North Texas Football Preview 2026: How Fast Can the Mean Green Reload?
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North Texas has been great before, and it’ll be great again.
Eventually.
It’s a program that’s used to winning conference titles. It won four straight Sun Belt titles in the early 2000s, has 24 conference championships in all, and …
It didn’t win one last year. But it got super close.
North Texas Lost Everything — Now Neal Brown Has to Rebuild It Fast
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Former head man Eric Morris left for Oklahoma State and took almost all the stars with him.
New head coach Neal Brown is starting everything from scratch – seriously, there’s a real chance that around 22 of the 24 starters are transfers – and it might be okay.
North Texas lost seven games in each of the four seasons before last year’s amazing run. The goal is to reset back to 2024 and go from there.
North Texas Quick Hits
- Head Coach: Neal Brown (1st year, 11th year overall: 72-51)
- Best Case / Worst Case: Be in the conference title chase again/A third losing season in four years
- Key Player: Tayven Jackson, QB Sr.
- 2025 Record: 12-2
- Biggest Question: How fast can all the transfers mesh with the new coaching staff?
North Texas Key 2025 Stats
- Total Offense: North Texas 7,174 yards, Opponents 5,347 yards
- Touchdowns: North Texas 84, Opponents 44
- First Quarter Scoring: North Texas 177, Opponents 75
Offense
This won’t be the 1,000-mile-per-hour thrill ride of last year.
It’ll be a more controlled attack. Time of possession will matter, and there will be some thought to giving the defense a break by going on long, sustained drives once in a while.
There’s almost no returning starting talent, the coaching staff had to go big in the transfer portal to put it all together, and it’ll look very, very different.
What’s Working
The Mean Green are bringing in talent. Let’s just go there.
Yes, the lost parts were and are amazing, and yes, they should all be fine at their new schools. But they were also amazing because 1) the system and 2) it’s not like North Texas played a whole slew of killer defenses.
Tulane kept the North Texas offense in check in a 34-21 win, the amazing San Diego State defense was missing almost all of its top guys in the bowl game, and for the most part, the offense only destroyed the weak and sad.
Oh yeah … the incoming talent. Tayven Jackson is a veteran quarterback who was at Tennessee, and then Indiana as a part of the first year under Curt Cignetti. Last year he spent time with UCF. East Carolina’s Chaston Ditta was a nice get, too.
The rest of the skill parts will be more than fine. Nick Osho (Indiana State) and Jahiem White (West Virginia) form a terrific 1-2 rushing punch.
The receiving corps lost all the top guys to Oklahoma State, but the staff got several wonderful players to come in who should rock right away. James Tyre (Western Carolina), Grayson O’Bara (Dartmouth), and Corey Milliner (UAB) are all experienced.
Baron Tipton only caught two passes for the Mean Green, but he’s got the wheels to work on the outside.
What Needs Work
What needs work? Put a log on the fire … Quarterback Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State), running back Caleb Hawkins (Oklahoma State), fellow back Ashton Gray (East Carolina), receivers Wyatt Young, Terrence Lewis, and Miles Coleman (all Oklahoma State), linemen Johnny Dickson III and Braydon Nelson (both Oklahoma State), and several others who graduated.
In all, the Mean Green lost 17 key offensive players through the portal.
The offensive line should take a bit to come together. Dylan Shaw got in a little work at guard, and he’s one of the lone players who were in the blocking mix last season. Overall, just finding a cohesive starting five won’t be easy.
Guard Henry Fenuku (Missouri) was one of the team’s most talented signings, and Chandler Strong (Georgia Southern) is a nice center get. The developed depth, though, won’t be there early on.
There’s still a prove-it factor when it comes to the North Texas quarterbacks. Tayven Jackson has a little experience, but in four years he threw 16 touchdown passes with 14 picks. Chaston Ditta threw 24 passes last season for East Carolina.
Player to Watch
Jahiem White, RB Jr.
He was with Neal Brown at West Virginia, running for over 1,600 yards with 11 touchdowns and three receiving scores in his first two years.
He was out most of last year, running for just 133 yards and three touchdowns in the new Rich Rodriguez system, but he should be one of the best backs in the American Conference.
Defense
If you think the North Texas offense lost players …
The offense is loaded with veterans compared to the defensive side with just one player back who did much of anything last year. The entire defensive two-deep might as well be transfers.
There were moments when the defense was great last season – like in the win over Lamar from the FCS ranks. Just about everyone else rolled at will, especially when it came to the teams that could run.
What’s Working
The defensive front got itself some playmakers. Udoka Ezeani is a 218-pound pure pass rusher who came up with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss last season at UTEP.
Davion Rhodes is an edge rusher from Georgia Southern with five years of experience and 18 tackles for loss with 99 stops over the last three seasons.
Former Rutgers signee David Onuoha was one of the few bright spots last year for UMass, with 42 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
This bunch will get to the quarterback.
