Locksley, Gerald trade verbal jabs

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The tale of an altercation involving University of New Mexico football Head Coach Mike Locksley shifted again Friday as UNM released documents it denied having that revealed witness allegations officials claimed didn't exist.

Also on Friday Locksley and receiver's coach J.B. Gerald gave contradictory interviews to ESPN with Gerald claiming he was punched and choked while Locksley denied it happened.

Among the documents belatedly released by the university were an investigator's handwritten notes on interviews with four assistant coaches who were present at the Sept. 18 coaches meeting. The Lobos had lost to Air Force the day before when things turned physical.

"Locks was upset about some of the plays and wanted to know if Gerald is gonna get it done," offensive line coach Mike Degory is quoted as saying. "Gerald said yeah I can get it done.

"Locksley started heading towards Gerald reached out and started choking him."

Degory said he intervened and was holding his boss back even as Locksley continued swinging at Gerald.

Others grabbed Gerald.

"Two of the coaches grab me and had my hands at my side, and one of the coaches grabbed him," Gerald said in an interview broadcast Friday on the ESPN program Outside the Lines. "Now as this is going on he is swinging punches continuously trying to go after me.

"I can't block any of them, and one hits me in the lip,"

Locksley told a different story of the incident.

"I did not punch J.B. Gerald; I did not," he said on ESPN. "I was on his shirt outside his collar like you grab a guy around his collar."

Word of the incident got out after Gerald filed a police report. Locksley later said he had promptly apologized to all concerned.

At a Sept. 28 news conference UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs said he had dealt with the trouble by issuing verbal and written reprimands to Locksley.

Then the UNM Human Resources Department got involved launching an investigation into whether Locksley had violated the university's code of conduct by striking a colleague. That led to a 10-day suspension that Locksley served before returning to practice early this week.

At an Oct. 13 news conference Krebs said the Human Resources investigation concluded no witnesses confirmed Gerald's claim of being hit by Locksley.

"There were no witnesses to verify coach Gerald's allegation that coach Locksley threw a punch," Krebs said at the time. "Let me be clear about that, very clear about that. There were no witnesses to verify coach Gerald's allegation that coach Locksley threw a punch."

After the news conference KRQE News 13 filed a formal request under the state Inspection of Public Records Act asking for documents related to the investigation. The university responded by saying there were no documents to hand over because nothing was written down.

Now News 13 has obtained written notes of interviews with assistant coaches present at the meeting and photographs of Gerald purporting to show his neck bruised and his arm and lip cut from contact by Locksley.

When asked why the documents were not delivered in response to the original request UNM apologized to News 13 and said it made a mistake. News 13 Friday made repeated requests to speak to UNM President David Schmidly about the failure to comply with the state public-records law but was told he was not available.

Krebs, reached by phone in San Diego where the Lobos play San Diego State Saturday, maintained there is no evidence Locksley punched Gerald.

"I cannot explain the cut on his lip," Krebs said late Friday. "There was a scuffle."

Krebs dismissed any notion the discrepancies in the accounts should provide cause for him to resign.

"I've been in the business for 30 years, and my whole career has been dedicated to being an open, honest, ethical leader," he said.

For his part Gerald remains on paid administrative leave but made it clear he has no plans of returning.

"I refused to work for somebody who feels they can put their hands on me in a place of work let alone anywhere," he told ESPN. "I won't work for them another day."