Change hit the UNM football team like a tidal wave in the form of a new coach after the Lobos went 4-8.
Now, head coach Mike Locksley has finalized his coaching staff. And, including Locksley, "Ocean's Eleven" it is.
Locksley announced his 10 hires in a news conference Friday at the Tow Diehm Athletics Center - and much like the cast of the movie, there is a collection of youth meshed with a pedigree of experience.
Darrell Dickey will be the offensive coordinator; Doug Mallory will run the defense. Former NFL player Rubin Carter will coach the defensive line, while George Barlow will coach the defensive backs.
Ex-San Diego assistant Toby Neinas (special teams/linebackers), Tee Martin (quarterbacks), Cheston Blackshear (offensive tackles/tight ends), J.B. Herald (wide receivers/recruiting coordinator), Mike Degory (centers/offensive guards) and Troy Hatton (strength and conditioning) round out Locksley's staff.
"I think I've brought the best staff in - in the country," Locksley said. "We got a great blend of experience and youth. We've got guys that have been coaching for over 18 years, either pro or college coaching experience, and then we have two or three dinosaurs."
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One such dinosaur, according to Locksley, is the 49-year-old Dickey, who will serve as offensive coordinator.
When he was introduced as head coach on Dec. 9, Locksley spoke about lighting up the scoreboard. Well, the Lobos now have their electrician.
"I'm going to be behind the scoreboard just doing the twisting," Dickey said.
Dickey, who was head coach at North Texas and led the Mean Green to four consecutive Sun Belt titles and was most recently the offensive coordinator at Utah State, will also serve as running backs coach.
Dickey promised to institute an offensive scheme that will have gumption - or he'll be a memory, he said.
"I said, 'Coach (Locksley), it seems like we're hitting it off pretty good. It seems like you like me OK,'" Dickey said. "He said, 'Yeah, I think I like you all right, coach, and I think you're going to be OK.' And I said, 'Being the offensive coordinator, if we don't score a lot of points, are you still going to like me?' And he said, 'Well, certainly, I'm still going to like you a whole lot. I'm going to miss you, too.'
"Football has evolved, and if you don't evolve with it, you get left behind," Dickey said. "When I was a head coach, we were a slam-it-up-the-middle, strong-running-game, play-action-pass team."
Sound familiar? The Lobos ranked 111th in the nation in passing yards, averaging 131.3 per game. UNM was 16th in rushing but had just four passing touchdowns.
Dickey stressed the word "balance" but also said two-yard screen passes and an overdose of running doesn't get it down anymore.
"It's getting harder to do," he said. "If all you can do is run and you can't throw that well, (those teams) are a lot easier to defend."
Offense isn't the only unit getting a makeover.
In fact, defensive coordinator Mallory will perform an extreme one. He said the Lobos will switch from the 3-3-5 scheme, which was run under Rocky Long, to a more hard-nosed 4-3 scheme.
Mallory is familiar with the scheme, having run it at LSU, where he spent the last year as a co-defensive coordinator and helped the Tigers to a 32nd national ranking in total defense.
"A lot of things we did at LSU, we're going to implement here," he said.
A closer look at the staff
As the assistant head coach, George Barlow will be Locksley's understudy.
Martin, who led the Tennessee Volunteers to a national championship in 1998, will coach the quarterbacks.
Neinas will run special teams and be in charge of the linebackers. Neinas was most recently at San Diego State.
"Toby, obviously, was on the wrong end of a 70-7 butt-whooping at San Diego State," Locksley said, grinning. "Toby knows the Mountain West Conference."
Carter played as a defensive tackle for the Denver Broncos for 12 years and was more recently Florida A&M's head coach from 2005-07.
Blackshear was a graduate assistant at Illinois in 2005 and worked with the tight ends and offensive linemen at Florida with Locksley.
Mike Degory played at Florida - during his final two years, Locksley was the running backs coach. At 26, he is entering only his third year of coaching. He was also a graduate assistant (2007-08) at Illinois.
Gerald was an offensive quality assistant at Illinois last year.
Hatton, who was a wrestler, was an assistant strength coach at Illinois from 2005-08.
"I've had one degree or two degrees of separation with each of these guys to where they know what they're getting from me as a head coach," Locksley said. "I know what I'm getting as a head coach in an assistant."
For the sake of continuity, Locksley said he retained Gavin Bevis, UNM's director of football operations, and Eric Sanchez, who was the interim coach while the Lobos searched for Long's replacement.
