North Texas is changing its kickoff operation before UNLV comes to Denton, and Neal Brown is not treating what happened at Indiana as something that can be fixed with one small adjustment.
After allowing kickoff returns of 67 and 41 yards in Saturday’s loss, Brown said coverage jobs are open, Michael Taylor will handle kickoff duties moving forward and the Mean Green are spending part of every practice this week working on a unit that repeatedly handed Indiana favorable field position. Brown also expects several personnel changes after reviewing a performance he said was not good enough from either the specialists or the players covering behind them.
“We didn’t play very well on either coverage unit,” Brown said. “The specialists, our kickoffs and our punts weren’t good enough. They know that. We have talent there. We just got to perform better.”
Cedric Roberts and Grayson Ober were the two players Brown singled out positively from the kickoff unit. Beyond them, he made it clear there are no protected jobs after what happened in Bloomington.
“The rest of it, man, those are open jobs,” Brown said. “So we’re doing kickoff every day this week. We’ll be better.”
Taylor already handled three kickoffs against Indiana, but Brown’s comments this week clarified the direction North Texas plans to take moving forward. The change at kicker is only one part of it. Brown said the Mean Green also have to improve the location and hang time of the kick, maintain better discipline within the coverage lanes and find the right personnel to keep the same problems from appearing against UNLV.
There is a particular urgency to getting those problems corrected this week because Jai’Den Thomas will be waiting on the other side Saturday.
Thomas has built most of his reputation at UNLV as a running back, but North Texas does not have to look far to understand what he can do with room in the return game. Thomas returned three kickoffs for 124 yards and a touchdown in 2024, including a 90-yard return against Fresno State that gave UNLV its first kickoff-return touchdown in 13 years. Before Thomas broke through, the Rebels had not returned a kickoff for a touchdown since Deante Purvis did it in 2011.
The timing of the Fresno State return made it even more damaging. Fresno State scored with 6:36 remaining in the fourth quarter. Twelve seconds later, Thomas was in the end zone after fielding the ensuing kickoff at the UNLV 10-yard line and taking it 90 yards for a touchdown.
Brown did not need the play brought to his attention this week. He mentioned Thomas himself while discussing the problems North Texas had against Indiana and what those issues could mean against UNLV.
“The running back, in my opinion, is a game breaker, and you’ve seen that throughout his entire career,” Brown said. “He doesn’t need much space. He can get out and run. Jai’Den Thomas, he’s a kickoff returner as well. So, you talk about we struggled last week in the kickoff coverage. Now we’re going to play an elite returner. And so that’s got our attention as well.”
Thomas’ ability to turn available space into explosive plays has not been limited to special teams. He enters Saturday after rushing for 143 yards on 20 carries at Hawai‘i, including a 50-yard touchdown, another example of how quickly a routine play can change once Thomas reaches the open field. That creates a straightforward challenge for a North Texas coverage unit that allowed Indiana to begin two first-half possessions with field position the Hoosiers did not have to earn offensively.
The first came immediately. Lee Beebe Jr. returned the opening kickoff 67 yards from the Indiana 13 to the North Texas 20. Three plays later, Josh Hoover found Nick Marsh for a touchdown, and North Texas was behind before its offense had taken the field. A problem on one special-teams snap had effectively shortened the field to 20 yards for Indiana’s offense.
North Texas allowed another major return later in the first half at a point when it had an opportunity to stabilize the game. After the Mean Green kicked a field goal to cut Indiana’s lead to 14-3, Turbo Richard returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards from the Indiana 8 to the Indiana 49. Instead of forcing the Hoosiers to begin deep in their own territory after North Texas had put points on the board, the coverage unit again gave Indiana favorable field position before the possession really began.
Those returns were the most visible breakdowns, but Brown’s concern went beyond the final yardage. His review of the film started with the quality of the kicks themselves and extended through the coverage structure once Indiana’s returners got into the play.
“The kickoff was the biggest disappointment, just because it showed up repeatedly,” Brown said. “It starts with our ability to kick the ball at the right location, and then we’ve got to get the ball in the air longer to give our guys a chance to cover. Then we have more discipline in our lane.”
Brown’s response has been to devote more practice time to the unit while reopening competition for several of the jobs that were occupied against Indiana. Rather than treating the breakdowns as isolated mistakes, North Texas is using this week to reassess who should be on the field and whether the current combination of specialists and coverage personnel gives the Mean Green the best chance to fix the problem.
“The attention has been caught,” Brown said. “We’re going to make a lot of personnel changes on that unit.”
The players have heard the same message. Safety CJ Kums said special teams has become an everyday emphasis during preparation for UNLV, with North Texas using the Indiana performance to create opportunities for other players who believe they can help the coverage unit.
“We’ve got guys on that unit that are ready to step up and ready to play,” Kums said. “It’s something we’re emphasizing every day this week at practice, and we’ve made it clear from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint that will never happen again.”
Brown also wants improvement from the punt unit after Indiana, although his strongest criticism remained centered on kickoff coverage. He expressed confidence in punter Ian Ratliff and did not frame the punt problems the same way he did a kickoff unit that repeatedly put the rest of the team in difficult situations.
For Brown, the additional practice periods, personnel competition and change at kickoff specialist only matter if they produce a different result Saturday.
“We’re spending more time, but it’s all talk until we go out and do it,” Brown said.
Brown has described UNLV as another measuring stick for a North Texas roster still coming together after an offseason of enormous turnover. The Mean Green will have to deal with Dan Mullen’s offense, Thomas in the backfield and everything else UNLV can present over four quarters, but one of the clearest tests comes before any offensive formation or play call becomes relevant.
North Texas has to put the kickoff where it wants it, give its coverage team enough time to get down the field, stay disciplined in its lanes and make the tackle when Thomas gets the ball.
Indiana showed what can happen when the Mean Green do not.
Thomas has already shown what can happen if they give him the same opportunity.