Thursday, December 30, 2010

Dunbar update

Tom Dienhartof of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that Breant Pease has accepted a job offer to be Indiana's offensive coordinator.

This is significant for the Aggies why? Because NMSU coordinator Mike Dunbar's name was mentioned in the job search as a possibility to join Kevin Wilson's staff at Indiana. Could he still go? Maybe. But the likelihood seems to have diminished now.

Friday, December 17, 2010

AD comments on Dunbar

New Mexico State Athletics Director McKinley Boston on whether or not Mike Dunbar would be leaving New Mexico State:

“I heard there (has been interest) from (a) Big 10 school. It's just hearsay.”

Dunbar has been linked to the offensive coordinator position at Indiana, possibly joining friend and new head coach Kevin Wilson with the Hoosiers.

Stay tuned....

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Rumors of Walker and Texas

The internet — yes the internet — is heating up with rumors of DeWayne Walker being a candidate to be the defensive coordinator at the University of Texas.

You can find stuff by clicking here....And here.....And here....

Well, I spoke with Walker on Thursday evening and he said the internet rumors simply aren't true.

“You always hear rumors, people are always talking,” Walker said. “At UCLA, we talked (he and Texas) a little bit. We have a strong respect for each other. But we didn't talk about it (the defensive coordinator position this time around).”

Walker said he hasn't spoken with Texas, nor has he applied for the job or that the school had reached out to him or his agent Don Yee.

“No,” Walker said when asked. “None of that.”

Defensive coordinator at Texas? It's a premier job. But Walker said he's happy as the head coach at New Mexico State.

“I'm a head coach,” he said. “I'm not going to walk away from a head coaching job.”

Walker was in Las Cruces on Thursday, meeting with NMSU Athletics Director McKinley Boston about the Aggie football program.

The “preferred qualifications” for the Texas defensive coordinator position are a minimum of 12 years of coaching at the NCAA Division I-A level and seven years of NFL coaching experience.

Looking at his history at nmstatesports.com, Walker has 11 years under his belt as a college coach — counting two as a head coach at NMSU — as well as seven in the NFL — he worked for the Washington Redskins (2004-05) and the New York Giants (2002-03) for two years apiece and the New England Patriots for a three-year stint (1998-2000).

Will Muschamp was the defensive coordinator for the Longhorns before being hired last week as the head coach at Florida.

The Austin American-Statesman reported on Monday that the leading candidate to replace Muschamp was Florida's first-year defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. Other names reported were North Carolina defensive coordinator Everett Withers, Clemson defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and Seattle Seahawks defensive backs coach Jerry Grey.

Aggies sign defensive end

From the media relations department at NMSU....

Walker signs defensive end
LAS CRUCES – New Mexico State head coach DeWayne Walker announced Thursday, December 16, that defensive end Sean Brown has signed a national letter of intent to play football for the Aggies beginning the 2011 season.
“Sean (Brown) is a good player that we feel can come in and give us that edge pass rush that we have struggled a little with over the last few seasons,” Walker said. “He is a 250-plus pound athlete that is very active. Sean has great character and is a well rounded young man that we feel can bring us something at the defensive end position.”
Brown, a native of Oakland, Calif., played one season at Chabot College. The 6-5, 253 pound defensive end collected 17 tackles in 2010 for Chabot, while also grabbing four and a half tackles for a loss and two sacks on the year. As a freshman, Brown collected seven tackles, a sack, quarterback hurry and a pass break up. During his two years with Chabot, Brown helped his team to an 11-9 record.
National Football Signing Day is February 2, 2011.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Mike Dunbar leaving?

The powers of the Internet.

Rumors have started to run that Aggie offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar might be on the move again, this time joining friend Kevin Wilson, the new head coach at Indiana University.

To read about it, click here.....And here....

NMSU head coach DeWayne Walker said on Monday that he had not spoken to Dunbar and that, at this point, things are business as usual for the Aggies.

“He hasn't said anything to me,” Walker said. “His good friend got the job at Indiana. I haven't confronted (Dunbar) about it.”

Walker added that from what he can tell, Dunbar likes Las Cruces and that his family is close by.

“He's at an age now where he doesn't have to jump at those jobs,” Walker said.

Like all Aggie assistant coaches, Dunbar worked on a one-year contract last season. He was the team's highest-paid assistant at $77,000 annually.

He replaced Tim Rosenbach, who was coordinator at the school in 2009, Walker's first year at the school.

While the Aggie offense didn't produce much better — from a statistics standpoint — under Dunbar compared to Rosenbach, the unit was more watchable and appealing. NMSU threw the ball better and was more creative in its personnel groupings. The hope was that further recruiting and upgrading at key positions would allow the Aggies to continue and grow under the veteran coordinator, who has over 20 years of college coaching experience.

If he were to leave, it would be another blow for a program that needs positive news. Lets just see how this shakes out before jumping to a conclusion….