Drc Full Article On Coaching Asst Pay Increase,

OldTimer · March 30, 2007

Football: UNT pays to pull assistant coaches together

09:01 AM CDT on Friday, March 30, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

When Todd Dodge took over as North Texas head coach in December, he knew he would have a lot of teaching to do while installing new offensive and defensive philosophies.

The last task he wanted to take on was teaching a new staff of unfamiliar assistants how he wanted to run his program.

It’s a challenge Dodge never had to face heading into the Mean Green’s first scrimmage of spring practice today, partly because of a boost in the salary pool for assistants that helped him land the coaches he wanted most.

UNT’s new assistants will make 10.5 percent more as a group than the Mean Green’s previous staff under former head coach Darrell Dickey.

“It has helped tremendously,” Dodge said of bringing in familiar assistants. “I credit coach [uNT athletic director Rick] Villarreal for allowing me to do what I felt we needed to do to be successful. … Our coaches believe in what we are doing.”

Dodge brought both his offensive coordinator Todd Ford and defensive coordinator Ron Mendoza from Southlake Carroll. He also added several veteran Division I assistants. Spencer Leftwich returned for a second stint as UNT’s offensive line coach after a stay at Tulsa while running backs coach Shelton Gandy (Louisiana Tech) and safeties coach Chuck Petersen (Air Force) came from other Division I programs.

“We have raised coaches salaries every year,” Villarreal said.

“It has been our intention to get them to a competitive level ever since I have been here. … This is another step toward that.”

UNT began to see the dividends of giving Dodge the ability to land his top choices for assistants during recruiting season, when the Mean Green quickly put together what was widely considered a solid class. Dodge is turning to his assistants again in spring practice to help sort out a roster full of players changing positions and adapting to a new system.

Dodge has yet to establish a depth chart heading into the Mean Green’s first scrimmage.

“The coaches have learned that my favorite question is, ‘All right, we have a game on Saturday, who are our five offensive linemen? Who is our quarterback?’ It changes a lot. I don’t want to put out a depth chart because it throws a wet blanket on competition and that is one of the best things we have going for us right now.”

UNT’s players say they are adapting well to Dodge’s new staff. The Mean Green had several assistant coaches come and go over the last few years, but Dickey was a constant in the program.

“The young guys are adjusting,” UNT senior linebacker Maurice Holman said.

“The older guys are the ones I was worried about, but we are all in. This is our last year, so we have to get after it.”

UNT’s veterans and younger players will both get perhaps their best chance thus far in spring practice to make an impression on their new coaches today during a scrimmage that will feature 15-play drives.

“We want to see consistency and players start to separate,” Dodge said. “We will also get a chance to check conditioning and how they react to adversity.”

The most intriguing position battle during the scrimmage should be at quarterback, where UNT has three veterans in Daniel Meager, Woody Wilson and Matt Phillips and redshirt freshman Nathan Tune competing for the starting job.

UNT will also continue to sort out a deep corps of linebackers, where there will only be three starters in a 4-3 as compared to last season, when the Mean Green ran a 3-4 defense.

“We are really excited,” Holman said. “The coaches will be on the sideline and we will be able to cut it loose. … First impressions mean a lot. They have told us that no one has a spot so everyone will have to get after it.”

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

ASSISTANT SALARIES ON RISE

The North Texas football team’s assistant coaches will make 10.5 percent more next season under head coach Todd Dodge than they made in Darrell Dickey’s final year. The following is a comparison:

2006