The NT Purge of 2023

[Jonnyeagle]

Wow never seen so many defections at one time.  Very difficult time but hopefully we can add some from the portal to replace as well.

[Cr1028]

42 minutes ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Wow never seen so many defections at one time.  Very difficult time but hopefully we can add some from the portal to replace as well.

I think it is largely because of how they narrowed the portal to two windows instead of being open ended like it used to be.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Cr1028

[Graddean]

Ohio State had nine, Georgia had eight, and Purdue had 11 all entering today.

[Okiefan]

1 hour ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Wow never seen so many defections at one time.  Very difficult time but hopefully we can add some from the portal to replace as well.

Isn't this what the Mean Green Forum wanted.? The current roster didn't meet your expectations. We are up to 17 in the portal +19 seniors. I had predicted 50 new scholarship players for fall camp. The big challenge now is getting enough in school in the next few weeks to have an effective spring. Its not as easy as it sounds, especially with limited grad level classes.  

Edited December 5, 2023 by Okiefan

[NT93]

1 hour ago, Okiefan said:

Isn't this what the Mean Green Forum wanted.? The current roster didn't meet your expectations. We are up to 17 in the portal +19 seniors. I had predicted 50 new scholarship players for fall camp. The big challenge now is getting enough in school in the next few weeks to have an effective spring. It’s not as easy as it sounds, especially with limited grad level classes.  

The quality of football is sure to suffer because of the portal for a variety of reasons.  You just listed one I hadn’t thought about.

[TheReal_jayD]

1 hour ago, Okiefan said:

Isn't this what the Mean Green Forum wanted.? The current roster didn't meet your expectations. We are up to 17 in the portal +19 seniors. I had predicted 50 new scholarship players for fall camp. The big challenge now is getting enough in school in the next few weeks to have an effective spring. Its not as easy as it sounds, especially with limited grad level classes.  

This is college football in 2024. Oklahoma State lost 12 guys last year first day of transfer portal. They just played for a conference championship last week. The roster was lacking depth and talent there is no two way around it. North Texas lost a couple guys that they got out of the portal that we didn't win huge recruiting battles for that came to north texas and became all confernce players (Miner, Maclin, Ayo and Nwaiwu). The RB and WR I am not super concerned with replacing. The OL will be tough. as for the other 13 there is several depth guys and walk on that wouldn't have seen the field. The coaches need to hit on evals is the biggest factor. There are over 1000 kids in portal. There are more kids than spots. But North Texas has had to many walks on out perfoming scholarship guys the last 3-4 years. 

[UNT Family Man]

54 minutes ago, TheReal_jayD said:

This is college football in 2024. Oklahoma State lost 12 guys last year first day of transfer portal. They just played for a conference championship last week. The roster was lacking depth and talent there is no two way around it. North Texas lost a couple guys that they got out of the portal that we didn't win huge recruiting battles for that came to north texas and became all confernce players (Miner, Maclin, Ayo and Nwaiwu). The RB and WR I am not super concerned with replacing. The OL will be tough. as for the other 13 there is several depth guys and walk on that wouldn't have seen the field. The coaches need to hit on evals is the biggest factor. There are over 1000 kids in portal. There are more kids than spots. But North Texas has had to many walks on out perfoming scholarship guys the last 3-4 years. 

Miner and Nwaiwu are concerning. Would any starter types be welcomed back if they had a “change of heart”?

[Okiefan]

6 minutes ago, TheReal_jayD said:

This is college football in 2024. Oklahoma State lost 12 guys last year first day of transfer portal. They just played for a conference championship last week. The roster was lacking depth and talent there is no two way around it. North Texas lost a couple guys that they got out of the portal that we didn't win huge recruiting battles for that came to north texas and became all confernce players (Miner, Maclin, Ayo and Nwaiwu). The RB and WR I am not super concerned with replacing. The OL will be tough. as for the other 13 there is several depth guys and walk on that wouldn't have seen the field. The coaches need to hit on evals is the biggest factor. There are over 1000 kids in portal. There are more kids than spots. But North Texas has had to many walks on out perfoming scholarship guys the last 3-4 years. 

