http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7242433/bob-davie-new-mexico-lobos-coach Thoughts from Notre Dame group?
Less than a week after their push for a perfect season was crushed with a win vs UNLV they hire Bullet Bob. Well he sure doesn't have a tough act to follow. I thought that his "Football 101" columns were perfect since them that can DO and them that can't.....ah you know. Seriously, I wonder what kind of a staff he can put together. At one time he was pretty successful recruiting in Texas but it's been a decade. Maybe his TV celebrity will help. I'm thinking he might have picked up some pointers in building a winning football team from Matt Millen. :twisted:
Good luck to him, 10 years is a long time to be away from the sidelines. I know he's been connected to the game by virtue of being a commentator but it's still a long time since he was a coach. I doubt if he can overcome that, and it doesn't help that he is trying to do it at New Mexico.
I never thought he was a great coach but he handled himself well in my opinion. At Notre Dame you can go 35-25 and be considered a total failure. I enjoyed his commentary on ESPN. I hope he does well.
I may be crazy, but I think he'll do OK there. He's not going to have any dark harpys like me or Corey or Malloy hovering over him, picking away at every decision that he makes. The bar is set so low at New Mexico that he'll probably finish out his career there. A guy I grew up with (Rocky Long) lasted 11 years in that job just by going 65-69. I think Bob can handle that... If Davie actually learned his lessons from the Notre Dame job, he might even do real well. He's a better than average recruiter; a good communicator; and an outstanding defensive coach. If he can find someone to run his offense for him and stay out of the guy's way, then I don't see any problem with him having an 11 year career there too... BTW- several of the guys off my high school football team went on to play at New Mexico and they loved it. The school is an easy sell, even for California and Texas recruits, if you can get them to visit the campus.
The only problem with UNM is you have to live in New Mexico. I turned down a scholarship to that school because that place is such a hole.
You have to drink and drive to live in New Mexico. That allows you to weave in sync with the rest of the population that gets blasted behind the wheel. You also need a GPS locator to find your house from constant shifting sand blowing in the wind. Other than that, it's a great place to live! 8)
Drugs, drive-thru liquor stores serving mixed drinks through the window (this may have changed since the 90s), gang violence, what's not to like? Hands down, Albuquerque was THE worst place I've ever lived. They even call their basketball arena the PIT, they know it's bad, too. (We had our graduation ceremony there.) The ONLY thing I miss is the food. New Mexican excellent. I've been back only once since leaving, for a baseball tourney both A&M and Wazzu were playing in. Went with Scott.