Gamblin enjoyed time with Davie
Former Lobos WR says he never witnessed UNM coach using racial slurs
Dameon Gamblin wanted to make it perfectly clear. He would speak about only his experiences with Bob Davie and no one else’s.
There, too, was this caveat. Davie, Gamblin’s head coach during the wide receiver’s four years at the University of New Mexico, spent most of his time with the defense. Theirs was not an up-close and personal relationship.
Nonetheless, Gamblin said, “(Regarding) my relationship with coach Davie, I can’t complain at all . ... When he did interact (with the wide receivers), it was positive, constructive criticism, things of that nature.”
And, regarding accusations made about Davie’s behavior in three separate investigations that led to the seventh-year coach being suspended for 30 days without pay:
Gamblin, who is black, said he never heard Davie use the n-word or any other racial slur.
Nor did he hear Davie, at a team meeting, tell players to “get me some dirt,” on a woman who had accused a player of rape — nor did he hear Davie refer to the woman in a derogatory fashion.
The word that best encapsulates Gamblin’s feelings toward Davie, perhaps, is gratitude.
Gamblin, a productive but smallish wide receiver from Mesquite, Texas, had few scholarship offers coming out of high school. Davie extended one and brought Gamblin to Albuquerque in 2013.
During his freshman year, Gamblin said, Davie told him, “‘You’re a lot better than I thought you were gonna be. I thought you were just gonna be another quick guy, but you’re a technician.’
“He complimented me pretty generously.”
In August 2016, Gamblin’s father, Larry, died suddenly of a heart attack. Two months earlier, Kaiden Collier, a lifelong friend, had died in a car crash. That same year, Gamblin lost a great aunt and two more longtime friends.
Through it all, he said, Davie was beyond supportive.
“Coach Davie, he allowed me to be with my family in time of need,” Gamblin said. “His door was open. I was never afraid to go in there and tell him my problems or what was going on.
“He put my family first before the team, I can say that.”
Gamblin said he was aware other former players felt otherwise about their interaction with Davie — including two of his closest friends on the team.
Cranston Jones, a cornerback who was part of Davie’s first UNM recruiting class in 2012, was one of a few players who spoke on the record about Davie to independent journalist Daniel Libit.
Jones said he recalled Davie making a racially insensitive joke and said he found the head coach to be cold and unapproachable.
“Anytime he talks to anybody, you can feel his power being exerted on you,” Jones was quoted as saying. “... He doesn’t care if you trust him or like him.”
Another former player, like Gamblin a member of the 2013 signing class, left the team after the 2014 season, returned in 2016, then left for good before the 2017 season.
He is believed to be the player who in August sent an email or letter to the office of UNM President Chaouki Abdallah, detailing his grievances against Davie and the program.
With due respect to his former teammates, Gamblin said, “I can’t speak on anybody else’s experiences with the program. I can only speak on my own.”
In the findings of an investigation into Davie’s conduct by the UNM Office of Equal Opportunity, it is alleged that Davie often used the n-word. The incident with seemingly the most credibility occurred during a practice, when Davie allegedly used the inflammatory term in response to a black player who used it.
Gamblin, though, said, “I personally never experienced him using the n-word. I can’t speak for other athletes, but me personally, I never had a problem with him being a racist or spewing racial slurs of any kind.”
Gamblin said he was present at the team meeting at which Davie has been accused of telling his players to “get dirt” on the accuser of a player in a rape case, allegedly calling the woman “that (expletive).”
“I remember the incident,” he said. “But that (a Journal reporter related to him as being said) was not said, and he didn’t call the player out personally, even though (that player) was sitting in the room.
“Only a handful of guys really knew at that time who (Davie) was talking about.”
Asked if Davie had said anything derogatory about the player’s alleged victim, Gamblin said, “Not to my recollection.”
During his career at UNM, Gamblin — better known during his UNM career as “Gambo” — caught 62 passes, more than any other player during that span in the Lobos’ run-oriented offense, for 710 yards with five touchdowns. He led the team in receptions as a junior and as a senior.
Most memorably, he caught a 28-yard, game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Apodaca against Hawaii at University Stadium in 2015.
He now is back in the Dallas area, working and coaching.