North Texas bolsters defense, especially in secondary

By John Henry

Special to the Star-Telegram

DENTON -- The face of North Texas football continued its transformation Wednesday.

A new stadium, a second-year coach, and now 24 new players added on National Signing Day, including 15 on the defensive side of the ball who are looking to build on a 5-7 season.

Among the newcomers are seven defensive backs who will be in the mix to replace every starter from last season's secondary.

"Each year we're here it will be harder to come in and play right away," coach Dan McCarney said. "But right now we're in a stage where I don't think there's any doubt some of these guys will come in and contribute."

The class includes three transfers, offensive lineman Cam Feldt (Arkansas) and defensive backs Marcus Trice (Oklahoma) and D.Q. Johnson (Iowa Western CC). All three are eligible for the 2012 season.

Feldt, along with high school recruit Ryan Rentfro of Flower Mound Marcus, will be among those looking to replace all-conference right tackle Matt Tomlinson, offensive coordinator Mike Canales said.

Feldt's brother, Boone Feldt, led a group of three-star recruits from the high school ranks. Boone Feldt, a 6-foot-3, 276-pound center from Buda Hays, was rated the No. 17 center in the nation by Rivals.com. He picked the Mean Green over Houston, Louisiana Tech and Texas State.

Wide receivers Roderick Lancaster of Life School of Oak Cliff and Nick Schrapps of Beaumont Kelly Catholic, defensive end Malik Dilonga of Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill and defensive backs David Busby of Coppell and Xavier Kelly of Katy Mayde Creek were also rated three stars.

"The stars things and the rankings, I couldn't care less," McCarney said. Freshman offensive lineman "Cyril Lemon... came in and started all 12 games. Eight games we did not give up a sack, including Alabama. He was honorable mention all-conference and a 3.8 GPA and you couldn't find stars behind his name. So, you think I care about any of that stuff?

"We make our own evaluations, we make our own rankings and we have our own priorities."

The Mean Green lost three players to defections in the days leading up to National Signing Day. Offensive linemen Chase Walling and Sam Rice switched commitments to SMU, and Royce LaFrance changed to Tulane.

Running back Mark Lewis, one of four players snatched out of Louisiana, was a Class 3A first-team all-state selection after rushing for 1,965 yards in 2011. Coaches said he'll get a long look as a potential replacement for Lance Dunbar.

"We made major progress from a year ago," said McCarney, who took over the program after the firing of Todd Dodge (6-37 in three-plus seasons).

"We are bigger, we are stronger, we are a little bit faster. But those are areas you constantly evaluate and recruit to and keep improving."

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