by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The way head coach Rocky Long sees it, the UNM football team has a chance to be pretty good next season.
The Lobos announced the signing of 25 recruits Wednesday, including nine transfers and 16 high school players.
"We think we have potentially a very good football team coming back," he said. "We thought we had some legitimate holes that maybe the younger guys aren't quite ready to fill yet, so we signed a number of transfers."
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UNM is coming off a 6-6 season and a loss in the New Mexico Bowl to San Jose State.
The two areas needing the most attention were tight end and offensive line, Long said. Of the junior college transfers, three are offensive linemen and three are tight ends. The Lobos also brought in four offensive linemen that will be freshmen.
The program filled the positions it needed, as long as the players live up to expectations, Long said.
"We filled our needs if those JC guys can help us in those spots where we need guys to play right away," he said.
Five of the high school players who signed with the Lobos are from New Mexico, including three Albuquerque natives. Defensive lineman Brett Kennedy and offensive lineman Mike Muniz were multiple all-state selections at La Cueva High School.
Michael Scarlett was a first-team all-state wide receiver and free safety at Sandia High School and is expected to play wide receiver for UNM.
Long said he is happy to continue the tradition of bringing in local talent.
"I think the five local kids that we got have a huge upside," he said. "There's some outstanding athletes in that group."
He said the incoming freshman class may be the most talented he's seen at UNM.
"Overall, the freshman class is probably the best freshman class we've ever recruited around here," he said. "If they walked in here right now, most of them you'd think were junior college players."
One of those freshmen is linebacker and defensive end Justin Hickman from Chicago. Hickman is 6 feet 3 inches, 230 pounds and received all-area recognition as a junior when he recorded 135
tackles and three interceptions.
Players like former Lobo Brian Urlacher may help bring in more players like Hickman, Long said.
"They wouldn't even know where New Mexico was if he wasn't an All-Pro linebacker for the Chicago Bears," he said. "Obviously, his name helps us get in the door and with Chicago-area kids, probably helps us sign them."
Although the Lobos have a starting quarterback in Donovan Porterie for next season, they brought in two freshmen to add depth to the position.
"With Kole McKamey deciding not to play, our depth wasn't real good there," Long said. "I thought our coaches did a really nice job of going out and finding several quarterbacks that were looking for a place to go."
Long said that he won't compare recruiting classes with other teams in the conference, because in his eyes, UNM has always been one of the Mountain West Conference's top teams.
"You can tell me we're the worst in recruiting in this league, because that's what we're told every single year," Long said. "And there's only one other team in this league that has won more conference games than us."
