Heeding The Call

MeanGreen61 · December 18, 2006

Football: Heeding the call

Mean Green hope area's best will follow Dodge to UNT

10:24 PM CST on Sunday, December 17, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Todd Dodge has spent almost his entire coaching career in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with stops in Southlake, Keller and Carrollton, not to mention North Texas.

That familiarity could pay off for UNT's new head coach in the coming weeks as he begins the task of putting together his first recruiting class with the Mean Green.

“We have to get into the Dallas area from a recruiting standpoint,” said Dodge, who was introduced as UNT’s next head coach last week. “That is very important.”

It’s a task several high school coaches and recruiting experts believe Dodge can handle because of his connections and reputation. Dodge has won three Class 5A state titles at Carroll and has the Dragons on the verge of a fourth after a 38-0 win over Allen on Saturday.

Carroll will face Austin Westlake in the Class 5A Division I state title game on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

“There is no doubt that signing Dodge will help North Texas recruit the Metroplex better,” said Jeremy Crabtree, a recruiting expert for Rivals.com, a Web site that covers college football recruiting nationally. “It was perplexing that North Texas was not more involved with the kids in that area before. It will be a priority for Dodge. He would be crazy not to make it a priority. There is enough talent there for UNT to get 10-15 kids a year out of Dallas.”

UNT landed a few impact players from the Dallas area under former head coach Darrell Dickey, including linebacker Cody Spencer and offensive lineman Nick Zuniga, but had gone two years without signing a player ranked in The Dallas Morning News’ list of the top 100 recruits in the area. Rivals.com ranked UNT's recruiting class No. 111 in its national rankings last season.

Dodge certainly will know where to look to find some of the area’s top players. He not only coached at Carroll since 2000, he also was the head coach at Keller Fossil Ridge, Carrollton Newman Smith and Cameron Yoe after spending a two-year stint as an assistant at UNT.

Dodge’s summer camp for quarterbacks and receivers at Carroll annually drew dozens of the area’s top players.

“I know just about every head coach in the Dallas area and a whole lot of them are friends,” Dodge said. “I have a great relationship with the coaches not only in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but across the state. There are players across the state, quarterbacks and receivers, who have been to our camp. I have a good feel for evaluating players in the area.”

Several of the area’s coaches believe Dodge will get more than his share of the best players from the Mextroplex.

“I know he will get some good players from Dallas-Fort Worth,” Keller Fossil Ridge coach Hal Wasson said. “Coach Dodge’s reputation precedes him. The high school coaches respect him. When you go to a coaching clinic, his sessions are overflowing.”

Those coaches are expecting to see their old friend and his staff visiting their campuses in the next few weeks to find the players Dodge will need to implement his passing offense at UNT.

Dodge’s spread offense could help the Mean Green almost as much as his reputation and connections when it comes to recruiting. More and more of the high school programs across the state are running spread offenses. Players in those systems could find continuing their careers at UNT a little more attractive now that Dodge is set to take over.

UNT relied on a running-based offense under Dickey.

Dallas-Fort Worth is not only one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the country; it is also one of the most competitive. SMU and TCU are located in the area and nearly every Division I team in the country recruits Dallas-Fort Worth.

Despite the high number of coaches scouring the area, Dodge should get his share of players.

"Todd will bring instant creditability with the kids, the parents and the high school coaches across the state," Ryan coach Joey Florence said. "The connections college coaches have with the high school staffs are vital. … It will be a great hire for recruiting."

One of the interesting storylines for next season in recruiting will be where Carroll quarterback Riley Dodge ends up. Crabtree said Todd Dodge's son would be among the state’s top-ranked quarterbacks next season when he will be a senior.

“It will be interesting to see what Riley does,” Crabtree said of the 5-11, 168-pound junior. “He isn’t that big, but neither was [Missouri starting quarterback] Chase Daniel. Riley will be one of the top quarterback recruits in the state. He isn’t that tall, but with quarterbacks, if you’ve got it, you’ve got it.”

Crabtree is among a few experts who believe more players of Riley Dodge’s caliber will commit to UNT in the near future.

“North Texas will be able to compete for the players who are going to the Tulsas and SMUs of the world and might be able to compete with the Big 12 schools,” Crabtree said. “If you are a UNT fan you want to see the school competing with Big 12 teams like Kansas and Kansas State. They are in position to move up the recruiting pecking order quite a bit.”

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

MeanGreenBuzz · December 18, 2006

Great article and great to see the instant respect/credibility that TD brings with him. They way this rivals guy is talking TD may very well out recruit any class DD had in just his first year, second at the latest. I haven't been this excited about NT football and the future of NT athletics in general ever.

GMG! GTD!

NT03 · December 18, 2006

Great Article , but I thought Cody Spencer came to NT as a walkon ?

FirefightnRick · December 18, 2006

“It was perplexing that North Texas was not more involved with the kids in that area before.

You don't know the half of it buddy!

Rick

good_ken · December 18, 2006

It is really impressive to see the other high school coaches heap praise on TD (even the ones that get pasted by him).

This should buy us a lot of recruiting credibility immediately.

stick82 · December 18, 2006

Great Article , but I thought Cody Spencer came to NT as a walkon ?
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That was Chris Hurd

NT80 · December 18, 2006

“It was perplexing that North Texas was not more involved with the kids in that area before.
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You would have to ask RF about that; it was his recruiting area (Dallas) that he somehow managed to turn off. I guess being a great SMU player didn't help open many doors in Dallas?