JD- Believe it or not we agree on more than we don't. I just been state facts and feel without a strong NIL or winning culture, it is tough to make big jumps quickly. If we had stayed in CUSA, we would have defiantly made a bowl this year. Heck, just winning ONE of our close losses puts us in a bowl and I doubt this drastic transformation would have happened. I might be wrong. Power 5 football is a business inside the facilities and the kids know it. Now G5 is trying to play the same game with fewer bullets in the gun unless you have deep pockets. The old saying- football is a game of inches.  Just think one Memphis play might have just changed the whole course of action at UNT.     

[TheReal_jayD]

1 hour ago, Okiefan said:

JD- Believe it or not we agree on more than we don't. I just been state facts and feel without a strong NIL or winning culture, it is tough to make big jumps quickly. If we had stayed in CUSA, we would have defiantly made a bowl this year. Heck, just winning ONE of our close losses puts us in a bowl and I doubt this drastic transformation would have happened. I might be wrong. Power 5 football is a business inside the facilities and the kids know it. Now G5 is trying to play the same game with fewer bullets in the gun unless you have deep pockets. The old saying- football is a game of inches.  Just think one Memphis play might have just changed the whole course of action at UNT.     

I absolutely agree. I think NCAA is in need of changes. I can’t see us continuing down this path the way things are going. I do think the American is going to be wide up next year. Will be interesting which team has most success this off season reloading.

[Green with Envy]

10 hours ago, Graddean said:

Ohio State had nine, Georgia had eight, and Purdue had 11 all entering today.

How many were starters?   

[VideoEagle]

8 hours ago, TheReal_jayD said:

North Texas has had to many walks on out perfoming scholarship guys the last 3-4 years. 

While I'm happy for the success of those walk-ons, I think this shows we've had a problem evaluating talent. Don't get me wrong - NO ONE always gets talent evaluation right. And almost every team has a walk-on that was misevaluated and later earned a scholarship. But NT has been having too many walk-ons outperforming scholarship guys. 

[GMG93]

Anyone know how UNT is changing their staffing to account for this new NIL world?  Used to be that scouting and connections mattered only with high school.  Now it is collegiate-wide.  Wouldn't that require tremendously more staffing? 

And another crazy thought, would there be an opportunity to partner with another school to become their official feeder program.  Realizing that we will lose talent regardless, why not be the J.V. team for Alabama?  Implement a similar offense and defense and prep players for the foregone conclusion they will leave.  But now we tie our university to a larger money and fan base.  Also, players have a new incentive to come to UNT because they now have a direct line to a top football program.  Little crazy, but just thinking outside the box into how to turn this system into an opportunity.  I'm sure there is a reason this could not be done... but crazier things happen these days.

[Greenrex]

The Athletic Dec 5, 2023 By the numbers …

Day 1 of the winter transfer portal window was record-smashing. To break it all down, I phoned a friend in The Athletic’s portal guru, Max Olson, to share some of the numbers. The total number of portal entries yesterday from FBS, FCS and Division II players was 1,127, a 44 percent increase from a year ago (780). The total number from Division I was 1,049. In FBS, 532 scholarship players entered, a 16 percent increase from last year’s Day 1 total (456). Power 5 transfers made up 57 percent, and 43 percent were from Group of 5 programs. Also in FBS, 28 scholarship quarterbacks entered the portal yesterday.  The most crowded position in the portal among FBS scholarship players was wide receiver with 63 Day 1 entries. Next in line were the defensive backs (54), offensive linemen (41), linebackers (34), defensive linemen (33), running backs (32) and tight ends (14). Five special teams players entered on Monday. By team (FBS-only), South Carolina had the most Day 1 entries with 15. NC State, Vanderbilt and Western Michigan had 14 followed by Cincinnati with 13; ECU, Georgia State, Kent State and North Texas with 11; Iowa State and Purdue with 10; and Kansas State and Michigan State with nine.

[GoGreenBeans]

3 minutes ago, Greenrex said:

The Athletic Dec 5, 2023 By the numbers …

Day 1 of the winter transfer portal window was record-smashing. To break it all down, I phoned a friend in The Athletic’s portal guru, Max Olson, to share some of the numbers. The total number of portal entries yesterday from FBS, FCS and Division II players was 1,127, a 44 percent increase from a year ago (780). The total number from Division I was 1,049. In FBS, 532 scholarship players entered, a 16 percent increase from last year’s Day 1 total (456). Power 5 transfers made up 57 percent, and 43 percent were from Group of 5 programs. Also in FBS, 28 scholarship quarterbacks entered the portal yesterday.  The most crowded position in the portal among FBS scholarship players was wide receiver with 63 Day 1 entries. Next in line were the defensive backs (54), offensive linemen (41), linebackers (34), defensive linemen (33), running backs (32) and tight ends (14). Five special teams players entered on Monday. By team (FBS-only), South Carolina had the most Day 1 entries with 15. NC State, Vanderbilt and Western Michigan had 14 followed by Cincinnati with 13; ECU, Georgia State, Kent State and North Texas with 11; Iowa State and Purdue with 10; and Kansas State and Michigan State with nine.

The gap in CFB is reaching Grand Canyon levels. Sad to say that outside of a handful of programs, a lot of schools are merely stepping stones now

[97and03]

I am not sure I believe all these starters leaving is just ‘better offers’ out there. 

[UNTLifer]

19 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

I am not sure I believe all these starters leaving is just ‘better offers’ out there. 

Then why are they leaving?

[greenminer]

45 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Then why are they leaving?

I have zero insight.  I only speculate that some enter the portal thinking NIL offers will come AFTER their name is out there.

...and, by extension, that suggests we are not offering them any NIL in Denton.

[UNTLifer]

29 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I have zero insight.  I only speculate that some enter the portal thinking NIL offers will come AFTER their name is out there.

...and, by extension, that suggests we are not offering them any NIL in Denton.

Thanks.  I am curious as to @97and03's opinion as well.

[El Paso Eagle]

2 hours ago, 97and03 said:

I am not sure I believe all these starters leaving is just ‘better offers’ out there. 

[Dannymacfan]

3 hours ago, GoGreenBeans said:

By team (FBS-only), South Carolina had the most Day 1 entries with 15. NC State, Vanderbilt and Western Michigan had 14 followed by Cincinnati with 13; ECU, Georgia State, Kent State and North Texas with 11; Iowa State and Purdue with 10; and Kansas State and Michigan State with nine.

A shocking rebuke of Morris if you ask me.  Something is causing  this many young men to leave Denton.

[El Paso Eagle]

15 minutes ago, Dannymacfan said:

A shocking rebuke of Morris if you ask me.  Something is causing  this many young men to leave Denton.

If you don't know the "something," why do you need to take a jab at Morris? Pretty crappy to comment like that, not knowing the whole story. 

[RBP79]

46 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

If you don't know the "something," why do you need to take a jab at Morris? Pretty crappy to comment like that, not knowing the whole story. 

Cause it's crossed everyone's mind? 

[El Paso Eagle]

14 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

Cause it's crossed everyone's mind? 

Thinking something and saying something are two different things. It's probably a combination of things; we might never know the whole story. The bottom line is that life in the NIL/Portal period will likely continue to be complicated. If you have a player who stands out or a side of the ball that gets attention, the Power schools will come calling as long as their boosters are shelling out big dollars for backups and squad members.

[GoGreenBeans]

18 hours ago, Dannymacfan said:

A shocking rebuke of Morris if you ask me.  Something is causing  this many young men to leave Denton.

Players are leaving all mid-major programs at unreal numbers, it's not just a Morris thing. On a Morris "glass half full" take, you could say that his offense catapulted Rodgers, Maclin, Adeyi into being considered for higher programs. It's just the state of college football now

[diehardUNTfan]

We have offered someone I really hope we can land. Texas Tech WR Myles Price. He's a veteran guy who was also a great locker room guy. I think that is highly needed at this time.