Lobos earn back fans, donors

Albuquerque (KRQE) - It's amazing what a few wins will do. After winning only three games in three years, and driving away fans and donors in droves, the lobo football team is not only winning games again, they're winning back fans and donors.

UNM President Bob Frank said,”I think Coach Davie is going to be a legendary coach at the University of New Mexico.”

Coach Bob Davie has made a big impression on and off the field. His lobos are now 4-3. While they haven't beaten any big-time teams, any win is a huge win after what happened under Coach Mike Locksley’s watch.

“There is more interest I think people are a little more excited, people want to feel good about the money they give to UNM,” Lee De Leon with the Lobo Club said. “When we have a winning product on the field, their more excited and more prone to support us financially.”

The Lobo Club, which is in charge of wooing donors for all of UNM's athletic programs, says people are a lot more willing to talk about giving money these days.

In fact, De Leon, says his department is in talks with donors looking to fork over six and seven digit sums to the university. A big change from the past few seasons.

“In the past it was kind of basketball is great, men's soccer is great, some of our other Olympic sports are doing well but football is a problem and I don’t' want to support the Lobo's if our football team is an embarrassment, now that's no longer the case,” said De Leon.

President Bob Frank said, “An athletic program that is successful is wonderful, an athletic program that is not so successful does not do as well for everyone.”

Frank knows what those wins mean for the rest of the university as well.

“It’s unfortunately a well known fact that when athletics succeeds it goes to all parts of the university. We love it and it's good for the university and we are going to enjoy it,” said Frank.

Attendance is up almost seven thousand a home game over last year and we've learned that the football program is already close to earning what it projected to make for the whole season. With three home games still left.