Football players defend Lobos head coach

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Two Lobos senior football players came to the defense of Coach Bob Davie on Friday two days after a nasty anonymous letter hit the press.

DeShawn Mills and Joe Stoner are outgoing seniors on the team. They’re both black and were brought in by former Lobos coach, Rocky Long.

Mills and Stoner both say the allegations made recently against Davie are false.

“He wants to put out the best 11 offense-defense special teams that are going to help this team win,” Stoner said. “I don’t think it’s prejudiced. I don’t think it’s racist or anything like that.

"He puts out the people who work hard and who perform.”

A letter sent to media outlets signed by “UNM Senior Football Players” accuses Davie of getting into a fistfight with a player during the Boise State game. It also claims a black player who tested positive for pot at camp was kicked off the team while a white player was not.

Mills said he’s never felt Davie favored white players over black players and that Davie helped turn the team around.

“I feel like Coach Davie treated everyone the same from the first day he came in,” Mills said. “I never felt any favoritism, or I’ve never seen any favoritism towards anybody else.”

As for the letter, both Stoner and Mills say it’s not a representation of the senior class, and it’s not a representation of their coach.

“Whoever you are that wrote that letter and signed it from the seniors, we didn’t have a part in it,” Stoner said. “You’re a coward for not putting your name on it and owning up to what you wrote.”