Todd Dodge

College coach infobox


Name = Todd Dodge
| Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1963|7|21
Birthplace = flagicon|Texas Port Arthur, TX
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
College = North Texas
Conference = Sun Belt
Title = Head coach
Contract = $265,000 [cite news |first=Brett |last=Vito |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Striking a deal: Dodge comes to terms on five-year deal |url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/sports/stories/DRC_Dodge_deal_12-14.932314f.html |work=Denton Record-Chronicle |publisher= |date=2006-12-14 |accessdate= ]
CurrentRecord = 2–15
OverallRecord = 2–15 (College)
124–46 (High School)
Awards = 2004 Schutt Sports HS Coach of the Year
2005 USA Today HS Coach of the Year
Championships = 2002, 2004-06 Texas 5A state championships
CFbDWID = 4229
Player = Y
Years = 1982-1985
Team = Texas
Position = QB
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1987
1988-1991
1992-1993
1994-1995
1996-1997
1998-1999
2000-2006
2007-"present"
CoachTeams = Rockwall HS (QB/WR)
McKinney HS (OC)
North Texas (QB/WR)
Yoe HS
Newman Smith HS
Fossil Ridge HS
Carroll HS
North Texas
FootballHOF =

Todd Dodge (born July 21, 1963 in Port Arthur, Texas) is an American football coach, currently serving as the head coach at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas for the North Texas Mean Green. Prior to collegiate career, Dodge coached high school football and became one of the most successful coaches in Texas history, winning four 5A state titles in just seven years at Southlake Carroll High School.cite news |first=Brad |last=Townsend |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Carroll's Dodge a legend in his own time |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/highschools/topstories/stories/121606dnspododge.236d8b6.html |work=Dallas Morning News |publisher= |date=2006-12-16 |accessdate=]

Playing career

Dodge played quarterback at Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur, Texas, under a coach who pioneered pass-happy offenses in Texas football, Ronnie Thompson. As a senior in 1980, Dodge became the first quarterback in Texas high school football history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season, while he led Jefferson High to the 1980 Class 5A state championship game against storied Permian High School of Odessa, Texas.

Dodge went on to play quarterback at the University of Texas at Austin under coach Fred Akers. He still ranks ninth on the UT all-time passing list (2,791 yards) and stands ninth in TD passes (18). His 359 passing yards in Texas' 44-16 win over Rice in 1985 stood as the Longhorn single-game record [cite news |first=Harless |last=Wade |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Texas goes to the air, beats Rice as Dodge sets school record |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3CDAC43F5E387&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D |work=Dallas Morning News |publisher= |date=1985-10-06 |accessdate= ] for 13 years before James Brown broke it with a 397-yard passing day against Texas Tech in 1997. Dodge's passing effort currently ranks third on the UT single-game chart (behind Major Applewhite and Brown).

High school coaching career

Soon after graduation, Dodge pursued a coaching career at the high school level. His first stop was at Rockwall in 1987, where he coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers and helped guiding the team to a 4A state championship game appearance against West Orange-Stark. Dodge then became offensive coordinator at McKinney, where head coach Ron Poe used to field a run-oriented offense. By 1991, Poe yielded to Dodge's persuasion and agreed to try the spread offense. Dodge came up with a hybrid between the University of Houston's Run-and-Shoot, the University of Miami's three- and five-step drops and zone running game. Powered by the new high-octane offense, McKinney reached the 4A Regionals in 1991.

After a two-year stint at North Texas, Dodge returned to the high school ranks and coached at three different high schools the next six seasons, turning a troubled program around each time. In 2000, he became head coach at Southlake Carroll, where coach Bob Ledbetter won 3A state championships in 1988, '92 and '93. Southlake Carroll had since moved up to Class 4A and, in 2002, had been designated a Class 5A high school. During his seven seasons at Southlake Carroll, Dodge amassed a 98–11 record overall. In 2002 the school won its first 5A state championship with a 45-14 rout over Smithson Valley. A year later, Southlake Carroll lost the championship game by one point to Katy.

Southlake Carroll obtained total superiority over Texas high school football in 2004, starting a winning streak that lasted until 2007 and tied Abilene's record streak from the 1950s. Dodge's teams won three consecutive 5A state championships during that span, as only the second team ever to do so in Texas history. Each championship squad was recognized as mythical national champions by either "USA Today" (2004, '06) or "National Prep Poll" (2004, '05), while Dodge was named “National Coach of the Year” by "Schutt Sports" in 2004 and by "USA Today" in 2005.

