North Texas football coach Dan McCarney hospitalized

North Texas coach Dan McCarney has been hospitalized with an unspecified medical problem.

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DENTON, Texas (AP) -- North Texas football coach Dan McCarney has been hospitalized with an unspecified medical problem.

Athletic director Rick Villarreal said Monday that McCarney was taken to the hospital Sunday after experiencing what he called "medical difficulties." McCarney remained under observation Monday afternoon.

Villarreal says he doesn't know exactly what caused McCarney to fall ill.

The 58-year-old McCarney has coached the Mean Green since November 2010. He was the coach at Iowa State from 1995 to 2006 and an assistant at Florida, South Florida, Wisconsin and Iowa.

McCarney was born in Iowa City and played offensive line for the Hawkeyes in the early 1970s. He spent more than a decade as an assistant at Iowa before taking over as Wisconsin's defensive coordinator under Barry Alvarez in 1990.

He landed his first head coaching job with the Cyclones, transforming them from a laughingstock to a competitive Big 12 program in his 12 seasons in Ames.

McCarney led Iowa State to five bowl games and was chosen the Big 12's Coach of the Year in 2004. He was forced out near the end of a disappointing season in 2006.

McCarney was hired as an assistant at South Florida and Florida, winning the 2008 national title with the Gators, before landing the job at North Texas.

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