Spring Football Preview Part I- The Offensive Line
Courtesy: University of North Texas
Release: 03/31/2009

DENTON, Texas (3/31/09) – Today MeanGreenSports.com starts a position-by-position breakdown of the North Texas football team in the spring and where it’s headed in the fall. Along the way we welcome your questions about each position and we answer them the following day. Up first today is the big uglies as we preview the Mean Green’s offensive line. Click Here To Submit Questions

Offensive Line

For the first time in some time, North Texas will return experience and depth on the offensive line. Not only are all five starters back from last year, the Mean Green also returns Kelvin Drake who was a second team all-conference performer in 2007 before missing the entire 2008 season with an injury.

In the entire group that offensive line coach Spencer Leftwich has to work with, there are eight players who have started multiple games during their careers. At the end of the 2008 season, Leftwich had settled on starters Esteban Santiago and Victor Gill at tackle, Gabe Hollivay and Coleman Feeley at guard and J.J. Johnson at center.

Santiago, Hollivay, Johnson and Gill started all 12 games for the Mean Green in 2008 while Feeley came on to start the final seven games. Santiago is the only full-time starter from 2008 that also started in 2007.

With the return of so much experience and depth up front, the North Texas offense will continue to try to improve on the gaudy numbers it has put up the last two years under head coach Todd Dodge. The Mean Green offensive line only allowed one quarterback sack per every 21.4 pass attempts last season which is up from one sack per every 14.2 attempts the previous year.

Only Troy in the Sun Belt Conference had a better ratio of sacks allowed last year. Also to its credit, the 2008 offensive line helped produce the most efficient running attack since 2004 by rushing for over 1,500 yards and averaging 4.1 yards per carry.

As a two-year starter with two years of eligibility remaining, Santiago has established himself as one of the best young tackles in the Sun Belt Conference and will be expected to be a leader of the unit as the only lineman with over 20 starts to his credit.

Gill transitioned from tight end to tackle nicely and has bulked up from 240 pounds when he arrived on campus to over 270 pounds now. They have spent nearly all of the time with the first team during spring practice and are expected to be the top two tackles heading into the fall.

Junior Matt Menard also has extensive experience after starting 11 games at tackle in 2007 and playing as a backup in 2008. Drake spent his first two seasons playing center, including his sophomore season when he earned all-league recognition. With the emergence of Johnson last season, Drake has spent a lot of time during the spring working at guard, but could move back to his old position if need be.

Senior Tyler Bailey is a versatile player who has played both guard and center during his time with the Mean Green but has missed spring practice while recovering from an injury. Bailey will add experienced depth wherever needed up front.

Matt Tomlinson is a big body who will add depth at tackle and Nate Jenkins spent the 2008 season learning the offense and is now ready to fill in as a backup at guard.

Spring Football Preview Part II- The Defensive Line
Courtesy: University of North Texas
Release: 04/01/2009

DENTON, Texas (4/1/09) – Today MeanGreenSports.com continues a position-by-position breakdown of the North Texas football team in the spring and where it’s headed in the fall. Along the way we welcome your questions about each position and we answer them the following day. Yesterday it was the offensive line, today we switch sides and preview the what the defensive line will look like. E-mail Q&A are at the bottom. And were adding a new feature called “He said it”. Some very candid audio from new defensive line coach Mike Nelson that’s worth a listen. Click Here To Submit Questions

Defensive Line

A leader must emerge from the defensive line spot heading into the 2009 campaign for North Texas and with a new coach full of energy the Mean Green might have found the right combination. Mike Nelson takes over the defensive line responsibilities and you won’t find a coach in the FBS ranks with more experience than Nelson.

North Texas returns over 80 percent of its sack totals from last season and the player who has the look of an all-conference type is senior Eddrick Gilmore. He led North Texas in sacks last season while splitting time between defensive end and tackle. This season Gilmore will line up as the No. 1 defensive end and get the bulk of the attention from the opposing team.

Kyle Russo and Mack Cole III will get the first crack opposite Gilmore in the spring. Russo came on strong to close the 2008 season out with a tackle for a loss in the final four games. What he might lack in size, Russo makes up for in speed and effort on every play.

