Well, it’s over — no, not Mike Locksley’s UNM head coaching career.
Just the buzz surrounding the head coach’s possible departure.
Putting to rest rampant speculation that Locksley would be fired, Athletics Director Paul Krebs announced Thursday that UNM would retain its head coach for at least the 2011 season at an informal news conference.
“I feel two years is not enough time to do what needs to be done to this program,” Krebs said.
Back-to-back 1-11 seasons, ticket revenue shortfalls, a host of off-the-field incidents and around-the-clock media scrutiny was not enough to persuade Krebs to give Locksley a golden parachute. Had the University chose to part ways with its coach, it would have had to dole out $1.46 million.
Locksley declined an interview with the Daily Lobo, but in a sit-down interview with KRQE the coach said he had no doubts that he would return to the Lobos’ sideline. He is under contract through the 2014 season.
“I’ve always operated under the auspices that I’d be here,” Locksley said. “The fact that President Schmidly (and) Paul both have confidence in me to do the job they hired me to do — to me I feel good about it.”
In an effort to minimize impact on recruiting, Krebs said he came to a swift conclusion, after having a season’s worth of time to ponder his options.
News of Locksley’s return trickled out of the Athletics Department a little after 1 p.m. Thursday.
Time after time, Krebs hedged questions about Locksley’s future throughout the season. He was steadfast that Locksley would be evaluated at the end of the season. That long-talked-about, end-of-the-season evaluation wrapped up promptly, leading into Thursday’s announcement.
Before arriving at a decision, Krebs said he took the state of the program Locksley took over into consideration when determining to bring the head coach back for another year.
“Principally, we need to be more competitive within our conference,” Krebs said. “That means we need to win more football games. The games need to be more competitive. You want to see visible improvement on the field, in terms of wins and losses.”
Taking over for former coach Rocky Long, Locksley inherited a program that had reached its glass ceiling under Long, but Locksley remained convinced that his predecessor left a strong foundation upon which he would build.
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Though fans might have, Locksley said he “never once lost confidence in (his) vision” for the program. Locksley reiterated Thursday that the Lobos will field a competitive team next year.
Krebs and fans can only hope that’s the case.
Starting off with a 72-0 loss — like the Lobos did against Oregon this year — won’t bolster Locksley’s approval rating next season. In what has become oft-quoted fodder, Locksley said at his December 2008 introductory news conference that the Lobos would have to put a third digit on the scoreboard. Under Locksley, UNM’s offense sputtered this year with an average score of 15.8 points per game, good for 115th in the country. Passing and running-wise, the Lobos finished in 106th in the nation.
Because of NCAA sanctions, UNM offered only 20 scholarships the past two years and will only have 21 scholarships at its disposal during the upcoming recruiting session.
Two years in, Locksley is 2-22 overall and had two notable off-the-field incidents, one where he was accused of punching former assistant coach J.B. Gerald. For his role in the altercation, Locksley served a 10-day, unpaid suspension.
With Locksley returning, the focus now shifts to who could be departing.
Locksley promised changes, whether personnel or player, after the Lobos lost to TCU 66-17 on Nov. 27.
Rumors have circulated around south campus, but Locksley evaded the topic when asked whether members of his coaching staff have or would be dismissed as a result of the Lobos’ unsuccessful campaign.
“I’m not in position to talk about any of those changes,” he told KRQE.
Ryan Tomari contributed to this report.