University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Set For Season Debut in Mobile
8/27/2024 1:30:00 PM | Football
DENTON – The UNT football team will open the 2024 season on Saturday, as it hits the road to face South Alabama at Hancock Whitney Stadium with a 4 p.m. kickoff. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with the radio broadcast set for 97.1 The Eagle/The Varsity Network.
Morris and selected players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the excitement of a new season full of new faces, a new quarterback looking for a fresh start and a walk-on nickel back-turned-team captain in an experienced group of linebackers.
New season, new faces
In the current era of college football, it isn't unusual to have several new faces in key spots to open a season.
When the Mean Green hit the field in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday to kick off the 2024 season and the second year of the Eric Morris era, they will fit that current trend.
After losing several players to graduation and to the transfer portal, Morris restocked the roster with key portal additions, highlighted by a new signal-caller in the form of former Oklahoma and TCU quarterback Chandler Morris, who starred in the DFW Metroplex and won a state championship as a standout quarterback at Highland Park.
"That's why I'm so excited, anxious and nervous about this week," Eric Morris said. "It's just the unknown and how we'll respond to certain situations - how we'll play together and how we respond to good and bad things. The energy of the first game will obviously be really good, I think. It was good to see some of these Week Zero games last week. We pulled clips to show the guys – some mistakes that happened whether it's a guy losing his temper or miscommunications. Just the more things we can pull and the faster we can learn together the better. The unknown until we kick that ball off is something I'll be thinking about day and night."
UNT, which finished last season 5-7, including five one-score losses, leads all of FBS with 77 newcomers this year – 41 freshmen and 36 transfers.
Chandler Morris knows a thing or two about new faces to start a season, as he spent a year at Oklahoma before transferring to TCU and starting the season opener in both 2022 and 2023 before ultimately losing his job due to injuries.
He said the first game of a season is always a little bit of an unknown, but even moreso when a team has 77 newcomers, including himself.
"It seems like every year, it's like this," he said. "I've started the past three first games of the season. I think that's how it is nowadays with the portal. You're going to have so many new faces. I've said it – that first game is the most difficult of the year. You have to find your identity and who you are, so there's some challenge there for sure."
The Mean Green offense lit up scoreboards last year and, for the first time in program history, had a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver. Now, all of those players are gone, but Chandler Morris said the expectations remain the same, despite the new faces.
"We know what we have on the offensive side of the ball," the junior quarterback said. "Pressure is a privilege. There's a lot of pressure on us, but it's a privilege. We have a lot of good players and a coach who's going to dial us up and put us in the best position possible."
Morris looking for fresh start in Denton
Chandler Morris is the first to admit he's had a lot of good fortune in his football career.
The son of Chad Morris, a Texas high school coaching legend turned FBS head coach at SMU and Arkansas, who is currently the wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator at Texas State, Morris starred at Texas powerhouse Highland Park and won a state championship before going to Oklahoma.
He's also had perhaps more than his fair share of bad things happen.
He left Oklahoma after one year to go to TCU, where he was named the starter to open the 2022 season. The Horned Frogs went on to play in the national championship game that year, but that was well after Morris' season ended due to injury. He won the starting job again last year, but again, he was replaced due to injury.
Now, he's hoping for a fresh start, and he's confident he'll get it, thanks to what he called a great culture under a coach who believes in him and his abilities.
It should go without saying that he is still happy he made the decision to transfer to UNT.
"Absolutely," he said. "I'm having a lot of fun with these guys. Coach has a lot of confidence in me. I get to go out and play free and just go play ball. All you can ask for is a coach who has a lot of confidence in you and lets you play what you see. I'm excited about it. I'm a competitor. All you can ask for is an opportunity, and I'm grateful for the opportunity."
When he takes the field on Saturday to begin his fresh start with the Mean Green, Morris said he will tell himself the same thing he's told himself since the hard times started.
"I just have to have that don't flinch mentality," he said. "I've had a lot of things happen in my career – unfortunate things and also a lot of good things. I've just stayed steady and level-headed and not flinched at things tossed my way. Just stay boring. When good or bad happens, have the same look on your face and stay level-headed."
From walk-on to captain
Senior linebacker Jaylen Smith has had quite the journey to get to where he is now, as the 2024 season kicks off.
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Smith grew up playing on youth-league football teams called the BC Lions, Roughriders and Ti-Cats – named after Canadian Football League teams instead of the pee-wee teams with NFL monikers kids here might be more familiar with.
He went to high school in Connecticut to try to get recruited and was offered a walk-on spot in Denton before eventually earning a scholarship. Now, he's been voted a team captain by his teammates, and he's not going to let them down.
"I was surprised," said Smith, who started his collegiate career as a nickel back in UNT's previous defense. "I didn't expect it. It's a blessing. I'm so grateful to have that honor. I want to show these guys I'm the leader that was chosen and do the job that was given to me."
His head coach knows he's up to the task and said he's been impressed by Smith's ability to overcome adversity throughout his life.
"We weren't expecting to have seven captains – we wanted three on each side of the ball," Eric Morris said. "But it was something he deserved. He never had it the easy way. Being from Canada and having to go to high school in the states to try to get recruited, going from a walk-on at first and earning a scholarship – everything he's done in his life I feel like he's done it the hard way. …It wasn't by design to have one more captain on defense, it just speaks volumes what he means to this team."
