UNM signs 11 new players for football
Dec. 22—ALBUQUERQUE — It was with a sense of optimism and promise that Danny Gonzales announced Wednesday the 11 names added to the University of New Mexico football family.
As part of an orchestrated National Signing Day feel-good tour that kicked off with an hourlong chat with local media in The Pit and continued well into the night with live radio spots and a meet-and-greet with boosters, the head coach sat behind the desk usually reserved for Lobos basketball coach Richard Pitino, and talked about recruiting, the NCAA transfer portal, the loss of his mentor and the progress of a massive overhaul of the UNM program.
"Lobo football is not going anywhere," Gonzales said. "2023 is going to be a lot of fun."
Eight of the 11 are high school seniors, including three from New Mexico. Signed as receivers, Evan Wysong and Nic Trujillo led Cleveland to the Class 6A state championship, while La Cueva senior Aidan Armenta quarterbacked La Cueva to the state finals after one of the most prolific passing seasons in New Mexico prep football history.
Eight of the recruits are slated to play offense while seven will be enrolled at UNM in time for the spring semester. Gonzales said he expects to sign at least seven or eight additional recruits for the open signing period that begins in late January. Of those, all or most will be plucked straight from the transfer portal.
Gonzales said 16 players from last season's 2-10 team have entered into the portal. While each is technically able to return to UNM if they don't land any offers, Gonzales said once one of his players puts their name into the portal, the Lobos will not re-recruit them.
He said their exodus gave the UNM staff a chance to take a deep dive into the recruiting world because without them leaving, the Lobos would have had just four open scholarships for the current recruiting class. Only four members of last season's roster exhausted their eligibility by season's end.
"You want to have a [recruiting] class with four kids?" he asked. "No, I don't."
Perhaps the two biggest signings Gonzales could have made were, instead, pushed back for a few more days. Neither had anything to do with the players.
Gonzales said he has hired an offensive coordinator and, once that coach clears the human resources process, will be introduced in the next few days. He also said he'll promote one of his own staffers to take over as defensive coordinator after good friend and longtime mentor Rocky Long unexpectedly resigned last week to take the same position at Syracuse.
While the new offensive coordinator has the freedom to revamp the entire playbook and install a new scheme, the new defensive coordinator will cede all game-day play calls to Gonzales. Gonzales said he'll keep Long's famed 3-3-5 scheme but make all decisions himself from the sidelines.
Both new coordinators will be introduced soon, he said.
As for the players coming in, Gonzales raved about the three New Mexico prep products and the talent of incoming freshman quarterback Devon Dampier, a 6-foot, 195-pound product of Saguaro High School of Saguaro, Ariz. He was named the Arizona player of the year this past season.
Two of the most pressing needs for the Lobos after finishing 2-10 this season were receivers and offensive linemen. Gonzales addressed both, signing four receivers and two linemen. Devon Smith is a 6-6, 290-pound product of Jones College in Mississippi while Matthew Toilolo is a 6-3, 305 freshman from Long Beach, Calif.
Wysong highlights the receiver's list. He's the younger brother of Lobo Luke Wysong and was recently named the Gatorade Player of the Year.
The emphasis moving forward into the next recruiting class is the transfer portal, the NCAA's version of one-stop shopping for players leaving their current programs in search of something better. With several current players expected to join the list of Lobos in the portal, Gonzales expects to ink close to 20 players before spring ball starts in March.
