Dodge Haul

[Green Mean]

Football: Dodge haul

Dodge thrilled with first recruiting class at North Texas

11:25 PM CST on Wednesday, February 7, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Time was definitely not on Todd Dodge's side when it came to putting together his first recruiting class at North Texas.

Dodge was not introduced as the Mean Green's head coach until Dec. 12 and didn't even think about recruiting until after leading Southlake Carroll to the Class 5A state title on Dec. 23.

Dodge recovered from the slow start to introduce a class of 20 on national signing day following a frantic first few weeks at UNT.

"If it was 30 days or a year that we worked on this group of players I would be proud," Dodge said. "I feel blessed to be able to get this caliber of a class with this short an amount of time."

Dodge's first class was highlighted by six wide receivers he felt he needed to implement his no-huddle spread offense. Four of the wide receivers UNT signed cleared the 1,000-yard mark in receiving yards last season, including Breece Johnson and Evan Walker of Colleyville Heritage.

Walker and Johnson ranked first and second among Class 5A players in Dallas-Fort Worth in receiving with 1,476 and 1,343 yards, respectively.

UNT also picked up one of the top wide receivers from San Antonio in Sam Dibrell and Sommerville's Sam Roberson. Dibrell finished with 1,556 receiving yards last season, while Roberson had 1,065 receiving yards.

"All of the wide receivers we recruited are expected to come in and compete right away," Dodge said. "That was a focus for us."

UNT ran a run-based attack under Darrell Dickey the last several years but will go to a no-huddle spread attack under Dodge. The Mean Green had one of its deepest and most talented corps of wide receivers last season before losing three key players to graduation.

Johnny Quinn finished as UNT's all-time receiving leader. The Mean Green also lost Joel Nwigwe and Zach Muzzy, whose appeal to the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility was denied.

UNT not only fared well finding wide receivers to fill the void in its roster, it also was successful recruiting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, following through on one of the goals Dodge set shortly after he took over at UNT.

Euless Trinity defensive tackle Jordan Scoggins, a member of The Dallas Morning News Area Top 100 list and one of the top players in the class, was one of seven players from Dallas-Fort Worth to sign with UNT.

Dodge and the Mean Green's staff convinced Scoggins to move to the defensive line and play for UNT instead of leaving the area to play tight end at another school.

"It is something that we have got to pay attention to, making sure that we put a 50-mile radius around the city of Denton and go after the players here," Dodge said. "The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is a place that we really have to hit."

UNT is hoping Dodge's first recruiting class will represent the initial step in turning around a program that fell on tough time the last few years. UNT finished 3-9 last season, its second straight losing campaign.

UNT brought in Dodge to help the program turn the corner and saw him land seven players ranked among the top 100 recruits in the state by various publications.

Rivals.com national recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree was among those who believes the class was a good first step in putting UNT back on track.

"Considering that this staff came in with little less than a month to put together a recruiting class, I've been nothing short of impressed with the job UNT has done," Crabtree said. "Coach Dodge has found some quality players that honestly would never have looked at UNT in the past. It's going to continue to take time turn that program around into one of the better ones in the state, but this first recruiting class definitely is a step in the right direction."

BRETT VITO

[TicketJohn]

Zach Muzzy, whose appeal to the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility was denied.

Brett keeps saying this...but wasn't it an appeal for a fifth year of eligibility? He didn't redshirt, he started playing the same year that J Quinn started playing...so 2007 would be a fifth year right? Am I missing something?

[greenminer]

Brett keeps saying this...but wasn't it an appeal for a fifth year of eligibility? He didn't redshirt, he started playing the same year that J Quinn started playing...so 2007 would be a fifth year right? Am I missing something?

I think Muzzy came in the year before Quinn, redshirted and then started with Quinn the next year. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[PHSCoach]

Quinn came in 2002

Muzzy came in 2003 but did not redshirt