The New Mexico State University football team was in disarray last season after a 3-9 record (1-7 conference), the losses of key players Chase Holbrook and Chris Williams, and the firing of coach Hal Mumme. However it looked like things could only improve for the Aggies – until they got the bill.
On Aug. 13, the Aggie football staff sent out an e-mail asking fans to donate snacks to the players after budget cuts were put in place across campus.
According to an Associated Press report, Athletics Director McKinley Boston said the Board of Regents informed him to trim the athletic fund by $1.5 million, dropping the overall operations fund to about $17 million dollars. At the time of this publication, Boston was not available for further comment.
In an interview with the AP, head football coach DeWayne Walker said it was a tough decision for the team.
“It’s a decision we had to make with regards to our meals,” Walker said. “There a lot of other areas where we have to make tough choices with how we’re going to spend our money.”
The football team is also trying to raise money for their program. Along with the volleyball team, Aggie football is hosting a banquet featuring players from both teams on Aug. 25. Tickets are a $25 per person and $600 per table. The event is “more your typical fundraiser”, according to Walker, much akin to the “Meet the Miners” dinners, under then coach Gary Nord at the University of Texas El Paso years ago.
Walker declined to comment on the amount trimmed from the football team’s budget, but noted that the budget cut is very different compared to the number at UCLA, where Walker had a three-year tenure as defensive coordinator.
Walker said he was concern that the snack donation campaign might seem juvenile to people outside of New Mexico, but mentioned that budget cuts this school year have not been unique to NMSU.
"Everyone's taking cuts," Walker said. "I don't want anybody to read into it that we're the poorest program in the country. We're not. And we're not the only mid-level school that has to go through these kinds of issues."
According to ESPN’s David Duffey, the Aggies are ranked in the 10 bottom teams in college football. The Aggies schedule looks to be more forgiving this season, which is good news for a young Aggie team on the rebound.
The Aggies’s first game is Sept. 5 against the University of Idaho at Aggie Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
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