NFL
By: Patrick Newsome
Do you hear that? Those are the winds of change blowing through far West Texas and the entire state of New Mexico. Now this isn’t some funny weather or political term, what I’m writing about is the state of college football in this region and the three major schools that inhabit this region, those being the University of New Mexico (UNM), New Mexico State (NMSU), and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Talk to the very casual college football fan and mention any of these schools and you will probably be met with questions like, “They play football down there?” They sure do play football down there and it is a section of the country that always gets forgotten in the modern-day college football landscape, and that’s a shame.
These schools hold a special place in my heart because these were the teams I watched and supported as a child up until today. Due to the decades of rather average football between the three of them, they became an afterthought through the many conference realignments college football has seen in the last 75 years. Now while the history of these programs is nowhere near the pedigree of the Alabama, Texas, or Michigan’s of the world the brand of football these schools subscribe to and the local support they receive has always endeared them to me and will always tune into the game whenever I see them playing on national television. But like I said, the winds of change are coming to the region and it’s getting me excited for what could be. This season saw UNM and UTEP fire their sitting coaches and go for a change of direction and boy did these schools make a splash. In Albuquerque, UNM decided to part ways with coach Danny Gonzales in the 4th year of a 5-year contract after going 4-8 with a 2-6 Mountain West conference record. New Mexico decided to go with a familiar face, in hiring former BYU and Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Bronco has a proven track record of turning around programs and getting the most out of what he has. At BYU which is constantly ranked as one of the most selective universities to get into because of their faith aspect of the enrollment but he proved he could win in spite of those limitations going 99-39 in his time at BYU with a 39-9 conference record, two conference championships and a 6-5 bowl record. Now down in El Paso, UTEP fired head coach Dana Dimel after going 3-9 in 2023 with an overall record of 20-49 at the school. UTEP goes out and hires a young up and coming coach out of Austin Peay named Scott Walden. Born out of Cleburne, Texas, Walden quickly worked his way up the coaching ladder getting the head coaching job at Austin Peay in 2020 and compiling a record of 26-14 with one appearance in the Division 1 playoff. Lastly is New Mexico State up in Las Cruces, New Mexico who is having a season for the ages.
Under second year head coach jerry kill, the aggies have themselves led by stud junior quarterback Diego Pavia with a record of 10-4 with a 7-1 mark in conference play also a road victory against Auburn coming in SEC territory and in back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since the ‘59-’60 seasons under legendary NMSU coach Warren B. Woodson. Long has this former NMSU student had anything to cheer for when it comes to football, but this is a season I’ll remember for a very long time and has me excited for the future of this program.
While it is still too early to call i believe this region is about to be awakened for the first time in a long time and i will be keenly watching every week to see how this three-way dance turns out because i believe this has the makings of something memorable, that can ignite the long dormant football passions that dwell in this part of the country. I can’t wait to see how this story unfolds in the upcoming year but until the 2024 season kicks off, I’ll just have to be content seeing my NMSU Aggies take on the Fresno State Bulldogs at the New Mexico Bowl on December 16th. Happy Holidays and Go Aggies
