Gonzales seeks to put bite into ‘Fear the Fangs’ slogan
Lobos open spring practice with hope after ending last season with two wins
With more than a year under his belt and more time spent coaching his team a few hundred miles to the west in Las Vegas, Nev., instead of the stadium outside his office window, coach Danny Gonzales was all smiles as he got back to the business of football season Tuesday.
Under sunny skies and weather more befitting a round of golf, the University of New Mexico football team went through the paces of spring workouts for the first of 15 practices between now and April 3. Nearly 70 players were on hand for Tuesday morning’s initial workout.
Within a week they’ll be allowed to make full contact in pads, bringing the sound of grown men colliding with one another back to University Stadium since this time last year when the coronavirus first breached Albuquerque’s way of life and forced the university to shut down spring drills 12 months ago.
As excited as he was to talk about being back in Albuquerque for what he hopes is a permanent stay this time, Gonzales couldn’t help but talk about his son’s drafting skills.
Splashed across the front of Gonzales’s black T-shirt was a snarling wolf with the slogan, “Fear the Fangs.” It was designed by the coach’s son and could, if all goes right, become the rallying cry for a team that owned the nation’s longest losing streak until walk-on freshman quarterback Isaiah Chavez helped win a couple of games in December.
“Everywhere I’ve been, it’s been ‘fear-something’ and he came up with it,” Gonzales said, referencing Arizona State’s “Fear the Fork” campaign that resembled Pac 12 rival Stanford and it’s “Fear the Tree” mantra.
“We’ll have them all over the stadium, you watch,” Gonzales said.
For now, the shirt and the slogan are one of a kind. Gonzales said that could change as things progress.
Regardless of what slogan the team rallies around, the prevailing winds of the Gonzales era have brought with them a sense of real optimism and change. The Lobos dropped their first five games last season, prompting the coach to call them, “a terrible football team,” after a loss to Utah State.
The players responded by winning the next two, leaving Chavez atop a crowded depth chart at QB and ushering in a new group of recruits that add to a super-senior class of 14 players who opted to return for one last season.
Tuesday was the opportunity for some of those newcomers to show what they’ve got. Among them are two who could make an immediate impact this fall in freshman running back Aaron Dumas and transfer wide receiver C.J. Boone. Dumas is a player Gonzales said was the steal of December’s early signing period while Boone is making the move p to the Mountain West after spending two years at Missouri in the SEC.
As for Chavez, whether he retains the role of starting QB or is overtaken by one of the half dozen quarterbacks on the roster remains to be seen. All Gonzales knows is the kid has already earned a measure of respect from teammates.
At practice, Chavez has become a vocal force, often shouting instructions and correcting the scout team during drills. Off the field he has broken out of his shell, setting a strong example with a solid work ethic in the weight room, not to mention the respect he’s earned from the coaching staff.
“Isaiah’s a natural leader,” Gonzales said. “I tell the kids all the time, if you want special things, if you want to be treated different, be a good player. Isaiah wore 13 last year, he had 3 on today but he actually came in and asked if he could wear No. 6. I gave it
to him because guys that earn those things, they can ask the questions and get those things. Somebody that comes in and they haven’t played a snap and they want a number, they ain’t getting it.”
The season opener against Houston Baptist is exactly six months away.
As far as Gonzales is concerned, that leaves just enough time for others to join Chavez as leaders — and plenty of time for Fear the Fangs to become the football team’s rallying cry.
NOTES
Fans allowed: The Lobos will allow fans into University Stadium for Saturday’s practice, the first time the public will be allowed to see the team in New Mexico since the 2019 season. Fans are also cleared to attend the March 27 and April 3 workouts in the stadium, but all other practices are closed.
Unfinished business: Gonzales isn’t quite sure what to call the 14 players who took advantage of the NCAA’s exemption that allows seniors from the 2020 season to return for an extra year of eligibility in 2021.
On Tuesday he called them the “COVID seniors,” then amended it to call them “super seniors.”
The Lobos had 27 seniors in the fall, so getting nearly half to return is one of the few bright spots from the team’s meandering road trip that prevented them from practicing or playing at home in 2020.
“Nothing good came out of a pandemic, but we have 14 guys that we wouldn’t have in our team if we didn’t, so I’m going to count it as a blessing,” Gonzales said.