Craven: UNT in its current position because of recruiting failures

[caption id="attachment_19414" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Mike Williamson Photo by Mike Williamson[/caption] North Texas’ football program reached a new low over the weekend when head coach Dan McCarney was relieved of his duties following a historically bad loss to Portland State. The 66-7 loss was the worst loss an FBS program has suffered to an FCS opponent in NCAA history. The game was bad enough, even if before it being UNT’s homecoming game was factored in to the equation. UNT is in a tough spot. The Mean Green don’t have a ton of tradition, backing by the fan base or buzz in the recruiting world. North Texas is in Conference USA, which holds three Texas teams alongside North Texas – UTSA, UTEP and Rice. North Texas fell behind all in recent years on the recruiting trail and the results are starting to expose those failures. The energy around the program suffered with each losing season, but a new stadium and a trip to a bowl game in 2013 seemed to put UNT on the right path. That season, which ended in the Heart of Texas Bowl, turned out to be the outlier and not the norm, eventually costing McCarney his job and placing UNT back at square one as a football program. People enjoy bashing recruiting rankings and underselling the value of bringing top talent to a program, but the truth of the matter is that teams that recruit better win more and North Texas fell behind programs in Conference USA and are now facing the challenge of competing for DFW talent with SMU and new head coach Chad Morris. North Texas has the facilities to compete in recruiting. It is also located in a hot-bed of talent, but for whatever reason McCarney wasn’t able to consistently convince high schoolers from the area to play in Denton. Even a player like current UTSA starting quarterback Blake Bogenschutz, who won a state championship at Carthage in 2013, indicated during his recruitment that North Texas would’ve been a great option for him, but his lack of size resulted in him never being offered despite a few of his teammates from that team eventually signing with North Texas. Sometimes a program needs new blood and enthusiasm and that will be the challenge for North Texas moving forward. Rice has an advantage in academics. SMU and Houston have brand new coaches bringing excitement to the table. UTSA can use its 2-0 record against UNT as proof the Roadrunners are passing North Texas with only five years of actual football under their belts. North Texas holds the tools to get on track and be a factor in CUSA, but it must find the right coach to lead the charge, especially in recruits' living rooms, or the Mean Green will remain stale in a state full of up-and-coming programs at the G5 level.