Bob Davie enters his eighth season at The University of New Mexico, where he has led the program to back-to-back bowl games, a 2016 Gildan New Mexico Bowl title, and increased respect in the form of nationally televised games and increased media attention.
The 2018 season saw him complete his 32nd season as a collegiate football coach, and it marked his 42nd season overall in the sport, including 10 years as a broadcaster at ESPN.
The 2018 season saw UNM put a scare into the nation’s No. 5 team in Wisconsin, and pick up a record breaking win over UNLV, winning with the largest road margin of victory for the Lobos in the Mountain West. The Lobos also had a win in the Rio Grande Rivalry, winning 42-25 over New Mexico State, giving Davie a 5-2 record against UNM’s rivals to the south.
UNM also led the nation in kickoff coverage and had the top punt returner in the nation, continuing the hallmark of tremendous special teams play under Davie. The team also turned in the best academic year on record with a 2.83 GPA in the Fall and a 2.92 in the Spring, two of the five highest GPAs in program history. Additionally, UNM set records as a program with 27 Academic All-Conference performers and 13 Mountain West Scholar-Athletes.
While the 2017 season did not see the results on the field that Davie and the Lobos got used too, it still had many successful moments. The season culminated with four Lobos making it into NFL camps, including the program’s first draft choice in eight years with Jason Sanders as a seventh-round selection of the Miami Dolphins. Additionally, Lamar Jordan signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons and Corey Bojorquez did likewise with the New England Patriots.
The Lobos finished among the national leaders in kickoff coverage and punt coverage, and running back Richard McQuarley tied the school record with five touchdown runs against Air Force.
In addition, the Lobos continued their streak in which the team returned a kickoff for a touchdown in each of Bob Davie’s first six seasons as Elijah Lilly took one back against Texas A&M. The touchdown was the 10th in those six seasons, and that was tied for the third-most in the nation over that time period, and UNM’s streak of one kickoff return for a touchdown from 2010-17 was the second-longest streak nationally.
UNM was also strong off the field, with a program record 23 Mountain West All-Academic selections and a 2.85 GPA in the Spring semester, the highest under Davie at the time.
It’s safe to say that his first five years at New Mexico has seen him orchestrate one of the best rebuilding jobs in the history of the sport. When he arrived on campus in 2012, he inherited a program that had gone just 3-37 in the previous 40 games and had the lowest number of scholarship players in Division I. Knowing that back story makes UNM’s stretch all the more remarkable.
Over the 2015 and 2016 seasons, New Mexico went 16-10, tying a school record for the most wins in back-to-back seasons in school history. The Lobos tied a school record with six conference wins in 2016, and UNM’s 11 conference wins over those two seasons were the most in school history. New Mexico’s 12-5 Mountain West record over a 17-game stretch was tied for the best in the Mountain Division and is the second-best in the league overall.
Perhaps there is no better stat to show how far Davie has brought the Lobos than this: after no wins over Bowl eligible teams from 2008-14, the Lobos defeated seven bowl eligible teams over those two seasons.
Davie has completely flipped and turned his rosters over, combining an energetic mix of talent from Texas and California while averaging nearly 25 native New Mexican players per season on the roster, with many being major contributors.
The 2016 season saw the Lobos go 9-4 overall, winning seven of their final eight games including the 2016 Gildan New Mexico Bowl. Under Davie, the Lobos won a share of their first Division title since the 1997 season, going 6-2 in the Mountain West, going 3-1 down the stretch with all of those games on ESPNU or ESPN2.
UNM’s fantastic season saw the Lobos on ESPN’s Family of Networks seven times during the season, including each of the final five games. The year culminated with a 23-20 Gildan New Mexico Bowl victory against UTSA in front of nearly 30,000 fans at Dreamstyle Stadium.
