Todd Dodge wanted to stay in the family when it came time to hire a new strength and conditioning coach – the Southern California family.

The goal is one North Texas’ head coach reached this week when he officially added Washington assistant strength coach Charr Gahagan to his staff. Gahagan spent the last six months at Washington after following Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian from USC. Gahagan replaces Aaron Ausmus, who spent just a few months on UNT’s staff before behind hired away by Tennessee, his alma mater.

“Charr is a tremendous coach,” Dodge said. “I talked to a bunch of people about him, including [USC head strength and conditioning coach] Chris Carlisle. We value his opinion. We wanted someone with a USC background and from the line of thinking that Aaron came from. That will make for a smoother transition.”

Gahagan is in the process of moving to Denton from Washington and will start at UNT next week.

The move will give Gahagan an opportunity to be a head strength and conditioning coach in addition to bringing him close to home. Gahagan is from Terrell, while his wife is from Jasper.

Several members of Gahagan’s family live in the area.

Dodge is hoping Gahagan’s experience and approach will help him build on the program Ausmus put in place before leaving for Tennessee.

“Charr is a high-energy guy with a great presence,” Dodge said. “He is a power lifter and has been all over the place as a coach. He will be tremendous.”

UNT added a strength and conditioning coach assigned solely to the football program after last season with the hope that the change would bolster a team that has struggled the last few years.

While Ausmus was only at UNT since early this year, Dodge said he made an impact in his short time with the team.

“We hated to lose him,” Dodge said.

Dodge: one-day camps a success

UNT’s decision to follow the national trend and have a series of one-day satellite camps for juniors and seniors across the state turned out to be a success, Dodge said Monday.

UNT hosted approximately 250 players on a weeklong tour that started out in Denton and included stops in Abilene, San Antonio, Houston, South Texas (Baytown) and East Texas (Gladewater).

The tour was UNT’s first.

“We were pleased with the turnout,” Dodge said. “It gave us a chance to promote North Texas. We saw a lot of seniors and got a good start on 2011 class.”

Dodge was particularly pleased that all of the players his staff has offered scholarships who live in the San Antonio area attended camp, which could be an indication that UNT has a chance to sign several of those players. He also said his staff gathered information on a few prospects that emerged during the camp in Abilene.

The Houston camp attracted several offensive and defensive linemen, which appears to be an area of need in UNT’s next signing class.

Dodge, a former Port Arthur Jefferson and Texas quarterback, also saw a few old friends in Baytown, where four players at his camp were sons of former teammates.

UNT Hall of Famer dies

Charles Shepard, a member of the UNT Athletic Hall of Fame, has died. He was 75.

Shepard was an offensive back for UNT from 1951-55 and was an All-Gulf Coast Conference selection as a senior. He went on to play for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League from 1957-62 when he rushed for 3,768 yards and scored 28 touchdowns.

He was also the Blue Bombers’ punter, set the league record for the longest punt at 95 yards and was the Grey Cup championship game MVP in 1959.

Shepard played on four Grey Cup championship teams and is also a member of the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame.

Clinkscales leaves UNT due to family reasons

Ann Clinkscales, UNT’s senior associate athletic director for advancement, has left the school due to family reasons.

Clinkscales joined UNT’s staff in August and helped oversee all of the school’s athletic fundraising efforts, including those for a new football stadium.

A UNT official said the school would begin looking for Clinkscales’ replacement within a few days.

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