Look what Mean Green Santa left under your tree...

[MeanGreenZen]

Mean Green Santa, sporting a perfectly manicured mustache, wearing a sweater vest and piloting a sleigh that doubles as a Dominos Pizza delivery vehicle, climbed down your chimney and left you presents under your Christmas tree. Here is what he left you (Except you, FireFightn Rick, all you get is a lump of coal in your stocking and a donation being made in your name to the Aledo football booster club)…

A BOWL GAME: It might not be the BCS, but it is probably the next best thing for North Texas. Playing in a local bowl game that won’t cost our school too much money to participate in and allows our fans to attend without having to make a large financial or time commitment on national television against an opponent (UNLV) we are favored to defeat is just a win all the way around. Also, the American college football contest between the University of Missouri and Oklahoma State University on Jan. 3 at Jerry World is not the Cotton Bowl. The Cotton Bowl is played on New Year’s Day at the Cotton Bowl.

A GOOD OLD FASHIONED QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY: Nothing makes for better message boarding than a quarterback controversy and we got a good one that is about to be stirred up. I don’t know if any of our returning quarterbacks are any good, but I do know there are A LOT of them. FIVE scholarship quarterbacks will fight it out in the spring and summer to win the honor of becoming the most scrutinized person on GoMeanGreen.com. The quarterback competition will have more characters and storylines than an episode of Game of Thrones as Andrew McNulty (don’t call him a career backup, he will only be a junior), Brock Berglund (has underachieved at three colleges now, can he finally get it together?), Dajon Williams (he allegedly almost won the job this fall), Josh Greer (JUCO transfer who has been led to believe he has a legit chance at the job) and Connor Means (one of two quarterbacks to be named 2^nd team All-District 21-5A!) compete to take over the crown from Joffery, I mean Derek Thompson (I kid, I kid.). Everyone will choose their favorite. Opinions will be required. Enemies will be sworn. Good times ahead.

A NFL DRAFT PICK: Now that the bowl drought has been broken, Zac Orr can be the rainmaker who ends the Mean Green’s other dry spell. North Texas hasn’t had a player drafted since Cody Spencer was taken in the 6^th round of the 2004 draft by the Oakland Raiders. Orr is no lock to be chosen (NFLdraftscout.com currently ranks him as the No. 51 draft-eligible inside linebacker), but a good showing at a college all-star game, the UNT pro day or NFL Combine (really hope he gets an invite) could boost him into the late rounds. Orr does not have prototypical size at 6-0, 240 but his college production (114 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss this season) and pedigree (his dad played in the NFL for eight seasons) could intrigue NFL teams. Brelan Chancellor and Richard Abbe also have an outside chance of being drafted and will definitely be in a NFL mini-camp this spring. North Texas coach Dan McCarney knows how to develop players into NFL picks and getting players drafted should be the beginning of a trend as McCarney’s own recruits progress through the program.

TALENTED REDSHIRTS: While several true freshmen are already contributing in minor roles (Sed Ellis, Fred Scott, Chad Davis, Darvin Kidsey), good programs redshirt good players, too. In recent years North Texas has not had the depth or discipline to redshirt a lot of kids. DL Sid Moore (Two-time All-State with a combined 72 tackles for loss as a junior and senior. And don’t say he is too small because he already weighs more than Ryan Boutwell) and DB Andrew Tucker (Rated three stars on Rivals and started both ways on a undefeated state champion) are two redshirts who could make an impact in 2014.

GOOD RECRUITS: This Mean Green recruiting class reminds me of Mack Brown’s 2000 class at Texas when he signed receivers Roy Williams, B.J. Johnson and Sloan Thomas. McCarney has gone heavy at receiver with commitments from four. Touchdown Tee Goree is getting the most hype and he deserves it. But Fonzale Davis was DFW Class 4A’s leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. O'Keeron Rutherford is 6-5 and averaged a touchdown reception a game for Class 3A state champion Carthage. Jalen Adams had a down year statistically (maybe because his team was breaking in a freshman quarterback) but also held offers from Tulsa and San Diego State. North Texas is losing its top two receivers and leading rusher so it needs a couple of these guys to be playmakers immediately. Signing day cannot come fast enough.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE WILL BE BACK: All of the starters will be returning next season from a unit that allowed the fewest sacks in the country over the last two years (16) and cleared the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in 2013.