Davie’s Lobos led the nation in rushing, averaging 350.0 yards per game. It’s the first time the Lobos have ever led the nation in a major statistical category. UNM not only led the nation in rushing average, but also in total rushing yards, yards per carry, and in rushing plays of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 yards. UNM also set a school record with 48 rushing touchdowns and had two 1,000-yard rushers for the first time in school history.
Defensively, New Mexico scored three touchdowns, making the Lobos one of only 16 FBS teams to have scored at least three defensive touchdowns in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, along with the likes of Alabama, BYU, Florida, Ohio State, Stanford and Utah.
In addition, the Lobos under Bob Davie had a national award finalist in Garrett Adcock, who was one of three finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy. Adcock also became the program’s 10th CoSIDA Academic All-American and the eighth First Team selection. The 2016 season culminated with New Mexico’s first bowl win since the 2007 season, and just the second in 56 seasons. Along with eight All-Mountain West honors, including four second-team selections, the Lobos picked up 19 Mountain West All-Academic honors, the third-highest total in program history.
The big turnaround actually came in 2015. After 11 wins in his first three seasons (which nearly quadrupled the previous three seasons’ total), the program took a big leap. Picking up three signature wins in the month of November, the Lobos clinched their first winning season and bowl game since the 2007 season. The Lobos knocked off three 10-win teams during the season, including a pair of stunning upsets to open November. First UNM took down first place Utah State 14-13. Then, UNM announced their presence to the college football world with a 31-24 victory on the road over Boise State to clinch bowl eligibility. UNM then defeated Mountain Division champions Air Force 47-35.
The Lobos tied for its most conference wins since the 1997 season with five. Offensively the team tied a school record with 42 rushing touchdowns, finishing in the top 10 in the NCAA in rushing for the fourth straight season, ninth nationally in fourth down conversion percentage and 11th in total conversions. UNM also led the nation in total plays from scrimmage of 60 yards or more (11) and 70 yards or more (7), showcasing the explosive offense.
On defense, UNM ranked as the fourth-most improved defense in the nation in terms of yards allowed, shaving off 81.6 yards per game from 2014. UNM also shaved 7.5 points per game off their 2014 scoring defense, the 15th most improved in the NCAA. UNM’s rushing defense was the nation’s third-most improved in terms of yards per game (76.3 yards per game less than 2014) and it was fourth in terms of yards per carry (1.29 yards per carry less than 2014).
All of that added up to a 7-5 regular season, a 5-3 mark and second place in the Mountain West’s Mountain Division and a berth in the 2015 Gildan New Mexico Bowl, which UNM fought down to the wire in a 45-37 loss to Arizona. UNM picked up four All-Mountain West honors, including a Second Team selection as a returner for Carlos Wiggins. The Lobos earned 19 Mountain West All-Academic selections.
In the first seven seasons under Davie, the Lobos have picked up 138 Mountain West All-Academic selections, including a program record 27 in 2018 and 23 in 2017, the second-best total for football in school history. The five highest totals for Mountain West All-Academic selections have all come under Bob Davie.
Over his time, the Lobos have posted the highest Fall semester GPA in program history (Fall of 2018) and four of the top five Fall semester GPAs in program history (Fall of 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018). UNM has also consistently established new single-year and four-year rolling scores for APR.
The seeds of 2015 were planted in 2014 as the Lobos showed that they were on the right path as the team battled to a 4-8 record, with plenty of close games and great performances along the way.
The 2014 Lobos featured three players on the Capital One/CoSIDA All-District team in Reece White, Garrett Adcock and Dakota Cox. The three players were exactly half of the honorees in the Mountain West as the rest of the league had three players combined.
New Mexico went 4-8 in 2014, a one-game improvement from 2013, but the improvement was certainly bigger than the win column. The Lobos shaved a full touchdown off of their points allowed, and 14.5 points off their defensive average against unranked opponents from a year prior.
