From the other side: North Texas
October 24, 2008
Thanks to Brett Vito of the Denton Record-Chronicle for his time.
1. FIU is having success under second-year coach Mario Cristobal, but UNT seems to be regressing in its second year with Todd Dodge. Why do you think that is?
There has just been too much change at the beginning of the Dodge era for UNT to have any success. The team changed from a run-based offense to the spread under a staff of mostly high school coaches who are still making the transition to coaching college football.
Cristobal was an experienced college coach and hired a bunch of assistants with college experience. Dodge said when he was hired that he felt like coaching is coaching and that his system and his staff could succeed on either the high school or college level. It seems like he is finding out that might not be the case.
UNT had a shot to be decent in its first year under Dodge on defense with nine returning starters, but struggled under a high school defensive coordinator that was fired after just one season that ended with the team ranked last nationally in scoring defense. Dodge said that defense needed to be the strength of the Mean Green’s team his first season. UNT squandered the opportunity those experienced players provided and has been paying the price ever since.
Dodge also decided to recruit mostly high school players and has a young team. UNT has just three JC players starting and has had a couple of key busts among the JC players it took to fill its immediate needs. A key defensive end and a defensive back never made it into school and an offensive lineman UNT was counting on is so far out of shape he is spending the season as a redshirt.
The combination of inexperienced college coaches and a team of mostly young and inexperienced players has been a formula for the disaster that has been the 2-17 start of the Dodge era.
2. How much will the fee/stadium help this program, and when will those effects be seen?
The promise of a new stadium will certainly help UNT. Dodge has been promising a new stadium to recruits since he showed up on campus. I would expect the big bump in recruiting to happen when the school actually breaks ground. The schools UNT recruits against have been telling players that the stadium is an empty promise. That won’t work against UNT when it actually has something to show players.
3. Do you see this team getting better in 2009 and 2010?
I don’t’ see how UNT could get any worse. UNT has just one win over a Bowl Subdivision team the last two years—a victory over Louisiana-Monroe last season. UNT lucked out when Western Kentucky missed what would have been a game-winning field goal in the final minute of a Mean Green win last season. If WKU had made the field goal, UNT would be looking at a 1-18 mark.
UNT has some good young players, especially on defense. If Dodge’s staff improves and the Mean Green lands some players at key spots, UNT should start to make some progress.
4. What must North Texas do if the Mean Green wants to win Saturday?
UNT will need to play its best game of the Dodge era and have a whole lot of breaks go its way. Troy turned the ball over seven times last season and still hammered the Mean Green 45-7.
When UNT beat ULM last season, it returned two interceptions for touchdowns and scored on a 99-yard touchdown pass when a Warhawks defender missed a tackle on a swing pass from the 1-yard line.
If Troy makes a whole bunch of mistakes again and UNT posts some big plays, the Mean Green could have a shot.
5. For visitors staying in Denton, where’s the best local place to eat?
The PourHouse Sports Grill would be a good place to go. The restaurant is an official sponsor of UNT’s fan Web site http://www.gomeangreen.com
. Troy fans might run into UNT fans they have heard of before there.
