UNT notebook: Canales pushing the pace

UNT coach wants to set a quick tempo

12:20 AM CDT on Wednesday, November 3, 2010
By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas will have an opportunity to reach a milestone under interim head coach Mike Canales it never did under Todd Dodge this week.

Mike Canales In fact, the Mean Green hasn’t accomplished the feat since winning the last of four straight Sun Belt Conference titles in 2004.

On Saturday, UNT can win back-to-back games.

UNT took the first step toward that goal last week with a 33-6 win over Western Kentucky that snapped a three-game losing streak. UNT will have a chance to build on that win this week when it hosts four-time defending Sun Belt Conference champion Troy.

Canales credited UNT getting that opportunity to the way the Mean Green’s players responded to the challenge he issued when he took over as the team’s head coach on Oct. 20 and to a few adjustments he made in its approach.

“The players responded to the whole coaching staff, not just me,” Canales said. “We went out there and pushed the pace in practice. I told the coaches that if we demand it and emphasize it, we will get it. We were not going to tolerate anyone taking us away from doing what it takes to win. I told [the players] that we will start winning when we stop losing. When they start doing things that take us away from winning, they are going to be in trouble. I will not allow that to happen.

“That is what I have been taught, and that is the only way I know how to do it. Don’t beat yourself.”

Canales left three players at home when the team traveled to WKU for violations of team rules. Canales declined to name the players he left behind, but said they are all back with the team now and will be available for the Mean Green’s game against Troy.

They were back in practice this week, when Canales continued to adjust the Mean Green’s approach in hopes of sparking a team that had stumbled to a 1-6 record before he took over.

One of the biggest adjustments is in the pace of practice.

“We always went fast before,” Canales said. “It’s the timing between drills that is different. If we get what we need to done and get our reps in, we are not going to stand around for three minutes. We are going to go to the next drill. I want the players going fast from the start of practice to the end. If you practice fast, you will play fast.”

UNT’s players noticed the change.

“Everything is fast and furious,” UNT linebacker Craig Robertson said. “It helps us with conditioning and everything. We are running every play and are switching in and out fast.”

UNT responded to those changes while putting together one of its best performances in recent years against WKU.

The six points the Hilltoppers scored was the lowest total UNT had allowed since 2006, while the 33 points the Mean Green scored was a season a season high.

Running back Lance Dunbar posted his best game of the season while rushing for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

UNT posted those totals against a WKU team that has struggled most of the season, but the Hilltoppers were coming off their first win of the season, a 54-21 thrashing of Louisiana-Lafayette.

UNT had just a few days to adjust to what Canales was preaching after he took over the program.

Canales was happy with the way the team responded.

“I could be prouder or happier for our kids,” Canales said. “It wasn’t about me, it was about the school, this program and the athletic department. They all felt what was going on and what happened. For the kids to respond the way they did says a lot.”