Aug. 19, 2008
ALL-ACCESS: Coach Long Press Conference
Selected Quotes From Today’s Press Conference
University of New Mexico Vice-President for Athletics Paul Krebs announced today that head football coach Rocky Long has signed a new five-year contract. The deal was effective July 1, 2008, and ends June 30, 2013. Long’s previous contract was due to expire Dec. 31, 2009.
Krebs said Long’s annual compensation has been increased to $750,000 from $439,000. Long’s new base salary is $240,000 per year.
“We’re thrilled that Rocky has agreed to guide our football program for another five years,” said Krebs. “The program’s success under Rocky Long – academically and competitively – is unmatched in the history of Lobo football. Rocky and I have been in agreement about the compensation component of the contract for several months. It just took a little longer for the respective parties to review and approve the entire document.”
A star quarterback at UNM from 1969-71, Long is beginning his 11th season at his alma mater. That ties Roy Johnson (1920-30) for most seasons by a New Mexico head football coach.
Long is 61-61 overall at New Mexico, but the Lobos are 49-38 since 2002. After appearing in only six bowl games through the 2001 season, the Lobos have been to five bowls in the past six seasons. UNM blanked Nevada 23-0 in the 2007 New Mexico Bowl, marking the school’s first postseason victory in 46 years. Other highlights under Rocky Long:
New Mexico is the only school in the Mountain West Conference that has been bowl eligible every year since 2001 and the only program in the MWC that has won at least 6 games each of the past 7 seasons (2001-07)…that’s also a first in the history of the Lobo program49 victories from 2001-07 – 7 a season – is the most prosperous 7-year run in school historyA 28-17 conference record since 2002, the 3rd-most wins in the league over that periodUNM has posted 7 straight non-losing seasons in MWC games – the only school in the Mountain West that can make that claim
“I appreciate the commitment that President (David) Schmidly and Paul Krebs have made to the Lobo football program,” stated Long, 58. “This announcement is not so much about my compensation, but about the financial commitment that has been provided our program by the University in the areas of academics, facilities, recruiting and assistant coaches’ salaries. It gives us a chance to be competitive on a national scale.”
The Lobos have also been solid academically under Long’s watch. The program’s top-15 semester grade-point-averages have been attained since Long took over, all in the past 17 terms, since the 2000 spring semester. That includes a school-record 2.79 GPA in the spring of 2008 and a 2.98 figure during the 2008 summer semester.
New Mexico opens the 2008 season Aug. 30 at home against TCU. Kickoff is 4 p.m.
Year-by-Year Highlights Under Head Coach Rocky Long
1998 (3-9, 1-7 WAC)
Brian Urlacher led the nation in tackles with 178
Chad Smith named National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete and awarded an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship
Season record for season tickets sold (14,254)
1999 (4-7, 3-4 MWC)
Brian Urlacher named consensus All-America
Picked to finish 7th or 8th in MWC preseason and finished T5th
Beat Air Force and San Diego State in the same season for first time since 1982
Beat Air Force for the first time since 1991, rallying from a 21-14 halftime deficit
2000 (5-7, 3-4 MWC)
Picked to finish last in MWC and finished T5th
Started 0-3, but went 5-4 in last 9 games
Led MWC in rushing defense, pass efficiency defense, sacks, possession time and TO margin
2001 (6-5, 4-3 MWC)
Stadium expansion completed; 41,771 on hand for opener against UTEP
Picked to finish seventh in the MWC, the Lobos tied Utah for third place at 4-3, their best conference finish since winning the ’97 WAC Mountain Division title at 6-2
1st winning season since 1997 (9-4)
After a 1-3 start, UNM went 5-2 in its last seven games, 4-1 in last 5
Set school records for total attendance (187,608) and average attendance (31,268 in six games)…averaged 23,656 fans in 2000, a 32% increase
Finished in the top-20 in total defense for the 2nd straight season
For the second straight season, UNM led the MWC in rushing defense…the Lobos ranked 5th nationally – best in school history – allowing just 87.4 yards, the first time since stats became official in 1946 giving up less than 100 yards
Total offense jumped from 266.6 yards to 376.8 yards, an increase of 110.2 yards
Won at Wyoming for the 1st time since 1982
2002 (7-7, 5-2 MWC)
2nd bowl game since 1961
1 of 4 teams in NCAA Div. I-A to start 2-4 or worse, but qualify for a bowl game
2nd place in the MWC after being picked to finish 6th…won 5 of last 6 conference games to finish 5-2…4 consecutive conference wins for 1st time since 1982
Reached 7 wins for the 15th time in school history, but for only the 2nd time since going 10-1 in 1982
In addition to 1st first victory at BYU since 1971, the Lobos also collected their 1st win against San Diego State in Albuquerque since 1983 and their first triumph at UNLV
Finished 5-1 at home, the 1st five-win campaign at University Stadium since 1997
In conference play, the Lobos were 3-0 at home – the first undefeated home campaign since going 2-0 in 1970
Averaged more than 30,000 fans a game for the second straight year and the third time overall
2003 (8-5, 5-2 MWC)
A program-best 2.69 team GPA in the spring of 2003
8 wins for only the 8th time in 105 years of football
Broke all attendance records: single-game (44,075 for New Mexico State), season (245,891) and season average (35,127)
Back-to-back bowl appearances for only the 2nd time in school history
Won 47-35 at No. 23 Utah, the first victory over a ranked team on the road in 28 years and it halted an 8-game losing skid to ranked teams overall
Led the MWC in sacks for the 4th straight year and rushing defense for the 3rd time in the past 4 years
13 Lobos made either 1st or 2nd team all-conference, the most in school history; 7 on the 1st team, more than any other school and the most ever for a UNM team; 3 offensive lineman named to the 1st team for the 1st time since 1971
3 All-Americans in junior OG Claude Terrell, OG Robert Turner (Freshman) and TB DonTrell Moore (honorable mention)
Led the conference in scoring offense (30.1 ppg) for the first time since 1986 and only the 3rd time in school history
Placed 8 players in postseason all-star games
Undefeated in conference road games (3-0) for the first time since 1982
3 of last 4 wins versus teams with winning records: Utah, Air Force and CSU
1st win over CSU since 1995 and first win over CSU at home since 1988
2004 (7-5, 5-2 MWC)
History made as the Lobos played in 3 straight bowl game for the first time
Picked to finish 4th in the preseason, the Lobos landed all alone in 2nd place for the 3rd straight season at 5-2
Won at least 7 games in 3 consecutive seasons for the 1st time
15 victories in conference play since 2002, the most ever in a 3-year period and 2nd only to Utah (16) during the same time
At least 6 wins in 4 straight years for the 1st time since 1961-64
A 5-game winning streak, the longest since the 1997 squad began 6-0
Won 5 consecutive league games in the same season for the 1st time since 1952
Just 1 of 3 teams to finish in the top-30 in the nation in total defense each of the past five seasons (2000-04)…the other two are Oklahoma and Texas
Attendance record for the 3rd time in the past 4 seasons, drawing an average crowd of 37,282…also sold a school-record 15,729 season tickets
Led the MWC in rushing defense (108.2 ypg), total defense (323.2 ypg), scoring defense (18.7 ppg) and sacks (42)…UNM has led MWC in sacks 5 straight seasons
Back-to-back wins at BYU for the 1st time in the 54-year history of the series
Consecutive wins over Colorado State for the 1st time since 1981-82, and victories over both CSU and BYU in the same season for the first time since 1964
38-3 win at New Mexico State was the largest victory margin in Las Cruces in 43 games, dating to 1905, and is the biggest road win since a 56-7 triumph at UTEP in 1972
27-24 victory over Texas Tech ended UNM’s 10-game, 20-year losing skid against the Red Raiders…New Mexico had not beaten TTU Sept. 22, 1984
2005 (6-5, 4-4 MWC)
Fifth straight six-win season for the first time in program history
Bowl eligibility for the fifth straight year
The Lobos win their school-record sixth straight conference game, a 24-22 decision over UNLV in the 2005 season opener
The 45-35 win at Missouri made Long the school’s winningest coach with 42 victories…it’s also snapped a 15-game losing skid for UNM against non-conference foes outside the state of New Mexico and a 12-game slide versus Big 12 opposition on their home turf dating to 1983
Consecutive wins over Utah in Salt Lake City for the first time
2006 (6-7, 4-4 MWC)
Tied the largest comeback in school history in the 34-31 victory over Utah…the Lobos trailed 24-3 with 3:27 left in the 2nd quarter
UNM wins consecutive games at Colorado State for first time in 25 years
Fourth bowl appearance in the past five seasons
2007 (9-4, 5-3 MWC)
Won 9 games (9-4) for only the fourth time in school history
Beat Nevada 23-0 in New Mexico Bowl II, the Lobos’ first bowl win since 1961…Nevada had not been shut out in 329 games, since 1980
Seniors Cody Kase and Vince Natali were named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first and second teams, respectively…it’s the first time in program history two Lobos earned All-America honors in the same season…the duo were the lone Mountain West Conference representatives on the first and second teams
Beat a Pac-10 team (Arizona) on the road for the first time and snapped a 9-game losing streak to the Pac-10 overall, winning against that league for the first time since 1979
UNM is the only team in the MWC to be bowl eligible every year since 2001
A total of 49 victories since 2001 – 7 per season – for the most prosperous 7-year run in school history
Senior K John Sullivan went from unheralded walk-on to a consensus 1st team All-American after leading the nation in field goals made (29)
A school-record 8 Lobos were named 1st team all-conference
6-1 at University Stadium, the most home wins since 1939 (6-0)
The Lobos finished 13th in the nation in total defense (319.9 ypg), the highest national ranking in Rocky Long’s 10 years as head coach