New Commitment

Travis · June 7, 2007

I'm understanding where you guys stand. I just can't help but admit that it angers me to think at some point we're going to be in the mindset of passing over those "undersized" gems.
I wouldn't care if I was UT, Ohio State, or Akron, after what I saw I would have never passed up the opportunity to recruit a Scott Hall, Brad Kassel, Brandon Kennedy, or Taylor Casey. I considered myself lucky to have witnessed them play, and am thankful Dickey put them on scholly. Is that so wrong of me?

Well, greenminer I understand what you understand while you understand where Cooley and Silver Eagle stand. Do we all understand?!

Undersized or not... he played under Dodge and the coach knows him well... if Dodge likes the guy, i have no reason to doubt him. In fact, i will not question dodge at all for sometime. he recieves a several year pass by me right now while he gets his team together.

H-towngreen · June 7, 2007

So what exactly makes him undersized? He is 6'0 200. These numbers may very well be from early on in his Jr. yr. He still has all summer to put on weight. I would guess by the time he is on campus he would be 6'1 210 at least. We has one recruit 2 yrs ago who put on 45 lbs in his sr. year. If he is still 6'0 200 when he arrives on campus, then he would be undresized for a lb, but not a saftey. Don't forget we are used to looking at kids after their senior season are over, and now we are looking at them before they have even started.

Undersized or not this kid looks like a playmaker, and is a winner. I like what TD is doing here. Look at the kids he has on board for next year, and then look at how far their teams made in in the playoffs last year. WINNERS! It's a new mindset here and I love it.

Now it would be nice if we could get a couple more SLC guys here this next year....say maybe Blake Cantu and an O-linemen.

Harry · June 7, 2007

Cooley - have you seen this kid play? He may not be the perfect size but his attitude and aggression are hard to miss. We can put more size on him w/a redshirt year, but you can't teach aggression. I think he will play safety for us - that's where I would put him.

Smitty · June 7, 2007

Don't get caught up in numbers. Numbers would have rejected guys like:

Sam Mills: 5-9, 225

Ray Lewis: 6-1, 250

Lofa Tatupu: 6-0, 238

Mike Singletary: 6-0, 230

Jack Ham: 6-1, 225

Cr1028 · June 7, 2007

The guy squats 500lbs at 16-17yrs old. Give him a year to grow, he'll be fine.

SilverEagle · June 7, 2007

Cooley - have you seen this kid play? He may not be the perfect size but his attitude and aggression are hard to miss. We can put more size on him w/a redshirt year, but you can't teach aggression. I think he will play safety for us - that's where I would put him.

Hey, don't jump on Cooley. He was just agreeing with me. And if everyone will look at my post again, I just said "I was hoping".....

PlummMeanGreen · June 7, 2007

Cooley - have you seen this kid play? He may not be the perfect size but his attitude and aggression are hard to miss. We can put more size on him w/a redshirt year, but you can't teach aggression. I think he will play safety for us - that's where I would put him.

Can anyone say...

NFL Hall of Famer Mike Singletary (Maybe 6' tall with medieval leg stretchers) and Nick Buonnicotti (sp?) 5'10" (ex Miami Dolphin/NFL Hall of Famer)?

(Some kids even grow an inch or 2 or 3 while in college, too).

How many of us thought UNT would ever have this kind of early committments program to be honest about it)?

Edited June 8, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

June 7, 2007

I'm understanding where you guys stand. I just can't help but admit that it angers me to think at some point we're going to be in the mindset of passing over those "undersized" gems.
I wouldn't care if I was UT, Ohio State, or Akron, after what I saw I would have never passed up the opportunity to recruit a Scott Hall, Brad Kassel, Brandon Kennedy, or Taylor Casey. I considered myself lucky to have witnessed them play, and am thankful Dickey put them on scholly. Is that so wrong of me?

True on all but Kassell. He was a Simon recruit.

Harry · June 7, 2007

Hey, don't jump on Cooley. He was just agreeing with me. And if everyone will look at my post again, I just said "I was hoping".....

Wasn't jumping on anyone. Just a difference of opinion. I've always been a big fan of Tomlin though so I guess I am biased.

MeanGreenBuzz · June 8, 2007

Don't leave out Dat Nguyen. Also great article posted above on TD and the LB from SLC is a beast now. In 2 years he will make a helluva LB for us.

MeanGreen61 · June 8, 2007

Wasn't Cedric Hardman a 6'-6'1, 175-180 DB his freshman year ?

FirefightnRick · June 8, 2007

Coach, Harry, Emmitt, Zeke, myself and several others saw the Allen game at Texas Stadium. This kid, to me, was the only other standout, defenively that made me take my eye off of Padron. He's all over the field, and extremely smart. Always seemed to be in the right place to make a play.

I'm so stoked that we are getting kids of this caliber from the 5A level. Nothing wrong with getting the best from Hutto or Celina etc, but these are the best of the schools that have the largest pool of players to choose from to form their starting 22 kids. And those 22 have been some of the best in the nation and they are wanting to play at North Texas.

It's all Good and all Green!

Rick

LAZER · June 8, 2007

Don't leave out Dat Nguyen. Also great article posted above on TD and the LB from SLC is a beast now. In 2 years he will make a helluva LB for us.

Dat Nguyen used to be my neighbor in flower mound a few years back, I was so suprised when I met him and he honestly was not that big!

GreenFlag · June 8, 2007

I saw this young man play football when he was in 4th grade back in Arlington as he was a classmate of my step-daughter. He was by far the best football player on the field. The Hill Highlanders won the city championship a few times with him on the squad. Good God I'm getting old.

Best of luck Derek.

I hereby have dibs on Derek as my adopted Mean Green player when he suits up for the Mean Green. Chad Rose is the man until his eligibilty runs out.

UNTLifer · June 8, 2007

I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I was hoping that by now we would be attracting the attention of LB's who were more in the size range of 6'3" X 235lbs........with dorsal fins.......... and multiple rows of serrated teeth.

This young man is probably only 17 years old. I have no problem with a 17 year old that is 6' and 200lbs and runs a 4.5. He'll fill out some more and be just fine.

As FFR stated, I've seen this young man play numerous times and was more than impressed by him. Did you take a look at who he picked us over? He is very highly thought of and much smarter than I ever dreamed of being.

Cooley · June 8, 2007

Cooley - have you seen this kid play? He may not be the perfect size but his attitude and aggression are hard to miss. We can put more size on him w/a redshirt year, but you can't teach aggression. I think he will play safety for us - that's where I would put him.

A few times! (in person and on TV) Also went back and watched the 1st half of the championship game against Westlake. The kid was consistently pushed off the line of scrimmage (or out of the play) by smaller linemen than he'll see in D1 football. Harry I also love attitude and aggression but I'd like to see it on taller and much bigger prototype linebackers. I realize the kid is probably 16 or 17 at the most. I do anticipate that he will add 10-20 more pounds by the time he comes off a redshirt year. That will still put him at 215-220. Speed is not that critical if you are constantly on you butt.

There are several examples of smaller players making it. (College and NFL) They are the exception to the rule. For every exception, however, there are hundreds and thousands that don't make the bill. Dat Nguyen, Dexter Coakley and others had fine college careers and made it to the NFL. Their days in the NFL were numbered because of their lack of size at that position.

I'm all for Todd Dodge and what he thinks is best for the program. This is not Todd Dodge (or Tomlin) bashing. The facts are that we are the only school to offer Tomlin a scholarship. I would think that the other schools have seen him play more than any of us. TD should rightfully get a pass because he did coach the kid in HS and has more confidence in him than others. Was this offer necessary at this time? (June)

Not to piss anyone off, but I'm not looking to recruit the next Taylor Casey, Scott Hall etc. etc. These guys contributed in a huge way but I have visions of moving up the D1 ranks. At some point in time, we will get a much bigger and nicer stadium to attract stronger programs to. I would like to be around to attend those games with a realistic thought that we will win.

After the offer to small slot receiver (to be) out of Hillcrest that plays quarterback at 150-160 lbs, I am just not too excited with the addition of more smallish players. I have not seen the Hillcrest kid play, but will in the fall.

Just an alum's unpopular opinion

Smitty · June 8, 2007

There are several examples of smaller players making it. (College and NFL) They are the exception to the rule. For every exception, however, there are hundreds and thousands that don't make the bill. Dat Nguyen, Dexter Coakley and others had fine college careers and made it to the NFL. Their days in the NFL were numbered because of their lack of size at that position.

Maybe Nguyen and Coakley's days were numbered, but how about Lofa Tatupu? He was all of 6-0, 225 at USC and is tearing it up for the Seahawks at 6-0, 238.

Mike Singletary? 6-0, 230. Jack Ham? 6-1, 225. Sam Mills? 5-9. Zach Thomas? 5-11, 228. Even Ray Lewis is just 6-1, 250.

A seventeen-year-old can easily an inch or two in the next two to three years, and can easily add twenty or thirty pounds, which puts him right in with these greats. Don't get wrapped up in this combine mindset that overlooks what a player does on the field and instead focuses on his height and weight. There are also hundreds and thousands of 6-4, 250 types that don't make it.

