ESPN

North Texas football coach Dan McCarney, 58, who is entering his second season with the Mean Green, was admitted to a hospital Sunday and is undergoing a battery of tests.

"The exact cause and nature of the symptoms of his illness are not immediately known by us at this time," UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said in a statement. "The family has asked until a complete diagnosis and a course of treatment is established that their privacy be respected."

For more on the story, click here.

North Texas coach Dan McCarney's debut didn't exactly go according to plan as Florida International routed the Mean Green, 41-16, in the season opener for both teams.

DENTON, Texas -- New coach. New stadium. Even new uniforms.

Change is the obvious theme for North Texas entering the 2011 season, and given its recent past, that change couldn't come fast enough.

Gone is Todd Dodge and his .140 winning percentage, the worst of any head coach in the school's history. Fouts Field, the woefully outdated stadium that didn't measure up to many area high school venues, will sit empty this year.

Enter Dan McCarney, a veteran college coach whose résumé, demeanor and approach are the polar opposite of Dodge's. He'll patrol the sidelines as UNT's head coach in the inaugural season of the long-awaited Apogee Stadium.

Oh, and the team dumped those Southlake Carroll-esque jerseys, too, opting for an all-green look.

"It's time for a change," said North Texas director of athletics Rick Villarreal. "It's time to change the direction of our program because the university is changing its direction. I think this gives everybody a chance to say, 'OK, here we go, it's time to turn the page.'"

Read the rest of the story here.

Quarterback Riley Dodge has played his last down at North Texas.

Dodge, the former Southlake Carroll High star, told ESPNDallas.com that he will transfer from North Texas. His departure comes months after his father, Todd, was fired in midseason after going 6-37 in three-plus years as the Mean Green’s head coach.

“It just came down to me getting a fresh start,” Dodge said. “I’m very grateful for what North Texas has done for me.”

Dodge, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, plans to go to Football Subdivision Championship program with a passing offense. The list of schools he is considering includes Stephen F. Austin, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, James Madison, Missouri State, Villanova and Delaware.

Dodge, the two-time Class 5A offensive player of the year, was one of the most heralded recruits in UNT history. He had orally committed to Texas, where he likely would have played receiver, before changing his mind and deciding to play again for his father, who had built Southlake Carroll into one of the best dynasties in Texas high school football history before being hired by UNT.

However, Dodge’s career at North Texas was marred by injuries, beginning with a broken right clavicle suffered in his final high school game. Dodge dealt with so many injuries to his throwing arm that he was moved to receiver last spring, only to return to quarterback after season-ending injuries to starter Nathan Tune and backup Derek Thompson.

Dodge threw for 1,212 yards and 11 touchdowns with four interceptions while starting seven games at quarterback last season. He also rushed for 253 yards and a touchdown on 79 carries. He suffered a concussion in the season finale and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was released within an hour.

There was concern in the spring that Dodge would need Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm, but he said it’s as strong as ever.

“I want to play quarterback,” said Dodge, who threw for 3,187 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 754 yards and six touchdowns during his UNT career. “I feel like I’ve got two good years left and just want to get a fresh start. My arm feels great. I’ve been throwing a lot. And I know I’m a quarterback.”

Dodge said his decision had nothing to do with new UNT coach Dan McCarney. He praised McCarney and associate head coach/ offensive coordinator Mike Canales, who served as interim coach after Todd Dodge’s dismissal.

Dodge added that he had no regrets about his decision to attend North Texas, although his experience there certainly didn’t unfold the way he had envisioned.

“I don’t regret a thing,” he said. “It’s just my time to go.”

DENTON, Texas -- Recently hired North Texas head coach Dan McCarney on Friday announced the hiring of three more assistants to his staff.

Justin Gaines will coach cornerbacks, Anthony Weaver will coach linebackers and Scotty Conley will be in charge of football operations as well as the recruiting coordinator.

New North Texas football coach Dan McCarney made his first official hires to his staff Tuesday: Clint Bowen (defensive coordinator and safeties coach), Nick Quartaro (assistant head coach, wide receivers coach) and Mike Canales (associate head coach, offensive coordinator).

DENTON -- Dan McCarney has fond memories of the heyday of North Texas football, when coach Hayden Fry built a top-25 program in Denton during the 1970s.

McCarney watched a ton of film of those Mean Green teams as a young coach at Iowa, his alma mater. He was a part-time coach for the Hawkeyes when Fry left North Texas for Iowa. Fry promoted McCarney to a full-time job coaching the tight ends for $18,000 per year.

“It’s amazing how this thing goes full circle,” McCarney said as he was introduced as North Texas’ head coach Tuesday afternoon.

McCarney worked 11 years for Fry, eventually making the transition to defensive line coach. A little more than two decades later, McCarney will try to match Fry’s success with the Mean Green.

“North Texas made a great choice with the hiring of Dan McCarney,” Fry said in a statement released by UNT. “He is a great motivator, a great recruiter and most of all a great gentleman. He did a great job for me at Iowa and did a great job for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin and took Iowa State to bowl games in five of his last seven years there.

“I am really looking forward to North Texas opening its new stadium and they have the right coach there to open it with in Dan McCarney.”

DENTON -- Dan McCarney’s first move as North Texas head coach was to hire the man who wanted his job.

Mike Canales, who had a 2-3 record as the Mean Green’s interim coach after Todd Dodge was fired, will be McCarney’s associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. McCarney and Canales are reuniting after working together at South Florida in 2007.

