Mean Green

There were a couple of good questions posted on the blog today, including one that could take a good, long story to explain. FootballFan wants to know how UNT got to the point it is at now, having fallen from the top of the Sun Belt to being picked to finish eighth in the league this year and not having a single preseason all-conference player.

There are a lot of factors that went into it. First off, UNT didn't recruit well for several years. The last couple of years of the Darrell Dickey era brought UNT a few good players, but not enough. And the first recruiting class of the Dodge era - one that was put together in the span of a few weeks - has fallen apart. Nine players from that class are already gone. You don't win when you don't have the players.

UNT also lost some good assistants late in the Dickey era - Van Malone, Freddie Kitchens and Spencer Leftwich - and didn't replace them with coaches of the same caliber. Todd Dodge brought some good assistants with him and brought Leftwich back, but others were disasters, including Ron Mendoza. Fortunately for UNT, Dodge appears to have fixed that problem over the last couple of years.

UNT also tried to completely change offenses under Dodge when it didn't have the guys to run the spread. This season might be the first year UNT has the right guys, and that's assuming Dodge's staff finally sees one of its wide receiver recruits pan out over the long term.

If you don't have good players, the right players for a system or the assistants to coach them, things usually don't turn out really well.

And speaking of players, Greg wanted to know what ever happened to Kail Krider, Nick Foster, Tim Patton, and Kendrick Ridge.

Patton backed out of his decision to play for UNT before he ever set foot on campus, Foster parted ways with UNT shortly after arriving, Ridge didn't last much longer and Krider is also gone.

And lastly, some UNT fans have accused me of being negative. I don't see it that way. The program has really struggled since 2004 and we try to be realistic about the situation.

I just got off the phone following the first edition of Sun Belt Conference Media Days.

And since we tell it like it is on the Mean Green Blog (sorry, no public relations spin here), the fact of the matter is UNT continued to get very little respect heading into the 2009 season. You can spin the magazine polls any way you want, but to be voted eighth out of nine teams in the Sun Belt and not have a single all-conference player doesn't bode well for UNT.

The poll is voted on by the league's coaches, who also make up half of the votes that determine the All-Sun Belt team. They know what they are talking about. Media reps who cover the league make up the other half and I would argue we do as well.

Seems like something worth blogging about.

One could make a case for linebacker Tobe Nwigwe and running back Cam Montgomery as all-conference players, but Todd Dodge made a great point. He said his players are not going to be recognized until they win games -- and UNT hasn't won a whole lot of games, three in the last two years.

UNT is going to play the no-respect card every chance it gets this season, which it should. It can be a great motivator.

In other UNT news, Todd Dodge said he is still waiting on world from the NCAA on Tyler Stradford's appeal for immediate eligibility this season. Stradford transferred from Oklahoma.

UNT will also be on TV quite a bit this year for a team that has struggled the last couple of years. UNT's games against Ball State (Sept. 3, ESPNU), Ohio (Sept. 12, KXTA) and Army (Nov. 21, KTXA) are all slated for air time. UNT's games against Louisiana-Lafayette (Oct. 10), Florida Atlantic (Oct. 17) and Western Kentucky (Oct. 31) are both part of the Sun Belt Network package.

I don't know this for sure, but my guess is UNT contracted out with KXTA to show a couple of games again this year. The athletic department signed a deal with KTXA last year in what I would consider a great move for the school to gain a little more exposure.

UNT's game at Alabama will be on tape delay on CSS, although I don't know if any UNT fan is going to want to watch that game after listening to it or watching it live, at least not if it plays out like expected.

Last night I posted on the blog the fact that there was a real chance UNT wouldn't have a single player named to the preseason all-conference team and that the Mean Green would likely be picked to finish eighth out of nine teams.

Turns out I was right.

I will be back with more in a mintue, but here are the picks and the poll:

Offense

Corey Leonard (Arkansas State, QB, Sr.)

Rusty Smith (Florida Atlantic, Sr, QB)

Reggie Arnold (Arkansas State, RB, Sr.)

DuJuan Harris (Troy, Jr., RB)

T.Y. Hilton (FIU, WR, So.)

Jerrel Jernigan (Troy, Jr., WR)

Jamari Grant (Florida Atlantic, Sr, TE)

Drew Hilton (Arkansas State, OL, Jr.)

Brad Serini (FIU, OL, Jr.)

Brad Bustle (Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., OL)

Chris Fisher (Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., OL)

Danny Franks (Troy, Sr., C)

Defense

Alex Carrington (Arkansas State, DL, Sr.)

Aaron Morgan (ULM, DL, Sr.)

Brandon Lang (Troy, DL, Sr.)

Cameron Sheffield (Troy, DL, Sr.)

Cardia Jackson (ULM, LB, Sr.)

Boris Lee (Troy, LB Sr.)

Bear Woods (Troy, LB Sr.)

Anthony Gaitor (FIU, DB, Jr.)

Jeremy Kellem (Middle Tennessee, DB, Sr.)

Greg James (ULM, DB, Sr.)

Jorrick Calvin (Troy, DB Sr.)

Special Teams

Scott Love (ULM, P, Sr.)

Josh Arauco (Arkansas State, K, Sr.)

T.Y. Hilton (FIU, WR, So.)

Co - Preseason Offensive Players of the Year

Rusty Smith (Florida Atlantic, Sr, QB)

Corey Leonard (Arkansas State, QB, Sr.)

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

Alex Carrington (Arkansas State, Sr., DE)

2009 Preseason Sun Belt Poll

As voted on by the league's nine head coaches.

First place votes in parentheses.
School, Points
Troy 72 (5)
Arkansas State 69
Florida Atlantic 61 (1)
Middle Tennessee 52
FIU 43 (1)
Louisiana-Lafayette 39 (1)
ULM 34 (1)
North Texas 18
WKU 17