Mixed grades
How UNM Athletics has done during the 11-year tenure of Paul Krebs in four areas, and whether the trend is up, down or flat in those areas.
For more explanation about how we arrived at these grades, see
ON THE COURT/ FIELD Grade: B-
Trending: Flat
Good number: 34 (league titles in a four-year Krebs span, which he trumpeted in resignation letter) Bad number: 3 (league titles won this year, which he didn’t mention) Football never was better under Krebs than it is now, with a 9-4 record last year, but no better or worse than in the Rocky Long era, and Krebs’ hiring of Mike Locksley (three years of 3-33) is an all-time disaster. Both basketball programs are in the building process under first- and second-year coaches after the golden era of coach Steve Alford, four years removed, and the lackluster results of Craig Neal and Yvonne Sanchez. Baseball has been a solid program, but 2017 ended in disappointment although it won the regular-season title. Among the Olympic sports: Men’s soccer is an occasional national player; tennis has a great facility; volleyball has stagnated but the coach (Jeff Nelson) got a new contract; softball stagnated and its coach (Erica Beach) did not get an extension. Track and field has been out in front of the league for years, but has been caught and passed by Colorado State. Skiing, which won a national championship in 2004, prior to Krebs’ arrival, was cut, then brought back, and who knows for how long?
IN THE CLASSROOM Grade: A
Trending: Up Good number: 43 (academic All-Americans) Bad number: None That includes a collective 3.0 GPA for the last 17 semesters, excellent Academic Progress Rate scores and graduation rates higher than the overall student body. There’s not much to criticize here, even for Krebs’ detractors. UNM’s commitment to academic success, including the creation of the Student-Athlete Success Center, may be seen later as Krebs’ shining moments.
FINANCES Grade: D
Trending: Down
Good number: $9.8 million (raised annually over 10 years through the UNM foundation, per Krebs)
Bad number: $4.4M (owed to the university by athletics after operating in the red seven of nine years, soon to be eight of 10) UNM just secured a $10 million naming gift, largest in the history of UNM athletics, which certainly is a feather in its cap. But raising money is part of the job, as much as landing the plane is a pilot’s job. Instead, the attention now is on the investigations from the attorney general and state auditor over how UNM has handled its money and fundraising. State Auditor Tim Keller said the scope of the investigation is much broader than the 2015 Scotland trip in which Krebs admitted to using athletic funds to pay for himself, then-basketball coach Craig Neal, and Lobo Club Executive Director Kole McKamey to go. Then he admitted that athletics paid for three boosters to go, which would violate law and school policy. This mess awaits the next AD. And lagging ticket sales in both football and basketball have resulted in a disconnect with some fans and led to decisions to discount some tickets for 2017-18.
FACILITIES Grade: C
Trending: Flat
Good number: $85 million (in facility construction and renovation projects)
Bad number: 0 (NCAA basketball tourney host bids won by UNM in last three bid cycles) Nearly every program on campus has received a renovation or upgrade of some sort, and tennis and baseball did so with significant private gifts. What stops Krebs from getting a higher grade here is the $60 million Pit renovation that created suites that haven’t sold well, pervasive complaints about the arena’s sound problems, and failure to make the facility more attractive to the NCAA for tournament basketball. No games are coming to the Pit through at least 2022, and UNM said this last time that the NCAA’s main objection is its custom courts don’t fit in the confined Pit surface.