U.N.M. explains Locksley firing

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) - UNM Athletic Director Paul Krebs admitted Monday that he made a mistake in hiring Mike Locksley. A mistake that will cost the cost about $750,00 for the remainder year and $240,000 for the next year.

That's for the remainder of this season and the buyout for the next two years.

UNM President David Schmidly said he is one-thousand percent behind Krebs saying Krebs has made a lot of good hires and built up the lobos athletic program overall.

As for Krebs, he didn't try to sugarcoat his hiring of Locksley.

"Hindsight is 20/20 if I knew then what I know now would I have made a different decision? Yes," Krebs said.

He said Locksley's dismal performance on the field combined with problems off the the field made this the right time to let him go.

Krebs says both he and Locksley agreed Saturday's embarrassing loss to lower division Sam Houston State in the homecoming game was a litmus test for the rest of the season.
A homecoming game that saw the Lobos lowest attendance since 1992.

"We had to make a change we needed to make a change we expect our fan base to rally lobo fans are great if we put a product on the field we do the right thing our fans turn out," Krebs said.

Under Locksley's watch, the lobos have only won two games. They've yet to grab a win this season and Locksley will leave the lobos with a record of 2 and 26.
The worst record for a lobo football coach in the past century.

In not just the record. It's the way they've lost, losing by an average of about 30 points a game in the Locksley era.

University officials say Locksley did some good for the lobos.

Last spring the team had the second highest G.P.A. for a U.N.M. football team for the last 10 years.

Those players logged 550 community service hours.