The staff went and got instant corner help, too. The safeties are coming from the portal, too – Ja’Bree Bickham from Boise State is the most talented one coming in, and CJ Coombes from Wofford should be a big-hitting tackler from jump.
The corners, though, are deeper. It starts with Caden Jenkins (Baylor), Zach Johnson (SE Louisiana), and Peyton Taylor (Emporia State). All things considered, the staff did a nice job of finding potential instant starters.
The linebackers are deep, too, especially because there only need to be a few in the 4-2-5 alignment. Aaron Alexander should be the best of the bunch, getting the gig in the middle.
Zakye Barker made 133 career tackles in his time at East Carolina and SMU, and Cedric Roberts is a good veteran with range from Alcorn State.
Chantz Johnson has a world of upside, starting out at Texas A&M before spending last season as a reserve at Texas State.
What Needs Work
That’s all well and good, but North Texas pieced this together with a load of random parts. But they all have to mesh, and defensive tackle Terrell Washington is the only player of any note returning. He only made 13 tackles last year.
The losses really are big. Leading tackler Ethan Wesloski is off to Oklahoma State. He and Trey Fields combined for 213 tackles. Safeties Evan Jackson and Quinton Hammonds are also off to Stillwater, and then there are the pass rushers.
Keviyan Huddleston (Oklahoma State), Ethan Day (Utah), and Will Smith (Southern Miss) are done, too.
It’s not like Powledge’s Baylor defense was anything special over the last three seasons. It was among the worst in the nation against the run, was 88th in total defense, and 122nd in scoring D, allowing 32.6 points per game.
Player to Watch
Aaron Alexander, LB Sr.
The 6-1, 236-pound veteran started out at UMass, but he didn’t see much time. He left for Michigan State and made 12 tackles in two years, and then he found his game at Arkansas State.
One of the best tacklers in the Sun Belt last season, he made 91 tackles with three tackles for loss and a pick. As the man in the middle of the linebacking corps, with his experience, he’ll be an instant producer.
Keys to the Season
- Find the right starting 22 among all the new transfers coming in.
- Don’t try to be last year’s offense. It needs to create its own identity.
- Start controlling the ball more after time of possession wasn’t an issue over the last few years.
Player Who Needs To Shine
Tayven Jackson, QB Sr.
He put in his time over his career, and he’s always looked and played like a player who’s close to turning the corner. He’ll get every shot to make the offense his, with the tools and talent in place to let it rip.
Biggest Concern
Be better against the run.
Besides trying to put it all together with the new transfers, the big key is to be far, far better against the run after allowing well over 200 yards per game.
Four teams hit the 300-yard and ten went for 190 or more. This time around, the Mean Green defense has to deal with the Indiana, Navy, and Tulane running game, but everyone will try grinding away against this bunch.
Biggest Game
at Navy, October 24
The North Texas conference schedule isn’t bad, but the three big road games are make-or-break moments with dates at UTSA and Tulane in mid-November.
Lose at Navy, and getting back to the American Conference title game will be almost impossible.
Transfer Portal
It’s not bad considering Oklahoma State’s gutting of player after player.
All of the lost parts meant prime openings were there for the filling, and here they come with a whole slew of Power Four athletes looking to make some noise.
Best Signing
Henry Fenuku, OG (Missouri)
He didn’t see a ton of time at Mizzou, but the 6-3, 310-pounder has SEC size and tools, and now the redshirt freshman should be a key part of the North Texas offensive front. He should be a blaster for the ground game.
Biggest Loss
Drew Mestemaker, QB (Oklahoma State)
Yeah, the system was a big part of it, but … close to 4,400 yards, 69% completion rate, 34 touchdowns, just nine picks, almost ten yards per attempt, and five rushing scores.
Good luck replacing production like that.
Other Names to Know
- Peyton Taylor, CB (Emporia State)
- Zach Johnson, CB (SE Louisiana)
- Steven Curtis, DE (Minnesota)
CFN Season Prediction
Not to dismiss or downplay all the great things that happened last season, but a whole lot of things had to come together at once for the Mean Green to win 12 games and come so achingly close to getting into the College Football Playoff.
It really was a great season, but again, North Texas has been able to get through various rebuilds and tough campaigns before.
Don’t dismiss the possibility that Brown and his staff might be good at putting the puzzle pieces together.
CFN Prediction: 6-6
Again, though, to give last year’s team credit, it handed Navy one of its two losses, beat Army, got by eventual MAC champion Western Michigan on the road, and …
This year’s team has it tougher, starting with a trip to Indiana to kick things off. UNLV won’t be easy, going to Texas State should be a wild shootout, and that’s just the non-conference slate.
Missing Army, East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, and yeah, this year, Temple all help. But the road games at Navy, UTSA, and Tulane are a problem. Throw in the opener in Bloomington, and just getting to six wins would be terrific.
Even if everyone will want a little more.
Related: UTSA Football Preview 2026: Is This the Year the Roadrunners Get Noticed?
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