HEADLINE

Reports: New Mexico tabs ASU DC as next head coach

Field Level Media

December 17, 2019 at 11:27 pm.

New Mexico is hiring Arizona State defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales as its head coach, multiple outlets reported Tuesday.

Gonzales, who is from Albuquerque and played for the Lobos, would replace Bob Davie, whose eight-year run ended last month after a 2-10 season in which he missed two games for what was described as a “serious medical incident.” He was 35-64 as the head coach at New Mexico.

Gonzales, 43, has been ASU’s defensive coordinator for the past two seasons under coach Herm Edwards.

Edwards spoke to reporters Monday about the possibility of Gonzales leaving for the New Mexico job.

“I’m pulling for him,” Edwards said. “If that happens for him, good for him. It’d be great. … We’ve talked about it, and I hope it works for him if that’s what he wants to do. If they offer him the job, I’m going to be happy for him.”

Gonzales, a former walk-on at New Mexico, was a punter and safety before starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Lobos from 1999-2002. He then served as a video coordinator and assistant coach under coach Rocky Long until 2008, and he rejoined Long at San Diego State in 2011, rising to defensive coordinator in 2017.

He will be taking over a program that won nine games in 2016, when it made its second consecutive appearance in the New Mexico Bowl, but the Lobos are 8-28 since then.