Is Something Wrong in Denton?

Both quarterback Dajon Williams and outfielder Taylor Schoblocher, arguably the two best athletes at North Texas, have left their respective teams a few days apart. 

Summer is usually quiet around the Mean Green sports front. Once the softball season is over, there really isn't much going on until fall football practice starts up. But after the bombshell dropped of Taylor Schoblocher leaving, another, somewhat smaller explosive, unloaded on campus when it was revealed Dajon Williams is exiting North Texas.

I went in-depth on Scho's departure, but I figured instead of doing the same with Dajon I would look at both of their exits together.

Here's the thing. There is nothing wrong in Denton. There is nothing that is just repelling great athletes away from North Texas. These are just two cases -- unrelated and separate -- that hinge on things that aren't mutually exclusive to North Texas.

Scho left because of differences with the coaching staff -- mainly with hitting coach Natalie Kozlowski. Trust me, head-butting between players and coaches is not something that only happens at North Texas.

Head softball coach Tracey Kee has a no-nonsense approach. And if a player isn't giving maximum effort at all times, then her talent level doesn't really matter. Kee is an equal opportunity bencher. She benched Scho against Oklahoma State, and she's done it to fringe players, too.

With Dajon -- the situation is a bit muddier. A lot of people are trying to throw out theories about why Dajon is gone now. And did he get dismissed from the team or did he leave?

QB Dajon Williams

I'm not going to share what I've heard, but I think it's safe to say Dajon was always going to be a story of 'What If'?

What if he didn't have to be concerned with taking care and raising his young daughter? What if he could have spent more time committed to Quarterback 101? What if he and the coaches got along a bit better? What if he didn't have four turnovers against UAB?

During spring practice Dajon lost the starting job (Did he ever have it coming out of the regular season?) to senior Andrew McNulty, and even dropped behind Josh Greer.

Senior QB Andrew McNulty

And with DaMarcus Smith becoming eligible for summer workouts it only means more competition on a team that has about 17 quarterbacks on the roster.

Yes -- Dajon had a great game against a terribly equipped Nicholls defense that had three different head coaches in the span of six days leading up to gameday. But, he also had a so-so game against Indiana and a really poor one at UAB that led to him getting the hook.

Dajon leaving North Texas isn't really all that surprising. I remember towards the end of the last season, people around the football team were talking about how they expected either Dajon or Greer -- or maybe both -- to not be around during spring practice.

Well, both were around, but one didn't last long after.

There's nothing wrong in Denton. The sky isn't falling just because two great athletes won't be suiting up in the green and white anymore. Will the teams suffer? Yeah, probably, but in the long-run this will be just another speed bump on the way to something better. Hopefully.