OUInsider - Owen Field

Didn't a visiting recruit get a DUI while driving a car rented by Locksley? That was probably the proverbial straw.

Well, I probably would too! LMAO!

I thought it was The Citadel.

That would be interesting if Leach (if hired, of course) could raid west Texas for big llinemen. Don't forget that the Panhandle / South Plains isn't that far from Albuquerque, and some of the eastern New Mexico high schools might be more prone to steer kids to UNM instead of to Tech. Heck, the Lobo "glory days" of the earlier 2000's (mainly 2001-07) included a star QB from Artesia (Kole McKamey), taking snaps from an NFL-bound center from west Albuquerque (Ryan Cook), and handing off to a former Parade All-American from Roswell (DonTrell Moore) or throwing to a future reality TV star from Clovis (Hank Baskett, of "Kendra" fame). Only Cook, of that group, wasn't from the eastern plains of New Mexico.

The "Leach for Lobos" movement is picking up steam locally, so it'll be interesting to see if they can get it done. Someone just started a Facebook group to that effect.

I'm also curious if Cale Gundy is bummed out over how poor Locksley did at UNM. He and Locksley are old pals from their Maryland days. Cale also told our local Sooner Caravan gathering in '09 that people ought to go to Lobo games because Locksley was going to do a great job. Seriously, Locksley was heavily endorsed by Gundy and others, so it makes it all the more strange that his hire turned out to be an "epic fail."

I didn't think Leach was looking for a coaching gig until all the legal stuff ran its course.

The falling out with an established HC could have been Rocky Long. He has never publicly said anything, but it's at least a well-educated guess that he despises the current A.D.

Here is a newer article about the whole situation:

By Rick Wright / Journal Staff Writer on Sep. 28, 2011
AD Accepts Heat, Challenge

ANALYSIS

This Hire, And Last, On Krebs

Like so many things that ultimately failed miserably – McDonald’s McLean Deluxe, Caddyshack II, any relationship involving Britney Spears or Charlie Sheen – it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Mike Locksley was a hot property, esteemed as both a recruiter and an offensive mind, in the late fall of 2008.

The University of New Mexico, in its search for a head coach to replace Rocky Long, had competition for Locksley. The Illinois offensive coordinator was a strong candidate at Syracuse as well as at UNM.

True, Locksley had no experience as a head coach. Neither had Urban Meyer, when UNM athletic director Paul Krebs hired him at Bowling Green in 2001, and Meyer worked out OK.

Besides, Locksley interviewed spectacularly well. Another finalist, then-Baltimore Ravens assistant coach Hue Jackson, did not.

Jackson, whose in-person interview with Krebs came immediately after a Ravens practice, was so unprepared that he thought UNM was still in the Western Athletic Conference.

Now the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, Jackson might well have been the perfect hire. We’ll never know.

Two years and some 10 months later, in the wake of Locksley’s firing Sunday, some are saying it might have been the worst college football hire of all time.

On Monday, at a news conference, Krebs fell on his sword – kind of.

“I have to be accountable,” he said. “This didn’t work, and that’s part of what I’m evaluated on as an AD.

“I could tell you all the other wonderful things we’ve done, but football’s a big part of the picture.”

Boy, did it ever not work.

Locksley left the building with a 2-26 record, several off-the-field gaffes and with the UNM program a national laughingstock.

Yet, Krebs argued, back in December 2008 even Nostradamus couldn’t have seen this coming.

“I think the (search) process was sound,” he said. “When you hire and when you’re making personnel decisions, there’s no guarantee and no absolutes. … Mike was a guy that was in demand, and two or three universities (were interested).

“Sometimes the right decisions at the time just don’t work out. I thought at the time it was the right decision.”

Krebs is leaning heavily toward hiring someone with head-coaching experience this time around.

“When you hire an assistant, you’re trying to project,” he said. “You can do all the research and homework you want, but in the end you don’t know until (the coach) is in that position.

“When you hire a proven head coach you can look and see, ‘This is what we do offensively and defensively. This is my philosophy; discipline, academics.’ You’ve got something to measure and evaluate.”

Yet, head-coaching experience certainly is no guarantee of success. For more on that subject, see McKay, Ritchie; Fraschilla, Fran; or Sheppard, Mike.

Krebs isn’t a coach, but he has worked in athletic administration at Oklahoma and Ohio State. And, yes, he hired Meyer at Bowling Green.

So, what went wrong at New Mexico with Locksley?

To his credit, Krebs didn’t lay all of Locksley’s failures at the feet of scholarship limitations because of NCAA sanctions incurred on Long’s watch.

“The scholarships are a piece (to the puzzle),” he said, “but they don’t explain 2-26.

“For some reason, we weren’t able to transfer the talent and the productivity from the practice field to the game field.”

Many times during the days leading up to his firing, Locksley denied feeling any heat – in fact, denied its existence.

Krebs said he isn’t sweating, but he knows the heat is there and embraces it.

“I want to get this right,” he said. “I believe strongly that we can be a very good program here.

“You always feel pressure. But, yeah, probably a little more intensity in this one.”

UPDATE, and it's still pretty heinous. They lost at home to NMSU, 42-28, at home yesterday. And NMSU is also pretty sorry. That's also the same school that OU beat, 73-3, in 1989, and Gibbs took it easy on them.

The "get Leach" movement is gaining plenty of steam. I think they will want the entire staff out of here by the time mid-December rolls around. I was on the way to that game when I realized that I'd left my ticket at home. But, instead of going back and getting it, I just figured it would be more fun to stay away for awhile, then check on the score to see if I could get in free later. I could have, but I didn't want to see those Cruces Ag-pies enjoying themselves so much.