The 2013 Lobos continued to represent Davie’s hard-nosed mentality. Rushing the football again was the team’s calling card on offense. After Air Force led the Mountain West in rushing for every year of the league’s existence from 1999 (14 in all), UNM repeated as conference rushing champion in 2014. The Lobos’ 301.4-yard average per game ranked fourth nationally, and UNM was the only team from 2012-14 to average 300 yards per game on the ground and finish in the top five nationally. The Lobos were in the top five nationally in runs of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards as well.
Once again, UNM’s special teams lived up to billing, with UNM leading the Mountain West in average return with a 22.4-yard average. UNM was the only school to return a kickoff for a touchdown, and it accomplished that twice, with two different returners.
The kickoff return for a touchdown has become a hallmark of the Bob Davie era. UNM now has eight kickoff returns for touchdowns in his four years as the head coach, tying for the most in the last four years.
Despite a rush of injuries that would have decimated most teams, Davie’s young defense was able to weather the storm and turn in some clutch performances. No bigger storm was weathered than that of his first team All-MW linebacker Dakota Cox, who despite missing the final three games of the season with a torn ACL, led the nation in tackles per game with 12.9 tackles per game. UNM’s defense vastly improved from 2013 to 2014, picking up 19 takeaways just a year after recording none during the second half of the season. The Lobos, while struggling against nationally-ranked foes, were on pretty even terms with the rest of the schedule, holding its nine unranked opponents to almost 15 points fewer in 2014.
Along with Cox, center LaMar Bratton earned First Team All-Mountain West honors, and three Lobos were honorable mention picks in safety David Guthrie, running back Jhurell Pressley and offensive lineman Jamal Price.
The Lobos’ special teams also enjoyed another strong season. Sophomore kick returner Carlos Wiggins led the nation with three returns for touchdowns and in total kick return yards with 1,303. Wiggins was named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year and was the College Football Performance Awards’ National Kick Returner of the Year.
Senior punter Ben Skaer finished fifth in the nation in punting with an average of 45.8 yards per attempt and along with Wiggins earned first-team All-MW honors. A total of eight Lobos earned All-MW recognition in 2013, giving Davie 17 during his first two seasons — nine more than the program had in 2010-11.
Davie’s young defense also had some bright spots, despite having to play six true freshmen and have 11 players make at least one start who weren’t even on the Lobo defense in 2012.
True freshman Dakota Cox became the first freshman since Blake Irwin in 1994 to lead the team in tackles with 99. Cox earned Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America Team honors.
Senior Dallas Bollema and junior Brett Bowers made honorable mention All-MW and junior cornerback SaQwan Edwards led the MW and ranked ninth nationally with three fumble recoveries.
In 2012, UNM went 4-9 and 1-7 in Mountain West play. The program’s four wins represented a 400 percent improvement from 2011 when the school won one game; UNM had the greatest improvement by percentage of any school in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Davie led UNM to one of the best statistical turnarounds in college football from 2011 to 2012. The Lobos showed the greatest improvement among the 120 FBS schools in scoring margin and rushing offense. The Lobos improved by 25.21 points in scoring margin and 188.14 rushing yards. The 2012 UNM team also ranked second nationally in time of possession improvement, fourth in net punting improvement and fifth in turnover margin improvement from the previous season.
Of the 32 statistical categories that the Mountain West tracked in its in-season weekly releases, UNM improved in 26 of them from the 2011 season to the 2012 season.
Davie became New Mexico’s 31st football head coach on Nov. 17, 2011. Davie, 65 in September, had been a college football analyst on television since 2002. He had served as the lead analyst on ABC Saturday Night Primetime college football telecasts, as well as ESPN and ESPN2 Saturday Night Primetime games.
In his time with ABC/ESPN, he teamed with Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit calling the Saturday night prime time game. Among the games he covered were some of the greatest in the history of college football. Along with two BCS National Championship games for ESPN Radio, he was the analyst for ESPN Radio’s coverage of the 2005 USC/Texas Rose Bowl Game, considered by many as the best ever. He also was the analyst for the television broadcast of the 2006 classic between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan, dubbed the “Game of the Century”. That game was watched by 21.8 million viewers, the most-watched college football game in history at the time. Davie was a part of the Big Ten Network’s 10-year anniversary show reliving that contest, filmed and broadcast in 2016.
