New Mexico Prospects

scott715 wrote:
Hialeah High (Florida) four-star defensive tackle Calvin Smith made one of the most shocking recruiting announcements of the day by declaring that he’ll play his college football at New Mexico.



Smith was committed to Tennessee before Lane Kiffin left for USC. He also was considering Florida State and Alabama.



“I’ve got a good relationship with the head coach,” Smith told ESPNU. “He’s been recruiting me for two years and I feel like I can play under the top-rated defensive line coach in the country, coach Rubin Carter.”



Smith immediately becomes the best player on a New Mexico team that went 1-11 last year and was embroiled in off-field scandal for much of the year with first-year head coach Mike Locksley.



The Lobos are 5-19 the past two seasons.



Smith said Locksley told him that he could compete for playing time right away and had a chance to become a Freshman All-American for the Lobos.



When asked about the scrutiny he might face about his decision to play for a rebuilding program such New Mexico, Smith said he didn’t care what other people thought.



“I just go where my heart tells me to go,” Smith said. “I’m not listening to what people say. I go where I feel comfortable at.”

Calvin Smith is the type of guy you have to watch out for.

Coach Mike Locksley is back in the saddle again.



After a wayward rookie campaign on and off the field at New Mexico, Locksley showed why UNM’s administration hired him when he brought in an impressive 2010 recruiting haul—especially following a 1-11 season.



The Lobos made national recruiting news on signing day when defensive tackle Calvin Smith, who had offers from defending national champion Alabama as well as Tennessee, Florida State and Illinois, chose UNM instead.



He was the second Rivals.com four-star recruit Locksley lured to UNM. Ohio State transfer wide receiver Lamaar Thomas, who won’t be eligible until 2011, enrolled in January. It’s the first time in the program’s history that it had two four-star recruits in the same class.



“It shows what I already know, that you can recruit to New Mexico,” Locksley was quoted as saying by the Albuquerque Journal at a news conference.



“You can go out and challenge anybody in the nation, and if you can get ‘em on campus—which to me is the key to this whole deal—if we can get ‘em to Albuquerque and they see what a great place this place and this school is … it’s an easy sell.”



The Lobos plucked a pair of high school quarterbacks that they hope can compete for the starting job next season. Tarean Austin is the No. 20 dual-threat quarterback in Florida, according to Rivals, and Darian “Stump” Godfrey was the Texas Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year.



UNM claimed 18 players, leaving the school two scholarships—because the Lobos are on NCAA probation, they’re limited to 20 scholarships per year through 2011—to find an offensive lineman that can help immediately.



That position was the lone need UNM hasn’t yet been able to fill for next season. If the Lobos can’t find another tackle, they’ll have to develop at least a pair of young linemen in the spring.



NOTES, QUOTES

—Coach Mike Locksley plans to hire a receivers coach in the next week to replace the void created by assistant J.B. Gerald’s departure three games into the 2009 season because of a highly publicized physical confrontation between him and the head coach. With UNM restricted on coaching visits during the recruiting season because of its NCAA probation, Locksley was in no hurry to find Gerald’s replacement.



Top Recruits:

• DT Calvin Smith, Hialeah, Fla.—Smith originally committed to coach Lane Kiffin at Tennessee but had a change of heart when Kiffin bolted for Southern California. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Smith will bolster a defensive line that already heads into 2010 as the strength of the team.



• QB Tarean Austin, Hillsborough, Fla.—Austin threw for more than 2,000 yards with 21 touchdowns and just six interceptions last season. He was the highest-rated quarterback UNM had on its board. His ascension to the throne, however, got a little tougher when Darian Godfrey (Gilmer, Texas) committed a couple of days later. Despite UNM’s limitations in scholarships because of its NCAA probation, it didn’t pass up a chance to create some hotly anticipated competition in the fall.



• WR Lamaar Thomas, Fort Washington, Md.—He was Ohio State’s leading kickoff returner last year and one of the fastest players on the team. He won’t be eligible at UNM until 2011, but he intends to increase his weight and strength as he sits out this season and will try to help the 2010 team through his scout-team efforts.



Quote To Note: “I’m sure there was (backlash on the recruiting trail). There’s going to be some of that near the end and we dealt with some of it. But the good thing is it starts with communication and we were upfront. It’s not like we hid the fact that we had some issues here. We dealt with it face to face; we dealt with it honestly.”—New Mexico coach Mike Locksley, in the Albuquerque Journal, on the negative publicity of his physical encounter with former assistant J.B. Gerald in the middle of last season.



STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

2010 Look Ahead: With the Lobos in the second year of their three-year NCAA probation that took place before coach Mike Locksley came aboard, they’re starting to feel the effects of having their scholarship signings limited to 20, instead of 25. Because of injuries and a couple of departures, UNM is down to 76 scholarships. It is allowed only 80 through 2011, but is struggling to stay close to that figure.



The Lobos have a daunting combination awaiting them in the spring. They have to develop some offensive linemen while also trying to find a starting quarterback. They will have a lot of weapons at the skill positions, although much of that talent will be young.



The line will be the strength on the defensive side of the ball, but the Lobos must develop depth at linebacker and in the secondary. UNM has a lot of players with some experience in the defensive backfield, but they’re all still young.



Roster Report:

• QB Tate Smith should be ready for spring practice after undergoing surgery on his throwing shoulder during the middle of last season. Smith, who has a good combination of running and passing ability, could be a dark horse for the starting job in the fall. He needs to have a solid spring and show his shoulder is close to full strength.



• RB Terance Brown, who was atop the depth chart last spring until an ACL injury wiped out his 2009 season, will start this spring at the spot, even though the Lobos have four underclassmen who played last season. Brown, a senior, has spent time as a safety on defense.



• UNM has filed the paperwork for a medical hardship for QB Donovan Porterie, who missed the majority of 2008 with a torn ACL, but the team is proceeding as if Porterie will not get a sixth year of eligibility.

snoscythe wrote:

He might be a talented guy who completely turns NM around but until I see results I'm not buying that he'll be a great WR coach simply because his resume contains the letters NFL. Latest example at BYU- Gary Crowton.

Except Gary Crowton has won a national championship as an OC in college football, the same position he had in the NFL.



UNM hired a wide receivers coach from the NFL to coach wide receivers in college. BYU hired an OC from the NFL to run the entire team.



When Gary has done what Gary does best (offensive coordinator) he has been one of the best in the NCAA.

True.. until his third season with the team. At that point the other coaches are on to him and he can't move the ball.