2008 Recruiting Class

Dodge2007 · September 17, 2007

Of the 11 verbal recruits, I would say that Lance Dunbar, Desmond Brigham, and Troy Franklin might be the best kids out of that class.

These three kids are being heavily recruited at their prospective position. Many of the Dodge Verbals have no one else even making an offer, (Tomlin and Leppo from SLC, Forrest Tucker and Kenny Mart both WR's, Darien Williams - a safety, and Willie Taylor a athlete)

We have two verbals from two unrecruited DB's.

We have high profile, Rodge, but the three best recruits will be Dunbar, Brigham and Franklin who will have the biggest impact, imo.

I also forgot to mention another OL verbal in Atkinson from down in the Valley. He will be a impact player after he red shirts like most OL do.

Dunbar (RB) and Brigham (WR) can play. Franklin (OL) will red shirt but is highly sought after.

We will be stacked again with WR's. We are stacked this season and only losing B-Jax.

I am hoping we see the freshman WR's get some PT this game against FAU and also against Arkansas.

Edited September 17, 2007 by Dodge2007

UNT Mean Green · September 17, 2007

Check out the highlight videos of some of these kids on Rivals and you will certainly see they can all play!

Dunbar, Taylor, and Brigham are game changers at their positions.

Have spoken to some high school coaches who have played against Vernon, and they said Darrien Williams is the best player on their team that has several good athletes.

Rucker and Mart are both Top 300 players at their position. Both are big, athletic receivers similar to Sam Roberson of the '07 Class.

Franklin and Atkinson are both big, athletic lineman who will certainly make an impact.

Obviously Riley Dodge is a game changer. He is the reigning 5A Player of the Year. I'll take those any day of the week.

Dodge knows what he is doing. He doesn't need the 5 star athlete to win ballgames. He knows what fits his system, and is recruiting his needs.

Dodge2007 · September 17, 2007

It just seems to me that you don't have to be in such a hurry to offer kids a scholarship when no one else is offering. So many kids blossom late in their Senior years and you get to see so many more kids in the playoffs against top notch competition.

H-towngreen · September 17, 2007

Many of the Dodge Verbals have no one else even making an offer, (Tomlin and Leppo from SLC, Forrest Tucker and Kenny Mart both WR's, Darien Williams - a safety, and Willie Taylor a athlete)
We have two verbals from two unrecruited DB's.

Willie Taylor- offers from A&M, and Tulsa, intrest from OK State and West Virginia.

Troy Franklin- Considering , Notre Dame, OK, OKSt, Purdue, A$M, TT, NT and Tulsa. Offers from Tulsa and North Texas.

Darian Williams- Chose NT over TCU, Tulsa, and Arizona.

Eloy Atkinson- Intrest from Utah, Duke, Kansas, Houston, Ariziona and Iowa.

Derek Tomlin- Chose North Texas over Air Force, OKSt, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, A&M, Stanford, Purdue

Kenny Barrett- Chose North Texas over Arkansas, Oklahoma State, A&M, Baylor, LaTech, TCU and NT

Lance Dunbar- Lance chose NT over offers from Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Colorado. Intrest from Mizzu, Tech and Kansas

Riley Dodge- Chose NT over offers from UT, Missouri, Tulsa, SMU, Rice, signed with UT, Oklahoma, and Tech.

Desmond Bringham- Chose NT over offers from Arkansas, Iowa State, Missouri , LaMonroe, A&M

Forrset Rucker- Offers from NT and Baylor intrest from TCU, Ark,Houston, Arizona, A&M, Tech, OK State, and Mizzu

Nick Leppo- Interest from OK St, TT, and TCU...offer and commitment to NT.

Dodge2007 this info is off of GMG, Rivals, and Scouts. The list of unrecruited and un-offered players is off. Only 2 players don't have an offer LISTED, but I'm sure many of these players haven't been contacted since their commitment to see who else has been in contact with them.

I my self have been pretty impressed by TD's haul so far. The one player I'm kinda questioning is Nick Leppo, basically because I haven't heard enough about him. If you haven't seen the video of Atkinson, check it out, it is amazing! He will make an impact here for sure. Same for Willie Taylor. A great video that you can check out on the GMG recruiting page. Everything I've heard of on Franklin is at D-tackle, but he is coming in at o-line. I know he plays both ways so it will be intresting to see how that works out. Tomlin is a player. I like the 3 Wr's we have brought in, especially the height of Rucker. You don't see to many 6'6 WR's in the belt.

Does anyone have season stat updates for these recruits?

Make sure to check out Oldtimer and his recruiting update on the next gmg podcast!