“I’m really ecstatic to have him,” McCarney said. “He can coach anywhere in the country. Mike is a real talented guy and I’m just real glad that he wanted to be here and be a part of building something special here at North Texas.”

Canales, who came as the offensive coordinator last spring, built a case to be considered as Dodge’s full-time replacement. The Mean Green (1-6 when Dodge was fired) doubled its scoring average after Canales took over as the interim coach. UNT scored 33.8 points per game with Canales in charge despite playing with third- and fourth-team quarterbacks.

Canales’ tenure as head coach ended with a 49-41 loss to Kansas State, when UNT almost pulled off a comeback over a Big 12 foe in the Fouts Field finale.

“It gave me an opportunity for five games to showcase what Mike Canales is about and how I could turn a program that was basically lifeless on its back – let’s be honest – and create some identity and some passion for the game again,” Canales said. “I think they showed it on the field in how they played as a team and how we performed. The last game speaks for itself. I think one of the biggest things it showed is that the kids believed in Coach Canales. I know I’m ready to be a head coach.

Canales, however, is happy to work for McCarney. They’ve kept in touch since their season working together, and Canales made a trip to Florida to pick the brains of Urban Meyer’s staff for a day when McCarney was the associate head coach.

Canales said that, if he didn’t get the head coaching job at UNT, he hoped McCarney would be hired. They had a brief conversation Tuesday morning, quickly agreeing that Canales would remain in Denton.

“The energy level is going to be unreal around here,” Canales said. “I go like you can’t believe and he goes at the same level. We don’t need coffee. We don’t need Coke or Diet Coke. We just go. That’s one thing about us. You’re going to get two guys who have such passion and desire and drive. A lot of good things are going to happen.”

Let’s take a trip back in a Longhorn time machine to October 15, 2000 -- the last time Texas was unranked in the AP Poll ...

Then: Mack Brown was 3 years into his head coaching tenure at Texas, with a 21-10 record and outranked in tenure by several of his Big 12 colleagues, including Texas A&M’s R.C. Slocum, Iowa State’s Dan McCarney and Missouri’s Larry Smith.
Now: Mack Brown is 13 years into his head coaching tenure at Texas, with a 131-29 record and the longest tenure in the Big 12.

Then: Will Muschamp was just six years out of college and was the defensive coordinator of the Division II Valdosta State Blazers.
Now: Will Muschamp is the Texas defensive coordinator and head coach in waiting.

Then: Texas fell out of the poll even though it beat Colorado 28-14 the day before.
Now: Texas fell out of the poll after losing to Oklahoma 28-20 the day before.

Then: Garrett Gilbert was 9 years old.
Now: Garrett Gilbert is 19 years old and Texas’ starting quarterback.

Then: Major Applewhite was one of two main Texas quarterbacks.
Now: Major Applewhite is assistant head coach and running backs coach at Texas after becoming the youngest coordinator in FBS in 2007 when he coached the offense at Alabama.

Then: Chris Simms was one of two main Texas quarterbacks.
Now: Chris Simms is an NFL free agent quarterback after spending the 2009 season with the Denver Broncos.

Then: Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton were a pair of defensive tackles for Mack Brown’s Texas team.
Now: Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton are both 10-year NFL veteran defensive tackles playing in the AFC North, combining for eight Pro Bowl selections and 44.5 sacks in their careers.

Then: Oklahoma beat Texas 63-14 in the Red River Rivalry behind six Rush TD from Quentin Griffin.
Now: Oklahoma beat Texas 28-20 in the Red River Rivalry behind two Rush TD from DeMarco Murray.

Then: Oklahoma was 6-0, on its way to an undefeated season and national title.
Now: Oklahoma is 5-0, eyeing an undefeated season and national title.

Then: Purdue, Oregon State, Minnesota, Georgia and Notre Dame were ranked in the AP Top 25.
Now: Those teams are a combined 8-15 this season.

Then: Alabama, Boise State, Auburn, LSU and Michigan State were not ranked in the AP Top 25.
Now: Those teams are a combined 24-0 this season.

Then: The Big 12 was still forming its own identity. It was its fifth year as a conference, having recently added four Texas schools from the Southwest Conference to the existing Big 8 to form a new conference.
Now: The Big 12 will soon form a new identity. It will lose two members when Colorado leaves for the Pac-10 and Nebraska leaves for the Big Ten.

Then: Texas had three national titles, one Big 12 Title and two Heisman Trophy winners (Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams).
Now: Texas has four national titles, three Big 12 Titles and the same number of Heisman Trophy winners (despite the recent Reggie Bush-Vince Young controversy).

Then: The Longhorn Sports Network was nowhere to be found.
Now: The Longhorn Sports Network is broadcasting Texas football and Texas basketball coverage on both television and radio, and could expand to become the first of its kind -- a broadly distributed sports network created by and focused on one university.

Then: Bo Pelini was in his first year as the linebackers coach of the Green Bay Packers.
Now: Bo Pelini is the coach of Texas’ next opponent, No. 7 Nebraska.

Then: The State Fair of Texas (during which the Red River Rivalry was played) unveiled the Millennium Quilt -- Texas Then and Now.
Now: The State Fair of Texas (during which the Red River Rivalry was played) featured the Eli Young Band, Collective Soul and fried beer.