Dominique Green

University of North Texas football player Dominique Green filed a complaint Monday with the Texas chapter of the NAACP accusing the North Texas coaching staff of racial bias.

UNT head coach Todd Dodge suspended Green, a junior defensive back, on Sunday following the Mean Green’s loss to Middle Tennessee on Saturday night.

Dodge declined to comment Monday on his reason for suspending Green and then later in the day, declined through a university spokesman to talk about the complaint Green filed.

Green said he was suspended after an incident on the sidelines Saturday.

Todd Dodge

“I am suspended indefinitely for saying, ‘We are from the hood,’ on the sideline,” Green said. “[UNT assistant coach] Clayton George charged up to me on the sideline and said we didn’t need that. I asked him what was wrong, and he said we didn’t need to say that, so I asked him what was wrong with saying that we are from the hood.”

At that point, another assistant coach, Ron Mendoza, pulled George away from the confrontation, Green said.

Green said he believes the incident had racial undertones and is part of an overall pattern of bias among the UNT coaches.

Neither George nor Mendoza could not be reached for comment.

A former Southlake Carroll head coach, Dodge hired an entirely new staff after he took over the program in December from Darrell Dickey, who was fired late last season. Two members of the UNT football leadership team — a 13-man staff that includes Dodge, assistant coaches, graduate assistants and football operations personnel — are black.

Ericka Cain, the Texas youth adviser for colleges for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that she is in the process of hearing Green’s complaint and setting up a visit to UNT to talk to the players and coaches.

Rick Villarreal

“I have yet to receive all of the information from him [Green],” Cain said. “All I can say is that we have received a phone call. We will go through an information-gathering process. We would try to mediate if we find that there is a problem. We would try to educate the coaching staff on what is appropriate. If it went further than that, we would take it to the school’s administration.”

UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said he didn’t have enough information to comment on the complaint specifically, but he did speak about his policy regarding racial issues within the athletic department.

“I will never tolerate racial remarks or situations within a team, my staff or this program,” Villarreal said Monday. “People who know me know that has been proven time and again. That policy is for players, coaches and everyone.”

UNT President Gretchen Bataille did not return a message left on her cellphone or respond to a request for comment left with a university public relations official.

Green did not play in UNT’s first two games this season, but started in the last six. He is tied for the team lead with six pass breakups and ranks 10th with 25 tackles. He started 10 games as a sophomore last season.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .