New football head coach Bob Davie joked that the only thing he is struggling with now that he’s getting back into coaching is sore feet.
Davie was named the head football coach last November after an 10-year absence from coaching. His last head coaching job was at Notre Dame from 1997-2001 where he compiled a 35-25 record.
Though he was gone for a while, he said he feels he’s been still involved with the sport, and even though he has been away from coaching, it hasn’t felt like that to him.
“For me I have never felt like I have gotten out of it to be quite honest,” Davie said. “It feels like I have been doing it all along.”
In between his coaching jobs, Davie analyzed football for ESPN.
Davie said he enjoyed getting back into the coaching aspect of the sport.
“This is more fun and more rewarding than anything I have done in the last 10 years and the last 10 years have been a great 10 years,” he said.
Davie also coordinated the defense at Texas A&M from 1989-1993. His defense earned the nickname “The Wrecking Crew.”
Davie replaced former head coach Mike Locksley who went 2-26 in his two and half years at UNM. The Lobos went 1-11 for three straight seasons, but Davie said he hopes to change that.
“I just like being around the players and the coaches and trying to give guys a plan and trying to get them to buy into that plan and hopefully at some point see some rewards,” he said. “I just enjoy doing this from step A to step Z.”
Senior tight end Lucas Reed played under Locksley and interim head coach George Barlow during his time at UNM, and he said he already can tell Davie is changing the program for the better.
“It’s been great,” Reed said. “Everything is positive and you can just feel the progress being made every day. Everything coach Davie says has meaning. Lots of positive reinforcement and everything is so instructed around positive discipline and discipline in general.”
Senior quarterback B.R. Holbrook is entering his fifth year at UNM. He received coaching from Locksley, Barlow and Rocky Long during his time at UNM.
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Holbrook said Davie brings intensity into practices, and thanks to difficult training, the team will perform better.
Holbrook said Davie could bring victories back to UNM football.
“I think his vision for the program and for the future is pretty exciting for me and, hopefully as an alumni, I can come back someday and see this as a winning program,” he said.
