Bob Davie needs a break from talking to the 2016 recruiting class.
The New Mexico head coach joked that he has heard enough from the players and needs a couple of days of silence after receiving his final list of players who signed their national letters of intent on Wednesday.
“Right after they sign, I don’t even want to talk to them, believe me. And they’re the same with us,” Davie said. “There’s no conversation for a few days, I’m being dead honest.”
National Signing Day brings a lot of attention to transfer students and high school recruits as they officially sign with their respective schools.
Though Wednesday was judgment day for schools’ recruiting ability, the process is much more entailed than a single day of praise or disappointment.
For New Mexico, Davie labeled it as a success. In fact, the head coach said it was the best he’s had since taking the reins back in 2012.
“We all know the proof is going to come out months and years down the road,” Davie said. “I think a good measuring stick for me is who did you beat to get them? And the ones you didn’t get, who beat you to get them?”
Davie’s measuring stick extended as far as snagging seven players who were being eyed by BCS schools, otherwise known as the power five conferences in college football.
The Lobo coach attributed beating out some of the top schools to the exposure New Mexico has received as a program on the rise.
The season was highlighted by UNM’s first bowl appearance since 2007, nationally televised wins over Boise State and Air Force on the road and the first winning season under Davie.
“We didn’t get them all but I will say this, we’ve come a long way,” Davie said. “I don’t think anybody absolutely looks forward to us being on their schedule and I don’t think anybody really looks forward to us coming in and recruiting kids that they’re going to recruit.”
New Mexico was able to recruit four in-house high school players from the Land of Enchantment, something Davie also attributed to his growing program.
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Kameron Miller from Las Cruces, New Mexico, is one of two freshman quarterbacks to join the club in fall of 2016. Davie said though Miller is an overall good athlete, the team will give him a shot at the position he wants, lined up right behind center.
Gabriel Ortega, a Rio Rancho native, was listed as an athlete on National Signing Day, with no roster spot listed. However, in Wednesday’s press conference, he said Ortega will be given his first looks at safety.
Marcus Williams and Teton Saltes round out the locals in the 2016 recruitment class. Williams is listed as a wideout, though Davie said he could see the 6-foot-2-inch wide receiver as being a role player in speed looks. Saltes, the rusher out of Valley High School, brings big back capability with his 6’4” frame in the backfield. He is the only player from Albuquerque to join the squad.
Just because the Lobos have been more in the spotlight for the team’s 2015 performance, New Mexico can’t count on retaining every local player it wants, Davie said.
“I don’t know that you ever cross that point where you can say okay we’re passed a point now where every local in-state guy is going to stay,” he said. “I don’t think that’s realistic. It’s a case by case, player by player situation.”
Saltes may be the local back that will be involved in a copious amount of dive plays, but Daevon (Dae Dae) Vigilant received a great deal of praise from New Mexico’s coach.
“Dae Dae is a guy who was highly, highly recruited,” Davie said. “Very highly recruited player, Kasey Carrier like... Short, thick and has some dynamic to him.”
It may be early to compare Vigilant to UNM’s fifth-highest rusher and the man who holds the most single-season rushing yards in program history, but it is safe to say Davie has high thoughts about the California native’s potential.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball, baseball, and beach volleyball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