What else did Mean Green Santa leave under your tree?

[UNTexas]

UNT Corn Hole boards and bean bags! I peaked...

[hickoryhouse]

Merry mean green Christmas indeed. hell if a glass half full write up! I love it!

[JesseMartin]

Half full? We're doing better than over half of the AQ's and quite a few of the AQ's. Not to mention the thousands of other schools that aren't FBS level. It may be hard to remember sometimes, but we're in extremely competitive company. We're not just in the top 70 of the FBS, we're around the top 100 out of thousands of schools that play football. It may be hard to seem grateful sometimes considering our size, location, and history, but without a few decisions going the right way over the last century, we could still be a small teacher's college in a small town (that probably wouldn't have grown much if the University hadn't), and would likely be FCS or lower.

This time of year is hard for me, because it reminds me of a lot of terrible things. But I'm also able to see how much better my life is now compared to those times, and that perspective can also be applied to the issues we've faced as a University community, in sports as well as in other areas. Sure, sometimes things can appear dim, but when you broaden your perspective, you realize just how many blessings and choices have come our way, and it's hard to be too negative.

Fandom, like life, can be crappy at times. But it's hard to remember the good times when you're caught up in a maelstrom. The good times afford us the opportunity to get away from that tension a bit and realize just how good we have it overall. So I'd like to take that up a notch and say we're certainly above the "half full" mark. In viewing how far we have to go, let us not overlook how far we have come.

Edited December 25, 2013 by JesseMartin

[Got5onIt]

Good write up!

I'm hoping Santy left me the Mean Green thongs I've been asking for under the tree. It's the last piece I need to complete my HOD Bowl outfit.

[untcampbell]

Please tell me you are speaking of flip-flops, Got5.

GMG

[NT91]

NT hat and HOD t-shirt

[FirefightnRick]

So we have returning players, a bowl game and good recruits coming in? Awesome job Captain Obvious.

As for what Santa left me, I got one of these...

A Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II.

Scrappy and Booger been Jammin all morning long.

Rick

[SilverEagle]

So we have returning players, a bowl game and good recruits coming in? Awesome job Captain Obvious.

As for what Santa left me, I got one of these...

A Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II.

Scrappy and Booger been Jammin all morning long.

Rick

Love that "original" Scrappy!

[untbowler]

Got a UNT Vanity Plate for Front, Coffee Mug, Coasters, sweat shirt and the young man also got a UNT Sweat Shirt time to show the love in Central Arkansas for UNT then Branson next week.

[Harry]

Got some Mean Green golf balls that look so nice that I'm not sure I will ever use them. My wife and kids got green outfits for New Years and are excited we will be experiencing the NYEDallas together this year as well as the game.

[UNT 90 Grad]

Got a HoD shirt, a North Texas Alumni hoodie, and a Lance Dunbar Cowboys jersey.

[bstnsportsfan3]

Um.....i got the red sox world series dvd.......

and negative points in 3....2....1

LOL

My bowl tickets are my Mean Green Presents to myself

[GMG24]

Darn it!! I got a very slick long sleeve Green Never Fades Adidas dry fit but the picture wont upload for whatever reason... I will be sporting it at the game. I also would like to recommend to anyone out there the Frog Togg rain suit tops and bottoms and gloves if your a baby like me. They are 100 % wind and water proof. The gloves I can't vouch for yet b/c I just received them for christmas but, the pants and jacket I can vouch for. I have coached through Many a monsoon and freezing cold wind games, and let me tell you that stuff works and is well worth the 60 bucks for the suit. I just ordered mine offline.

Edited December 26, 2013 by GMG24