North Texas Mean Green football
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The North Texas Mean Green football program is the intercollegiate team that represents the
University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...
in the sport of
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
. The Mean Green compete in the
Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
(FBS) of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) and the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
. They are coached by Eric Morris, who was hired as the new head coach of the Mean Green on December 13, 2022. North Texas has produced 24 conference championship titles, with twelve postseason bowl appearances and four appearances in the former I-AA (now Football Championship Series) Playoffs. The Mean Green play their home games at the
Apogee Stadium Apogee Stadium is a college football stadium located at the junction of Interstate 35 East and West in Denton, Texas. Opened in 2011, it is home to the University of North Texas (UNT) Mean Green football team, which competes in Conference US ...
which has a seating capacity of 30,850.


History


Early history

Before even becoming a fully-fledged state-recognized institution, the University of North Texas (then known as North Texas State Normal College) fielded its first football team in 1913. Under the direction of Professor J. W. Pender, the band of teachers-in-training played one game against TCU, a 13–0 loss at Eagle Field (located on the current site of Willis Library). The next year saw North Texas assemble its first full schedule, with three home and three away games, against schools such as TCU and Sam Houston State. The Eagles picked up their first win in school history on the road against now-defunct Burleson College, a 25–0 shutout. They'd pick up their first home win a week later, beating the
University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academi ...
13–2. After Pender left the university in 1915, basketball coach
James W. St. Clair James Watson St. Clair (January 20, 1885 – May 4, 1945) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as head football coach at North Texas State Normal College, now the University of North Texas, from 1915 to 1919, compili ...
took over the football program, coaching both teams and leading North Texas to a 20–11–2 record in his five years. St. Clair's final season saw the Eagles pick up their first win over a future major college program, beating TCU 14–6 in Fort Worth to open the 1919 campaign. As the university itself worked its way towards full recognition by the Texas State Legislature in 1921, the school began making moves to improve its young football program. The university hired Theron J. Fouts in 1920, and joined the
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas. History Founded in 1909 by Southwestern University, Austin College, ...
in 1922. The jump in prestige allowed the school to schedule games against some of the conferences former members, including SMU and Baylor, who had moved from the TIAA to the
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
just a few years prior. The Eagles' first year in the TIAA saw them open up the season with a 55-0 loss to Baylor in Denton, also marked the first game in the history of the
Safeway Bowl The Safeway Bowl is the name given to the North Texas–SMU football rivalry. It is a college football rivalry game between the Southern Methodist University Mustangs football team and the University of North Texas Mean Green football team, ...
with rival SMU, with North Texas falling to the Mustangs 66–0. The next few seasons saw average performances on the field. In 1929, the university hired
Jack Sisco Robert Dickey "Jack" Sisco (November 2, 1904 – December 18, 1983) was an American football player, coach, and official. He served as head football coach at the University of North Texas from 1929 to 1941. With a record of 74–37–10, Sisco is ...
to coach the program. Sisco lead the team through some of its first years as a consistently-winning college football unit. The program won its first conference title in 1931 as members of the TIAA. In 1932, North Texas became a charter member of the new
Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...
, compiling an 8–1–1 record, winning eight straight games after a 0–1–1 start, six of them via a shutout while allowing just 12 points against in that span. Sisco's tenure continued with conference championships in 1935, 1936, and a three-peat from 1939–-1941. Sisco was replaced by
Lloyd Russell Lloyd Opal Russell (April 10, 1913 – May 24, 1968) was an American football and baseball player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at North Texas State Teachers College, now the University of ...
in 1942, who would only spend one season at the helm before the school temporarily disbanded its football program from 1943–1945 as many students went off to fight in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Odus Mitchell era (1946–1966)

The revival of the program after the war turned out to be one of the most successful stretches in school history. North Texas hired
Odus Mitchell James Odus Mitchell (June 26, 1899 – July 5, 1989) was an American football player and coach. As a coach, he was successful both at the high school and collegiate levels. In 42 years of coaching, at all levels, he compiled a 289–129–17 rec ...
from Marshall High School to lead the team. In his first season, the Eagles went 7–3–1, winning the Lone Star Conference Championship and earning a bid to the team's first ever bowl game and victory, a 14–13 win over
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
in the 1946
Optimist Bowl The Optimist Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played in 1946. It was held at Public School Stadium (later known as Robertson Stadium), in Houston. The game was sponsored by the Houston Optimist Club, through agreement reached wit ...
. The year was the first of seven consecutive winning seasons, which remains a school record. In his 21 years as head coach, Mitchell compiled 122 wins, and 10 conference titles, all of which still stand as school records for a single coach. Mitchell also coached North Texas to their first AP Ranking in school history (No. 16 during the 1959 season), and oversaw the transition from Eagle Field to
Fouts Field Fouts Field was a stadium at the University of North Texas, located in Denton, Texas. Its primary use from its opening in 1952 until 2010 was as the home field for North Texas Mean Green football. Over its 59-year history, Fouts Field was the co ...
in 1952 (North Texas won its first game 55-0 at the new stadium over
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
). He also recruited
Abner Haynes Abner Haynes (born September 19, 1937) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the American Football League (AFL). Early years and integration of major college football in Texas Born in Denton, Texas, Hay ...
and Leon King to North Texas in 1956, where the pair eventually broke the color barrier for college football in the state of Texas the next season. His second to last recruiting class in 1965 included future NFL Hall of Famer
Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1 ...
, who went on to become the only All-American in North Texas football history, and a four-time
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
champion with the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
.


Hayden Fry era (1973–1978)

After Mitchell left in early 1967, North Texas had just one conference title and three winning seasons over the next six years. In 1973, the Mean Green hired future Hall of Fame coach
Hayden Fry John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now known ...
, who had been controversially fired by rival SMU the previous season after leading the Mustangs one game shy of a Southwest Conference title. Fry's Mean Green unit won the Missouri Valley Conference in his first year despite putting up a 5–5–1 season. After a lackluster 2-7-2 finish in 1974, Fry, dissatisfied with the lack of support from students, alumni, and fans, began putting together a plan with university officials to move the program to the Southwest Conference. At the time, the SWC was one of the most prominent football conferences in college football, and besides
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
, all of its schools were based in Texas, with fellow metroplex schools TCU and SMU making up two of them. Fry felt distancing the program from a lower-tier conference was a good first step, so the team became a Division I-A Independent before the start of the 1975 season. His plan also included moving some home games into a more prominent venue than tiny Fouts Field could hold, so Fry began scheduling two home games per year at
Texas Stadium Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof (Cowboy ...
in nearby Irving, already the home of the NFL's
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
and metroplex rival SMU. Fry also gave the school a complete visual makeover, adding lime green to the color scheme and introducing the infamous "flying worm" logo that became a staple of the university for years to come. Fry's new-look Mean Green went 7-4-0 in 1974 and 1975, albeit with losses coming against games against Southwest Conference and
Southeast Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
opponents. The 1975 season saw a 28-0 drubbing of the SWC's
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, as well as a close 15-12 road loss to SEC's
Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...
. The 1976 season saw marked signs of improvement, with the Mean Green falling in close contests to all their major conference opponents (a 7-0 loss to Mississippi State was later forfeited to North Texas after it was revealed the Bulldogs used ineligible players). The Mean Green lost 17–14 against No. 19
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, 38-31 against SMU, 16-10 to the
Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...
's
Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
in Stillwater, and a memorable close 21-20 loss to
Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
in a rare Denton blizzard at Fouts Field. 1977 proved to be the high mark in the history of North Texas football. The Mean Green finished the season 10-1-0 while rolling off a seven-game winning streak, their only loss coming to No. 20 Florida State on the road late in the season. The program made the AP Rankings for the second time in school history, reaching the No. 16 spot prior to their loss to the Seminoles. Despite the double-digit wins, North Texas was passed over by every bowl committee. The most notable pass came from the officials of the
Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bowl ...
, who invited 8-1-2 Louisiana Tech just one week after the Mean Green pummeled them 41-14 at
Joe Aillet Stadium Joe Aillet Stadium (formerly Louisiana Tech Stadium) is a college football stadium in Ruston, Louisiana and the home field of the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs football team, which competes in Conference USA. The football stadium replaced the ...
in
Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 percent ...
. The Independence Bowl was contractually obligated to take Louisiana Tech as the Southland Conference champion received an automatic invite to the bowl game. North Texas would see success again in 1978, finishing 9-2-0 with their only losses coming to Mississippi State and No. 12 Texas, despite hanging with both teams for the better half of three quarters. During the season, reports of sponsors in the state legislature to move the Mean Green to the Southwest Conference never materialized. Though they ended the season on a four-game win streak, Fry's team was once again left without a bowl invitation. With the escalating costs associated with North Texas' SWC bid, along with still-poor attendance and what he felt was a deliberate effort by the NCAA and SMU to keep a lesser-known school like North Texas out of the postseason (the Mustangs were reportedly adamant to the NCAA that North Texas could not play any potential SWC games at Texas Stadium, which Fry had intended to do), Fry began shopping around offers from other programs. The door on the Fry era was essentially slammed shut on December 7, 1978 when the Southwest Conference announced it would not offer North Texas a bid to join the conference. Three days later, Fry accepted the head coaching job at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
.


