This is a big week when it comes to college football recruiting.
The midterm signing period for junior college players starts on Wednesday and the dead period officially started this morning.
The dead period lasts until Jan. 11. Coaches are not allowed to have face-to-face contact with recruits or their parents. They can’t watch athletes compete or visit their high schools.
That doesn’t mean that legal recruiting is still going on, but things do tend to slow down a little bit around the holidays.
That makes this as good a time as any to check in and see where UNT stands, especially since there seems to be a bit of concern among our readers and UNT fans in general.
UNT is currently sitting in 11th in 247 Sports rankings of the classes in Conference USA. The fact one-time UNT target Tariq Woolen, a wide receiver out of Arlington Heights, committed to UT-San Antonio over the weekend only added to the fire.
Two quick points here: First off, it’s way too early to panic and secondly, this is nothing new for UNT.
There is a long way to go until national signing day and there are already a few good prospects on UNT’s board. Cornerback Cameron Johnson is a three-star player with offers from several other good G5 programs, including Army and Air Force. Junior college quarterback Devlin Isadore is also a highly regarded three-star player.
The best run UNT has had since returning to the FBS level came in the early 2000s when the Mean Green did most of its best work late, picking up players who had their other opportunities dry up, qualified late or were overlooked.
UNT put together a good class with a ton of contributors at the last minute a year ago. Quarterback Mason Fine, cornerback Eric Jenkins and linebacker Eji Ejiya were all key contributors this year.
There is no reason to think the Mean Green can’t make a late run again.
The other key point here is that we should have seen this coming from a mile away.
UNT has rarely ranked very highly when it comes to recruiting rankings, in the Sun Belt, Conference USA or anywhere else. The Mean Green got a rare boost when they hired Todd Dodge. He is statistically the worst coach in the history of UNT athletics and finished 6-37 with the Mean Green, but he did haul in a class ranked 57th nationally by 247 Sports in 2007.
UNT has ranked inside the top 100 just once since. The Mean Green came in at 98 in 2012.
Since then UNT has upgraded conferences, jumping from the Sun Belt to Conference USA, opened a beautiful new football stadium, won a bowl game and changed coaches twice.
It just hasn’t made a big difference when it comes to consistently landing highly rated talent. I have talked to recruits across the state for years. One has to look past personal bias for UNT and look at what players value.
If you think that your average East Texas player thinks Denton is any different/better than Ruston or San Antonio or Lafayette you’re fooling yourself. Players want to win and want to have a shot at playing in the NFL. They aren’t interested in Twilight Tunes on the square. A lot of players want to get the heck out of town for college.
UNT has posted one winning season since 2004. Don’t think for a minute that doesn’t matter.
The Mean Green are headed in the right direction. That helps. So does the move to a spread offense. They key now is parlaying those strengths into a late recruiting run.
UNT coach Seth Littrell said earlier this year that there are plenty of good players available in January and that his priorities are finding players who fit his system and culture.
That is a reasonable approach, but it’s also one that is going to cause a little consternation among UNT’s faithful.
Signing day will be here before we know it. What happens between now and then will be huge.
Don’t panic yet.