Media Day comments August 11th

Head Coach Dickey's Comments From Media Day

Opening statements about the loss of Andrew Smith
We lost a great friend and a great person Saturday morning in Andrew Smith. He was loved by every member of this football team and coaching staff. He was respected by everyone for a lot of reasons. The way he conducted himself, the way he was unselfish and willing to help his teammates, his friends. We respected the way he handled the good times, the way he handled the tough times he went through and how he dealt with adversity.

As you might well expect, our football team is filled with a lot of different emotions. They are trying to be excited and focused about the upcoming season. At the same time, they are dealing with a loss of a great friend. Our football team is obviously devastated. Some words that came from Mr. Smith was that ‘Andrew would want these guys to carry on.’ We are never go to forget him. We already miss him.

As far as trying to honor him, we are going to wear his jersey number, No. 12, on the back of every player’s helmet. We already talked about the best way to honor Andrew Smith is for each of them to try live their lives the way he lived his; to have class in everything you do, excel in academics, excel in football, and by being a great person off the field. The best way to honor Andrew Smith is not to waste the opportunity that each one of these kids has, the opportunity that Andrew Smith had taken away.

Opening statements on the upcoming season
We had our first practice this morning with the freshmen. We feel very good about that group. There is a lot of talent and potential in this group. As I told them this morning, those two things do not automatically make you a player.

The one thing that this football team that has been able to do in the past is to focus. Right now their focus is going to be tested dealing with the loss of a great friend. They are going to have their down times as we know. They are never going to forget him, but it will get better. I think they know they have to carry on and try to meet the challenges in front of them.

Offensively, we probably scored as many points last year as we have in awhile, we scored 43 a game at home. We are as balanced as we have ever been. We hope to continue to be that way. We start off trying to have an established running game with the return of Patrick Cobbs.

At quarterback, we have Scott Hall returning for his senior year and he looks to be in good condition. At offensive line, we have a few returning players: Lonnie Chambers, Andy Brewster, Andy Harvey, Weston Thaggard. We are looking for Dylan Linberry, Jeremy Brown to step in and have a solid eight, nine, ten man rotation.

We are planning on using Andy Blount in the fullback position and expand what he does. He has been a tight end, a H-back and we are going to play him at fullback. We feel Johnny Quinn is right on track to pick up where he left off last year. Zach Muzzy looks to be healthy, Kevin Howard returns after being out last year. From what we saw of Roy Covington and Brock Stickler this morning, they may be able to figure in. At tight end, Beau Davidson had an excellent spring, Matt Bradshaw is back healthy and Andy Blount will figure in at that position also. So, we feel as if we have some weapons offensively. We want to continue to be balanced. We want to be as effective running the ball as we do throwing the ball. In our opinion, that’s when we began winning games.

Defensively, we have a good nucleus of players, but we also have some questions. On the front, we feel that Michael Pruitt can step in and provide outstanding play at nose guard, which is where Brandon Kennedy played. Evan Cardwell looks to be in the best shape he has ever been in. Montell Stevenson had a good spring at tackle. Chris Miller looks to be ready to go.

We have some depth at the defensive line. Adrian Awasom was picked conference preseason defensive player of the year, and I hope I can say that again in a few months. He had a good summer.

What do you hope your players will carry over to this season?
I think we can learn (from the death of Andrew Smith). We set five goals for this football team every year. One of them is learning how to overcome adversity. This is a difficult situation that they have to deal with, they have no choice. They will all probably deal with it in their own way, some will want to talk about more than others. I think what they are maybe learning is that your time can come at any time. Here was a young man in the prime of his life, and it was taken away. I think they all realize, don’t waste a day. Live life to the fullest.

How much did having Adrian Awasom available for the spring help his development?
We thought that basketball benefited him the past couple years. He improved certain parts of his football game by his basketball experience. Coach Jones worked his guys very hard. Adrian thought that for going into senior year, he needed to spend his spring in the weight room. He also wanted to work on his individual technique that make you a better football player. So, he improved himself by being in an off season program fulltime and by having 10-15 days to work on his technique. He looks very good.

How will the move of Andy Blount to the fullback position affect how much he is going to catch the ball?
We think it is going to expand his role. He is still going to play tight end, but we hope he wil be more involved. Andy can be in the game and lineup in the backfield, as tight end or in motion as an extra receiver. It gives us a lot more flexibility the more Andy can do.

