Dickey Shakes Up Coaching Staff

[MeanGreen61]

Football: Dickey shakes up UNT coaching staff

08:39 AM CST on Tuesday, February 7, 2006

y Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Former North Texas defensive coordinator Fred Bleil is returning to the school in the same capacity following a shakeup of the Mean Green’s staff on Monday.

Current defensive coordinator Kenny Evans has been promoted to assistant head coach and will also serve as the Mean Green’s recruiting coordinator, a position he held from 2000-03. Evans will retain his duties as linebackers coach, while Bleil will coach the Mean Green’s defensive backs.

Current defensive backs coach Van Malone and tight ends coach Duke Atterberry are leaving the staff to pursue other opportunities. Running backs coach/recruiting coordinator Bruce Bell retired after National Signing Day on Wednesday.

“I feel very good about bringing Fred back to North Texas,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “He is a fine person and coach.”

Bleil left UNT’s staff to become the defensive backs coach at San Diego State, a position he held through last season.

Bleil will take over a unit that finished third in the Sun Belt in scoring defense during conference play with an average of 20.3 points allowed a game, but was eighth for the entire season with an average of 31.5 points allowed.

Bleil helped the Mean Green finish among the top three teams in the Big West in scoring defense in the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

Evans will take on additional supervisory duties as assistant head coach, a move he believes will help him advance toward his goal of becoming a head coach on the Division I level.

“I am excited,” Evans said. “Hopefully this move will make me a better coach and allow me to help coach Dickey.”

Evans just completed his eighth season on UNT’s staff.

“Kenny has done a wonderful job recruiting and coordinating our defense,” Dickey said. “He is a natural fit as an assistant head coach.”

UNT recruited several solid players during Evans’ tenure as recruiting coordinator, including running back Jamario Thomas, the 2004 national rushing champion. Evans has also coached some of the top linebackers in UNT history, including Brad Kassell and Cody Spencer, who are now with the Tennessee Titans.

Evans said he is looking forward to working with Bleil.

“Sometimes a change of pace is good for a program,” Evans said “We will work well together.”

While UNT filled one spot for an assistant with Bleil, it still has two openings after the departure of Malone, Bell and Atterberry.

Malone interviewed for a position on the staff at Arizona State earlier this winter. Dickey said Malone has already accepted another job, while Atterberry is leaving to pursue other opportunities. Dickey said Malone couldn’t reveal where he is headed.

Malone declined to reveal his destination last week.

Atterberry spent two seasons on UNT’s staff, while Malone was with the Mean Green one season.

Dickey also confirmed on Monday that he has interviewed former UNT running back Erric Pegram for one of his openings at assistant coach.

Pegram was UNT’s leading rusher in the 1989 and 1990 seasons and went on to play eight seasons with four NFL teams. He rushed for 1,185 yards with the Atlanta Falcons in 1993 and finished with 3,398 yards in his professional career.

[Cowtown]

Adding P would be great.

[GreenBat]

Dickey also confirmed on Monday that he has interviewed former UNT running back Erric Pegram for one of his openings at assistant coach.

Pegram was UNT’s leading rusher in the 1989 and 1990 seasons and went on to play eight seasons with four NFL teams. He rushed for 1,185 yards with the Atlanta Falcons in 1993 and finished with 3,398 yards in his professional career.

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Thank heavens, we might actually hire one of our own. I know it's early, but Erric would be a great asset to the staff. If he takes oved DISD recruiting, we might actually get some players. He bleeds green and that is what this University needs in a bunch of positions.

[stebo]

Adding P would be great.

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I'll call him today and ask him how it went. Pegram and I became friends when he returned to get his degree... he spent a lot of time between classes hanging out at the Tavern and I have all sorts of signed memorabilia from him in my office including a signed Steelers jersey - like everything in life, nothing comes without a price, lol, lets just put it this way, a lot of comped drinks went over the counter in exchange for a lot of Falcons, Steelers, and Chargers stuff! I even have a signed jersey that might be worth something now that the Steelers have won a Super Bowl - I have the one that Erric wore in the fist half of the Super Bowl he played in (he kept the one from the second half of the game - little but of trivia - players are issued two jerseys for the Super Bowl, one for the 1st half and the other for the second half of the game). I think I had to give him like 200 comped drinks for that jersey alone, lol.

