ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – UNM head football coach Danny Gonzales described the last three seasons as “miserable.” Going into year four, Gonzales is extremely optimistic thanks to over 40 new players.

“When you bring in forty new guys it can go in either direction,” he said. “Our guys that have been here for three years, they took control, they took charge of how we’re going to do things. They made sure that the guys that came in weren’t primadonnas, didn’t think they were better than us and they’re doing it our way.””

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The main struggle for the Lobos over the last few seasons has been on offense, but with a beefed up offensive line, coach Gonzales believes that the help in the trenches will translate into wins.

“On paper and on the practice field, we made significant improvement upfront. That’s the biggest question of our football team is how is the o-line going to perform? If you’re not good enough upfront on offense or defense, you don’t have a chance anyway. So, we have high expectations.”

Meanwhile, high school football training camp has already began and a few schools have a new head coach. However, one of those teams has a better situation for a first year head coach than most, as Greg Crow is taking over a Ruidoso program coming off a state championship.

“The players know what kind of tradition they have to protect, what’s come before them and how hard those guys had to work,” Crow said. “So, those guys have dove into the transition wonderfully.”

In other news, New Mexico United is coming off its first loss in over a month. They still sit in good position for a playoff berth, but know it is going to be a battle in the gauntlet of the western conference.

“I think the western conference is really tight, top to bottom,” said Will Seymore. “Once we keep getting consistently wins and draws and getting points and stuff, I think we’ll be fine. It’s one of those things that everyone on this team believes. I think our trajectory is going upwards every week.”