Newton’s First Law of Motion talks about an object in motion will stay in motion and for the UNT Mean Green football program, the winter of 2021-22 means a time to continue the motion of the previous season. Despite a loss in the recent Frisco Football Classic (maybe the only time this bowl game will be played,) the Mean Green are moving forward with reloading their roster with the early 2022 signee class.
The most interesting position that seems to have garnered numerous signees is the QB position with two transfer players set to join the UNT program. Stone Earle is a tranfer from Abilene Christian and was a bit of a surprise with his committment to the Mean Green. Earle is a 6’2″, 203 pound athlete who threw 101 out of 154 passes for 1,216 yards, 13 TD’s and four INT’s this season. With the Covid extra year of eligibility, Earle only played in two games as a freshman in 2020 and will more than likely have four full years of eligibilty, giving UNT a chance to reload at the QB position after the Mason Fine era (writer’s note: I’m a retired OK high school football coach and had the chance to coach against Mason Fine when he was at Locust Grove HS and he was fun to watch!)
Adding to the QB mix this upcoming season is additional transfer signee JD Head. Head is transferring out of Louisiana Tech and the Pearland HS almunus played in only two games in 2020 and this season went 47 for 88 passing and garnered 559 passing yards with six TD’s and 3 INT’s. The possible departure of starter Austin Aune could signal that there will be a QB battle on campus in Denton come this spring and this is an area of weakness with the starter job wide open.
The Mean Green also stocked up on high school early signees this month by getting a commitment from RB Qualon Farrar. Farrar hails out of South Oak Clif HS and is listed as a three star recruit. Farrar amassed 980 yards and 16 TD’s on 97 carries during his season. Farrar is listed at 5’7″ and 180 pounds and is an interesting addition to the Mean Green RB roster going into the spring. Continuing on the offensive side of the ball, North Texas also picked up another transfer commitment from WR Jay Maclin, Maclin is the cousin of NFL WR Jeremy Maclin and had limited playing time in both 2020 and 2021, leaving him with four full years of eligibility left as well (the same as transfers Earle and Head.) Maclin’s addition will help shore up the WR corps. OL Dameon Smallwood re-committed to UNT after decommitting earlier this year. Smallwood hails out of Denison HS and is also a three star recruit. Playing offensive tackle, Smallwood received first team All District honors the past two high school seasons and should help bolster the O line for the Mean Green this season.
On the defensive side of the ball, North Texas has picked up two LB recruits who are poised to help build up the Mean Green defense come next season. LB Jax Van Zandt is coming out of Alabama (Thompson HS) and is the lone North Texas recruit outside of the state of Texas this year so far. This past high school season, Van Zandt registered 85 tackles (51 solo) and 13 tackles for losses. Van Zandt is listed as being 6’1″ and 200 lbs. and will be joining a talented LB room this upcoming season. In addition, the Mean Green picked up an additional signee this month in LB Ethan Wesloski out of McKinney Boyd HS. Wesloski also held offers from Air Force, Texas Southern and Navy and made a bit of a pleasant surprise pick by formally signing his Letter of Intent with North Texas. Wesloski had impressive numbers this past season with 131 tackles including 36 for a loss, 11 sacks, eight forced fumbles and two INT’s.
The additions of both Van Zandt and Wesloski could easily pay quick dividends for the Mean Green defense moving into spring football practice and both players will no doubt poise themselves to fight for starting positions early on. Rounding out the defensive early signees is DE Cam Robertson from Plano HS. Robertson is listed as 6’4″ and 270 pounds and built up strong numbers this past season with 77 tackles and 11.5 sacks and an All-District selection. Robertson will no doubt factor into the defensive line equation moving into spring football as well.
