Competition heats up as North Texas begins spring football drills

By John Henry

Special to the Star-Telegram

North Texas’ football practice fields are back in use with busy bodies taking part in three weeks of spring practice that begins Wednesday.

The annual rite and tuneup for the fall will be very different from a year ago when 78 scholarship players and walk-ons participated.

This year, more than 100 will be participating. For a program slashed-and-burned and reseeded by coach Dan McCarney three years ago, that’s a bigger development than someone actually fully grasping calculus with infinitesimals.

Competition for positions and playing time will be at its height under McCarney, who believes that is the best script for ensuring that the fittest survive at every slot on Saturday afternoons in the fall when the Mean Green begins its first season in Conference USA.

The season opens at home against Idaho on Aug. 31. The team’s green and white spring game is at 2 p.m. April 13 at Apogee Stadium.

No other position exemplifies this new reality more than at quarterback, where two-year starter Derek Thompson faces perhaps the stiffest test of his football career against returning letterman Andrew McNulty, a junior, and Brock Berglund, a highly touted sophomore transfer from Kansas who is eligible after sitting out last year.

“When I say it’s wide open, it’s wide open,” McCarney said of a number of position battles. “And if a two-time starting quarterback and captain leading our offense … understands that, and he does, then you better bring your A-game every day.”

Thompson, a senior to-be with an undergraduate diploma already in hand, understands it.

The Glen Rose product passed for 2,649 yards in completing 58 percent of his passes, but he had as many touchdowns, 14, as interceptions. The offense was also ineffective in the red zone and on third down, converting only about a third of its chances.

Not all of that was the fault of one man, McCarney said, noting the woeful condition of the receiving corps a season ago, especially after Brelan Chancellor went down with injury.

However, that’s still no way to win football games, the coach and player acknowledged.

“I know this spring is very important for me to really fine-tune what got me in the starting role and get my confidence back and win the respect of my teammates back,” said Thompson.

Berglund would seem to be his chief competition after spending the fall as the scout team quarterback.

Berglund, like Thompson, 6-foot-4, but about 10 or 15 pounds lighter at 205, carries the reputation as the 13th-rated dual threat quarterback in the nation when he was a high school recruit in 2011.

That’s an important attribute, said McCarney, noting how important it is to keep a defense guessing with quarterback scrambles, counters or draws.

Mobility is not Thompson’s best characteristic, but McCarney said his senior is in the best shape he’s been in and “running better than he ever has.”

“Last year, I wasn’t pushed very hard for the job,” said Thompson. “I feel like I got lax on my skill movement.

“Instead of competing every day, I just felt it was my job.”

Thompson won’t have that to worry about this year, though he still feels as if he will win the job and be better because of the experience.

Berglund is one of a number of red shirts and transfers now eligible, including running back Reggie Pegram. They’re not here just to lift weights, eat and study, the coach said.

“We brought you here to compete for a No. 1 job,” McCarney said. “Let’s do that, starting tomorrow.”

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