Demotion to Division I-AA (FCS), rebound to FBS, and present

The mounting debt left over from Fry's tenure reach a point where the NCAA ruled the program could not financially compete at the Division I-A level and the team was subsequently demoted to Division I-AA status. In 1982, the university recognized that the athletics program had a deficit of $1.6 million and voted to join the
Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...
. The program experienced little success in subsequent years, but in 1995, a coordinated campaign by donors to purchase large blocks of seats at
Fouts Field Fouts Field was a stadium at the University of North Texas, located in Denton, Texas. Its primary use from its opening in 1952 until 2010 was as the home field for North Texas Mean Green football. Over its 59-year history, Fouts Field was the co ...
spiked the average attendance enough for the school to enter
Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
once again in 1995. After the school joined the
Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...
in 2001, Darrell Dickey briefly revived fortunes in Denton, winning four straight conference championships. The Mean Green played in the 2001 New Orleans Bowl despite a regular-season finish at 5–6 after winning the Sun Belt title with a 5–1 conference record. After going 2–9 and 3–9 in his eighth and ninth seasons, the athletic department fired Dickey on November 8, 2006. The school then hired
Todd Dodge Todd Russell Dodge (born July 21, 1963) is an American football coach and former player, and recently retired head coach at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin where he played quarterba ...
, who had been offensive coordinator at UNT from 1991 to 1992, on December 12, 2006. Dodge had been one of the nation's most successful high school football coaches, amassing a 98–11 record overall at
Carroll High School Carroll High School can refer to: In the United States *Carroll High School (Alabama), Ozark, Alabama *Carroll High School (Flora, Indiana), Flora, Indiana *Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fort Wayne, Indiana *Carroll High School (Iowa) ...
in
Southlake, Texas Southlake is a city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. As of th2019 census estimateit had a population of 32,376. Histo ...
, including a 79-1 record over his last five years. His teams at UNT struggled to win, however, compiling a 6–37 record overall and a 3–23 record in conference play. After a 1–6 start to the 2010 season, the school fired Dodge. He was replaced by offensive coordinator
Mike Canales Michael Sid Canales (born June 21, 1961) is an American college football coach and former player. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the University of North Texas, a position he held from 2010 to 2015. He became the inter ...
as interim head coach. In 2011, the university hired
Dan McCarney Patrick Daniel McCarney (born July 28, 1953) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Iowa State University from 1995 to 2006 and the University of North Texas from 2011 to 2015, compiling a career college foo ...
as head coach. McCarney was the head coach at Iowa State from 1995 through 2006; he then served as defensive line coach for both the
University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
and the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
just prior to his hiring at North Texas. On May 4, 2012, the school held a press conference announcing that it had accepted an invitation to join
Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
beginning with the 2013–2014 season.
Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...
,
Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...
, the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...
, and the
University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest by ...
began play in Conference USA in 2013 as well, bringing the conference to 13 members. The Mean Green finished 9-4 in their first season in Conference USA. They competed in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl against the
UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for college football) as a member of the Mountain West Confer ...
in which they won, 36–14. It was their first bowl game since 2004 and first win since 2002. After the Heart of Dallas Bowl victory, the team saw two declining years; finishing 4–8 in 2014, and a 1–11 record in 2015, which included a 66–7 loss to
Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
, the worst loss by an FBS school to an FCS program in NCAA history. After the loss,
Dan McCarney Patrick Daniel McCarney (born July 28, 1953) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Iowa State University from 1995 to 2006 and the University of North Texas from 2011 to 2015, compiling a career college foo ...
was fired. In December of that year, North Texas hired the previous offensive coordinator at the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
,
Seth Littrell James Seth Littrell (born July 24, 1978) is an American football coach and former player. He was the head coach of the North Texas Mean Green football team from 2016–2022. Early life Littrell was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and attended Musk ...
, to take over. The Mean Green improved by four wins in Littrell's first year at the helm, and despite having a 5-7 record, Academic Progress Rate scores from the previous year allowed the team to compete in the 2016 Heart of Dallas Bowl after there weren't enough 6-6 programs to fill all of the bowl game slots. 2017 and 2018 proved to be two of the best consecutive seasons the program had seen since the Hayden Fry era. In 2017, North Texas finished 9-5, capturing Conference USA's West Division crown. North Texas fell to Florida Atlantic in the
2017 Conference USA Football Championship Game The 2017 Conference USA Championship Game was played on Saturday, December 2, 2017, at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida, and determined the 2017 football champion of Conference USA (C-USA). The game was played between Florida Atlantic, the ...
, and went on to lose to
Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
in the 2017 New Orleans Bowl. The 2018 team shot off to a 4-0 start before somewhat faltering down the stretch, finishing the season 9-4 after a loss to
Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...
in the 2018 New Mexico Bowl.


Conference affiliations

North Texas has been a member of eight different conferences, and has had three stints as an independent team. * Independent (1913–1921) *
Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas. History Founded in 1909 by Southwestern University, Austin College, ...
(1922–1931) *
Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...
(1932–1948) *
Gulf Coast Conference The Gulf Coast Conference (GCC) was a short-lived NCAA college athletic conference composed of universities in the U.S. state of Texas from 1949 until 1957. The charter members of the conference were University of Houston, Midwestern University ...
(1949–1956) *
Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...
(1957–1974) * Div. I-A Independent (1975–1981, 1995) * Div. I-AA Independent (1982) *
Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...
(1983–1994) *
Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...
(1996–2000) *
Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...
(2001–2012) *
Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
(2013–present) *
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
(Future)


Championships


Conference championships

North Texas has won 25 conference champion titles. † Co-champions


Division championships

Joining Conference USA in 2013, brought North Texas to its first conference with divisions. Split up by eastern and western teams, the Mean Green have to compete against the western teams for a spot in the conference championship game. North Texas won its first title in 2017. † Co-champions


NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances

In its time in Division I-AA (now known as the Football Championship Subdivision), the Mean Green qualified for the playoffs four times, garnering a record of 0–4.


