March 28, 2006
Spring Depth Chart/Personnel Picture (PDF)
The University of New Mexico spring football season gets underway at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 3 at the UNM practice fields. This spring promises to be one of the most intriguing of the Rocky Long-era with four new coaches, including former UCLA head coach Bob Toledo overseeing the offense, and fierce position battles at virtually every position.
Unless otherwise noted, all practice sessions will be held at the practice fields located on the south side of University Stadium at the UNM South Athletics Campus. All practices are open to the public. Spectators are asked to stay on the outside perimeter of the practice fields in use. Video and photography is not permitted without specific clearance from the UNM media relations office. Call 505-925-5524 to make arrangements.
Spring Practice Schedule
**All practices 3-5 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
No. 1 – Monday, April 3 (helmets/shorts)
No. 2 – Tuesday, April 4 (helmets/shorts)
No. 3 – Thursday, April 6 (helmets/shoulder pads/shorts)
No. 4 – Friday, April 7 (helmets/shoulder pads/shorts)
No. 5 – Monday, April 10 (full pads)
No. 6 – Tuesday, April 11 (helmets/shoulder pads/shorts)
No. 7 – Thursday, April 13 (helmets/shoulder pads/shorts)
No. 8 – Friday, April 14 (full pads)
No. 9 – Monday, April 17 (full pads)
No. 10 – Tuesday, April 18 (helmets/shoulder pads/shorts)
No. 11 – Thurday, April 20 (helmets/shorts)
No. 12 –
SATURDAY, APRIL 22 – 12:30 p.m.
UNIVERSITY STADIUM
CHERRY-SILVER GAME (full pads)
$2 TICKETS* ON SALE NOW (Call 925-LOBO)
*Includes free admission to Lobo Baseball game vs. Utah at 2:30 p.m.on April 22 at Isotopes Park.
No. 13 – Monday, April 24 (helmets/shoulder pads/shorts)
No. 14 – Tuesday, April 25 (full pads)
No. 15 – Thrusday, April 27 (helmets/shoulder pads/shorts)
2006 Spring Football Overview: A Q & A Session With Rocky Long
Under ninth-year head coach Rocky Long, the University of New Mexico football program has solidified itself as one of the most consistent winners in the Mountain West Conference and maintained an unprecedented level of success over the past five year in Albuquerque.
Though its three-year run of bowl trips came to an end last year, UNM finished 6-5, notching its third-straight winning season and program-record fifth consecutive season with at least six wins. New Mexico’s 14 fifth-year seniors never experienced a losing season in their college careers and helped the Lobos rack up 34 wins between 2001-05, tying for the most ever in a five-year span at UNM. The Lobos also won 19 MWC games over the past five seasons, the second-highest total in the league.
The 2006 season will usher in a new era of Lobo football with a talented, young generation of players eager to make their mark and four new coaches helping to inject new energy into the program. The spring practice season promises to be one of the most intriguing of the Long-era with fierce position battles at virtually every position.
The offensive attack will have a new look with first year coordinator Bob Toledo installing the system that won UCLA a pair of Pac-10 titles while he was the head coach. Six starters return to power the offense, including senior quarterback Kole McKamey, a two-year starter, and three members of the Lobos’ vaunted offensive line unit, known as The Hitmen. All eyes will likely be on the running backs and wide receivers, however, as a host of strong candidates vie for the starting jobs left by longtime standouts Hank Baskett III, DonTrell Moore and Adrian Byrd.
Defensive coordinator Osia Lewis returns 16 lettermen and four starters from 2005, including an honorable mention all-MWC linebacker in junior Cody Kase and a pair of Freshman All-American safeties is sophomores Blake Ligon and DeAndre Wright. The coaching staff will be looking for three new defensive linemen, two new corners and a replacement for defensive captain Mike Mohoric at middle linebacker this spring. Fortunately, Lewis and Long have been able to stockpile a tremendous collection of young talent over the past few years that could be ready to return New Mexico to its traditional place as one of America’s premier defensive units.
Long and new special teams coordinator Dan Dodd have also made a commitment to elevate the UNM kicking and return game to the top of the Mountain West. Boasting a new philosophy and Lou Groza Award semifinalist in senior Kenny Byrd, the special teams will look to use the upcoming spring season as a spring board to success.
Long recently sat down to share his thoughts as he prepares for what he described as the most competitive spring practice at UNM in many years.
Now that you’ve had time to look back on the 2005 season, what were the biggest issues you thought you needed to address before spring practice began?
