

1 hour ago, GreenN'walinsVet said:

I think this just shows how a great QB can masks lots of problems...Mason hid so many flaws it wasn't funny.  Hopefully drummend is a much bigger poor mans version of mason and this thing goes through the roof. 

Agreed

[97and03]

3 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Confused what you mean by “is that really true though?”

As for starters from the UTEP game, here’s the breakdown:

Former walkon - 1

Pretty bad that we didn’t have a single 2016 redshirt senior starting.

Pirtle? 
 

2 hours ago, UNTexas said:

Yes. The D is a big problem. 

That’s what she said?

But seriously, even if we give up 30-33 points a game, we should be able to win 6+. Our offense is more than capable of scoring 35 or more consistently. But for that to work, we can afford these devastating slow starts on both sides of the ball like we had this year. And even if they give up points, we need the D to be opportunistic: make more third down stops and take the ball away more. We were -5 in TO ratio and it was only that good because UTEP lost their starter to Covid tracing. Our opponents were successful nearly 50 percent of the time on 3rd and 4th downs. 

[MGNation92]

4 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Confused what you mean by “is that really true though?”

As for starters from the UTEP game, here’s the breakdown:

2017 HS - 6

2018 HS - 7

2018 JUCO - 1

2019 HS - 4

2019 JUCO - 1

2020 JUCO - 1

D1 Transfer - 1

Former walkon - 1

Pretty bad that we didn’t have a single 2016 redshirt senior starting.

It wasn’t meant to be sarcastic or anything. I honestly didn’t know how many starters were underclassmen of the top of my head and was too lazy to check.

It’s frankly bullshit that Seth places so much emphasis on seniority. Outside of a handful of guys, we should be starting all underclassmen.

[BillySee58]

30 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

Pirtle?

Yup

 

19 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

It wasn’t meant to be sarcastic or anything. I honestly didn’t know how many starters were underclassmen of the top of my head and was too lazy to check.

It’s frankly bullshit that Seth places so much emphasis on seniority. Outside of a handful of guys, we should be starting all underclassmen.

Nah, I just didn’t understand which part of the post you were quoting it was that you were asking the question about. But definitely. We’ve seen multiple cases each of the past two seasons where young guys ended up being some of our best players but they started the season 3rd or lower on the depth chart for no reason other than seniority. 

[NT93]

5 hours ago, untbowler said:

yeah he can recruit, but can he coach when it's needed? the last 2 yrs seem to say he can recruit but not coach.

That’s what UT fans said about Mack Brown.  Firing him hasn’t worked out so well for them.

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, NT93 said:

That’s what UT fans said about Mack Brown.  Firing him hasn’t worked out so well for them.

But North Carolina has benefited - Not one ounce of pity for UT. Must be nice to know you pay more per football victory than any school ever.

Edited December 17, 2020 by El Paso Eagle

[Matt from A700]

9 hours ago, MattDamon23 said:

What's amazing to me is how quickly our recruiting has picked up. Of the top 10 all-time recruits to ever commit to the University of North Texas, 6 of them have been in the past five years. That is absolutely incredible and speaks volumes on the potential we are blessed with here.

Our perception is slowly but surely shifting and I can't think of anyone who I want to thank more for their hard work and dedication than Wren Baker and Neal Smatresk! 

Holy sh*t now we've even caught Matt Damon's attention!!