Tryouts rare chance to play

Students who are not yet athletes at UNM will have a rare chance to try out for the Division I football team.

The Lobo football team is holding open tryouts on Feb. 29 for the upcoming season. Team representatives will hold a meeting for interested players Wednesday at 5 p.m. on the second floor of the Tow Diehm Complex.

Head football coach Bob Davie said holding open tryouts is something he did in former coaching jobs, and is going to try to put in place with the program.

“With my background, having been on the staff at Texas A&M, where the 12th man started with head coach Jackie Sherrill, starting that tradition was one of the best things we ever did,” Davie said. “My son also was a walk-on for four years at Arizona State, so, from a personal standpoint, the walk-on program is very important to me.”

For the past three seasons, UNM lost five football scholarships because of two former coaches’ alleged violation of NCAA rules. This loss lowered the team to 80 scholarships year.

The probation ended last season, and Davie said the tryout is even more important this year to try to get players in the program.

“Specifically at New Mexico, it’s even more critical because our scholarship numbers are low, and the walk-on program is crucial for us to get our numbers back up,” Davie said.

The Lobos have six players on scholarship that have walked on the team, and three former walk-ons eventually played in the NFL, including Ryan Cook, who is currently playing for the Miami Dolphins.

Offensive line coach Jason Lenzmeier said to get the Lobos past three straight 1-11 seasons, it will need the help of walk-ons.
“The years that the New Mexico football program has been successful have been when the program has been built with the help of walk-ons, most of whom are New Mexico kids,” he said.

Lenzmeier graduated in 2004 and was a four-year starter at UNM. He said most of the walk-ons during his time were from New Mexico, which brought an added importance to the UNM program.

“It’s huge that kids from this area know the history of the program,” he said. “They have a sense of pride about Lobo football, and that pride rubs off on others … I saw that firsthand when I played here.”

Meeting for interested players
Wednesday
5 P.M.
Second floor of Tow Diehm

Open tryouts
February 29
5:30 P.M.
Lobo practice fields