Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

CLEVELAND, OH - The New Mexico State football team landed 11 players on the Phil Steele's 2013 Preseason All-Independent Team as announced by Phil Steele, Thursday morning. The Aggies had four offensive players including two offensive linemen on the list, while the defense grabbed six awards as well. Special teams were not overlooked as two Aggies were recognized.

Junior Austin Franklin was named a first team selection at wide receiver and was the only Aggie to be named to the first team for the offense. Offensive tackle Davonte Wallace earned second team honors, while running back Germi Morrison and offensive guard Andy Cunningham and were named a third team picks.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Green Bay Packers announced Tuesday the Signing of former New Mexico State defensive end Donte Savage. Savage is listed as a linebacker with the Packers. The transaction was announced by Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations.

Savage participated in the team’s rookie orientation camp this past weekend on a tryout basis. Savage played in all 12 games at defensive end for the Aggies in 2012 and led the defensive line with 45 tackles, including seven tackles for loss, three sacks, four QB hurries, two blocked kicks, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed. As a sophomore in 2009, he registered 53 tackles, including 12 tackles for loss, six sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, two passes defensed and a blocked punt.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State University and its athletics department announced Wednesday that an invitation has been extended and accepted to join the Sun Belt Conference as a football-only member. This move is pending NM State Board of Regents approval. NM State will begin competition in the Sun Belt in the fall of 2014.

There is no question that the Sun Belt Conference is a league on the rise in football. The conference finished with its most non-conference wins in league history in 2012 and also sent a record four teams to bowl games. The conference also finished the 2012 season with its best ever average computer ranking – finishing ahead of Conference USA and the Mountain West. The league also had two wins over top-25 ranked opponents and Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State won their respective bowl games.   Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State head football coach Doug Martin announced Thursday that Zane Vance has been hired as the program’s linebackers coach. Vance was the linebackers coach under coach Martin while as Kent State.

"I'm honored to be considered and very excited about the opportunity to coach at New Mexico State and be a part of Coach Martin’s staff," Vance said. "I really enjoyed my time while interviewing in Las Cruces. I think New Mexico State is full of potential and I’m glad to have the opportunity to be a part it."

"Coach Vance and I go back about 25 years when we had our first jobs together at East Tennessee State," Martin said. "He was the first coach I hired when I was named the head coach at Kent State. He is one of the best recruiters I’ve ever been around in 28 years of coaching. Coach Vance brings a lot of experience to our defensive staff at the linebacker position."  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State head football coach Doug Martin announced Thursday that Don Decker has been hired as the Aggies’ Head Football Strength & Conditioning Coach. Decker brings over 22 years of experience to the NM State football program.

"Coach Decker has a lot of experience as a former SEC strength and conditioning coach at Arkansas and at Ole’ Miss," Martin said. "He brings a wealth of experience in speed and strength to our program and I think his knowledge of football in general having played the quarterback position in college really adds to his ability to be a top notch strength coach for us."

"I’m really excited about the opportunity to be the next head football strength and conditioning coach at NM State," Decker said. "I'm excited about the vision that Coach Martin has for the program, the leadership he provides and I’m thankful to be a part of that."  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Head football coach Doug Martin announced Monday that Kevin McKeethan has been named the team’s new tight ends coach. He will also serve as the program’s academic liaison.

"Kevin is a really creative and intelligent football coach and has paid his dues with me, having been a graduate assistant at Kent State," Martin said. "I was really impressed with him at Kent State and always knew that I would hire him somewhere down the road and this is a great opportunity. Kevin relates very well with the players and has great interest in their academic life, so he will coordinate our academic resources with the players as well. This is a tremendous hire for New Mexico State."  Continue Reading This Post >>

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – New Mexico State head football coach Doug Martin announced today the hiring of Gregg Brandon as the Aggies’ new offensive coordinator/quarterback coach. Brandon brings over 32 years of experience to the Aggie coaching staff and a high-powered offense that has guided teams from Wyoming and Bowling Green.

“This is one of the top recruits we got this year,” Martin said. “Gregg (Brandon) brings a wealth of experience that is hard to find at this level, while being one of only two people I trust to hand over the play calling for this offense. Obviously having head coaching experience at the Division I level at Bowling Green University gives him a lot of experiences that will be very valuable to this program. I think the biggest thing that Aggie fans need to know is that Gregg Brandon wanted to be here at New Mexico State.”  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

2013 Schedule

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The NM State Athletics Department announced today the Aggies’ 2013 Independent football schedule, perhaps the greatest home schedule in school history. NM State will face four teams from BCS conferences in 2013, including two of them at home. The Aggies will be one of six schools in 2013 to play an Independent football schedule.

The home schedule includes several high points:

· Seven homes game, tied for the most to ever be held in Aggie Memorial Stadium
· NM State will host two schools from a BCS conference, the first time in program history
· For the first time, a Big 10 opponent will play in Aggie Memorial Stadium (Minnesota)
· For the first time, an ACC team will play in Aggie Memorial Stadium (Boston College)  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State head football coach Doug Martin announced the Aggies’ 2013 signing class Wednesday afternoon. Twenty-two student-athletes signed a National Letter of Intent/Financial Aid Agreement with the Aggies to attend New Mexico State University and play football beginning in 2013.

The Aggies’ 2013 signing class is full of junior college transfers and high school student-athletes. The defensive line (4), defensive backs (6) and wide receivers (4) were a focus for Martin’s first signing class as head coach at NM State. The Aggies signed four linebackers, two offensive lineman and a running back.

“I thought our staff did a really great job of beating the bushes and holding on to our commitments during a stressful time in the recruiting process,” Martin said. “I really like the team speed we have on both sides of the ball and I think we really hit on some of the needs we had at the linebacker and wide receiver positions. I think the offensive lineman we got are high school kids we can really develop into outstanding players. It’s a large group and a very talented group.”

The Aggies signed a mixture of athletes, including six junior college/transfer signees and 16 high school student-athletes.

“We are trying to move away from the junior college heavy signing classes,” Martin said. “We are still going to recruit skill players at the junior college level but especially in the offensive and defensive lines we want to get high school kids to give us a chance to develop them both in their skill set and strength wise.”  Continue Reading This Post >>