College Football Confidential

UNT's Dodge gives spring update

With his second spring practice set for March 6, UNT coach Todd Dodge has much on his mind.

It's a laundry list, starting at center and defensive tackle. On Wednesday, DT Isaac Thomas was released from a Denton hospital after nine days of treatment for a blood clot in his leg that, thankfully, was detected early. In 2002, Texas A&M defensive tackle Brandon Fails died when a similar leg clot traveled to his lungs.

Thomas, UNT's 300-pound bear in the middle of the DL, has not been cleared for physical activity. Dodge said Thursday he'll know more about Thomas' spring status next week. Right now, he's a no-go. Joseph Miller and Jonathan Stewart are the spring first-teamers, with redshirt freshmen Jesse DeSoto and Jordan Scoggins right behind. Moving defensive end Charlie Brown inside is a possibility, Dodge said.

On Thursday, starting center Kelvin Drake will have surgery to "clean out" an injured ankle he played on late last season. UNT first thought Drake could heal with rest by March 6, but that's no longer an option. He can run and cut in early July. "The decision was whether to have him for spring or two-a-days," Dodge said.

Drake's main backup, Chad Rose, will miss spring practice after shoulder surgery. Rose started 12 games at center in 2006. So, redshirt freshman J.J. Johnson will "get a ton of reps," Dodge said. With junior-college transfers Nate Jenkins and Gabe Hollivay not arriving until August, the OL will be more of a look-see deal this spring.

More housecleaning:

--OG/OT Tyler Bailey is up to 295 pounds and could play 2-3 line positions this spring.

--WR Evan Fentriss (knee) will miss the spring. Fentriss, a transfer from Rice who sat out 2007 as per transfer rules, was one of last spring's more exciting players.

--DE Tye Rexrode will forgo his final year of eligibility and not return by his choice, Dodge said.

--Back this spring from 2007 injuries/surgery are LB Colt Mahan and DB Zach Babb.

--Troy Phillips

RE: UNT's secondary

Props to alert UNT fans who pointed out that sophomore Antoine Bush started all 12 games last season. Left him out while breaking down secondary possibilities in the wake of Todd Dodge signing nine defensive backs on Wednesday. Still leaves UNT thin (three players) on returning secondary experience.

Typical case of the obvious getting away. Thanks, folks.

--Troy Phillips

UNT's new-look secondary

Upon further review as signing day moves to the rearview, North Texas' objective as far as the secondary now apprears twofold. Mean Green coach Todd Dodge signed nine defensive backs.

Not only did Dodge need better pass coverage, he needed more bodies. Since the fall, UNT has lost:

CB Dominique Green: First brought charges of racism against UNT's coaching staff after he was suspended in midseason. Not returning.

CB Desmon Chatman: Joined in Green's racial claims after his own indefinite suspension. Won't return.

DB Kevin Ealey: Played in four games as a true freshman, was granted a release.

CB Evyn Roman: Played in 11 games but has left the program.

Safeties Aaron Weathers, Roderick Cotton and Cliff Higgs were seniors in 2007.

That's a lot of missing DBs, with S Kartey Agbottah and CB Latif Nurudeen as the only players to see time in last year's secondary. S Greg Garden, a transfer from Navy, didn't play in 2007 as per transfer rules.

Don't look for much in back of the linebackers to materialize this spring. The fun starts in August.

--Troy Phillips

Major snafu with Scott, Texas

Darrell Scott, the nation's top-ranked running back recruit, eventually selected Colorado over Texas because of concerns about whether he would learn enough to maximize his abilities under Major Applewhite, the Longhorns' newly installed RBs coach. At least, that's the New York Times' take on the situation.

Scott shared his thoughts with a Times reporter, who was granted exclusive access to the player's final deliberations in the recruiting process earlier this week. The story appeared in Thursday's editions. During the talk with his mother, Alexis Scott, the running back quickly narrowed his list of finalists to Texas and Colorado. But he chose Colorado, where assistant coach Darian Hagan is heading into his third season in charge of the Buffs' RBs and oversaw the entire recruiting process involving Scott.

