NORTH TEXAS FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE ON GRIDIRON, AGAIN

2013 DREAM SEASON?

Did the 2013 season for the North Texas Mean Green really ever happen? After a decades long losing slump, 3rd year Head Coach Dan McCarney lead a Senior laden team to one of North Texas best seasons ever. The season ended with an impressive win in the Heart of Dallas Bowl over a competitive UNLV team.

The 2013 campaign for North Texas felt as if the Mean Green program had finally turned the football corner. 2013 held many promising advances for the struggling North Texas program. An invite to Conference USA, a conference with more star power than their previous conference, the Sun Belt, a brand newish  stadium and a Head Coach in Dan McCarney with a proven winning track record. With so much promising upside in 2013, many of  North Texas faithful believed that it was finally the year that would launch a new era in North Texas football, one that the loyal Mean Green fan base had been dreaming of for many, many years.

2014 BEGINS WITH A PROMISE

Further raising the hopes of the Mean Green faithful and contributing to the new found swagger of the program, happened  in 2014 , when Conference USA Head Coaches picked North Texas to win Conference USA's Western Division. Any time a College Football program gains the respect of the tight knit Head Coaching  fraternity it is time to stand up and  take notice. Unfortunately for the North Texas fan base however, the promise of another great season quickly faded as the 2014  campaign found North Texas in an all to familiar place, on the losing end of a dismal  season.

WHAT HAPPENED?

It turns out that former North Texas Head Coach, Todd Dodge, had recruited one heck of Senior class.  In 2013 , McCarney plugged Dodge's former recruits into his pound and ground system and found a great mix of skill players and gritty performers . With players like OLB Zach Orr and Qb Derrick Thompson, the Mean Green were able to impose their will on many of their new Conference USA Mates. In 2014 however, the North Texas program found itself unable to replace Orr , Thompson or a host of other Seniors who brought both leadership and a winning attitude to the program.

McCarney's North Texas squad struggled at almost every position this year, including the all important  QB  position.  North Texas, in fact,  struggled to find one QB who could do what OC Mike Canales needed his signal caller to do, win games.  While the Mean Green returned some experience and talent to their offensive line this year, no one emerged in the backfield capable of taking advantage of the brawn and talent of the big guys  up front.  All of this uncertainty culminated in The Mean Green having one of the worse offensive teams in the country this year,  finishing as the 113 ranked Offense out of 126 FBS teams.

The one bright spot this year for the Mean Green was on the defensive side of the ball. In spite of no one emerging  to fully pick up  Zach Orr's on field production, North Texas still managed to end the year with a respectable  43rd  ranked Defense in the FBS. North Texas new defensive coordinator Chris Cosh( fixed from earlier ) will have some talent in the stable next year as he looks to install his own defensive philosophy to the program.

WHAT NEXT?

Okay North Texas fans, here is the G5 Conference News and Issues blueprint to ensure that  North Texas gets the job done on a consistent basis.  We will start with the mother's milk of all College Football Programs, recruiting.


1. Recruiting has to get better:
North Texas sits in the very fertile recruiting grounds of Dallas and its suburbs. If North Texas is going to ever turn it's program into a consistent winner it will have to  make headway into these rich High School recruiting grounds. Few FBS programs  find themselves so close to some much talent and yet unable to capitalize on it. In looking at Dan McCarney's last several recruiting class, he like so many before him at North Texas,  are missing the mark. North Texas will need to rebrand itself among the area recruits if it hopes to attract some of best in the area. Until the Mean Green program can capitalize  on the man power in its own back yard, it will continue its struggle to be relevant in College Football and in Conference USA.

2.Change the offensive philosophy:
There is a reason why the majority of mid majors now employ some type of Spread Offense. The Spread allows less talented teams to compete with more talented teams. Head Coach Dan McCarney needs to decide what the program is capable of doing and who it is capable of recruiting. McCarney can't decide if wants to ground and pound or throw the ball for a living. Let's make this easy North Texas fans, your team should be throwing the ball all over the field, every day, all the time. McCarney needs to take his staff to visit the coaches of ECU, Cincy, and Marshall. Sit at the feet of these teams and beg them for some plays. North Texas needs to become the Texas Tech of Dallas. Until there is a clear run and gun philosophy at North Texas, the Mean Green faithful can look forward to many more years of disappointing seasons and coaches that will be packing their bags on a regular basis.

3. Its about winning dummy:
Here is the last suggestion from us, someone in the North Texas Presidents office, needs to spray paint on the wall of every one from the President down to the lowliest administrator that it is about the winning dummy. The most successful mid major programs begin the winning process not with the Head Coach, but with the President of the University. In truth, it has never been clear to those of us who follow College Football, that the North Texas leadership has ever fully understand how important a winning football program is to the school. Heck were not ever sure if  previous North Texas President's even knew the school had a football team. Until there is commitment to win from the top-down at North Texas, the Mean Green faithful will be doing what they are going to be doing this Bowl Season, watch other programs  compete on tv and wonder , yet again, what could have been .

CONCLUSION

North Texas is like the underachieving friend that all of us have had at one time or another in our lives. Like that friend, we want to ask the North Texas Football program one question. What are you  waiting for? Really, what is the North Texas program waiting for?  North Texas finds itself in the middle of one of the best football states in the country with some of the best recruits in the country. We could come up with a dozen or so schools that would  geographically  trade places with  North Texas in a heartbeat.

Until however, there is a top to bottom evaluation of what the Mean Green football program wants or needs, North Texas will continue to struggle and consistently reflect on what could and should have been. Now, with the split between the G5 and P5 as distinctive as it has ever been, North Texas is quickly running out of time in its need to improve and put itself in the best situation possible for its football program.  If the Mean Green program hopes to keep pace in the new world of College Football and to  become an attractive candidate for any new wave of realignment, it will need to act fast. Time is running out for a  vision and mission that will make the Mean Green program an  attractive  partner for a better conference looking to expand its future footprint. Stay tuned.