N T Football Adds 26 Walk-ons

[MeanGreen61]

NT football adds 26 walk-ons

Monica C. Mendez

Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: SPORTS

NT football added 26 walk-ons to the team at the end of the spring football season, said special teams coach Robert Drake. More walk-ons are expected to join as the fall semester approaches.

"Most of our players who are walk-ons do not have any other offers," Drake said.

Walk-on players are players that were not asked by the NT coaching staff to immediately join the team, Drake said. Some of them are the athletes who asked the coaches if they could try out, in hopes of joining the Mean Green football program.

"These guys that approach them have it a little more stringent," Drake said.

Linebacker Derek Mendoza, Houston senior, said the athletes in the tryout program have to workout harder than other players already on scholarship and have to put in the extra effort for about six months prior to joining the team.

If NT coaches are in need of a few more players, they will ask local high school coaches for their recommended players, Drake said. He said he also asks other coaches for tips on good players. These players may attend tryouts as well.

"These are the guys that other coaches have overlooked," Drake said.

Drake said completing the tryout stage is no easy task. He also said most of the athletes will report for tryouts in poor condition.

"It is a wake-up call for them," Drake said. "It is a lot more demanding."

The walk-on process is a long and tedious one, Drake said. Technically speaking, there are three types of walk-ons and keeping track of them is a chore in itself, Drake said.

First, the preferred walk-ons begin their tryouts in August. Next, the invited athletes begin their tryouts in September. Finally, the unsought players begin the second or third week of the fall semester.

These players will work for the entire fall season toward making the roster. In addition to the rigorous tryout process, roster hopefuls must maintain a 2.5 grade-point average or higher, the same as the players who are on the team.

"Walk-ons have to be invited to two-a-days," Mendoza said.

If the athletes do well and prove themselves during the tryout phase, they will be asked to attend two-a-day practices, Mendoza said. If the athlete is successful in two-a-day practices and during the football season, the player might then be added to the roster, Drake said.

"Once they make the roster, they become a part of the team," Drake said.

Wide receiver Casey Fitzgerald, Red Oak junior, said he joined the tryout program his freshman year of college. The following spring, he was asked to come back, Fitzgerald said. Now he is part of the team.

"The hardest part of being a walk-on was not actually being on the team and still having to workout," Fitzgerald said.

Some athletes will have their names added to the Mean Green list at the end of the spring season. Other potentials will have to wait longer and push harder for the fall, Drake said.

"They may never make it to the team," Drake said.

Some athletes never make the roster. Those who do have the opportunity to be placed on scholarship, Drake said.

Wide receiver Isaiah Smith, Denton junior, has yet to gain a scholarship but said he wants to

eventually achieve one.

"It is my goal," Smith said.

Mendoza said the other players already on scholarship were very accepting of his coming onto the team as a walk-on. He said he was one of the preferred walk-ons and is currently on scholarship.

According to NCAA rules, 85 scholarship players are allowed on the team in the fall. Drake said 20 walk-ons would be added as of Aug. 5, giving NT 105 players. Once the school year begins, the team will cap off at 120 players, Drake said.

"I'm just trying to stay with it," Fitzgerald said.

[NT80]

Very interesting process. I bet these new coaches can find some good walkons too, most being former local high school coaches themselves. This spring's NT team, made up of mainly last season's players, improved greatly with only 15 practices. The fall team, including signed players and new walkons will look like a whole new team all over again. Each re-generation of the team under Dodge will become better and better.

[Charlie NT 73]

Alot of players trying out wanting to play for Coach Dodge-

A total of 85 players on scholarship, + 20 walk ons = 105,

and another 15 invited players = 120 players.

With the 20 new requits on scholarship, will this mean there

will be 140 players coming this fall ?

I am sure there will be other walk-ons this fall-

I wonder how many more will show up?

[PHSCoach]

Sorry Charlie

The 85 ship players include the 20 recuits

[Charlie NT 73]

thanks for the info-

so does this mean NT has 65 players on scholarship now, + 20

incoming freshmen = 85 players on scholarship?

Is this correct?

[PHSCoach]

I do not know if we have 65 ships now or 70. I know that we offered more than we had open at the time of the LOIs But all teams have people drop from the program or have some grade issues. Good luck trying to get a hard number because the only people that know this are the coaches and/or work for RV and what ever players do not plan on returning..