“I thought we weren’t as consistent as we should’ve been as a fairly veteran football team. Some games we were very good and some games we weren’t, but sometimes we’d be good during part of the game and not very good for the other part of the game. I thought since we’d been doing things the same way for so long here, that maybe changing some things would refocus our players. Sometimes when people are so used to doing things the same way, there’s not the attention to detail that there should be. So changing some coaches’ responsibilities, changing some players’ positions and changing some of our coaching staff is all designed to infuse new ideas and new ways of doing things into our program. We still keep the sound fundamentals that have made our program successful, but adding some new knowledge and expertise, changing some positions and developing a new offensive scheme should add a little spark to the program as a whole.”
Does it seem a little strange to you that a 6-5 season is now seen as underachieving at New Mexico or do you welcome the fact that there are high expectations for this program every year now?
“I think it’s good that the expectation level has risen within our program. The external expectations will never determine what our own expectation level is in our program though. We did not meet our own expectation levels last year, which was disappointing, but going 6-5 in the history of football at New Mexico is still a decent accomplishment. Now we’ve got a whole new set of problems. We’re a very young football team and we’re counting on a lot of people who haven’t played before to play well enough to get us to 6-5”
Senior QB Kole McKamey |
With the coaching changes this year and the fact that you graduated several longtime standouts last year, is this spring practice season going to have a little added intensity compared to year’s past?
“I think that the players will be more intense because they’re learning some new things, plus they see that every job is open to competition. Players want to play. They can see that they can establish themselves as a player and maybe a starter if they perform really well in the spring. So I think there will be added incentive and an added intensity on their part. I think this will probably be the most competitive spring practice we’ve had around here in a long time.”
Obviously there’s some big shoes to fill at running back this year with all-time leading rusher DonTrell Moore gone, but you have some promising talent in the backfield and three starters back on the offensive line – is there any reason to expect a drop off in the running game this year?
“It’s hard to replace a guy like DonTrell and everybody understands that, but I think we’ve got some talent back there. Our offensive line is going to have to perform to its standards and I think there’s two or three running backs that have enough ability that we should not have a drop off. A lot of DonTrell’s success, in addition to him being a great player, was due to him getting the ball a lot and the offensive line blocking very well. You might not see one guy carrying the ball as often as DonTrell did, you might see a backfield by committee this year. We’re looking for one person to step up and prove that he’s a big time running back, but again it might be two or three guys sharing the carries and we’ll get the same production level as we have in the past.”
How much do you think the young running backs were helped last year by DonTrell missing spring practice and splitting time during the preseason because of his knee injury?
“I think it really helped their development. They got all the work in spring ball and all the full speed work last fall camp. Obviously the running backs are further ahead than they would’ve been because of DonTrell’s injury. We should be further ahead as a group than the last time we were had to replace our starting running back in 2002.”
Kole McKamey was really playing well as the starting quarterback last year before injuries ended his season – how is his health entering the spring and what do you want to see out of him to secure the starting job?
“I think Kole’s healthy. Our quarterbacks won’t get hit in spring practice, so I’m sure they’ll come out of it healthy and be ready for fall camp. It’s the same situation as all of them on offense. Our quarterbacks are going to be allowed to compete for the starting job. Kole has the leg up because he’s the returning starter and has the most experience, plus he’s a talented football player. However, it’s going to be how well they grasp and execute the new offense that will determine who the starter is. Kole has the best chance because of the experience factor and his ability, but a couple of other guys are going to be given the opportunity to show if they can play or not.”
The past few years you’ve adjusted your defensive scheme slightly to best fit your personnel – do you have any changes planned for this spring?
“No, we’re going to keep the basics of our defense the same. I don’t think we played with the same intensity last year as we have in the past and should always be playing with. I don’t think that’s all the players’ fault though. I think we were maybe a little too complicated in our scheme on defense last year. We were thinking too much instead of reacting, which I think adds to problem of not playing with the same intensity. So basically the defense is staying the same. We’re trying to organize it right now so that we still get the variety while keeping it simple enough so that they can play as hard as they want to play.”
Senior LB Quincy Black |
Special teams will have a little different look in practice this spring – how do you think the reorganization will affect your performance?
“We basically went the pro route the past few years with one coach in charge of all the special teams with a little help from the other assistants. That’s the way most of the NFL teams do it, but we’re going to go back to what we’ve done in the past. Dan Dodd is the special teams coordinator and is in charge of organizing it all, but there’s going to be specific coaches that are in charge of specific parts of the special teams. The assistant coaches are going to be a lot more involved than they have in the past which hopefully will add to the greater attention to detail we’re looking for and improve our performance on special teams.”
Preseason Notes
2006 PERSONNEL
The 2006 Lobos return 36 lettermen. That includes 12 starters from a team that finished 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the MWC. UNM returns 18 lettermen on offense, 16 on defense and two specialists. The starters breakdown is six on offense, four on defense, a kicker and a deep snapper.
KEY PERSONNEL NEEDS TO BE REPLACED
The Lobos lose some marquee performers from the 2005 team, including a dozen players who were four-year letterwinners.