Edited September 17, 2007 by H-towngreen

MeanGreen61 · September 17, 2007

It just seems to me that you don't have to be in such a hurry to offer kids a scholarship when no one else is offering. So many kids blossom late in their Senior years and you get to see so many more kids in the playoffs against top notch competition.

You need to contact TD and give him the benefit of your expertise. :rolleyes:

NT03 · September 17, 2007

Eloy Atkinson- Intrest from Utah, Duke, Kansas, Houston, Ariziona and Iowa.

TCU, UTEP , Utah , smu & Houston all offered this kid after he gave his verbal to us.

H-towngreen · September 17, 2007

Exactly....we still have some 14 ships to hand out yet. Dodge2007 would you rather go back to the DD ways and not offer till the season is pretty much over. Times are a changing. Early commits are the new thing. If we didn't offer these kids then there is a good chance they would be headed somewhere else.

NT03 thanks for the update...thats exactly what I was saying. We really have no idea how many offers these kids now have.

Everytime I read Eloy Atkinsons name I get chills and flashbacks to his video.

Edited September 17, 2007 by H-towngreen

greenminer · September 17, 2007

If and when we win some games this year, the '08 class could get much better.

I was impressed enough last year considering our performance the last two years, and the timing of Dodge's hire. Can't wait to see what happens when Dodge proves his system works on the college level.

Dodge2007 · September 17, 2007

I am looking at Texas Prep Extra. They have you send in the offers before they will report them as offers.

Texas Prep Extra covers Texas high school offers better than anyone. These are legit offers.

Edited September 17, 2007 by Dodge2007

KBJ · September 17, 2007

Rivals currently has us ranked at 64th looking into the future we should end up the year at the mid 70’s or high 80’s. This is about the same as DD classes before 2006.

Dodge2007 · September 17, 2007

Willie Taylor- offers from A&M, and Tulsa, intrest from OK State and West Virginia.
Troy Franklin- Considering , Notre Dame, OK, OKSt, Purdue, A$M, TT, NT and Tulsa. Offers from Tulsa and North Texas.
Darian Williams- Chose NT over TCU, Tulsa, and Arizona.
Eloy Atkinson- Intrest from Utah, Duke, Kansas, Houston, Ariziona and Iowa.
Derek Tomlin- Chose North Texas over Air Force, OKSt, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, A&M, Stanford, Purdue
Kenny Barrett- Chose North Texas over Arkansas, Oklahoma State, A&M, Baylor, LaTech, TCU and NT
Lance Dunbar- Lance chose NT over offers from Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Colorado. Intrest from Mizzu, Tech and Kansas
Riley Dodge- Chose NT over offers from UT, Missouri, Tulsa, SMU, Rice, signed with UT, Oklahoma, and Tech.
Desmond Bringham- Chose NT over offers from Arkansas, Iowa State, Missouri , LaMonroe, A&M
Forrset Rucker- Offers from NT and Baylor intrest from TCU, Ark,Houston, Arizona, A&M, Tech, OK State, and Mizzu
Nick Leppo- Interest from OK St, TT, and TCU...offer and commitment to NT.
Dodge2007 this info is off of GMG, Rivals, and Scouts. The list of unrecruited and un-offered players is off. Only 2 players don't have an offer LISTED, but I'm sure many of these players haven't been contacted since their commitment to see who else has been in contact with them.
I my self have been pretty impressed by TD's haul so far. The one player I'm kinda questioning is Nick Leppo, basically because I haven't heard enough about him. If you haven't seen the video of Atkinson, check it out, it is amazing! He will make an impact here for sure. Same for Willie Taylor. A great video that you can check out on the GMG recruiting page. Everything I've heard of on Franklin is at D-tackle, but he is coming in at o-line. I know he plays both ways so it will be intresting to see how that works out. Tomlin is a player. I like the 3 Wr's we have brought in, especially the height of Rucker. You don't see to many 6'6 WR's in the belt.
Does anyone have season stat updates for these recruits?
Make sure to check out Oldtimer and his recruiting update on the next gmg podcast!

