New Defensive Coordinator Makes Debut

Harry · February 2, 2012

Not every new addition North Texas unveiled on national signing day had to sign his name on a letter of intent.

John Skladany will spend his time at UNT convincing players to sign on to play for the Mean Green, not to mention guiding the team’s defense.

UNT head coach Dan McCarney hired Skladany as the Mean Green’s new defensive coordinator late last month after Clint Bowen left the staff to return to Kansas, his alma mater.

Skladany made his first appearance with the Mean Green at UNT’s signing day news conference.

McCarney and Skladany spent a decade working together at Iowa State and helped lead the Cyclones to five bowl games in six seasons beginning in 2000. Iowa State had only three winning seasons in the previous 16 before McCarney arrived in 1995.

“When we took that program at Iowa State, where there was no hope or relevance, and turned it around and built a top-25 defense, John Skladany was at the heart of it,” McCarney said. “He did a great job for me. If you lose real good people like we did when Clint Bowen went back home to Lawrence [Kan.], you had better hire real good people. It’s a pleasure to have John Skladany to lead our defense.”

Skladany spent last season as the defensive coordinator at Central Florida, which finished ninth in the country in both scoring defense (18.3 points allowed per game) and total defense (303.3 yards allowed a game).

Skladany said he would use a 4-3 defense similar to what UNT used last season, when the Mean Green finished sixth in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring defense with an average of 30.7 points allowed per game.

Skladany said he has not had time to get to know the players he is inheriting, but has begun to get to know the rest of the coaching staff.