Dodge Sets Plan For New Defense, Staff

Eagle-96 · December 29, 2006

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...9.565c82c9.html

Football: Dodge Sets Plan for New Defense, Staff

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Mean Green to switch back to 4-3 in 2007

The walls were still bare, the boxes not quite unpacked on Thursday, a day after Todd Dodge moved into his office in the Mean Green Athletic Center.

North Texas’ new head coach had only been on the job a few hours and had a to-do list that seemed a mile long, even after he made a few initial decisions.

Dodge will run a 4-3 defense and his staff will include current high school coaches other than new wide receivers coach Clayton George. He has also determined UNT will have a minimum of 16 and as many as 21 scholarships to hand out in his first recruiting class.

The time it took to make those decisions and study his new roster had Dodge scrambling.

"I am excited to pour myself into this job," said Dodge, who capped his career at Southlake Carroll by winning the Class 5A Division I state title Saturday. "For the last two weeks I did a pretty good job of maintaining my focus on Carroll, considering how many opportunities there were to have a lack of focus."

Dodge acknowledged Carroll's long playoff run has put him behind in terms of laying the foundation for his new team, but said Thursday he has begun the process of shaping the program.

One of Dodge's first moves was to hire George, a former UNT wide receiver who spent eight years coaching under him at the high school level. News of the hiring became public last week.

"Clayton is the very best wide receivers coach I could hire," Dodge said. "He has three years of head coaching experience and will be a fabulous recruiter. When you can go out and hire great coaches who you have a trust level with, you should feel blessed."

George was a four-year letterman at UNT from 1990-93 and led the Mean Green in receiving in 1992.

While Dodge wouldn't reveal who will fill out the remainder of his staff, he did acknowledge he would hire a few additional coaches he has worked with at the high school level.

"What I can say about my staff is that I am going to bring some guys with me," Dodge said. "I would like to have everything done by Wednesday of next week."

While Dodge has yet to make an announcement on who his defensive coordinator will be, he has decided on the Mean Green’s defensive scheme. UNT ran the 4-3 under former head coach Darrell Dickey until last season when the Mean Green switched to the 3-4 under coordinator Fred Bleil.

"We can be more multiple out of the 4-3," Dodge said. "It worked for us at Carroll and is battle tested. We can also get into a three-man front out of it if we need to."

UNT will begin the transition back to a 4-3 defense during spring practice. When those workouts will begin has yet to be determined.

The Mean Green typically began spring practice in mid-February under Dickey. Dodge said when he was an assistant at UNT from 1992-93, the Mean Green held spring practice in March and April.

"I would tend to hold off until the weather is a little warmer from a teaching standpoint for our offense," said Dodge, who runs a passing-based system.

UNT's plans for spring practice and recruiting should be set in the next week. Dodge has had a chance to take an initial look at the Mean Green's roster and has determined that he has at least 16 scholarships to give, but that number could grow.

"Once the staff gets in and I can visit with them I will have a better idea," Dodge said. "Over the next 5-6 days, it will become clearer."

Edited December 29, 2006 by Eagle-96