“Football: UNT fills coaching vacancy with Bryant”

Football: UNT fills coaching vacancy with Bryant

Posted: 27 Jul 2010 06:34 PM PDT

09:21 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The last few days have felt like a whirlwind for Jeff Bryant.

The former North Texas graduate assistant coach was preparing for the 2010 season at Fort Hays (Kan.) State on Friday when his phone rang.

North Texas head coach Todd Dodge was on the line and wanted to let him know that a big break in his career might be on the way. Tulsa head coach Todd Graham wanted to hire UNT offensive line coach Spencer Leftwich, which would in turn open up a spot for Bryant to land his first job as a full-time Football Bowl Subdivision assistant coach at UNT.

By Sunday, Bryant had agreed to take the job and was in the process of moving to Denton.

"It just kind of happened out of nowhere," Bryant said. "I jumped at the opportunity."

Bryant is young for a FBS assistant coach at 26, but Dodge was convinced that he is ready for the move to the highest level of college football because of the way he handled being a graduate assistant at UNT in 2008.

"Jeff is going to be an outstanding young coach," Dodge said. "He comes from a coaching family. His brother [Greg] is still a coach at Fort Hays and his other brother [Zac] is a coach at East Texas Baptist. A lot of times your graduate assistants are right out of your own program. He came here from the outside and was very professional. The relationship he has with our players will transfer very easily. He didn't hang out with the players."

Bryant has was a graduate assistant at Fort Hays before landing a full-time job there after his one season as a graduate assistant at UNT. The former Tulsa offensive lineman has now been hired in a full-time capacity after working as a graduate assistant at two programs.

That says a lot about Bryant, Dodge said.

Bryant will be a relative youngest among UNT's coaches, but he believes he is ready for the challenge.

"You can only be as ready as you are," Bryant said. "I have worked the last three years to prepare myself, but I still don't know how it is to be totally prepared. I am always working on improving in some way. Until we get to camp and start playing, I will be a little stressed out."

Bryant's knowledge of UNT's program should help alleviate some of that stress. His previous time at UNT gave him a working knowledge of the Mean Green's program and its players. He played under Leftwich at Tulsa and has worked with most of the key players on UNT's veteran offensive line.

Tackles Esteban Santiago and Victor Gill and center J.J. Johnson were all 12-game starters in 2008 when Bryant was last at UNT. Kelvin Drake, a senior projected to start at guard, spent the 2008 campaign on the sidelines while taking a medical redshirt

Troy Franklin and Coleman Feeley, two players expected to challenge for a starting job at the other guard spot, were also on UNT's roster in 2008.

"Jeff has been around all of our players and all of our starters," Dodge said. "That helps. He knows all of our players and terminology. We won't miss a beat. He knows our calls and how we protect our quarterback. We have added some things, but it's nothing that will take more than a day for him to catch up on."

Several of the players Bryant coached in his last season at UNT stopped by his office on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming season.

"There is no question it helps to know those guys," Bryant said. "We are all on the same page. I won't need time to get to know them. They will already know what to expect. I coached or helped recruit them. I feel good about it."

The addition of Bryant will complete a dramatic overhaul of UNT's coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball since last season. Offensive coordinator Mike Canales, wide receivers coach Conroy Hines and Bryant will join running backs coach/special teams coordinator Shelton Gandy, the only offensive assistant coach returning from last year, on UNT's staff.

Bryant has spoken with Leftwich on a regular basis since he left UNT for Fort Hays in an effort to continue his development as a coach.

"I feel confident in Bryant," Leftwich said shortly after taking the job at Tulsa. "He is a fine person and a good football coach."

Bryant is also a confident coach.

"Spencer told me I was ready," Bryant said. "He gave me a giant vote of confidence. I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't think I was ready."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Graduate Job

Tuesday, July 27, 2010