Don't recruit numbers - recruit players.

meangreendork · June 8, 2007

I saw the highlights and there's no reason not to extend this kid a scholarship. He's got a killer SAT score, and he's got a killer streak on the field. I don't care if he's undersized because he's going to pick up at least another inch in the next year and at least another 20 pounds. Tomlin is fast, covers extremely well, and hits HARD. Even at 6'0", 200, he would still fare well on the college field.

You've seen the highlight reel guys, he's good, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, eh?

June 8, 2007

Even if he doesn't grow another lick, he has the size and speed to play safety. He has two things going for him that you can't teach.....speed and instincts. His instincts give him the big play capability and his speed gets him there,

I've only seen him play on TV (the Westlake game) but he and Padron stood out on defense almost as much as Dodge and Newton did on offense.

I generally believe that there are size and speed standards for each position and yes, Tomlin is too small currently to play linebacker. But, I think that he will either be 1) one of those rare exceptions, 2) a player who can add 25 pounds without losing speed or 3) switched to a position where he can contribute big-time.

Then again, Cooley could be right. We may look at talent as being better than we had and not realize that it takes extraordinary ability (and size/speed) to get us to that Top 25 level to which we aspire. For now though, I think we got us a tremendous athlete.

DallasGreen · June 8, 2007

Even if he doesn't grow another lick, he has the size and speed to play safety. He has two things going for him that you can't teach.....speed and instincts. His instincts give him the big play capability and his speed gets him there,
I've only seen him play on TV (the Westlake game) but he and Padron stood out on defense almost as much as Dodge and Newton did on offense.
I generally believe that there are size and speed standards for each position and yes, Tomlin is too small currently to play linebacker. But, I think that he will either be 1) one of those rare exceptions, 2) a player who can add 25 pounds without losing speed or 3) switched to a position where he can contribute big-time.
Then again, Cooley could be right. We may look at talent as being better than we had and not realize that it takes extraordinary ability (and size/speed) to get us to that Top 25 level to which we aspire. For now though, I think we got us a tremendous athlete.

I would like to insert here as food for thought what Hayden Fry said to Tom Landry when Landry told him that Jerry Levias was too small for the NFL " I wasn't aware they measured you when you crossed the goal line" Also there has never been a measurement of "heart" and desire of a player, and we've certainly had our share of those who quit cold when the going got tough. Give me a kid with "heart" over one that wows you with measurements and stats, and I'll beat you every time!!!

Edited June 9, 2007 by DallasGreen

MeanGreen61 · June 8, 2007

These are not committments made the last week of the signing period in February. These are

EARLY committments, something we really haven't experienced and I like to think that TD has good reasons for the offers he extended.

Charlie NT 73 · June 8, 2007

I agree that we have never seen anything like this before--early commitments/pledges!

I like hearing about the work Coach Dodge and his staff are puting into recruiting, and the

QUALITY of players on the target list! Even though this is June, Coach Dodge and his staff

know which players they want, and go after these players. I have read their are several

more commitments/pledges the staff wants to keep confidential--this fact will drive me

crazy until we can see who the players are. I am sure later in the year, there will be more

exciting news regarding top prospects. I hope the staff does not run out of scholarships too

soon because there are players that develop later and players that change thier minds about

where they want to go to school. Coach Dodge and his staff know who they want, so I trust

their judgement! I have never felt this good about North Texas recriuting in all the years I

have followed North Texas football! Outstanding!

NT80 · June 8, 2007

I agree that we have never seen anything like this before--early commitments/pledges!
I like hearing about the work Coach Dodge and his staff are puting into recruiting, and the
QUALITY of players on the target list! Even though this is June, Coach Dodge and his staff
know which players they want, and go after these players. I have read their are several
more commitments/pledges the staff wants to keep confidential--this fact will drive me
crazy until we can see who the players are. I am sure later in the year, there will be more
exciting news regarding top prospects. I hope the staff does not run out of scholarships too
soon because there are players that develop later and players that change thier minds about
where they want to go to school. Coach Dodge and his staff know who they want, so I trust
their judgement! I have never felt this good about North Texas recriuting in all the years I
have followed North Texas football! Outstanding!

Dodge mentioned recently that his staff will host over 700 football players (different age groups) to camps at UNT starting next week. The first week is full.

http://www.meangreensports.com/SportSelect...amp;SPSID=10849

El Paso Eagle · June 8, 2007

At this time, we need to count on TD bringing in players to fit his system. If he succeeds the bigger, stronger, faster players will follow.

PlummMeanGreen · June 8, 2007

Dodge mentioned recently that his staff will host over 700 football players (different age groups) to camps at UNT starting next week. The first week is full.
http://www.meangreensports.com/SportSelect...amp;SPSID=10849

700 HS players (and younger) on our campus? There is no other word for all this but................... Phenomenal!

Edited June 8, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen