Open Announce

"I saw the absolute very best of UNM" - Bob Davie

New Mexico Game Notes | Notre Dame Game Notes
 

Broadcast Information
TV: NBC
Play-by-Play Mike Tirico
Analyst Doug Flutie
Sideline Reporter Kathryn Tappen
RADIO: Lobo Radio Network
(770 KKOB-AM flagship in Albuquerque)
Play-by-Play Robert Portnoy
Analyst     DonTrell Moore
Satellite: XM/SIrius
(Channel 129 – Notre Dame feed)

Weekly Media Schedule:
Lobo Talk: 7-8 pm, 610 AM/95.9 FM The Sports Animal Listen Live
The Opening Drive: 7:30 am, Jeff Siembieda and J.J. Buck Player Interview Listen Live

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — He was funny and he was thankful.  He was appreciative.  He even said he was a little embarrassed.  In the end, he was who he is … Bob Davie, head coach of Lobo Football.  Coach Davie, for the first time since suffering a serious medical episode that required an ambulance and hospitalization after the Lobos’ 39-31 win over Sam Houston State, met with the media on Tuesday in one of his limited media engagements this week.
 
Davie will not be accompanying the team to Notre Dame, the school where he spent eight years at, including a five-year stint as head coach from 1997-2001.  The game with Notre Dame will officially kick off at 2:42 Eastern Time on NBC.
 
Davie spoke for about 13 minutes on Tuesday before acting coach Saga Tuitele took over and talked about the upcoming game.  Davie opened with a quip, telling the assembled media gathering that he had never been so happy to see them and to do a press conference.
 
His actually start was to thank several people at UNM, including athletic trainers Bob Waller and Craig Hendrickson, Tow Diehm nurse Sonrisa Garcia, and Drs. Matthew Tennison, Andrew Hyden, Mark Sheldon and Mohammed Al-Kabeysi.  “I’m not being too dramatic by saying they saved my life.”
 
“The professionalism, the care, the empathy,” said Davie, adding, “I think I saw the absolute very best of UNM.  The very, very best of UNM.  We should be so grateful to have a hospital like that (referring to UNM Hospital).”
 
While he was serious in his praise of those there when he needed them most, Davie kept the proceedings light.  When asked about how hard it would be to have to miss the game at Notre Dame, instead having to watch the game on TV, Davie quipped, “It’s a lot better than the alternative,” which had the room laughing.
 
He was also asked is he would return to the sidelines this season, to which he gave his shortest, but perhaps his most emphatic answer “Absolutely,” he said, but he added, “I’m smart enough to know when I’m right and when I’m not, so I’m not going to go charging down that hill until I’m 100%.”
 

 

Instead, leading that charge down the hill will be 39-year old offensive line coach and father of four Saga Tuitele, who will handle the game management against Notre Dame while each of the three coordinators will handle their areas.  For Davie, having a staff like he has in place made the decision making easy.  He hasn’t been overly involved in game planning or practice this week, and in fact, he hasn’t spent too much time around the fields and offices.  “I’m not going to micromanage it, because we have a really, really good coaching staff here.”
 
Tuitele has his hands full, not only as acting head coach but as the offensive line coach.  When asked about what worries him about Notre Dame, he gave a Davie-like answer. “Their two defensive ends and that talented defensive line.  That’s what creeps into my mind as an offensive line coach.”
 
The Lobos will enter the game without two starters from last Saturday.  Aaron Blackwell, one of four captains, is lost for the season with a torn ACL, and starting quarterback Brandt Hughes will miss the game with a labrum injury, with no timetable for a return.  Blackwell, a senior, will appeal for a sixth-year of eligibility.
 
For Tuitele, things like meetings and practices have run smoothly, and it got easier once the team knew Coach Davie was going to be fine.  “The moment we knew coach was going to be OK, we kind of moved on to our goal, keeping coach and the Davie family in mind.  The spirit’s been good and obviously when he pops his head in and out and shows up it reenergizes the young guys and the coaches.”
 
NOTES:  The game, win or lose, will not count on Saga Tuitele’s record.  Any games this season while Coach Davie is away will be credited to Davie.