Dodge May Not Be Done Recruiting

MeanGreen61 · April 19, 2007

April 18, 2007

Dodge might not be done recruiting

North Texas head football coach Todd Dodge has taken a good look at what he has on hand during spring practice and said Wednesday that there is a chance he could try to sign a junior college player late to fill some holes in the Mean Green's lineup.

"There is always a possibility we could pick up a player late," Dodge said. "It could be an offensive lineman or a cornerback from a depth standpoint. [A signee] would have to come from the JC ranks at this point for us to find a player who could help us next year."

Dodge went on to say that he has not made any firm decisions about the Mean Green's plans.

UNT has a long history of picking up players after signing day, including safety Aaron Weathers and offensive lineman Andy Brewster. Weathers signed late out of Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, while Brewster played at Midland Lee.

UNT would be lucky to find another player to rival either Weathers, an all-conference selection last season, or Brewster, one of the best offensive linemen UNT has had in recent years.

What might be more realistic is trying to find another offensive lineman or two along the lines of Lonnie Chambers. The former UNT guard/tackle wasn't the best player to come through the program, but he was a solid starter who helped fill a void after transferring from Trinity Valley before the 2003 season.

UNT's biggest problem at this point appears to be its offensive line, where the Mean Green is starting two inexperienced tackles and barely has enough players to fill out its depth chart. The Mean Green has two signees coming in the fall, but J.J. Johnson of Plano West is a center, where UNT already has two capable players, and tackle Matt Tomlinson might need time to develop.

It could be tough for UNT to find an impact player at this point, but it appears as if Dodge and his staff might decide to take a look around.

Posted by Brett Vito at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SilverEagle · April 19, 2007

Hopefully this is where "Lefty" can help out. I assume that he still has connections out there.

GrandGreen · April 19, 2007

I don't think anyone is surprised at the need for help in the offensive line, but I would have thought corner-back was in good condition. NT returned four players that alternated starting at that position last year: Bush, Green, Chatman and Washington. Last years DB coach raved about the young talent at this position. Apparently they are having problems picking up the new scheme or there are complications such as injuries or academic issues. I have wondered what was going on at this position with Nuradeen a walk on transfer starting in the spring before injury, Washington being moved to WR and little used Oubre getting minutes in the Spring. The non-so in depth corner-back official site review did not mention any issues with Chatman, Green or Bush but there seems be problems.

LAZER · April 19, 2007

I don't think anyone is surprised at the need for help in the offensive line, but I would have thought corner-back was in good condition. NT returned four players that alternated starting at that position last year: Bush, Green, Chatman and Washington. Last years DB coach raved about the young talent at this position. Apparently they are having problems picking up the new scheme or there are complications such as injuries or academic issues. I have wondered what was going on at this position with Nuradeen a walk on transfer starting in the spring before injury, Washington being moved to WR and little used Oubre getting minutes in the Spring. The non-so in depth corner-back official site review did not mention any issues with Chatman, Green or Bush but there seems be problems.

Chatman is in one of my classes......grades. I overheard him in the hallway talking about how he was worried he might fail.

Charlie NT 73 · April 19, 2007

I agree, I thought cornerback was a strong point. What is up with the grade issues?

Banks can not practice due to grades-how many more may not show up for fall?

Anyway- I hope these guys make up the grades.

Back to the issue, OL depth. Brown and Pistol leave the team to join the Dallas Police

Dept., and Banks has grade issues also- the OL has become very thin for depth.

I beleive we are ok at Center, and OG. The coaches have been rotating guys all spring

practice,such as Santiago to OG, Rose to OG, Drake to G and back and forth with

others, to find depth and the best players at each position. I beleive Peachy and

Menard can be very good OT's-my worry is what if one or both get hurt!

There is Foster and Eidd, both big and strong, but, more suited for the OG position.

Maybe these guys are being worked at OT also.

As far as recruiting a few OL guys at this point in the game, I do not think this will

happen. I prefer the staff to work with what we have, and develop these guys.

Recruiting CB's- hey, we have 2-3 very good CB recruits coming in this fall. Give

these recruits a chance.

island eagle · April 19, 2007

I agree, I thought cornerback was a strong point. What is up with the grade issues?
Banks can not practice due to grades-how many more may not show up for fall?
Anyway- I hope these guys make up the grades.
Back to the issue, OL depth. Brown and Pistol leave the team to join the Dallas Police
Dept., and Banks has grade issues also- the OL has become very thin for depth.
I beleive we are ok at Center, and OG. The coaches have been rotating guys all spring
practice,such as Santiago to OG, Rose to OG, Drake to G and back and forth with
others, to find depth and the best players at each position. I beleive Peachy and
Menard can be very good OT's-my worry is what if one or both get hurt!
There is Foster and Eidd, both big and strong, but, more suited for the OG position.
Maybe these guys are being worked at OT also.
As far as recruiting a few OL guys at this point in the game, I do not think this will
happen. I prefer the staff to work with what we have, and develop these guys.
Recruiting CB's- hey, we have 2-3 very good CB recruits coming in this fall. Give
these recruits a chance.

