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Joe Stoner knows how to command an audience.
The UNM redshirt senior linebacker has developed into a leader on the Lobo defensive unit. Not only is his play inspiring to his teammates, according to head coach Bob Davie, but he has developed into an outspoken field general.
“Joe is a man,” Davie said. “He’s a tough guy, he really cares, and when he speaks everybody listens. I’ve been very impressed with him. Joe has been an unbelievable source of consistency for us and I really wish he had a couple more years — he’s been a tremendous leader.”
Stoner functions as another coach on the field, as he helps the Lobo defense lineup on almost every defensive snap. Stoner said he wants to become a coach once his playing days are done.
“That’s been one of my biggest dreams — if I’m not fortunate enough to play at the next level, I want to help someone else reach their goal,” he said. “Coaching has always been something that I wanted to go into. It’s more football, and I’ve had coaches that helped me get to where I am and I just want to give back.”
Stoner has seen his fair share of defensive schemes, which he said has helped him to grasp defensive coordinator Jeff Mills’ new 3-4 scheme.
“I’ve been through four different defenses, if you want to count (former head coach Rocky) Long’s when I got here,” Stoner said.
“It helps you be a smarter player and pick up things quickly. You just reiterate what the coach tells you and you learn to tweak it to the best of your abilities.”
The Lobos stand 4-4 on the year and are two wins away from being bowl eligible for the first time since 2007, when they played Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl. Stoner said he expects the team to go to a bowl game this season.
“It’d mean everything; coming in as a freshman, UNM had been to seven straight bowls,” he said. “My freshman year I was hyped thinking we were going to go to another bowl game. To get to one this year would put icing on the cake for me.”
Stoner, a Midwest City, Okla. native, said it took a while to become comfortable in the Land of Enchantment because he had never been away from his mother, brother or sister for an extended period of time. In mid-September of his freshman year, he said he was about to call it quits and go home, but after speaking with his mother he decided to stay.
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“I talked to my mom and cried it out,” he said. “She was like, ‘You got to stay, this is what you wanted to do. I don’t want you to come home and get distracted.’”
The fifth-year senior said he’s proud of the way the program has turned around in his final year as a Lobo.
“I wish I had at least one more year,” he said. “It went by too fast, it was like I blinked and it’s my last year. I’m getting to go on and getting ready for the real world.”