Morris and selected players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the excitement of a new season full of new faces, a new quarterback looking for a fresh start and a walk-on nickel back-turned-team captain in an experienced group of linebackers.
New season, new faces
In the current era of college football, it isn't unusual to have several new faces in key spots to open a season.
When the Mean Green hit the field in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday to kick off the 2024 season and the second year of the Eric Morris era, they will fit that current trend.
After losing several players to graduation and to the transfer portal, Morris restocked the roster with key portal additions, highlighted by a new signal-caller in the form of former Oklahoma and TCU quarterback Chandler Morris, who starred in the DFW Metroplex and won a state championship as a standout quarterback at Highland Park.
"That's why I'm so excited, anxious and nervous about this week," Eric Morris said. "It's just the unknown and how we'll respond to certain situations - how we'll play together and how we respond to good and bad things. The energy of the first game will obviously be really good, I think. It was good to see some of these Week Zero games last week. We pulled clips to show the guys – some mistakes that happened whether it's a guy losing his temper or miscommunications. Just the more things we can pull and the faster we can learn together the better. The unknown until we kick that ball off is something I'll be thinking about day and night."
UNT, which finished last season 5-7, including five one-score losses, leads all of FBS with 77 newcomers this year – 41 freshmen and 36 transfers.
Chandler Morris knows a thing or two about new faces to start a season, as he spent a year at Oklahoma before transferring to TCU and starting the season opener in both 2022 and 2023 before ultimately losing his job due to injuries.
He said the first game of a season is always a little bit of an unknown, but even moreso when a team has 77 newcomers, including himself.
"It seems like every year, it's like this," he said. "I've started the past three first games of the season. I think that's how it is nowadays with the portal. You're going to have so many new faces. I've said it – that first game is the most difficult of the year. You have to find your identity and who you are, so there's some challenge there for sure."
The Mean Green offense lit up scoreboards last year and, for the first time in program history, had a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver. Now, all of those players are gone, but Chandler Morris said the expectations remain the same, despite the new faces.
"We know what we have on the offensive side of the ball," the junior quarterback said. "Pressure is a privilege. There's a lot of pressure on us, but it's a privilege. We have a lot of good players and a coach who's going to dial us up and put us in the best position possible."
Morris looking for fresh start in Denton
Chandler Morris is the first to admit he's had a lot of good fortune in his football career.
The son of Chad Morris, a Texas high school coaching legend turned FBS head coach at SMU and Arkansas, who is currently the wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator at Texas State, Morris starred at Texas powerhouse Highland Park and won a state championship before going to Oklahoma.
He's also had perhaps more than his fair share of bad things happen.
He left Oklahoma after one year to go to TCU, where he was named the starter to open the 2022 season. The Horned Frogs went on to play in the national championship game that year, but that was well after Morris' season ended due to injury. He won the starting job again last year, but again, he was replaced due to injury.
Now, he's hoping for a fresh start, and he's confident he'll get it, thanks to what he called a great culture under a coach who believes in him and his abilities.
It should go without saying that he is still happy he made the decision to transfer to UNT.
"Absolutely," he said. "I'm having a lot of fun with these guys. Coach has a lot of confidence in me. I get to go out and play free and just go play ball. All you can ask for is a coach who has a lot of confidence in you and lets you play what you see. I'm excited about it. I'm a competitor. All you can ask for is an opportunity, and I'm grateful for the opportunity."
When he takes the field on Saturday to begin his fresh start with the Mean Green, Morris said he will tell himself the same thing he's told himself since the hard times started.
"I just have to have that don't flinch mentality," he said. "I've had a lot of things happen in my career – unfortunate things and also a lot of good things. I've just stayed steady and level-headed and not flinched at things tossed my way. Just stay boring. When good or bad happens, have the same look on your face and stay level-headed."
From walk-on to captain
Senior linebacker Jaylen Smith has had quite the journey to get to where he is now, as the 2024 season kicks off.
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Smith grew up playing on youth-league football teams called the BC Lions, Roughriders and Ti-Cats – named after Canadian Football League teams instead of the pee-wee teams with NFL monikers kids here might be more familiar with.
He went to high school in Connecticut to try to get recruited and was offered a walk-on spot in Denton before eventually earning a scholarship. Now, he's been voted a team captain by his teammates, and he's not going to let them down.
"I was surprised," said Smith, who started his collegiate career as a nickel back in UNT's previous defense. "I didn't expect it. It's a blessing. I'm so grateful to have that honor. I want to show these guys I'm the leader that was chosen and do the job that was given to me."
His head coach knows he's up to the task and said he's been impressed by Smith's ability to overcome adversity throughout his life.
"We weren't expecting to have seven captains – we wanted three on each side of the ball," Eric Morris said. "But it was something he deserved. He never had it the easy way. Being from Canada and having to go to high school in the states to try to get recruited, going from a walk-on at first and earning a scholarship – everything he's done in his life I feel like he's done it the hard way. …It wasn't by design to have one more captain on defense, it just speaks volumes what he means to this team."
Players Mentioned
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