Dodge's highly successful “Air-Raid offense” revolutionized the style of play of Texas high school football, according to many observers. During the last 35 years, Texas has evolved from almost strictly a running state to one that has produced at least one air-it-out champion annually since 1993. Three of Dodge's former quarterbacks at Southlake Carroll rank among the top 7 all-time in single season passing yardage in Texas: Chase Wasson, Chase Daniel, and Greg McElroy. After the 2006 season, Dodge left Southlake Carroll, making one of the rare jumps from high school head coaching to a FBS college football program.

High school coaching record

College coaching career

Dodge was hired on December 12, 2006 to become the new head football coach at the University of North Texas, replacing former coach Darrell Dickey, who was fired on November 8 after going 3–9 in the 2006 season. Dodge had been an offensive assistant at North Texas in 1992-93 under Dennis Parker. [cite news |first=Debbie |last=Fetterman |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=UNT's Dodge draws praise as a coach |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D234E2BE553A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D |work=Dallas Morning News |publisher= |date=1992-04-23 |accessdate= ] During his tenure he co-directed the Mean Green offense to a per-game average of 348 yards and 26 points. Prior the 2006 season, Dodge was contacted by Bill Parcells to join the Dallas Cowboys as tight ends coach. [cite news |first=Tim |last=MacMahon |authorlink= |coauthors=Archer, Todd |title=Carroll's Dodge flattered by Cowboys' interest |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/highschools/topstories/stories/021706dnspododgecowboys.3309a979.html |work=Dallas Morning News |publisher= |date=2006-02-16 |accessdate= ] He was also a candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Rice University in 2006, but turned down an invitation to interview for the job.

During the season, Dodge and his coaching staff faced allegations of racial bias, but were cleared after a school investigation. [cite news |first=Brett |last=Vito |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Probe clears staff |url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/sports/college/stories/DRC_UNT_proble_clears_1108.1ebb89735.html |work=Denton Record-Chronicle |publisher= |date=2007-11-08 |accessdate= ] One of the players bringing the complaint, cornerback Desmon Chatman, was suspended earlier that season by Dodge for missing a workout.

Dodge's spread offense registered 24.8 points and 408.4 total yards per game and was widely praised, [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Dodge's offense turning heads at North Texas |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncf&id=3038350 |work=ESPN |publisher= |date=2007-09-27 |accessdate= ] with true freshman quarterback Giovanni Vizza, a former two-star recruit from San Antonio, Texas, throwing for 2,388 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 games.

Directed by Ron Mendoza, Dodge's defensive units gave up an FBS-worst 45.1 points per game. Soon after the season ended, Dodge chose to dismiss Mendoza. [cite news |first=Brett |last=Vito |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Dodge fires defensive coordinator |url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/sports/stories/DRC_untmendoza_0105.ef646f5.html |work=Denton Record-Chronicle |publisher= |date=2008-01-05 |accessdate= ] He eventually hired Gary DeLoach, who spent the 2000-02 seasons as the Mean Green’s defensive coordinator, as Mendoza's replacement. [cite news |first=Brett |last=Vito |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=DeLoach set to lead UNT defense |url=http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/sports/stories/DRC_untdeloach_0124.51712fbe.html |work=Denton Record-Chronicle |publisher= |date=2008-01-24 |accessdate= ]

College coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = North Texas Mean Green
startyear = 2007
conf = Sun Belt Conference
endyear = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2007
name = North Texas
overall = 2–10
conference = 1–6
confstanding = 7^th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = —
ranking2 = —CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2008
name = North Texas
overall = 0–5
conference = 0–1
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = —
ranking2 = —CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name=North Texas
overall=2–15
confrecord=1–7CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 2–15


bcs = no
poll = two
polltype =

Family

Todd Dodge is married to former Elizabeth Neptune, daughter of Ebbie Neptune, longtime athletic director and football coach at Westlake High School of Austin, Texas. The couple has a son, Riley, who is playing quarterback at North Texas, and a daughter, Molly, who is an 8th grader in Carroll Independent School District.

References

External links

* [http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=9051&SPID=562&DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=723249&Q_SEASON=2006 MeanGreenSports.com Profile]