DRC Full article on Victor Gill, other info

OldTimer · August 5, 2006

UNT gives scholarship to TE Gill

Argyle standout to join team for fall practices

09:01 AM CDT on Saturday, August 5, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

One of the top pass-catching tight ends in the Dallas area received a surprise from the North Texas coaching staff recently in the form of a scholarship that arrived a little earlier than planned.

Victor Gill

Argyle’s Victor Gill had already committed to a grayshirt offer from UNT that would have had him sit out the fall semester and then join the team in January. UNT’s coaches changed their minds and asked Gill to join the Mean Green when fall practices start on Monday.

“We decided to bring him in now,” UNT coach Darrell Dickey said. “At some point there is no question that he will contribute to the program, whether it is this year or sometime down the line.”

Gill was the leading receiver among tight ends in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last season when he caught 52 passes for 664 yards and five touchdowns. He also ranked as one of the top multi-sport athletes in the Denton area.

Gill, who was listed at 6-5, 230 for his senior football season, also started for the Argyle basketball team, averaging 12 points and nine rebounds per game.

Tulsa and Louisiana-Monroe also offered Gill a football scholarship.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity,” Gill said of reporting to UNT this week. “I was hoping to come in during the fall. I am ready to get started.”

Gill has concentrated on preparing for the beginning of his college football career since the end of basketball season. That work has helped him push his weight from a low of 212 pounds at the end of basketball season to 240 while he prepared to make the jump from a Class 2A high school to Division I college football.

“Victor is definitely a Division I athlete,” Argyle football coach Todd Rodgers said. “He is an untapped talent who has only played football for the last two years.”

Rodgers said Gill has the size and strength to compete at UNT in addition to solid footwork and an ability to work in space he learned from playing basketball.

“The coaches at UNT gave me a workout program after basketball season,” Gill said. “I went up to UNT to lift and run in the summer. I definitely feel more prepared to play college football now. I didn’t understand how far away from being ready I was until I started running and lifting up there.”

UNT has used two and sometimes three tight ends in a run-based attack under Dickey, who said one of the key position battles during fall practice would be among the Mean Green’s tight ends.

Seniors Robert Harmon and Beau Davidson are listed as co-starters while junior college transfer Brian Carlson and freshman Bryant Seidle are also expected to compete for playing time. Redshirt freshman David Collins, who was recruited as a defensive end in 2005, will also make the move to tight end in fall practice.

Sophomore Charlie Brown was projected to compete for playing time after serving as a backup as a freshman last season, but was lost for the year during the summer due to shoulder surgery.

UNT has featured several top tight ends in the Dickey era, including Andy Blount and Jeff Muenchow. Blount was an All-Sun Belt Conference selection in 2004, while Muenchow made the team in 2001 and 2002.

Gill has been preparing to follow in those players’ footsteps the last few months and was rewarded when UNT decided to bring him to campus when players report Sunday.

“Victor has always played basketball and that kept the weight off of him,” Rodgers said. “He has taken the opportunity to focus on training for football since the end of basketball season and has responded to it very well.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .

SilverEagle · August 5, 2006

Looks like one answer to the "what do we do about the loss of Charley Brown" question.

IslandEagle · August 5, 2006

Looks like one answer to the "what do we do about the loss of Charley Brown" question.
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If Gill can pick up the blocking schemes and put on enough weight and strength for those assignments, then there is no doubt he can contribute and maybe even excel. There is no question he can run and catch the ball, not a trait that all our TE's have had.