Taking off a bit for the holiday season. Don't expect many posts over the coming few days.
In any event, happy holidays to all and may everyone have a wonderful New Year...
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Miller hired by FAU; report links Marshall as replacement
As reported previously, Aggie offensive line coach Bart Miller was officially hired by Florida Atlantic this past weekend.
With that in effect, a report on coachingsearch.com has linked Steve Marshall as Miller's replacement at NMSU.
With that in effect, a report on coachingsearch.com has linked Steve Marshall as Miller's replacement at NMSU.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Aggie offensive line coach Bart Miller headed to FAU
Aggie offensive line coach Bart Miller will be headed to Florida Atlantic to coach the Owls in the same capacity. The move was confirmed by an NMSU official Thursday night.
Miller was hired by FAU head coach Charlie Partridge, as the two worked together at the University of Wisconsin from 2011-12.
Miller did a nice job with the Aggie offensive line a season ago, a unit that showed much improvement from the year prior. It will mark the third-straight offseason the Aggies have lost an offensive line coach. Proceeding Miller was Jason Lenzmeier (who was hired by the University of New Mexico) and Brad Bedell (hired by Arkansas State).
Follow me on Twitter @TeddyFeinberg
Of late, Aggies have had strong play from backcourt
Recently wrote a story on Aggie point guard K.C. Ross-Miller, who’s seen his comfort level, confidence and, in turn, performance all improve in this his second season as New Mexico State’s starting point guard.
To read more, click here.
I also took some time to talk to Ross-Miller and head coach Marvin Menzies about the overall play of the Aggie guards, which has been a strength.
Ross-Miller and Daniel Mullings have made a good pairing this year. Mullings continues his standout play as a sensational defensive player, while averaging a team-high 16.6 points per game.
Said Ross-Miller of the combination:
“I like playing with Mullings. He’s a good player. He’s really active. I try to watch a lot of stuff that he does. We both kind of feed off of each other. He’s a good defender. We’re both always trying to compete, trying to get the most steals. We push each other that way. We just understand each others' game. I know what type of shots he likes, I know he where he wants the ball, in certain areas. There’s a really good relationship.”
Ross-Miller was sure to point out the shooting abilities of Kevin Aronis and Matej Buovac, while adding DK Eldridge has been a good addition to the team.
And don’t overlook Ian Baker, the freshman who’s been playing combo guard for the Aggies and has flashed potential.
“Kevin, Matej, Daniel as well, have done a good job from the perimeter. Which has aided our ability to be a little more one on one on the inside,” head coach Marvin Menzies said. “Getting our bigs an advantage. One thing always plays well off the other.”
Follow me on Twitter @TeddyFeinberg
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Replacing Austin Franklin, and a look at Aggie football recruiting
Wrote a story for Monday’s Sun-News print edition regarding Aggie football recruiting, and how the team can replace, or least try to fill in, for departed wide receiver Austin Franklin.
For the full story online, click here.
Here’s a segment of the story, where Aggie head coach Doug Martin has big words for Greg Hogan, who was a redshirt freshman last year at NMSU:
High praise a redshirt freshman, although perhaps Hogan and some other newcomers can bring some juice to the Aggie offense.
•••
Martin also said the team wouldn’t replenish the defense - at least not substantially - with junior college players.
The Aggies had a pretty good run of success recruiting through the junior college ranks under head coach DeWayne Walker, although Martin would prefer to build the program recruiting primarily high school players.
Martin said the team would sign three to four junior college players at the most. If those three or four signees are Trashaun Nixon-type players, then that would seem ideal for the Aggies.
Martin said the Aggie defense will likely be a young outfit next season but, “They’ll be fast, and that’s what we’re after.”
•••
Aside from Hogan, Martin said he has high hopes for redshirt freshman offensive tackle Thomas McGwire. Martin said McGwire could very well step in and start for Davonte Wallace, who was a four-year starter at left offensive tackle.
•••
Some tidbits that were reserved for the blog:
Martin said the team could redshirt former Aggie quarterback Travaughn Colwell, who was used throughout the offense last year as the team tried to find ways to get him the football.
Ditto for running back Brandon Betancourt, who suffered a season-ending foot injury Oct. 26 against Abilene Christian.
“If we’ve got enough depth in here where we could put those guys on a redshirt, and build some more depth down the road, that would be a good help too," Martin said. "So that’s something that will come under consideration as we keep moving forward.”
•••
The Aggies will also have to fill a void at punter, where Cayle Chapman-Brown was a very good player the past two years, although just completed his senior year of eligibility.
Martin said the Aggies wouldn’t use a scholarship this offseason on a punter, and are looking at Brock Baca as a candidate for the spot this season.
“Brock Baca has been punting and is actually pretty good. He’s a guy we could use next year,” Martin said. “And we’re going to try to keep bolstering the kicking process through our walk-on program. We really did a great job getting walk-ons in here last year. Some of them are going to be guys that we are going to put on scholarship in the future. I think that’s a good way for us to keep evaluating kickers and punters. You can get them in here, watch them for a year and see if they can really do it under pressure.”
Follow me on Twitter @TeddyFeinberg
For the full story online, click here.
Here’s a segment of the story, where Aggie head coach Doug Martin has big words for Greg Hogan, who was a redshirt freshman last year at NMSU:
Such a question, in part, comes back to recruiting, and head coach Doug Martin believes the Aggies have done a good job in that particular area.
“We’re really upgrading the talent level here,” Martin said during a recent interview. “Speed, size, what we’re getting, the quality of player we’re getting. And I think the academics that we’re getting. We’re actually competing with the Ivy League (schools) on some players. We’re doing very well in that competition. I think we’re getting a better-quality player.”
