Dec. 10—New Mexico football, a little over a year after its last coaching search, is right back to the drawing board.
After Bronco Mendenhall was hired by Utah State, the Lobos are looking for their third head coach in as many years.
UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo said the search will be a “national process,” but didn’t shed much light on a potential timeline or if previous head coaching experience would be a priority.
“We’re going to hire someone that’s a person of integrity,” Lovo told the Journal on Saturday. “Somebody that does things the right way always — that’s really important to me, that’s very important to (UNM President Garnett S. Stokes) and our university leadership. We will never waver from that.
“We’re also going to hire somebody that cares deeply about the student-athletes, and is committed to their development both on and off the field. And I know those sound like obvious elements of a search, but for me, those are critical.”
With the search underway, a list of six potential candidates:
Matt Wells
Analysis: A former head coach at Utah State and Texas Tech, Wells, 51, interviewed for the UNM job last year before he was hired as Kansas State’s assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator. The two-time Mountain West Coach of the Year was 44-34 through six years in Logan, Utah, leading the Aggies to five bowl games. He was left for Lubbock, Texas after the 2018 season and was fired midway through his third year with the Red Raiders.
Before he was a head coach, Wells worked as UNM’s wide receivers coach in two separate stints under former head coaches Rocky Long and Mike Locksley. He’s also cousins with former UNM baseball coach Ray Birmingham. And if he didn’t get the job last year, it’s not because he flunked the interview.
“I think the world of him, I really do,” former UNM Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez said last December. “I think he’s a superb coach and an unbelievable person. He deserves to be a head coach in this league.”
Zach Arnett
Analysis: Arnett, 38, was elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach at Mississippi State in the wake of Mike Leach’s death in 2022, later leading the Bulldogs to an emotional 19-10 win over Illinois in the Reliaquest Bowl. But he was fired less than a year later after compiling a 4-6 record in his first season, and was subsequently hired by rival Ole Miss as a defensive analyst.
Few on this list have as many local ties as Arnett, a La Cueva High School graduate and former linebacker at UNM from 2005-08. And if UNM wants a hire that matches its most notable periods of success — namely the Long era — he fits that to a tee.
But Arnett’s more or less the same hire as former head coach Danny Gonzales — with much less experience. Does UNM want to go back in a similar direction so quickly?
Gary Patterson
Analysis: Patterson, 64, is perhaps the loftiest candidate on this list, having compiled a 181-79 record over 22 seasons with TCU. But he was linked to the job last season, and Patterson’s been adamant about his desire to get back into coaching full-time. He was reportedly a finalist for the Houston job last year before the school hired Willie Fritz. That being said, Patterson hasn’t stayed in advising roles at Texas and Baylor for longer than a season, and it’s fair to question how suited he’d be for a new era driven by the transfer portal and NIL.
Could UNM — where he served as former head coach Dennis Franchione’s defensive coordinator from 1996-97 — effectively scratch his itch? Or is Patterson — a country singer and songwriter, podcast host and safari enthusiast — content to ride into the sunset for good?
Holmon Wiggins
Analysis: Wiggins, 44, got a look during last year’s search for UNM’s next coach. And for good reason: The former Lobo running back from 1998-2001 started his coaching career at UNM just over 20 years ago and eventually became Alabama’s assistant head coach and wide receivers coach under Nick Saban.
With the Crimson Tide, Wiggins notably coached 2020 Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, the first wide receiver to win college football’s top honor in nearly 30 years. Wiggins just finished his first regular season as Texas A&M’s co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under Mike Elko — is he primed for a head coaching job at a lower level?
Jason Eck
Analysis: It seems like it’s a matter of when, not if, Eck, 47, lands an FBS job. Since he was named Idaho’s head coach in 2022, Eck has led the previously moribund Vandals to the FCS playoffs over his three seasons at the helm — in the rigorous Big Sky Conference, no less. Eck has notably claimed wins over Nevada and Wyoming over the last two years; the former, a 33-6 drubbing in which Idaho outclassed the Wolf Pack.
UNM is unlikely to be his only suitor, however: Eck, a La Crosse, Wisconsin native, is linked to the Ohio opening and was reportedly getting looks from Utah State before the Aggies hired Mendenhall. Idaho plays top-seed Montana State in the FCS playoffs this weekend — could that factor into any potential hiring?
Tom Herman
Analysis: Herman, 49, was fired as Florida Atlantic’s head coach in November, ending a messy 6-16 run over two seasons with the Owls. But if the former Texas and Houston coach didn’t live up to the Longhorns’ gaudy expectations (32-18 over four seasons in Texas), he still brings a commanding 60-36 career record to the table. And when the pieces are in place, Herman calls one heck of an offense.
But perhaps most important? He has deep ties to Lovo, with the two working together at Ohio State, Houston and Texas. “Alignment” has long been an introductory press conference favorite among administrators, but it’s hard to imagine a candidate being more aligned with Lovo — and vice versa — than Herman.
