“That’s a question for Rocky.”
Current head football coach Mike Locksley said it deliberately and repeated it at least three times, hoping to evade inquisitions about the past — and more plainly, his predecessor.
But the former coach’s name continues to precede him.
Yet in the face of his Long-awaited return to University Stadium, San Diego State’s defensive coordinator, after an 11-year UNM marriage that came to an abrupt, and arguably Rocky, conclusion, is just as reticent to answer questions, much to the media’s displeasure.
In keeping with a tradition he started last year, Long isn’t granting interviews this week, an SDSU spokesperson said. The spokesperson couldn’t say whether Long would conduct interviews at the conclusion of Saturday’s contest between the UNM football team and SDSU.
Never the loquacious type, Long hasn’t been one to spill his heart to the media, but as noted in a San
Diego Tribune story this week, he is usually available for pregame/postgame interviews 11 out of the 12 weeks of the season — the exception, of course, being the Aztecs’ annual matchup with the Lobos.
Why? Provided that Long keeps mute, that question, unfortunately, might go unanswered. Why is it that the same man who spoke with unconcealed candor at his farewell news conference is so disguised and distant from his former University?
Perhaps, Long, the archetypal Lobo who played and coached at his alma mater, is too conflicted a soul to break his silence. Maybe the $677,500 he was paid when his contract was “mutually terminated” bought Long’s muzzle. Being who he is, it’s not hard to imagine that Long says nothing out of respect for the University.
Or perhaps, permitting aggressive speculation, something else is in play.
Fair or not, it’s possible that Athletics Director Paul Krebs forced Long out, and that Long’s contract extension and significant hike in pay (from $439,000 to $750,000) was nothing more than a well-designed ploy to make UNM a more attractive destination for the next incoming coach — one that Krebs would handpick.
In line with industry standards, coaches tend not to have lifetime appointments. When Krebs took power at UNM, he made this known, hiring his own head coaching cast: Steve Alford, Jeff Nelson, Ray Birmingham, Joe Franklin and Jill Trujillo.
Their success has been unmistakable. Locksley’s, so far, has been the opposite.
Regrets? Neither Krebs nor Long professes to have any.
At the time of his last news conference as a Lobo, Long was steadfast that the decision to step down was his and his alone.
“This is not their idea; this is mine,” he said, referring to Krebs and President David Schmidly.
Krebs didn’t respond to a text Thursday about what he may have told Long to try to convince him to stay when the longtime coach approached him about stepping down.
The little pieces we have suggest not much.
When the Albuquerque Journal exposed that Long received a memo asking for his “voluntary resignation” the same day of the news conference, Krebs said the University needed a legal document to exercise the “mutual termination” clause in Long’s contract. He said the two discussed the matter for some time before coming to a resolution.
“He (Long) said, ‘I think it’s time for me to go. I think you need somebody else.’ I did not disagree with that,” Krebs told the Journal.
Perhaps Long was not pushed out, but certainly Krebs didn’t fight to make him stay.
After 11 years of service, didn’t the winningest — and losingest — UNM head coach deserve more?
As Locksley said, that’s a question for Rocky — or Krebs.
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In spite of the unknown, the one question that will be assuredly answered this weekend: Will Rocky’s return resemble a subdued reunion or a riotous welcome-home reception?
Defensive end Jaymar Latchison wasn’t in a position to say.
“I think it’s going to be all over the place,” Latchison told sports editor Ryan Tomari. “Everybody’s going to have their own view. Me personally, I like the guy. He’s a great coach. I wish he could have stayed.”
Without question, he’s not the only one.
Locksley was asked at his weekly news conference Tuesday if he was prepared to deal with the possibility that fans might chant Long’s name. To his credit, he didn’t bristle, but he did respond curtly.
“I know I’m prepared to get my team prepared,” Locksley said.
Nothing, however, could prepare anyone for what potentially looms come Saturday. Arguably, University Stadium will be as full as it has been all season, but it won’t necessarily be to support the current head coach or even Lobo football.
Like it or not, Long, as he customarily wasn’t during his tenure, will be the star attraction.
For Locksley and his boss, Saturday could turn into the Rocky horror show.
“To worry about what it’s like to follow Rocky,” Locksley said, “right now I’m more worried about trying to beat Rocky.”
Even if he does, chances are he’ll never step out of Long’s shadow.
Albuquerque, much like Philadelphia, is Rocky’s town; Locksley’s just living in it.
