With possibly the fastest team he’s ever coached, Morris says UNT has a shot to compete in the American

ARLINGTON — New North Texas football coach Eric Morris left little doubt about what it would take for the Mean Green to be competitive in their first season in the American Athletic Conference at the end of spring practice a few months ago.
Morris felt like UNT would have to get better — a lot better.
He offered up what amounted to a midterm report Tuesday during the American’s annual media days at Live! by Loews and pointed to a promising pair of numbers as evidence of the progress UNT has made — 40 and 20.
“The players look different and have put on weight,” Morris said. “We had 40 players run better than 20 miles per hour, which is the best I have been around at any place I’ve ever coached.”
How that translates to the field is anyone’s guess at this point, but the progress the Mean Green have made under strength and conditioning coach Bryan Kegans does have Morris feeling confident in UNT’s prospects this fall.
College coaches entrust their players largely to their strength staffs in the offseason.
“I have full faith in coach Kegans,” Morris said. “He has done a phenomenal job over the summer of getting the players ready physically and mentally to go to war together. I am super anxious to see where these guys are.”
UNT’s players are confident Morris will be happy with what he sees when fall practice begins.
“The summer’s been going really well,” offensive lineman Jett Duncan said. “We’ve been getting faster and stronger. Coach Kegans has done a really good job. We are jelling and connecting.”
Defensive end Mazin Richards has enjoyed the way the staff tracks their progress.
“Coach Kegan’s workouts are very competitive,” Richards said. “We have speed days where we test. The staff puts charts out after workouts that show who ran the fastest and jumped the highest. I have a little rivalry with Chris Wright. We always ask who was faster. It’s a great environment.”
UNT’s hope is that the work its players put in over the summer will help it exceed expectations. One of the staples of media days is the release of each league’s preseason poll.
The Mean Green were picked to finish seventh out of 14 teams in the poll of media members who regularly cover the league.
Tulane was picked to win the conference and received 20 of the 34 first-place votes heading into the first year of a new lineup.
Houston, Central Florida and Cincinnati left for the Big 12. UNT was one of six teams that made the jump from Conference USA and helped fill the void. UTSA, Rice, UAB, Florida Atlantic and Charlotte are also new to the league this year.
“There’s so much unknown in the league,” Morris said. “So many of the teams that were successful are moving out of it. Cincinnati made the playoffs and UCF has become a premier program. The teams from Conference USA will help create a lot of parity.”
UNT is hoping to make an impact right away and exceed expectations after finishing 7-7 last season following a loss to Boise State in the Frisco Bowl.
UNT has added a host of key players since then. Morris is particularly excited about the class of high school defensive backs the Mean Green signed.
“All five will have a chance to play,” Morris said. “They will have to earn it, though.
“We have some really good defensive backs coming back.”
Richards said he has been impressed with transfer defensive linemen Rodney Green Jr. and Viczaril Alobwede.
The challenge for UNT this summer has been putting it all together. The Mean Green feel good about how they are progressing toward that goal as the season approaches.
“I’m excited about the new league,” Duncan said. “I think we can be one of the top dogs. It will be interesting to see how we match up.”