North Texas head football coach Dan McCarney was admitted to an area hospital over the weekend and is undergoing a series of tests after experiencing what school officials described as medical issues. Dan McCarney
Bill Fennelly, the head women's basketball coach at Iowa State, posted on his Twitter account Monday afternoon that McCarney suffered a stroke. Fennelly and McCarney coached together at Iowa State for 12 years and have remained close friends.
McCarney, 58, just completed his first season at UNT.
UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal first learned that McCarney had been admitted to the hospital Sunday afternoon and issued a statement Monday afternoon.
"The details that we know at this time are that he was admitted and is currently undergoing a battery of tests and will continue to be under observation," Villarreal said. "The exact cause and nature of the symptoms of his illness are not immediately known by us at this time."
Villarreal said that UNT would not release any further information until McCarney is diagnosed by doctors and a course of treatment is determined.
UNT is scheduled to begin spring practice the last week of March.
McCarney led UNT to a 5-7 record in his first season at UNT. The five wins were the most in a season for the Mean Green since 2004 and matched the program's win total from the last two years combined.
UNT capped the season with a 59-7 win over Middle Tennessee that further elevated expectations for what the program can accomplish under McCarney, especially with Apogee Stadium now in place.
UNT opened its new $79 million venue last season.
"We made major progress," McCarney said following UNT's win over MTSU. "I am really encouraged after a night like this and a season like this that we can build a program that we can be proud of for a long time."
McCarney began his college coaching career at Iowa in 1977 and also spent time as an assistant at Wisconsin before landing his first job as a head coach at Iowa State in 1995. He spent 12 seasons at the school and led the Cyclones to five bowl games in a span of six years beginning in 2000.
McCarney came to UNT from Florida, where he was Urban Meyer's assistant head coach for three seasons after a one-year stint at South Florida. McCarney had not been a head coach since he left Iowa State in 2006 before taking over at UNT.
McCarney is 61-92 in his 13 seasons as a head coach.
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .
