RV and DD call meeting productive

[NT80]

Villarreal, Dickey call UNT meeting productive

12:43 AM CST on Friday, December 9, 2005

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

DENTON – North Texas athletic director Rick Villarreal expressed confidence in coach Darrell Dickey and his efforts to rebuild the Mean Green after a 2-9 season Thursday, just a few days after a postseason meeting.

Villarreal said Dickey would return for his ninth season at UNT in 2006.

"The meeting was for us to look at what we can do to make sure that we give the team the best opportunity to be successful and make sure that our expectations are the same," Villarreal said. "We were both in agreement. I am very confident that coach Dickey will work hard to make the adjustments that need to be made."

UNT won the Sun Belt Conference title and played in the New Orleans Bowl in four straight seasons while producing a pair of national rushing champions in Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas from 2001 to '04 before a down year last season.

UNT was picked to win a fifth straight Sun Belt title in the league's preseason poll but lost five conference games by a combined 21 points.

"Rick gave me a lot of opinions on what he saw and what we can do better," Dickey said. "It was a productive meeting."