Todd Dodge
 | |
Todd Dodge (born July 21, 1963[2] 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.[3]
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[4] 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
I was very blessed to know when I was 17 years old that I wanted to go into coaching. And that I had the opportunity to play at the University of Texas, where I don't know that you can have a better training ground to be a coach.
— Todd Dodge[3]
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.[3]
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.[3] 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 6 all-time in single season passing yardage in Texas: Chase Wasson, Greg McElroy, and Chase Daniel. 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
| Season | Team | Wins | Losses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Cameron Yoe | 3 | 7 | |
| 1995 | Cameron Yoe | 5 | 5 | |
| 1996 | Carrollton Newman Smith | 4 | 6 | |
| 1997 | Carrollton Newman Smith | 5 | 5 | |
| 1998 | Fort Worth Fossil Ridge | 2 | 7 | |
| 1999 | Fort Worth Fossil Ridge | 5 | 5 | |
| 2000 | Southlake Carroll | 9 | 5 | |
| 2001 | Southlake Carroll | 10 | 5 | |
| 2002 | Southlake Carroll | 16 | 0 | 5A Division II state champions |
| 2003 | Southlake Carroll | 15 | 1 | lost title game 16-15 to Katy |
| 2004 | Southlake Carroll | 16 | 0 | 5A Division II state champions |
| 2005 | Southlake Carroll | 16 | 0 | 5A Division II state champions |
| 2006 | Southlake Carroll | 16 | 0 | 5A Division I state champions |
| 13 | Total | 124 | 46 |
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.[5] Dodge had been an offensive assistant at North Texas in 1992-93 under Dennis Parker.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] One of the players bringing the complaint, cornerback Desmon Chatman, was suspended earlier that season by Dodge for missing a workout.
While Dodge's offense registered 24.8 points and 408.4 total yards per game and was widely praised,[9] his defensive units, directed by Ron Mendoza, gave up an FBS-worst 45.1 points per game. Soon after the season ended, Dodge chose to dismiss Mendoza.[10] He eventually hired Gary DeLoach, who spent the 2000-02 seasons as the Mean Green’s defensive coordinator, as Mendoza's replacement.[11]
College coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Texas Mean Green (Sun Belt Conference) (2007–present) | |||||||||
| 2007 | North Texas | 2–10 | 1–6 | 7th | — | — | |||
| North Texas: | 2–10 | 1–6 | |||||||
| Total: | 2–10 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Family
Todd Dodge's son, Riley Dodge (born October 12, 1988)[12], is currently a senior at Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School. His Daughter, Molly, is a 7th grader in Carroll ISD. Riley Dodge, has verbally committed to attend and play for the University of North Texas
References
- ^ Denton Record-Chronicle: Striking a deal: Dodge comes to terms on five-year deal
- ^ Dodge introduced as coach
- ^ a b c d Dallas Morning News: Carroll's Dodge a legend in his own time
- ^ Dallas Morning News: Texas goes to the air, beats Rice as Dodge sets school record
- ^ Carroll coach Todd Dodge in line to get UNT job
- ^ Dallas Morning News: UNT's Dodge draws praise as a coach
- ^ Dallas Morning News: Carroll's Dodge flattered by Cowboys' interest
- ^ UNT's Dodge, staff cleared of racial bias
- ^ ESPN: Dodge's offense turning heads at North Texas
- ^ Denton Record-Chronicle: Dodge fires defensive coordinator
- ^ Denton Record-Chronicle: DeLoach set to lead UNT defense
- ^ RiseMag: Player Profile: Dodge & Newton