Aug. 8, 2013
Training Camp Central
Lobo Football Season Ticket Information
PRSIDENT FRANK’S VISIT: University of New Mexico President Dr. Robert Frank and his wife Janet visited the Lobos’ Thursday practice in Ruidoso.
President Frank addressed the Lobos at the end of their morning session on the field.
“In Albuquerque and in the whole state, there is a lot of enthusiasm about Lobo football,” he told the team. “I believe you’re going to do great things.”
President Frank talked about the quote legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi borrowed from William Shakespeare, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”
“I know there will be times when you face those moments,” President Frank said. “I hope you can reach down deep and fight through so that people will say, ‘this is the moment, in 2013, that Lobo football reached a higher level.”
In introducing President Frank to the team, second-year coach Bob Davie said, “the great thing about President Frank is that he graduated here. He was an athlete here; he was a letterman here. But more important, he’s been to other places and knows the uniqueness of UNM. He knows there’s a whole other level UNM can go to.”
By Greg Archuleta
UNM Assistant Director of Communications
As soon as the 2012 college football season concluded, Dante Caro’s workload became exponentially larger.
The fifth-year senior safety on the University of New Mexico football team said in offseasons past, he wanted to make sure he was prepared for the upcoming season. During the 2013 offseason, however, Caro took it upon himself to make sure the entire team – especially his position group – was prepared as well.
“That’s exactly right. In years past, you always worried about getting yourself ready,” Caro said. “But as a senior, it’s more of a responsibility to get the team ready because the team comes first, and you have to get those young guys to come up with you.”
The Las Cruces native and Onate High School alum is fired up for the 2013 season after the Lobos registered a 4-9 mark last season – a three-game improvement from the 1-11 seasons in 2009, 2010 and 2011 that were prior to coach Bob Davie’s arrival last season.
“The first few years were not what we wanted,” said Caro, “but I’ve been blessed the last two years to have the experience of what it really feels like to be a Division I football player.”
That experience is what he’s trying to share with his younger teammates as he goes through his senior year.
“This year, I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, especially as a senior – not only to get things done for yourself but also for your teammates behind you so they can see how things are done here as a Lobo and to help your teammates get to the right place.”
Caro is getting a lot of reps with the first-team defense at free safety as the secondary looks to bounce back from losing all four starters in 2012. The defensive backfield struggled last season, giving up 269.2 yards per game.
Caro knows his unit has some work to do this fall, but he sees signs of improvement around him.
UNM senior free safety Dante Caro hopes he can show his younger teammates how a Lobo prepares himself for the season. |
“The secondary, we need to catch up to the rest of our unit,” the 6-foot, 190-pound Caro says. “I think we’ve done a good job in how we’ve prepared ourselves, not just now, but in the summer – both physically and mentally. We’ve got a lot of young guys, but they’re coming along real fast and their real sharp. I think that’s a great edge that we’ve got.”
Caro played both free safety and strong safety in the spring and received a deeper education of the defense as a whole by playing both positions. He’s using that knowledge to pay forward the instruction and example the 2012 Lobo class provided him.
“I’ve got to shout out to the seniors last year,” he said. “I think they laid the foundation for what we think Lobo football should be. I think we want to continue to build what they laid down for us. That’s our job and our responsibility.”
As he goes through his last camp in Ruidoso, Caro seems to relish taking a leadership role.
“For the seniors, this is a year of `lasts,’ ” he said. “It started long before training camp. It started in spring ball. That’s our last spring ball and then it’s our last summer. You understand that this is going to be your last time of doing this; it gives you a little bit of a heightened sense of urgency. That’s a good thing for us, I guess.”
Especially if Caro and the rest of the seniors can get the team where it wants to go in 2013.
“(The Lobos) haven’t gone to a bowl game since 2007, Caro said. “That’s on our minds, especially the senior corps group.”