Applewhite, a former quarterback who will be a RBs coach for the first time in 2008, joined Texas' staff on Jan. 16. Applewhite, 29, replaced Ken Rucker, who had coached RBs for more than two decades at the college level.

Scott cited Applewhite's perceived unfamiliarity with the position on multiple occasions during the deliberations, according to the Times. Some excerpts:

-- In sharing his concerns about whether Applewhite could develop him as a running back, Scott said: "The more time I thought about it, the more it scared me."

-- "I do need to learn from somebody," Scott said, referring to the nuances of the position. "I do need to know how to actually do footwork and everything."

-- After calling coaches from both schools to inform them of his decision, Scott uttered these words to Texas assistant coach Bobby Kennedy, the Longhorns' primary contact in the recruiting process: "Texas isn't the spot for me because of that move. That's it."

During his Wednesday news conference to announce his signing class, Texas coach Mack Brown made it clear that he considers Applewhite a recruiting asset, not a liability. He said the same thing applies to new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, 36, who joined the staff on Jan. 4.

"Major had recruited this state for Rice, and some for Alabama. So he didn't really jump in late. He just came in and knew ... he was on the run when he got here," Brown said. "And Will is just a worker. He jumped right in and took off. So I don't think we lost anything in the recruiting process with the new coaches."

Based on Scott's comments, he clearly thought otherwise.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Mack Brown sounds off

Texas coach Mack Brown says he is a proponent the idea to add an early signing day (in December) for college football. He thinks the idea would minimize rules infractions. But he says the sport can never be completely clean. Some key nuggets on that topic from Brown's signing day news conference:

-- "We will never get rid of cheating. You can't catch the good ones and they can still sleep good at night. I do think (an early signing date) would save money and take pressure off the kids. More tough decisions are made near ... signing day because more coaches panic and more families panic when the pressure gets on."

-- "You're always going to have violations by schools because some coaches are going to cheat. That's the way they've made their living. That's in every profession, not just ours ... You're always going to have some families that buy into that and you're always going to have a certain level of families that look you right in the face and lie to you."

-- "I've talked to Joe Paterno about it ... and said, 'Joe, what do you do with guys that are being bought?' And he said, 'Stay away from them.' I said, 'Do you turn them in?' And he said, 'Nah, it doesn't do any good. Just stay away from them."

-- "There's been some publicity this year about colleges backing out (on players), and that's a very difficult thing. You can offer too may because more come than you (expect) and you can get caught. But there's not much publicity on parents that look a coach in the face and lie. That's a two-way street. Parents tell a coach (their son) is coming and then change their mind. But a coach can't tell a kid, 'You have a scholarship' and then change his mind. I don't understand the difference. I do with kids. I don't with parents."

_ Jimmy Burch

Playing for now at K-State

Kansas State just announced it has signed the 32nd and final member of its 2008 class. The Wildcats' haul includes a whopping 19 junior-college transfers, including six who enrolled in January and will take part in spring drills.

Obviously, coach Ron Prince has decided the future is now in Manhattan, Kan. Even in all the seasons that former coach Bill Snyder built the K-State program around JC signees, he never signed 19 in one class.

As things stand right now, K-State will add more JC players than Texas Tech's number of projected signees. And that total is not far behind the expected total of total signees for Texas, Colorado and Kansas (20 each).

_ Jimmy Burch

Rough morning for Big 12 South

The top three signing classes in the Big 12 South all took a step backward this morning. Oklahoma lost out to Alabama on a signing-day announcement from standout WR Julio Jones. Texas lost out to Colorado on a signing-day announcemet from standout RB Darrell Scott.

Jones and Scott were among the nation's handful of five-star prospects, as judged by Rivals.com. So we're talking about significant difference-makers.

At Texas A&M, the Aggies lost a four-star commitment when Weatherford DE Kapron Lewis-Moore signed with Notre Dame.