I'm sorry, but TD should have realized when he got here that he needed OL recruits. We underrecruited in that category and it is going to come back to haunt us. I'm as big a TD fan as anyone, but that need was obvious from the day he got here and it wasn't addressed.

Charlie NT 73 · April 19, 2007

I understand that Coach Dodge and his staff did try to recruit OT and DT's- preimum type

of players- Most of these players were committed by the time our coaches got into the

recruiting game. Look at Tomlinson, Desoto, Johnson-for example-all were recruited

by major programs. The Coaches did not want to recruit a 6-5, 300 stack of blubber-

like many schools do, and hope they pan out. At the time, we had several players

that looked to be in good shape-but, Brown,Pistol, quit, then grades on others, injury to

Alexander. I beleive our coaching staff will be able to address the depth need, and

the OL will be OK. I have seen a few recruiting sites for 2008, and noticed kids that

have NT listed, along with the Big 12, SEC, and other conferences. So this tells me

Coach Dodge and his staff are recruiting right now for future needs. Have faith!

footballmaniac · April 19, 2007

I understand that Coach Dodge and his staff did try to recruit OT and DT's- preimum type
of players- Most of these players were committed by the time our coaches got into the
recruiting game. Look at Tomlinson, Desoto, Johnson-for example-all were recruited
by major programs. The Coaches did not want to recruit a 6-5, 300 stack of blubber-
like many schools do, and hope they pan out. At the time, we had several players
that looked to be in good shape-but, Brown,Pistol, quit, then grades on others, injury to
Alexander. I beleive our coaching staff will be able to address the depth need, and
the OL will be OK. I have seen a few recruiting sites for 2008, and noticed kids that
have NT listed, along with the Big 12, SEC, and other conferences. So this tells me
Coach Dodge and his staff are recruiting right now for future needs. Have faith!

What recruiting sites have you been looking at? One that I have been looking at is http://www.texashsfootball.com/players/2008/index.htm

When you click on their names you can see more information on them. What other ones are there?

Charlie NT 73 · April 19, 2007

Other football recruits-

I saw several listed at Collegefootballnews.com

click on "College"--upper right hand corner

then Team Diretory- scroll down to North Texas Mean Green--click on

go to Football Recruiting-- click on "Prospects"--about 6 or 7 listed.

Rivals.com will has a National 250 for 2008 -- rivals will have a new updated

list by "State" soon-

another is Scout.com, then Texasprep.com

mad dog · April 19, 2007

Todd Dodge had one month to put a recruiting class together. One month. Now look at the caliber of players he signed, and look what positions were signed. WR receiver was the priority, and we got some great athletes. We got a four star running back, a three star running back, a three star linebacker, and numerous all state players. We stole a top QB prospect away from Nevada, to boot. That ranks this as the best signing class, on paper, that we've had since I've been following the program, and likely the best one in the recent past.

So let's go ahead and fault Dodge for not ironing the $100 bill. It starts already...

UNTLifer · April 19, 2007

So let's go ahead and fault Dodge for not ironing the $100 bill. It starts already...

He'll learn to use heavy starch.

April 19, 2007

While I don't think that Coach Dodge would allow a wrinkled $100 if he could help it, but I sort of agree with GrandGreen's post. We were told that corner was a strength with great, young talent.

I applauded the move of Special K to offense because his past heroics have been on that side of the ball. I also assumed that meant it would not weaken us significantly; in other words we could afford to make the move. After all, Bush, Green, and Chatman had made tremendous progress over the course of the season and Robbie Gordon was supposed to be something special.

Now I am a little confused. Latif Durudeen, a walkon at Baylor who only appeared in seven games, jumped all the way to the first unit until an injury sidelined him for the spring. Were we that weak or was Durudeen that good? Now we may be looking at a CB. Does that mean a) we are not as strong as we thought, that someone on the first two units won't return in the fall or c) we are only looking at a recruit who is the second coming of Dhati Lewis?

Edited April 19, 2007 by GrayEagleOne

rev77 · April 19, 2007

Pistole and Brown did not quit to join the dallas police. Both are on the verge of graduation and both have families to take care of now. They made the best decisions for themselves and thier futures. Obviously football was not it.