The headliners moving on include TB DonTrell Moore and his 4,973 career rushing yards, 13th on the NCAA charts. Moore was the 2005 MWC Offensive Player of the Year and twice led the league in rushing.
C Ryan Cook was a three-time first team all-conference pick, the only center in UNM history to be chosen three times in a career.
WR Hank Baskett III finished his career with 140 catches for nearly 2,300 yards, including 67 receptions for 1,071 yards a year ago.
Moore and Baskett provided New Mexico with its first 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver in the same season.
Seven starters are gone from the defense, including first team all-conference selections Gabriel Fulbright (CB), Mike Mohoric (LB) and Evroy Thompson (DE). All three starters on the defensive line and both cornerbacks must be replaced.
2006 SCHEDULE NOTES
For only the third time in the 46-year history of University Stadium, the New Mexico Lobos will play seven home games. The Lobos also played seven in 1995 and 2003. UNM opens its 108th season on Saturday, Sept. 2 against Portland State.
All NCAA Div. I-A institutions can play a 12-game regular season schedule in 2006. A minimum record of 6-6 is required for bowl eligibility and all games against Div. I-AA opponents count towards that eligibility.
It’s the first meeting between New Mexico and Portland State, which competes in NCAA Div. I-AA. Playing perhaps its toughest schedule in school history in 2005, PSU finished the season with a 6-5 record, 4-3 in the Big Sky Conference. It was the Vikings’ sixth winning season in the past seven years.
With two I-A opponents (Oregon State and Boise State) and competing in the nation’s strongest I-AA conference, Portland State’s strength of schedule in 2005 was confirmed by The Sports Network. TSN rated PSU’s overall schedule as the third-toughest in the nation.
The 97th meeting between New Mexico and New Mexico State will be Sept. 9 at Las Cruces. UNM won 38-21 last year in Albuquerque and has a 63-28-5 lead in the series that began Jan. 1, 1894.
The Missouri Tigers – minus graduated do-everything quarterback Brad Smith – make their first appearance in Albuquerque on Sept. 16. The Lobos rallied for a 45-35 victory over MU last year in Columbia. Missouri finished 7-5 in 2005, including a come-from-behind 38-31 triumph over South Carolina in the Independence Bowl.
UNM has won its last two games against Big 12 opposition after going 1-14 between 1985-2003. The Lobos took down Texas Tech 27-24 at University Stadium in the second game of the 2004 season.
The second game of a four-game series between New Mexico and UTEP is Sept. 23 at University Stadium, closing out the non-conference portion of the schedule. It will be the 74th meeting between the two rivals since the first game in 1919. The Miners were 8-4 a year ago, losing 45-13 to Toledo in the GMAC Bowl.
The Mountain West Conference schedule offers home games against Wyoming on Oct. 7, Utah on Thursday, Oct. 19, defending conference champ TCU Nov. 11 and San Diego State on Nov. 25.
The MWC schedule begins Sept. 30 with a visit to Air Force. Other road games are Oct. 14 at UNLV, Oct. 28 at Colorado State and Nov. 18 at BYU.
“We’re very happy with the schedule for a number of reasons,” Lobos head coach Rocky Long said when it was announced on March 1. “First, we have seven games at home after only having five in Albuquerque each of the past two seasons. And, based on the opponents coming here, those games should be very appealing from a fans’ perspective. Second, we don’t have back-to-back road games. Finally, it looks like we could have a home game on national television on Thursday. Obviously, that’s a big plus for our program.”
COACHING CHANGES
There are several changes within the Lobo coaching staff entering the 2006 season. In fact, only two assistant coaches from 2005 will be overseeing the same positions they had last year: Cornell Jackson (running backs) and Troy Reffett (cornerbacks).
Defensive coordinator Osia Lewis and Lenny Rodriguez are switching position responsibilities. Lewis will mentor the linebackers, Rodriguez the defensive line. Rodriguez begins his ninth season on Rocky Long’s staff, giving him the longest tenure for a Lobo assistant since personnel records were available in the late 1940s.
Dan Dodd, the Lobos’ offensive coordinator from 2000-05, is now in charge of recruiting and receivers. Everett Todd moves to an administrative role after serving four years on the coaching staff.
Four new assistants are on board. Bob Toledo, formerly the head coach at UCLA and Rocky Long’s boss in 1996-97, is assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Veteran assistant Bob Stanley takes over the offensive line for Bob Bostad, who accepted the same position at Wisconsin, while Todd Throckmorton will oversee the tight ends. That was a vacancy made available following Grady Stretz’s departure to Arizona State. Danny Gonzales moves from his position as video coordinator to coaching the safeties. Gonzales has been with the program – either as a player, volunteer or on staff since 1994. Jason Strauss, tight ends coach the past four years, is now the video coordinator.