All three schools still project to finish 1-2-3 among Big 12 schools -- Oklahoma, then Texas, then A&M -- when recuiting analysts judge these classes at the end of the day. But the gap won't be as large as it could have been.

Among the North Division schools, Missouri and Colorado seem to be making the biggest signing-day gains. Each school has landed a five-star signee, with the Tigers adding heralded QB Blaine Gabbert and the Buffs adding Scott.

Kansas, which finished 12-1 last season, seems to be landing more across-the-board quality and reaching for fewer players who are not rated highly but might be late bloomers.

_ Jimmy Burch

Scott spurns Texas, chooses Colorado

Darrell Scott, the nation's top-ranked RB prospect, has chosen Colorado over Texas. He has an uncle who plays WR at Colorado, sophomore-to-be Josh Smith. The two grew up together, were HS teammates and have been close their entire lives.

During his live announcement on ESPNU, Scott said: "Family comes first."

He also said that Colorado coach Dan Hawkins "has a vision" for the Buffs' program and he wants to be part of it. Along the way, Scott said: "Hopefully, we can pull in that national championship."

Colorado, a 6-7 team last season, is rebuilding nicely under Hawkins. Scott figures to be a plug-in starter in Boulder and will face the Longhorns' defense this season.

Scott's decision, which went against the predictions of most recruiting analysts, means that the Texas TB job in 2008 will be a battle between Vondrell McGee, Chris Ogbonnaya and five incoming freshmen who are members of today's signing class: Brock Fitzhenry, Ryan Roberson, Jeremy Hills, DeSean Hales and Tre Newton, a Southlake Carroll grad. Fitzhenry, Hills and Newton will take part in spring drills.

Among the newcomers, Hills (5-10, 181) and Hales (5-10, 165) earned four-star accliam from Rivals.com. The others received three stars. Scott was one of the nation's few five-star prospects at the position.

What's the bottom line? Scott's decision to spurn the Longhorns means Texas' class probably will be ranked just outside the Top 10 by recruting analysts at the end of the day, rather than being a consensus Top 10 class. But, like any other signing class, the real proof of who "won" or "lost" today's battle for the blue chips won't be known for another 2-3 seasons.

But there's no denying you must consider Scott's decision a major blow to Texas' psyche and to analysts' assessment of the Longhorns' 2008 class.

_ Jimmy Burch

Texas optimistic about Scott

Most recruiting analysts rank Texas as a slight favorite over Colorado in the race to sign Darrell Scott, the nation's top-ranked HS running back, today. Scott will make his announcement live at 11:50 a.m. on ESPNU.

Scott has an uncle who plays for Colorado -- they're only one year apart in age and played together in HS -- so the Buffs have a strong emotional pull working for them. Texas, however, has an immediate vacancy at TB, now that leading rusher Jamaal Charles is headed to the NFL.

Scott's decision is the lone hanging chad in determining whether Texas' class cracks the Top 10 nationally. It's a borderline group without him, a Top 10 class with him. Already, nine incoming freshmen are enrolled for the spring semester and will take part in spring drills: OL Mark Buchanan, WR Dan Buckner, RB Brock Fitzhenry, DB Blake Gideon, RB Jeremy Hills, LB Dravannti Johnson, RB Tre Newton, OL David Snow and K Justin Tucker.

Texas is expected to sign 20 or 21 players, depending on Scott's decision.

-- Jimmy Burch

UNT spring practice dates

North Texas is scheduled to start spring football practice on March 6, the first of 15 workouts including scrimmages and the April 12 Spring Game at 2 p.m. at Fouts Field. The schedule is as follows, with most times pending:

Week 1: March 6, 7

Week 2: March 10, 11, 13

Week 3: Spring Break, no workouts

Week 4: March 25, 27, 28 (scrimmage)

Week 5: March 31; April 1, 2, 4 (scrimmage)

Week 6: April 8, 10, 12 (Spring Game)

For now, it appears the March 28 and April 4 scrimmages will be closed to the public, but no official word yet.

--Troy Phillips