For a coach, how important is it to have players like Patrick Cobbs, Scott Hall and Adrian Awasom?
We have the nation’s leading rusher and scorer, but he also lines up and blocks punts. It sends a message to the rest of the team. Here is the nation’s leading rusher and he is lining up on the punt block team. A lot of people wouldn’t do that, but we have to have the best 11 players on the field every time the ball is snapped. The message to rest of the team is - be willing to do whatever role is asked of you for the better of the team. It’s great to have unselfish players, to have great players who have overcome adversity, and hopefully they will continue to show the younger guys how you have to conduct yourself to play football at North Texas.

Football: Dickey likes early look of this year’s Mean Green

08:46 AM CDT on Thursday, August 12, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

After three straight trips to the New Orleans Bowl, North Texas coach Darrell Dickey has a pretty good idea of what a solid football team looks like.

And for the most part, Dickey was happy what he saw Wednes-day, when the Mean Green opened fall practice and began their pursuit of a fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference title.

"I was pleased with the conditioning and attitude of a large number of players," Dickey said. "Some have not worked as hard over the summer and have some ground to make up pretty quickly."

UNT’s freshmen practiced in the morning before the Mean Green’s returning players took the field late in the afternoon.

More than 100 players report for the first day of practices. The packed roster should make for some intense battles for playing time.

That competition could come from a highly regarded freshman class that will not join the returning players until Friday, when the Mean Green will practice together for the first time.

"We feel good about our freshmen," Dickey said. "There is a lot of talent and potential in that group. All of them have the size and speed to play."

UNT’s coach named a few freshmen that could see playing time this season at linebacker and wide receiver, two positions where the Mean Green lost several key players after last season. Roy Covington and Brock Stickler both made an impression on the first day of practice and will compete for time at wide receiver.

Dickey also said some of the team’s freshmen linebackers could compete for playing time. The Mean Green lost three all-conference caliber linebackers after last season.

UNT senior defensive back Markeith Knowlton acknowledged the team still has a long way to go, but is confident the team would be ready for its season opener.

"Everyone looked pretty good," Knowlton said. "We were rested and ready. We are getting back into the groove."

Muzzy back on the field

Zach Muzzy returned to the field for the first time since he suffered a season-ending knee injury in UNT’s loss to Arkansas last season during Wednesday’s afternoon workout.

The redshirt freshman wide receiver could often be found sprinting up and down the sidelines during the Mean Green’s spring practices. That extra work seemed to pay off for the former Alvin standout.

"My knee feels pretty good," Muzzy said. "I will have to make sure that I take care of it and ice it down after practices. I’m happy to get a chance to play again."

Muzzy enters fall practice listed as sophomore Johnny Quinn’s backup at one wide receiver slot. UNT will look to Muzzy to help fill the void left by a pair of wide receivers who left the team during the offseason.

Muzzy posted a breakout game in a loss to Air Force last season when he caught three passes for 69 yards.

He was injured the next week and did not play the rest of the season.

Blount to play fullback

Dickey reiterated his intention to use tight end Andy Blount at fullback this season during the Mean Green’s media day.

Justin Claborn completed his career at UNT last season when he moved from linebacker to fullback and helped clear the way for Patrick Cobbs to lead the nation in both rushing (152.7 yards a game) and scoring (11.5 points a game).

Blount finished as UNT’s second-leading receiver last season when he caught 22 passes for 415 yards and a team-high five touchdowns.

Cordale Baldwin, who was the team’s starting fullback following spring practice, is no longer with the team.

Former Liberty standout James Mitchell could also see time at the position.

"We think [playing fullback] is going to expand his role," Dickey said. "He is still going to play tight end, but we hope he will be more involved.

"Andy can be in the game and lineup in the backfield, as tight end or in motion as an extra receiver. It gives us a lot more flexibility the more Andy can do."

Denton’s Perry joins Mean Green

Former Denton quarterback Drew Perry has joined the Mean Green as a walk-on.

Perry threw for 2,148 yards and 16 touchdowns during his senior season with the Broncos.

Perry will be a member of a talented group of young quarterbacks on UNT’s roster that also includes redshirt freshman Joey Byerly and freshman Daniel Meager.

"Drew looked good," Dickey said. "We were pleased he came out."