North Texas was put in an unenviable situation over the last few weeks, when the Mean Green’s coaching staff found out it will be without its projected starting defensive ends for the 2008 season.

Returning starter Eddrick Gilmore is no longer with the team, while Alonzo Horton, one of the Mean Green’s top-rated recruits in its 2008 class, did not earn the associates degree he needed to meet NCAA requirements to transfer to a Division I school from Northwest Mississippi Community College.

UNT head coach Todd Dodge acknowledged Thursday that losing both players will be tough, but said the Mean Green will be able to adjust. UNT signed defensive end Mack Cole late in the recruiting process to fill the void at defensive end and has several other players it will turn to in an effort to strengthen its defensive front.

“To say that it isn’t a blow wouldn’t be the truth, but we were able to sign Mack Cole in early June,” Dodge said. “We also have Ryan Davenport, Sam Owusu-Hemeng, Marquis Sykes, Kyle Russo and Charlie Brown, who played defensive tackle and end during spring practice. You don’t want to lose guys, but it happens everywhere. It gives other players an opportunity to step up.”

Horton was expected to make an immediate impact for UNT after finishing with 11 tackles for loss among 80 total tops for Northwest Mississippi last season. The former high school All-American spent two seasons at Auburn before transferring to junior college.

Gilmore had six tackles for losses and broke up five passes, despite starting just seven games last year.

The loss of Gilmore and Horton could make the addition of Cole all the more important. The 6-5, 240-pound end finished with 16.5 sacks last season for Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College.

UNT will look to a host of younger players in addition to Cole to soften the blow it took due to the loss of both Horton and Gilmore.

Davenport posted nine tackles in 11 games last season, while Owusu-Hemeng had five. Brown, a converted tight end, played sparingly last season, but could see more playing time after working at both defensive tackle and end during spring practice.

UNT had several of its young defensive linemen miss all or part of spring practice and offseason workouts, including Isaac Thomas, Draylen Ross and Jonathan Stewart.

All will return in the fall, which will bolster UNT’s depth.

Dodge also said that UNT would also consider moving incoming recruit Troy Franklin of Celina from offensive line to defensive line.

“We were so thin on our defensive line in spring practice, but we will have Ross and Stewart back in the fall,” Dodge said. “We feel like we have enough bodies to develop a good rotation. We are going to play four tackles and are going to need some guys to step up.”

UNT will look to those young players to help improve a defense that finished last nationally with an average of 45.1 points allowed per game in 2007.

Dodge replaced defensive coordinator Ron Mendoza with Gary DeLoach, who returned to UNT for a second stint with the Mean Green, following last season.

While DeLoach won’t have Gilmore or Horton at his disposal, Dodge said the rest of UNT’s players who are taking summer school are on course to finish their classes in time to be eligible for the upcoming season.

UNT’s freshmen will report on Aug. 2 before the full team meets for the first time the following day.

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