University of North Texas Athletics
UNT Opens Spring Practice Monday
3/18/2019 8:37:00 AM | Football
DENTON – North Texas opens spring practice Monday morning and heading into preparation for his fourth season at the helm of the Mean Green, head coach Seth Littrell faces arguably his biggest challenge yet in Denton – managing a 50-percent turnover in his coaching staff.
With 18 wins over the past two seasons, programs took notice and came after several North Texas assistants. Make no mistake, these changes are signs of something very positive, as four of the five departing assistants moved on to jobs with Power Five programs. New faces include Bodie Reeder (offensive coordinator), Patrick Cobbs (running backs), Adrian Mayes (tight ends), Clay Jennings (cornerbacks) and the newest addition, Galen Scott (linebackers).
Despite the obvious positive connotation with the staff changes, Littrell must now unite the group in a timely manner (in Scott's case, he's just four days into his Mean Green tenure) and make sure they connect quickly with each other and their new personnel groups. Different personalities and coaching styles mean different and new interactions among the staff and with players.
Part of the difficulty in that process for Littrell is already complete. He has gone out and brought in quality replacements with strong resumes. Now, it's time to see if they are the right hires and that this particular mix of coaches is going to lead to more on-field success.
Heading into Littrell's second season, he lost four assistants, three of which moved on to positions with Power Five teams. Littrell worked his new staff into the program quickly, as the Mean Green jumped from five wins to nine and a Conference USA West title. He'll be looking to replicate or improve on that kind of success as he looks to capture a conference championship and an elusive first bowl win.
While half the coaching staff has changed, certain things will be familiar in Denton as spring practice gets underway. Namely, UNT's offense, as eight starters return including back-to-back C-USA Offensive Player of the Year and now senior quarterback Mason Fine. His and the rest of the offensive unit will need to make adjustments to the tweaks that are bound to be made, especially over the next four weeks.
UNT opens spring ball with a new offensive coordinator in Eastern Washington's Reeder, who steps in to fill the shoes of new USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell. Reeder spent the past two seasons with the Eagles, guiding its offense to 43.1 points per game in 2018 (fourth in the Football Championship Subdivision). His offense also ranked third in the country in total yardage and Eastern Washington reached the FCS title game in 2018 despite losing its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury in week five.
Also on the offensive side of the ball, Cobbs takes over with the running backs following five seasons at Denton Ryan High School in the same capacity, and Mayes joins the Mean Green following a stint at Texas State.
Cobbs will take on a unit that is heavy on experience and production. Redshirt junior DeAndre Torrey led the way for the Mean Green in 2018, rushing for nearly 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. Redshirt senior Loren Easly will not be participating in spring workouts as he rehabs his knee injury, but he's expected back this fall and was leading the team in rushing prior to his week four injury. Nic Smith, Anthony Wyche, and Evan Johnson all have logged carries in key situations for UNT over the past few seasons as well and are looking to prove themselves, along with highly-touted freshman and early enrollee, Oscar Adaway III. Cobbs, a Hall of Famer at UNT thanks to his excellent career in the early 2000s, will lend his NFL experience and experience in Denton to the running backs room. Cobbs steps in for Tashard Choice, who took the same position at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.
Mayes fills a role that is new for Littrell, a tight ends coach. When Joel Filani took the receivers coaching job at his alma mater, Texas Tech, the outside receivers oversight in Denton was given to Associate Head Coach and co-offensive coordinator Tommy Mainord. Mayes inherits a do-everything senior in Kelvin Smith, who figures to continue adding to his role in the passing game under Reeder, Mainord and Mayes' guidance.
Defensively, North Texas loses six starters from last year's much-improved group including a pair of starting corners and the mike and will linebackers. Jennings joins the Mean Green after a year in Lubbock at Texas Tech to help mold a relatively young group of corners that includes Cam Johnson and Jordan Roberts, who each saw time on the field in relief of all-conference departures, Nate Brooks and Kemon Hall.
Scott was hired this past January by fellow C-USA program Old Dominion, and spent the 2018 season in Rowlett coaching the secondary at Rowlett High School. Scott was previously the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Virginia Tech before returning to the high school ranks. He replaces outgoing linebackers coach Jeff Koonz, who is now at Ole Miss. Scott is focused on finding the two who will take over the spots vacated by E.J. Ejiya and Brandon Garner, who combined for 189 tackles and 43.0 tackles for loss in 2018.