Martin said he wants to see specific upgrades at the quarterback and running back positions.
“We need guys in the backfield that are explosive,” Martin said. “We need more speed in the backfield. Guys that can make people miss in the open field.”
Martin made sure to point out the wide receiver unit a season ago was deep in personnel. The head coach also mentioned specifically wide receiver Greg Hogan, a 2013 redshirt freshman who the head coach described as a “phenomenal talent.”
“He’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch. He’s an Austin Franklin-type guy, but bigger,” Martin said. “And probably a little faster than Austin. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to be really fun for us to look at.”
High praise a redshirt freshman, although perhaps Hogan and some other newcomers can bring some juice to the Aggie offense.
•••
Martin also said the team wouldn’t replenish the defense - at least not substantially - with junior college players.
The Aggies had a pretty good run of success recruiting through the junior college ranks under head coach DeWayne Walker, although Martin would prefer to build the program recruiting primarily high school players.
Martin said the team would sign three to four junior college players at the most. If those three or four signees are Trashaun Nixon-type players, then that would seem ideal for the Aggies.
Martin said the Aggie defense will likely be a young outfit next season but, “They’ll be fast, and that’s what we’re after.”
•••
Aside from Hogan, Martin said he has high hopes for redshirt freshman offensive tackle Thomas McGwire. Martin said McGwire could very well step in and start for Davonte Wallace, who was a four-year starter at left offensive tackle.
•••
Some tidbits that were reserved for the blog:
Martin said the team could redshirt former Aggie quarterback Travaughn Colwell, who was used throughout the offense last year as the team tried to find ways to get him the football.
Ditto for running back Brandon Betancourt, who suffered a season-ending foot injury Oct. 26 against Abilene Christian.
“If we’ve got enough depth in here where we could put those guys on a redshirt, and build some more depth down the road, that would be a good help too," Martin said. "So that’s something that will come under consideration as we keep moving forward.”
•••
The Aggies will also have to fill a void at punter, where Cayle Chapman-Brown was a very good player the past two years, although just completed his senior year of eligibility.
Martin said the Aggies wouldn’t use a scholarship this offseason on a punter, and are looking at Brock Baca as a candidate for the spot this season.
“Brock Baca has been punting and is actually pretty good. He’s a guy we could use next year,” Martin said. “And we’re going to try to keep bolstering the kicking process through our walk-on program. We really did a great job getting walk-ons in here last year. Some of them are going to be guys that we are going to put on scholarship in the future. I think that’s a good way for us to keep evaluating kickers and punters. You can get them in here, watch them for a year and see if they can really do it under pressure.”
Follow me on Twitter @TeddyFeinberg
Friday, December 20, 2013
Caleb Hull resigns as Oñate football coach
Caleb Hull announced his resignation Friday morning as Oñate High School football coach. The announcement came at a team meeting.
Hull was head coach of the Knights for three years, compiling a 7-23 record during that time and no state playoff appearances. The Knights finished with a 3-7 record this past season.
Check back momentarily for news, updates and analysis of Hull's departure.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Aggie football holds 13-game schedule in 2014, working on resolution for Rice game
The New Mexico State football team currently holds a 13-game schedule in 2014, one more than the standard 12-game college football docket.
Anticipating the possibility of playing an independent schedule in consecutive years, NMSU scheduled as such for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Of course, the Aggies received a football-only membership into the Sun Belt Conference this past March, meaning they'll have an eight-game conference schedule in 2014. According to the website footballschedules.com, NMSU also has 2014 road games at Rice, LSU and UTEP, along with home contests against Cal Poly and New Mexico.
As a result, the Aggie athletics department is currently trying to find a solution for the scheduled road game at Rice. The Owls came to Aggie Memorial Stadium this past season as part of a home-and-home agreement with the Aggies.
Athletics Director McKinley Boston said the Aggies are trying to find the Owls a replacement game - an agreement with another program to visit the Owls and fill the Aggies scheduled visit to Rice in 2014.
Boston also said NMSU has appealed to the NCAA to play a 13-game schedule next year if the Aggies can't find the Owls a replacement opponent. If such an appeal were to be upheld, the Aggies would in fact play at Rice after all.
“It’s not common. But the uniqueness of the WAC (dissolution) of football makes it different," Boston said of the 13-game appeal. "There’s not very many conferences that one year’s playing football and the next year is not.”
Boston said a buyout of the Rice agreement would cost about $200,000.
"Obviously that’s not the option that we’re pursuing," he said.
Anticipating the possibility of playing an independent schedule in consecutive years, NMSU scheduled as such for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Of course, the Aggies received a football-only membership into the Sun Belt Conference this past March, meaning they'll have an eight-game conference schedule in 2014. According to the website footballschedules.com, NMSU also has 2014 road games at Rice, LSU and UTEP, along with home contests against Cal Poly and New Mexico.
As a result, the Aggie athletics department is currently trying to find a solution for the scheduled road game at Rice. The Owls came to Aggie Memorial Stadium this past season as part of a home-and-home agreement with the Aggies.
Athletics Director McKinley Boston said the Aggies are trying to find the Owls a replacement game - an agreement with another program to visit the Owls and fill the Aggies scheduled visit to Rice in 2014.
Boston also said NMSU has appealed to the NCAA to play a 13-game schedule next year if the Aggies can't find the Owls a replacement opponent. If such an appeal were to be upheld, the Aggies would in fact play at Rice after all.
“It’s not common. But the uniqueness of the WAC (dissolution) of football makes it different," Boston said of the 13-game appeal. "There’s not very many conferences that one year’s playing football and the next year is not.”
Boston said a buyout of the Rice agreement would cost about $200,000.
"Obviously that’s not the option that we’re pursuing," he said.
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