Back to my point... even back then- Pegram was trying to get on the coaching staff, but they were kind of blowing him off, I am glad to see that they are at least interviewing him now. With his personality, I think Erric would be a very good "player's" coach - so he should fit in with the rest of the staff -

[untgirl04]

You know, I don't think the title of this article is really accurate. DD didn't shake up the staff - they decided to leave on their own. I'm happy to hear Malone has another position - that makes me feel a bit better about him leaving (since he didn't get the Arizona St. position, I thought he might possibly be leaving without another spot). When I read that "DD Shakes up Coaching Staff" I was thinking maybe he would have actually made some changes - like re-evaluating a certain Offensive coordinator...

[Stan R]

You know, I don't think the title of this article is really accurate. DD didn't shake up the staff - they decided to leave on their own. I'm happy to hear Malone has another position - that makes me feel a bit better about him leaving (since he didn't get the Arizona St. position, I thought he might possibly be leaving without another spot). When I read that "DD Shakes up Coaching Staff" I was thinking maybe he would have actually made some changes - like re-evaluating a certain Offensive coordinator...

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Very good point. Why would Vito mislead people with that title? Hmmm.

[MeanGreenEngineer]

You know, I don't think the title of this article is really accurate. DD didn't shake up the staff - they decided to leave on their own.

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What makes you think either coach left willingly? Often coaches leave to "pursue other options" when they are told they need to do so or face a firing.

[MeanGreen61]

What makes you think either coach left willingly?  Often coaches leave to "pursue other options" when they are told they need to do so or face a firing.

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Aren't assistant coaches on year to year contracts? No contract renewal = "pursue other options".

[SilverEagle]

Aren't assistant coaches on year to year contracts? No contract renewal = "pursue other options".

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If that is true, then I don't understand why "another" assistant is still on staff. I would rather keep Van Malone.

[VideoEagle]

Very good point.  Why would Vito mislead people with that title? Hmmm. 

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Headlines are written by editors, not the reporters. It is not uncommon for the headline writer to have not completely read the article!

[untgirl04]

Headlines are written by editors, not the reporters. It is not uncommon for the headline writer to have not completely read the article!

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Well, after reading just the first line of the article, I can understand why an editor chose that title. However, that first line of the article is a bit misleading. What ever happened to responsible journalism?

[pollock]

What makes you think either coach left willingly?  Often coaches leave to "pursue other options" when they are told they need to do so or face a firing.

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Three of our best recruiters are leaving. One of them is retiring. Somehow I doubt the other two were asked to leave.

[Coffee and TV]

What ever happened to responsible journalism?

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This happened:

[UNTLifer]

This happened:

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Don't forget CNN, The Communist News Network.

Back to the headline, DD didn't shake up anyone's staff, they all left on their own. Looks to me like they were doing the shakin', not DD.

Edited February 7, 2006 by UNTLifer

[MeanGreen61]

Back to the headline, DD didn't shake up anyone's staff, they all left on their own.  Looks to me like they were doing the shakin', not DD.

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You're sure ?

[UNTLifer]

You're sure ?

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No, but the headline doesn't match the article's content.

[Baby Arm!]

No, but the headline doesn't match the article's content.

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Quick lesson in headline writting. The words chosen for a headline don't always best describe the content of the article. The editors challenge is to find the words that describe the story AND that will fit into the space provided. It's an inexact process to pick words that will do the job with the limitations of font and column inches.

[Monkeypox]

Quick lesson in headline writting.    The words chosen for a headline don't always best describe the content of the article.  The editors challenge is to find the words that describe the story AND that will fit into the space provided.    It's an inexact process to pick words that will do the job with the limitations of font and column inches.

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None of which excuses it from being misleading.