North Texas’s production is staggering. Through games played October 17, 2026, they are ranked third nationally in total offense at 533.8 yards per game, trailing only Texas State and newly crowned AP No. 1 Miami. UNT also ranked second nationally in passing offense at 347 yards per game, while averaging 42.2 points per game, completing 72.3% of its passes, and gaining 5.12 yards per rushing attempt.
With numbers like those, it’s worth looking at the coach directing the offense and where he learned it.
Before Neal Brown directed an Air Raid offense, he wore a Kentucky uniform and learned it from the men who built it.
Brown arrived at Kentucky in 1998, when Hal Mumme was the head coach and Mike Leach was the offensive coordinator. He was a freshman wide receiver in their offense, sharing the practice field, meeting rooms, and sideline with the coaches who helped bring the Air Raid into the SEC.
Brown played at Kentucky from 1998–2000. His first season was Leach’s last in Lexington before leaving for Oklahoma, giving Brown one season under Mumme and Leach together and two more under Mumme before finishing his playing career at UMass.
His connection continued through Tony Franklin, another assistant on Mumme’s Kentucky staff. Brown joined Troy University as a receivers coach in 2006 and worked under Franklin, the offensive coordinator, for two seasons. When Franklin departed, Brown became Troy’s offensive coordinator in 2008.
Coach Neal Brown played under Mumme and Leach, coached receivers under Franklin, and then took responsibility for calling the Air Raid offense himself.
Brown later became Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator in 2010 under Tommy Tuberville, following Leach’s departure. There, he continued running and developing the Air Raid.
That history gives North Texas’s offense a personal connection to the Air Raid’s formative years. Brown learned its concepts as a receiver, taught them as a position coach, and developed them as a coordinator. When we study the North Texas offense, we are watching how someone raised inside the Air Raid system. It’s a direct evolution over nearly 30 years, and Coach Neal Brown has been along for that ride.
Here is how the pieces fit together.
The Hitch: An Extension of the Run Game
Every offense needs a dependable early-down answer. For North Texas, one is an outside hitch paired with a vertical release from the slot.
No. 1 pushes upfield and runs a three-step hitch. No. 2 threatens vertically, creating separation between the hitch and potential inside help. Against man coverage, his wheel release can carry the defender responsible for him up the sideline; against zone, he is looking to block the safety.
This creates an opportunity for the hitch receiver to face the corner one-on-one in space.
That is why I view the hitch as part of North Texas’s run-game philosophy. The offense gets the ball outside the box and makes a perimeter defender tackle. Breaking that tackle is a bonus; a three-to-five-yard completion already helps keep the offense on schedule.
What a Pro-I team might seek from ISO—a dependable early-down call—North Texas can seek through this simple throw.
The Screen Game
North Texas’s screen package attacks the perimeter in several ways.
Quick screens from bunch formations deliver the ball behind receiver blocks. Bubble screens threaten width immediately. Tunnel screens bring the receiver back inside with offensive linemen releasing out in front. Like the hitch, the screen game functions as an extension of the run game.
The complementary shot is pumping the bubble and hitting post-wheel to the Trips side. The wheel receiver initially presents a stalk block before slipping up the sideline. In the touchdown example, he emerges wide open.
The frequent quick screens from the bunch give defenders a familiar picture to recognize and potentially overplay. North Texas has answers for that reaction. The post wheel attacks downfield, while widening defenders toward the bunch can improve the interior run picture.
Plus One in the Run Game
The Air Raid label should not obscure North Texas’s commitment to running the football. Run game coordinator and tight ends coach Mike Bloesch brings an offensive line background, including his work as Cal’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in 2024.
In these examples, the H-back or tight end repeatedly changes the blocking picture. An interior insert can account for a linebacker. Motion across the formation can bring a lead blocker toward the perimeter. Those additions help the offense handle defenders beyond the offensive line’s initial assignments.
An H-back leading through an interior lane can give a play an ISO-like appearance, but zone blocking with an insert remains a zone variation. The line’s assignments determine the underlying scheme.
Quarterback involvement provides another way to affect the numbers. A live read accounts for a defender without blocking him. The selected examples also include quarterback keeps, making the backside action another responsibility for the defense.
The recurring objective is to improve the numbers around the football: bring the tight end across to lead outside, insert the H-back inside, or make a defender account for the quarterback. North Texas spreads the defense while retaining a physical presence at the point of attack.
Hank, 96 All Curl, or Curl-Flat
Known as Hank in West Coast terminology and 96 All Curl in the Air Raid, this concept appears across offensive systems with variations in route depth and quarterback progression. Leach’s 96 package combines outside curls, flat releases, and an interior curl or sit route.
North Texas uses that familiar horizontal stretch. The outside curl and flat release create a conflict for the underneath defender. Expanding toward the flat can expose the curl window; gaining depth underneath the curl can concede the throw outside.
The interior sit route adds another answer. A linebacker who squeezes that receiver reduces his ability to help outside. Expanding can expose the middle.
That makes the sit route an integrated part of the concept. Across the selected examples, UNT completes passes to all three options: the flat, the curl, and the receiver settling over the ball.
Outside-Zone Boot
North Texas complements outside-zone action by bringing the quarterback back in the opposite direction.
On the boot side, the hitch and corner route create a smash-style relationship. A corner staying low can leave space above him, depending on the safety’s position. Gaining depth can give up the hitch.
The backside crossing route supplies another underneath option. The run fake can draw the linebackers’ attention away from the boot, delaying their response as the crosser enters the quarterback’s new throwing area.
Spacing gives the combination its value. The hitch, corner, and crossing route create a triangle of throwing options, each occupying a distinct window.
Split-Zone Bluff Play-Action
The split-zone bluff package reaches the perimeter through a different path.
The H-back slices across the formation, presenting the action of a backside block. He then bypasses the edge defender and releases into the flat.
With No. 1 clearing vertically and No. 2 running the corner, the H-back provides the underneath option. The route distribution stretches the coverage at three levels.
A defender driving on the flat can create a window for the corner route behind him, depending on the coverage above. Gaining depth beneath the corner can concede the H-back underneath.
The deception begins with the H-back’s path. The same initial action that brings a blocker across the formation now delivers a receiver into space.
Yankee: Space for the Deep Cross
North Texas also attacks downfield with Yankee: a post paired with a deep crossing route.
There are two details here I do not want you to miss.
The first is the pre-snap motion. Moving the slot receiver across the formation leaves the X receiver isolated and changes the coverage picture. The post threatens the deep coverage while the crosser works underneath, attacking the space between the underneath defenders and the secondary.
The second is the protection. In the pulling-guard examples, North Texas presents power play-action. The backside guard pulls to account for the edge, the running back carries out the fake before helping in protection, and the remaining linemen work away from the puller.
That investment in protection gives the routes time to develop. Watch the crosser’s depth: he needs to clear the underneath coverage while preserving space beneath the post.
Bringing It All Together
Brown’s lineage provides the historical connection. The way North Texas connects its concepts shows how that Air Raid foundation continues to evolve.
The offense executes short, accessible throws and creates opportunities for yards after the catch. In the run game, it brings blockers to the point of attack and makes the defense account for the quarterback. Its screen package includes quick screens, tunnels, bubbles, and downfield shots built from those presentations. Then the defense has to handle the complementary play-action game.
For coaches, the value is practical. These ideas can fit into an existing offense: a dependable quick game, an extra blocker, a screen paired with a shot, or a play-action pass built from a look-alike run. North Texas offers examples of how to connect those pieces into any offense.