Football Coach Returns Six Weeks After Stroke

High profile college programs like Alabama, Ohio State and LSU will get more publicity during spring football, but there is no greater comeback story than this one at North Texas.

Head football coach Dan McCarney is leading the Mean Green through spring practice just six weeks after suffering a stroke.

NBC-Dallas reports the veteran coach was rushed to the hospital in February after the left side of his body went numb as a result of a stroke.

McCarney was working out with his wife, Margy, right before he fell ill. "Next thing you know, left side of my face, left arm, left leg went numb like that," he said. "I have had no practice with it. I've never had any experience with it. I've had no health issues like that ever in my life. This thing knocked me down like nothing ever has in my life."

Thanks to the quick response from his wife, family and doctors
, McCarney believes his life was saved.

Additionally, McCarney, 58, says he's in good health and on the road to full recovery. He was the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference before being dumped by Iowa State in 2006. Since leaving the Cyclones, McCarney spent time as an assistant at South Florida and Florida before taking over the Mean Green program last season.

Despite his rocky medical road, McCarney is confident he's ready for spring practice. "I'm not going to stand there like a statue," he said. "I'm going to be on the move. That's just the way I am. I coach with energy and passion and enthusiasm."