Bowl games

North Texas has played in 13
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
-sanctioned bowl games with a record of 2–11 through the 2022 season. North Texas competed in the
Optimist Bowl The Optimist Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game played in 1946. It was held at Public School Stadium (later known as Robertson Stadium), in Houston. The game was sponsored by the Houston Optimist Club, through agreement reached wit ...
as its first bowl game in 1946 against
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. North Texas won the game 14–13, but the contest was part of a fundraiser for homeless youths in
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
put on by
Optimist International Optimist International is an international service club organization with almost 3,000 clubs and over 80,000 members in more than 20 countries. The international headquarters is located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Optimist Internation ...
and was not an NCAA-sanctioned bowl game, therefore it does not count towards the official record.


Home field


Apogee Stadium

Since 2011, the Mean Green have played at
Apogee Stadium Apogee Stadium is a college football stadium located at the junction of Interstate 35 East and West in Denton, Texas. Opened in 2011, it is home to the University of North Texas (UNT) Mean Green football team, which competes in Conference US ...
, formerly named Mean Green Stadium. The stadium seats 30,850. The most attended game in Apogee Stadium history was against La Tech on September 29, 2018, with 30,105 people in attendance. It is named after ResNet provider Apogee, who paid for the naming rights. The stadium has never been sold out, but is expandable to 50,000 if ever necessary. The stadium is widely viewed as one of the best smaller
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...
stadiums A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
. It is part of the Mean Green Village, an athletic complex situated at the intersection of
Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...
east and west. The stadium is recognizable by its trademark eagle wing in the end zone, facing the freeway. It is the first stadium to be
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
certified, powered by three electric windmills.


Fouts Field

From 1952 to 2010, the team played its home games at
Fouts Field Fouts Field was a stadium at the University of North Texas, located in Denton, Texas. Its primary use from its opening in 1952 until 2010 was as the home field for North Texas Mean Green football. Over its 59-year history, Fouts Field was the co ...
. The first game was a 55–0 win over the
North Dakota Fighting Sioux The North Dakota Fighting Hawks (formerly known as the Fighting Sioux) are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Originally in the Division II North Central Con ...
in 1952. The final Mean Green game was a 49-41 loss to the
Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as c ...
in 2010. The Mean Green posted a final record at Fouts Field of 155–100–7. From 1971 through 2001, the Mean Green played 21 home games at
Texas Stadium Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof (Cowboy ...
in
Irving, Texas Irving is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Dallas County, it is also an inner ring suburb of Dallas. The city of Irving is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to a 2019 estimate from the United States Census Bureau, ...
, 32 miles away from the university's campus in Denton. The team posted a 9–12 record while playing selected home games in Irving. Only one season, 1972, saw the Mean Green play more games at Texas Stadium (4) than on their home field (1) in Denton. Fouts Field was in notoriously poor condition for FBS football in its final years; most notably, one of the power outlets in the press box would cause the entire venue to lose power if used.


Eagle Field

From the team's inception in 1913 until the opening of Fouts Field in 1952, North Texas played all its home games at Eagle Field. The venue began as just a cleared-out area near the center of campus and didn't have any seats for spectators until steel bleachers were installed in the mid-1920s. The main bleachers sat just off the west sideline of the field, while a smaller set of bleachers were on the east sideline. Both sections of bleachers could seat a combined 2,500 fans. A track also was added around the length of the playing surface. The location as a whole was part of the larger Recreation Park, where athletic programs for students were held. Eagle Field was located on the current site of Willis Library on UNT's campus, situated slightly to the right of the Hurley Administration Building if facing Highland Street, though the field predated the construction of the building and its clock tower by a few decades. The program's first ever game occurred at Eagle Field, a 13–0 loss to TCU in 1913, while the final game was a 20–14 loss to Houston on December 5, 1951. North Texas accumulated a 92–25–5 record in their 36 seasons at Eagle Field for a winning percentage of .754%, which remains their highest at any of their three home stadiums. All that remains of the venue is the supports for the long-gone bleachers; the stretch of large rocks that are still behind Willis Library were the foundation for the installation of the seats.


Rivalries


SMU

The Safeway Bowl, is the North Texas-SMU rivalry. It was first played in 1922. The Safeway name is derived from a challenge from then North Texas head coach
Matt Simon Matthew Blake Simon (born 22 January 1986) is a retired Australian international football (soccer) player who played as a striker. Simon attended St Edward's College, East Gosford, where he was influenced to play soccer. Simon started his s ...
issued in 1994 after a two-year break in the series, stating "I'd like to play because I think we could beat them, and my players feel the same way. If they'd like to play on a
Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...
parking lot ... just give us a date and time." The rivalry is either played at SMU in
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
or at UNT in Denton. In total the two squads have met on the gridiron 39 times with SMU holding a 32–6–1 lead in the series through the 2019 season. This rivalry game will become a conference game when UNT joins the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
in 2023.


UTSA

North Texas and UTSA first met in 2013. That year both were first year members of
Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
. UTSA and North Texas have played 10 times with both teams winning five. The first game was played at Apogee Stadium in Denton on November 23, 2013. North Texas needed to win the game to clinch the Conference USA West division. UTSA stunned the Mean Green when they won the game 21-13. The Roadrunner win allowed Rice to become the west division champions. UTSA won three of the first four meetings. North Texas got their first win in the series in 2015. In 2017 North Texas stunned UTSA with a last minute drive of 90 yards to win the game. That began a streak of three wins in a row by the Mean Green against UTSA. The Roadrunners snapped that streak with a win in 2020. In 2021 North Texas gave UTSA their only loss of the season in the final game of the regular season. UTSA stunned North Texas in 2022 by completing a 90 yard game winning drive in the Alamodome. The two will meet on December 2 in the Conference USA Championship game in the Alamodome.


Players

39 North Texas Mean Greene have been drafted into the NFL, most notably NFL Hall of Famer "Mean" Joe Greene who shares his nickname with the school's athletic teams.


Current NFL players

*
Jaelon Darden Jaelon Darden (born January 14, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Texas. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth r ...
, WR,
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
*
Jalen Guyton Jalen Guyton (born June 7, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Texas. High school Guyton attended Allen High School in Allen, Tex ...
, WR,
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
* Kemon Hall, CB,
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
* La'Darius Hamilton, LB,
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
* Jordan Murray, OT,
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
* Jeff Wilson, RB,
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...


Retired numbers


College Football Hall of Famers

*
Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1 ...


Pro Football Hall of Famers

*
Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1 ...


Former players notable in other fields

* "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, professional wrestler, actor *
Johnny Quinn Johnny Quinn (born November 6, 1983) is an American bobsledder and former gridiron football player. He is a member of the U.S. National Bobsled Team and competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Quinn is a former wide receiver for the Saskatchewan ...
, member of United States bobsled team *
Tobe Nwigwe Tobechukwu Dubem "Tobe" Nwigwe (born March 8, 1987) is an American rapper, singer and actor. As of 2022, Nwigwe co-stars in the Netflix television series '' Mo'' and received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 65th Grammy Awards. Persona ...
, rapper and singer


Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of August 10, 2022.


Broadcasts

North Texas games are broadcast on the radio by the Mean Green Sports Network, part of
Learfield IMG College LEARFIELD, formerly Learfield IMG College, is a large collegiate sports marketing company, representing more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and ...
on 88.1 KNTU, 95.3 KHYI, and 1580 KGAF. Former Texas Rangers,
Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...
, and
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...
announcer
Dave Barnett David Lane Barnett (born April 27, 1958) is a play-by-play broadcaster who calls Big 12 baseball games on Fox Sports 1, college basketball on American Sports Network, and football and men's basketball for the University of North Texas (UNT). He h ...
does play-by-play, along with Hank Dickenson on color commentary.
Women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
play-by-play voice Zac Babb is the sideline reporter, while Paul Valamides serves as a studio host. Television broadcasts are carried by
ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
,
ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ...
, WatchStadium,
CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...
,
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...
, and C-USA TV.


Notes

* *


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:North Texas Mean Green Football American football teams established in 1913 1913 establishments in Texas