Cole brings a different element to the pass rushing game as he used his 6-4 frame to create havoc last season. Despite having to sit out the spring with an injury, Cole’s presence will be felt come the fall and 2009 season.

One area of concern heading into the offseason for the Mean Green was the depth at the defensive tackle and line positions, but with the redshirts coming off players and by signing six defensive lineman this recruiting class, defensive coordinator Gary DeLoach will have a lot less sleepless nights knowing the defensive line is now one of the deepest positions on his side of the ball.

With the likes of Draylen Ross, Jessie DeSoto, Charlie Brown, Troy Franklin, and Sam Owusu-Hemeng back the Mean Green line has the depth it has lack in previous years. Toss in redshirt freshman Tevinn Cantly and Joe Hawthorne it gets even better, and that’s not even talking about the newcomers yet.

Ross and DeSoto clogged up the middle of the defensive line last season with help from Troy Franklin. The promising young Franklin saw action in five games but the coaches are very high on his potential at 6-4, 277. One of the most talked players on the defensive line entering the spring is Tevinn Cantly. Coming out of high school he was a bit of a mystery, but at 6-4, 310 the mystery about Cantly will be how to defend him.

Cantly has shown his versatility this spring also playing some defensive end along with tackle. It remains to be seen where opposing teams will have to find him come the fall.

DeLoach and Nelson will also have the services of Hawthorne and Tyler Kubala during the spring to add to the level of competition being brought.

If its size North Texas needed on the defensive line, consider it done with the additions of junior college transfers Shavod Atkinson and Kelvin Jackson. They check in at 298 pounds and 320 pounds respectively and both bring resumes full of success. Atkinson was a KJCCC Honorable Mention with 48 tackles last season, of which 37 were solos. Jackson was named to the MACJC North second team with nine-tackles for a loss and 41 overall.

John Weber arrives at North Texas as pass rushing specialist. Last season at Itawamba JC he racked up 8.5 sacks and at over 300 pounds
Weber’s size alone will add an element to the defensive line that it has lacked in recent years.

this would make for some good INsider material.

UNT Spring Preview Part III - The Linebackers

Linebackers

If it’s leadership you’re looking for on the North Texas defense, look no further than the linebackers. The starter trio of Tobe Nwigwe, Craig Robertson, and A. J. Penson are all back after racking up a combined 255 tackles between the three last season. Nwigwe already had a breakout season last year by leading the team in tackles with 111, but this offseason he has taken on a personal role of leadership not only with the defense but as the team’s leader.

Nwigwe was a second-team all-conference player and turned in the play of the season when he returned an interception for a touchdown on the last play of the game against Western Kentucky to win the game.

The 6-1, 251 pound middle linebacker has transformed himself from a problematic player in his earlier years to a role model for the younger ones to emulate. Coach Dodge has personally seen the change in Nwigwe and expects big things from his senior linebacker.

Robertson was second in tackles behind Nwigwe with 93 but led the team in tackles-for-a-loss. He complemented Nwigwe and had two picks of his own along with two forced fumbles. Penson along with Steve Warren will battle for playing time at the outside linebacker spot.

Penson recorded 51 tackles last season while Warren, known as a special team’s expert, has come on heading into the spring and will challenge for playing time this spring heading into the fall. Warren, a converted safety, had four tackles for a loss last season along with 27 tackles.

Depth-wise the Mean Green has a lot of options to choose from. Robbie Deheck, Marquese Davis, and converted defensive end Marquis Sykes gives the Mean Green plenty of players to line-up. Sykes slides back to the linebacker spot this year after playing eight games at the defensive end position.

Redshirt freshman Jeremy Phillips moves from the secondary to the linebacking core and has been one of the surprises of the spring. Phillips, who was a quarterback in high school, is a quick learner and has caught the eye of defensive coordinator Gary DeLoach.

Incoming freshman Daniel Pryor will get a chance to find his way into the rotation as he was rated as the 36th best linebacker in the nation last year.