Many ask the question: Can the NMSU football program ever become a winner?
I think it's difficult. The track record is not favorable. The years have been frustrating. I've heard some say that the ceiling is a six or seven win season once in a blue moon. Other than that, you'll tread water with three or four W's.
Judging from the last 40 to 50 years, history suggests that NMSU cannot compete. I actually disagree. The fan base is down, but Las Cruces is the type of town where people will show up if the team gets some wins. I think of the last home game against Louisiana Tech last year. There were promotions for ticket sales and the team needed a good showing to hit attendance bench marks. But still, people came. And the game meant nothing for the Aggies, with the exception of pride and the role of spoiler. If the community got a team that won football games, 20,000 fans would show up to a game, I have not doubt.
The other question is talent. Can you recruit to NMSU. Mumme recruited to his offense. Obviously, he didn't recruit to his defense. But the best tool for recruiting? It's winning. The team hasn't done a whole lot of that lately, but that's really what it comes down to. Kids will go to a winning team. It solves a lot of problems.
I don't know how talented this current team is. The new coach is going to have to come in with the cupboard somewhat bare. That's the key. Can you win in your first few years when the team has low talent level? If you can hover around .500, show some spunk, win 5, 6, 7 games in your first few years, you can get kids to come. I think facilities, scoreboards, super locker rooms, there nice luxuries but they can also be overrated. The best luxury is success in between the lines. That's what the program needs. A coach that gets the players to believe and wins football games. It doesn't have to be pretty. It doesn't have to make the highlight reels at first. It just needs to be successful. They need a special person in charge.
....
The NMSU basketball team hosts Sacramento State tonight. This is an awful game.
I don't like games where you go, watch a team and learn nothing. The only way we will learn something about the Aggies tonight is if they struggle against the Hornets. We will learn that they are in trouble.
They should pummel Sacramento with little or no trouble. But Sunday's game? That I'm excited for. Hosting UTEP. That should tell us a lot about the NMSU hoops team. I still can't get a reading on this team. But if they can beat the Miners, I will be feeling good about what's going on. I think most people would.....
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3 comments:
Finding Mumme's replacement is the biggest thing to happen to the Aggie football program in 4 years and the Sun-News should be covering it accordingly. Fanoga leaves, did anyone at the Sun-News see that coming? What does Fanoga's departure say about the shape of the program? How does UNM get a coach before NMSU? Who is Locksley? Just because UNM is not NMSU I would like to know who the new UNM coach is. Is DeWayne Walker still on the short-list or did he turn NMSU down? I think Walker turned it down, but who knows. The Sun-News runs an article about NMSU offering to Caro and Hall, Jr. from LCHS and fails to give us any career stats on these kids. How tall is Caro? How many rushing yards did each put up in their respective seasons? The article on both these kids did not seem positive, and there was only a half-hearted mention of NMSU's coaching situation and how it would affect Caro's decision. Come on. The biggest thing to happen to NMSU's football program in 4 years and our local coverage is as poor as the Aggies record over that same time frame. Tell us why we should be excited about Candidate X, or we are looking at 4 years or more of the same. Step it up!
The answer is taht yes, NMSU can become a winner and win consistently. Nothing is impossible. The real questions, I believe, are: Will sufficient behind the scenes changes be made to make that possibility a reality? Can we scrape together enough added money to mount a high level recruitment effort? Will enough quality athletes choose to come to NMSU with the intent that they can make a difference. Will key athletes who are on the team choose to stay, or will they leave because they believe that the only reason they were successful was the partiular coach they were working with? Will we have a culture of success, of the mental and physical toughness to gut it through the hard times? Will we have the fans that encourage athletes to come to NMSU to stay near home or to come to a rather remote area to compete, or will the fans discourage them? Will we have the support of the students and the community, in Las Cruces and throught the state? Will there be enough people on all fronts that will quit sitting back and waiting for someone else to get things going and to become a part of the solution rather than carping about the problem?
These are just a few of the many questions.
For too long there's been an attitude of "let George do it." Well, George has been voted off the island. Others will have to step up to the plate - or to change the old saying to make it mre appropriate will they step up to the line of scrimmage?
I agree with your posting about the Mens BB team. It is very difficult to tell what kind of team they are right now or are going to become. What we do know, based on the Barbee Miners, is that they are tough, hard nosed, and have alot of fight in them. They seem to have given the Aggies a good old fashioned poleaxing the last couple of games. Looking forward to Sunday and a different outcome. GO AGGIES!
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