New Mexico running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt in 2023 against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. He amassed 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns in 12 games for the Lobos. Croskey-Merritt transferred to No. 21 Arizona and faces his old team Saturday.
Then-UNM coach Danny Gonzales in 20222 against LSU in New Orleans. He is now the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at No. 21 Arizona, which hosts UNM on Saturday.
New Mexico running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt in 2023 against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. He amassed 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns in 12 games for the Lobos. Croskey-Merritt transferred to No. 21 Arizona and faces his old team Saturday.
Sam Craft/Associated Press file photo
Then-UNM coach Danny Gonzales in 20222 against LSU in New Orleans. He is now the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at No. 21 Arizona, which hosts UNM on Saturday.
Matthew Hinton/Associated Press file photo
UNM’s Luke Wysong, right, is tackled by Montana State’s Caden Dowler on Aug. 24 in Albuquerque. On Saturday, the 0-1 Lobos play No. 21 Arizona.
The border war that used to determine the owner of the Kit Carson Rifle has not, according to some cursory research, been redubbed the Danny Gonzales Bowl.
After four years of struggles as the University of New Mexico’s football coach, the Albuquerque-born UNM graduate was fired as the Lobos’ boss after last season. He has since resurfaced as the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Arizona.
Those teams meet Saturday night at Tucson’s Arizona Stadium in the season opener for the 21st-ranked Wildcats. The Lobos (0-1) come in as 30-point underdogs after a demoralizing fourth-quarter implosion last week against Montana State.
Since he was handed his pink slip in November, Gonzales has shut down virtually all communication with those not in his immediate hometown circle. He has, however, made himself available for a few appearances in front of Arizona’s media and displayed the familiar rah-rah attitude that made him so popular in Albuquerque.
He shared the story of how Arizona coach Brent Brennan, a rival to Gonzales when coaching at San Jose State the last few years before taking over the Wildcats in the offseason, first reached out to him.
“I’ve known coach Brennan a long time and have always said, if I had the opportunity to work for him, with him, however, I was going to do it in a heartbeat,” Gonzales said. “And when that phone rang, now usually I give my wife all the credit and tell her I’m going to ask, I said yes. She was in the car. I was at Home Depot when he called doing some honey-dos and stuff.”
Gonzales didn’t go to Tucson empty handed. He took running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt and offensive lineman Shancco Matautia with him via the transfer portal. Croskey-Merritt’s exit was especially painful. He was far and away UNM’s top rusher last season, amassing 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns while playing in all 12 games.
His durability, athleticism and tremendous upside made him a prized addition to Arizona’s offense, enough so that he’s firmly entrenched as a starter.
“I’ve had a couple players that kind of went through the same situation, and the biggest thing for them is just, don’t let it be about you,” Brennan said of Croskey-Merritt, a player affectionately known as “Bill” during his time at UNM. “Let it be about this team, and that’s what it’s about anyway. I think Jacory’s in a good head space and he’s excited to play.”
The defense he’ll be facing appears vulnerable to the running game. Montana State shredded the Lobos for 362 rushing yards.
“What I shared with the team [this week] is they’re capable but not consistent, and there’s a difference,” said New Mexico coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Mendenhall’s Lobos will be a work in progress. After Gonzales was shown the door, 42 players transferred into the program after Mendenhall was named the head coach.
He said that enormous influx of fresh faces means there’s talent to go around, but not the cohesion to make it work — yet.
“Execution, consistency and context, we have a lot of work to do in terms of maintaining that throughout,” he said.
Mendenhall said his research suggests there are three to five plays every game that determine the outcome. After reviewing the film from the Montana State loss, he found it to be true. A dropped pass here, a breakdown on defensive scheme there, mistakes in coverage in a two-minute situation — those are the things that stood between an opening week win and a loss that halted momentum.
Against Arizona, the challenge is much more daunting. The Wildcats are ranked No. 21 in the preseason polls and are embarking on their first season in the newly expanded Big 12. Gonzales is certainly part of that, coaching a linebacking corps that is considered among the best in the conference, if not the country.
Adjusting to his new surroundings isn’t all about navigating relationships with new players. This is the first season the NCAA is allowing coaches to communicate with players on the field via headsets.
They can also use tablets on the sidelines to immediately diagnose plays and make adjustments on the fly. During his time at UNM, Gonzales always prided himself on the old-school approach of observing and making decisions based on what he saw, not on what a tablet is showing him.
“Us adjusting to all those things and being able to communicate, we’re still working that whole deal out,” he said. “I’m a little disappointed with the iPads, to be honest with you, because [Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina] — and this is going to sound a little arrogant and I don’t mean it to be — but myself in our career we’ve done some really good things with adjustments, and being able to see things without having to rely on a computer.”
It’s a whole new world, and finding his place in it has been perhaps the biggest challenge for Gonzales.
On Saturday with a national television audience looking on, he’ll take the first step against the team that has always been a part of his identity.