While the opener against Abilene Christian is more than five months away, so much of the key foundational work will be done over this next four weeks. A major part of that will be happening behind the scenes with all of Littrell's new additions to the staff.
With 18 wins over the past two seasons, programs took notice and came after several North Texas assistants. Make no mistake, these changes are signs of something very positive, as four of the five departing assistants moved on to jobs with Power Five programs. New faces include Bodie Reeder (offensive coordinator), Patrick Cobbs (running backs), Adrian Mayes (tight ends), Clay Jennings (cornerbacks) and the newest addition, Galen Scott (linebackers).
Despite the obvious positive connotation with the staff changes, Littrell must now unite the group in a timely manner (in Scott's case, he's just four days into his Mean Green tenure) and make sure they connect quickly with each other and their new personnel groups. Different personalities and coaching styles mean different and new interactions among the staff and with players.
Part of the difficulty in that process for Littrell is already complete. He has gone out and brought in quality replacements with strong resumes. Now, it's time to see if they are the right hires and that this particular mix of coaches is going to lead to more on-field success.
Heading into Littrell's second season, he lost four assistants, three of which moved on to positions with Power Five teams. Littrell worked his new staff into the program quickly, as the Mean Green jumped from five wins to nine and a Conference USA West title. He'll be looking to replicate or improve on that kind of success as he looks to capture a conference championship and an elusive first bowl win.
While half the coaching staff has changed, certain things will be familiar in Denton as spring practice gets underway. Namely, UNT's offense, as eight starters return including back-to-back C-USA Offensive Player of the Year and now senior quarterback Mason Fine. His and the rest of the offensive unit will need to make adjustments to the tweaks that are bound to be made, especially over the next four weeks.
UNT opens spring ball with a new offensive coordinator in Eastern Washington's Reeder, who steps in to fill the shoes of new USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell. Reeder spent the past two seasons with the Eagles, guiding its offense to 43.1 points per game in 2018 (fourth in the Football Championship Subdivision). His offense also ranked third in the country in total yardage and Eastern Washington reached the FCS title game in 2018 despite losing its starting quarterback to a season-ending injury in week five.
Also on the offensive side of the ball, Cobbs takes over with the running backs following five seasons at Denton Ryan High School in the same capacity, and Mayes joins the Mean Green following a stint at Texas State.
Cobbs will take on a unit that is heavy on experience and production. Redshirt junior DeAndre Torrey led the way for the Mean Green in 2018, rushing for nearly 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. Redshirt senior Loren Easly will not be participating in spring workouts as he rehabs his knee injury, but he's expected back this fall and was leading the team in rushing prior to his week four injury. Nic Smith, Anthony Wyche, and Evan Johnson all have logged carries in key situations for UNT over the past few seasons as well and are looking to prove themselves, along with highly-touted freshman and early enrollee, Oscar Adaway III. Cobbs, a Hall of Famer at UNT thanks to his excellent career in the early 2000s, will lend his NFL experience and experience in Denton to the running backs room. Cobbs steps in for Tashard Choice, who took the same position at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.
Mayes fills a role that is new for Littrell, a tight ends coach. When Joel Filani took the receivers coaching job at his alma mater, Texas Tech, the outside receivers oversight in Denton was given to Associate Head Coach and co-offensive coordinator Tommy Mainord. Mayes inherits a do-everything senior in Kelvin Smith, who figures to continue adding to his role in the passing game under Reeder, Mainord and Mayes' guidance.
Defensively, North Texas loses six starters from last year's much-improved group including a pair of starting corners and the mike and will linebackers. Jennings joins the Mean Green after a year in Lubbock at Texas Tech to help mold a relatively young group of corners that includes Cam Johnson and Jordan Roberts, who each saw time on the field in relief of all-conference departures, Nate Brooks and Kemon Hall.
Scott was hired this past January by fellow C-USA program Old Dominion, and spent the 2018 season in Rowlett coaching the secondary at Rowlett High School. Scott was previously the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Virginia Tech before returning to the high school ranks. He replaces outgoing linebackers coach Jeff Koonz, who is now at Ole Miss. Scott is focused on finding the two who will take over the spots vacated by E.J. Ejiya and Brandon Garner, who combined for 189 tackles and 43.0 tackles for loss in 2018.
While the opener against Abilene Christian is more than five months away, so much of the key foundational work will be done over this next four weeks. A major part of that will be happening behind the scenes with all of Littrell's new additions to the staff.
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