If you honestly believe all the crap you just wrote down on this board about all those offers, then your insane

OldTimer · September 17, 2007

Willie Taylor- offers from A&M, and Tulsa, intrest from OK State and West Virginia.
Troy Franklin- Considering , Notre Dame, OK, OKSt, Purdue, A$M, TT, NT and Tulsa. Offers from Tulsa and North Texas.
Darian Williams- Chose NT over TCU, Tulsa, and Arizona.
Eloy Atkinson- Intrest from Utah, Duke, Kansas, Houston, Ariziona and Iowa.
Derek Tomlin- Chose North Texas over Air Force, OKSt, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, A&M, Stanford, Purdue
Kenny Barrett- Chose North Texas over Arkansas, Oklahoma State, A&M, Baylor, LaTech, TCU and NT
Lance Dunbar- Lance chose NT over offers from Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Colorado. Intrest from Mizzu, Tech and Kansas
Riley Dodge- Chose NT over offers from UT, Missouri, Tulsa, SMU, Rice, signed with UT, Oklahoma, and Tech.
Desmond Bringham- Chose NT over offers from Arkansas, Iowa State, Missouri , LaMonroe, A&M
I'll be glad to discuss recruits....but on the recruiting web site which is limited to proven NT supporters...thats why we have two sites
Forrset Rucker- Offers from NT and Baylor intrest from TCU, Ark,Houston, Arizona, A&M, Tech, OK State, and Mizzu
Nick Leppo- Interest from OK St, TT, and TCU...offer and commitment to NT.
Dodge2007 this info is off of GMG, Rivals, and Scouts. The list of unrecruited and un-offered players is off. Only 2 players don't have an offer LISTED, but I'm sure many of these players haven't been contacted since their commitment to see who else has been in contact with them.
I my self have been pretty impressed by TD's haul so far. The one player I'm kinda questioning is Nick Leppo, basically because I haven't heard enough about him. If you haven't seen the video of Atkinson, check it out, it is amazing! He will make an impact here for sure. Same for Willie Taylor. A great video that you can check out on the GMG recruiting page. Everything I've heard of on Franklin is at D-tackle, but he is coming in at o-line. I know he plays both ways so it will be intresting to see how that works out. Tomlin is a player. I like the 3 Wr's we have brought in, especially the height of Rucker. You don't see to many 6'6 WR's in the belt.
Does anyone have season stat updates for these recruits?
Make sure to check out Oldtimer and his recruiting update on the next gmg podcast!

Eagle-96 · September 17, 2007

Rivals currently has us ranked at 64th looking into the future we should end up the year at the mid 70’s or high 80’s. This is about the same as DD classes before 2006.

First of all, I'm not sure why you assume that we will end up in the 70's or 80's. Maybe to support your theory.

Here are the Rivals Class rankings from 2002-2006

02 - 110

03 - 83

04 - 72

05 - 94

06 - 111

Eagle-96 · September 17, 2007

If you honestly believe all the crap you just wrote down on this board about all those offers, then your insane

We get it Dodge2007, you like to be contrarian and to rile people up. It stopped being cute about 308 posts ago.

OldTimer · September 17, 2007

I am looking at Texas Prep Extra. They have you send in the offers before they will report them as offers.
Texas Prep Extra covers Texas high school offers better than anyone. These are legit offers.

Texas Prep Extra info is the same as Rivals info which owns that web site so any quotes from Rivals has the same substantiation.

H-towngreen · September 17, 2007

Dodge2007..... Texasprep is actually part of Rivals. Soooo does that make you insane too?????

It's just like in writing a paper the more sources the better. Check out scout.com also, or past write-ups in the Denton Record Chronicle.

Edited September 17, 2007 by H-towngreen

UNTLifer · September 17, 2007

Texas Prep Extra info is the same as Rivals info which owns that web site so any quotes from Rivals has the same substantiation.

Beat me to it.

KBJ · September 17, 2007

First of all, I'm not sure why you assume that we will end up in the 70's or 80's. Maybe to support your theory.
Here are the Rivals Class rankings from 2002-2006
02 - 110
03 - 83
04 - 72
05 - 94
06 - 111

We currently have 11 verbal recruits and Rivals.com shows total points of 38. (I have no idea what these points mean or how they are derived) The last three years it took about 120 points to be in the mid 70’s. If we get one more 3 star recruit and the balance of the players are equal to the 10 we have that would be around 86 points which could equate to maybe 78th.

Smitty · September 17, 2007

I haven't done any research or seen any of these recruits play, so I cannot judge any of them. But I do know that for the first time in many, many years, North Texas is listed by several players on the Dallas Morning News Area Top 100 list. In the last several years, it was very rare to read of any of the area's best players considering UNT, much less committing early to us. So I think any criticism is premature, at the very least.

Two games into the Todd Dodge era and some people are calling for the defensive coordinator's head, complaining that we don't run enough, and now questioning the recruiting. Unbelievable. Absolutely un-freakin'-believable.

greenminer · September 17, 2007

Two games into the Todd Dodge era and some people are calling for the defensive coordinator's head, complaining that we don't run enough, and now questioning the recruiting. Unbelievable. Absolutely un-freakin'-believable.

That's what D2007 feels his role is. So let him and laugh behind your keyboards.