Other historic games that Davie broadcast for ESPN included the 2007 Rose Bowl Game between Michigan and USC, and a 2010 matchup between Illinois and Northwestern that was played at Wrigley Field, the first football game played in the oldest MLB stadium in 40 years.
Prior to that, Davie served as head football coach at the University of Notre Dame for five seasons (1997-2001). He was defensive coordinator for three years (1994-96) with the Fighting Irish under head coach Lou Holtz before taking over the program in 1997. Davie spent nine years as an assistant coach at Texas A&M University (1985-93) under head coaches Jackie Sherrill (1985-88) and R.C. Slocum (1989-93). Davie was linebackers coach for Sherrill and was promoted to defensive coordinator and assistant head coach under Slocum. He also served as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Tulane (1984-85) and linebackers coach at the University of Pittsburgh (1980-82) and the University of Arizona (1978-79).
In 32 years of coaching, Davie has been a part of teams that have compiled a combined record of 235-147-4. He has coached in 20 bowl games, including the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl.
Davie had a 35-25 career record at Notre Dame, leading the Irish to three bowl games and taking the program to its first-ever BCS postseason game, the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. He also was the first coach to lead Notre Dame to a bowl game in his first season. Year in and year out, Notre Dame plays one of the toughest schedules in the nation. During Davie’s tenure, 19 of those games were against Top-25 foes and 52 of the 60 were against BCS foes. Seven of the other eight were against service academies and one was against another non-BCS foe.
Davie also has been a two-time finalist for a National Coach of the Year award (by the Walter Camp Foundation and Football News).
In 2001 at Notre Dame, Davie earned an American Football Coaches Association Award for Academic Achievement as his team had a 100 percent graduation rate.
At Notre Dame, Davie received a Football News National Coach of the Year finalist citation and finished sixth in The Associated Press Coach of the Year balloting in 2000, finishing with a 9-3 record and earning a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. That team tied an NCAA record for fewest turnovers in a season with eight, despite starting three different quarterbacks – Battle, Gary Godsey and Matt LoVecchio.
Davie earned a National Coach of the Year semifinalist nod in 1998 after producing another 9-3 record with the Irish. The team ranked 16th nationally in rushing that season behind career rushing leader Autry Denson. Quarterback Jarious Jackson ranked 13th in the country in passing efficiency.
During Davie’s first year as head coach in 1997, Notre Dame completed four fourth-quarter comebacks to finish with a 7-5 record and earn an Independence Bowl invitation.
As an Irish assistant, Davie’s defense finished 10th in passing efficiency defense and 11th in total defense in 1996, forcing 30 turnovers and ranking 16th in pass defense in 1995.
Before he became coordinator at Texas A&M in 1989, Davie coached outside linebackers and was part of a staff that led the Aggies to finishes of eighth, fourth, seventh and 14th in the nation in total defense from 1985-88, respectively.
Davie was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Tulane from 1983-84. Prior to that, he was linebackers coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1980-82 helping the unit rank first nationally in total defense in 1980 and 1981 and third in 1982.
He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1977 at Pittsburgh under Sherill and moved on to the University of Arizona as a part-time linebackers coach and strength coach from 1978-79.
Davie is a 1977 graduate of Youngstown State and was a three-year starter at tight end.
Davie and his wife, Joanne, have two children – daughter Audra and son Clay, and grandson Beau Robert.
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| Born: Sept. 30, 1954 Birthplace: Sewickley, Pa. Alma Mater: Youngstown State University, 1977, B.S., Education Playing Experience: Youngstown State, 1974-76 Family: Wife, Joanne, daughter Audra, son Clay; grandson, Beau Robert
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