Quick Hits: Dan McCarney Coach’s Show – Episode 1
Alex Lessard | Staff Writer
“Everyone in the world has played football except for North Texas.”
Head football coach Dan McCarney summed up the state of the Mean Green quite well at his first radio show of the year Monday night. The show will held from 7 to 8 p.m. every Monday throughout the season at Rudy’s BBQ in Denton.
For those who couldn’t listen in, here are some weekly quick hits for the latest on North Texas football.
The bye week
With no official games to talk about quite yet, McCarney and the rest of the Mean Green spent a lot of time getting a head start on scouting future opponents. North Texas is the only Conference USA school that hasn’t played a game yet, something McCarney said gives an advantage to Southern Methodist University (0-1) this Saturday.
“They know a lot more about their football team on game day than we know about ours,” McCarney said. “Their team has been through a game and made the adjustments. You learn a lot more about your football team in a game than you do in any scrimmage or practice.”
Scouting SMU
Although SMU lost to No. 4 Baylor University 56-21 last Thursday, McCarney was impressed with the coaching and motivation of the Mustangs compared to last season.
“[I was] very impressed with SMU. Good coaches, good system,” McCarney said. “Against a top five program, that was anybody’s game. It could have been a different game if SMU scored at the end of the first half.”
What to watch for:
- Up-tempo offense
While McCarney made sure to keep answers about strategy close to the vest to keep SMU on its toes, having a quicker tempo on offense was a major talking point.
”If you want to have a fast tempo, you do it with execution and consistency to move the chains and score points,” McCarney said.
McCarney continued to focus on the offense for the majority of the night, showing faith in the unit once it gets inside the opponent’s 20 yard line, an area that North Texas excelled in last season.
“Whenever we go to the red zone, our guys just believe on offense that we can do some positive things,” McCarney said. “I think we have a chance to do that this year because we have more playmakers. More guys that can take an average play and turn it into a good one, and a good one into a great one.”
- The quarterback
With Andrew McNulty under center to begin the season, McCarney has a veteran presence that he said he prefers at the position. McCarney said on-field mistakes will always happen, but having an experienced quarterback that can move on quickly from bad plays is vital to the team’s success.
“That’s what veteran quarterbacks have to do, and I really believe Andrew McNulty can do that,” McCarney said. “He has the trust and the respect of everyone in our program right now. He’s playing with great confidence right now, and everyone believes in him.”
- Potential history in the making
After last year’s 43-6 win over SMU in Denton, North Texas has an opportunity to defeat the Mustangs two years in a row for the first time in school history. In order to do that, McCarney said the team needs to buy in and want it more than the opponent.
“It’s not going to happen if you just talk about it. You’ve got to make plays,” McCarney said. “This isn’t about potential, this is about performance. It’s about who wants it most and going and getting it on game day.”
Featured Image: File Photo
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