UNT opens fall practice with less-than-ideal execution; Morris sees room for growth

Staff Writer
Aug 2, 2023
Time was on new North Texas coach Eric Morris’ side a few months ago during spring practice.
A mediocre workout is easy to write off when there are months to go before the beginning of the season.
The opening of fall practice on Wednesday is the latest sign that time is quickly becoming of the essence heading into the Mean Green’s season opener against Cal on Sept. 2.
Morris wasn’t particularly pleased with the way UNT capitalized on one of its dwindling opportunities to improve on a sizzling Wednesday morning.
“For day one, the energy and effort were good, but it wasn’t as clean as you would like,” Morris said. “These guys have had enough time in the summer to be prepared. It was super simple on both sides of the ball as far as the installation part of it.
“We had too many busts after going through a spring and summer and too many sloppy plays, some of them by players who have been here the entire time.”
UNT faced the prospect of a significant rebuild heading into Morris’ debut season. The former Washington State offensive coordinator brought in a new offensive system and a new defensive coordinator in Matt Caponi.
Caponi moved UNT to a 3-3-5 scheme.
There’s also the matter of the Mean Green picking a starting quarterback out of a field of three contenders — Louisiana-Monroe transfer Chandler Rogers and veteran backups Jace Ruder and Stone Earle.
With so much to work through, it’s no surprise that UNT didn’t hit the ground running. Getting off to what Morris characterized as a bit of a sloppy start underscored his sense of urgency.
The Mean Green are quickly running out of time to prepare for Cal and a host of key games early before their schedule becomes more difficult late in the year. UNT will face Tulane, SMU and UTSA in the back half of the season.
While UNT didn’t execute the way Morris had hoped it would, there was some good news. The Mean Green showed up ready to go to work.
UNT’s coaches and players have said all summer that the time the team put in under strength coach Bryan Kegans prepared them to quickly make headway this fall.
The Mean Green didn’t back off that stance after the first day of fall workouts.
“We’re prepared,” wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin said. “We have put in a lot of hard work in during the summer and spring.
“We still have a lot of hard work to do. It’s always like that.”
While UNT’s execution wasn’t the best, Morris did see some positive signs. Mazin Richards caught his attention by coming off the edge in drills to pressure UNT’s quarterbacks.
Richards is moving from the hybrid linebacker/defensive end spot he played last year to a more traditional defensive end spot this fall. A big day from the senior helped UNT’s defensive front perform at a level that impressed Morris.
UNT’s hope is it can build on those positives over the next few weeks as it focuses on laying the foundation for the upcoming season.
“We’re starting back with the basics on a lot of things,” Morris said. “We have to be a super intellectual football team. When you have smart players, they can play fast, pull the trigger and not hesitate.
“That will be key in the next few weeks, for these guys to be smart players.”
UNT’s players are ready to tackle that challenge.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” cornerback Ridge Texada said. “We’ve been working all summer, waiting for this moment. This is a big year for us. We’re ready to get rolling.”
UNT got off to a bit of a slow start as it looked to reach that goal on Monday.
“The effort was an A+, but the execution was probably a C today,” Morris said. “You want to be able to put it all together. I’m a little disappointed we weren’t sharper.”
UNT still has time to get on track during Morris’ first fall camp.
The energy the Mean Green showed during the opening day of drills gives them hope they can reach that point quickly.
“Everyone is excited to be out here,” Maclin said. “We have to keep the energy for day seven, 15 and 20. We are still learning a lot. We have to hold each other accountable and continue to work.”