New Lobos coach getting defensive

New Mexico head football coach Rocky Long's first WAC Media Day press conference got off to a late start Tuesday at the MGM Grand Hotel Conference Center.

The reason? Most of the media still was outside the interview room chating with BYU's LaVell Edwards.

After a ten minute delay, Long, the man whose unique blitzing schemes were a major reason UCLA landed a Cotton Bowl berth last season, finally took his turn at the podium.

"This is the first time I've done this," Long, who replaced new TCU coach Dennis Franchione, said. "But I do understand the hierarchy of the coaching profession. If you want Coach Edwards to come back in here, that's fine with me."

Long, a former star quarterback at New Mexico, had spent 24 years as a college assistant before taking over the head job of the Lobos last December 20. He says he had no desire to become a head coach until New Mexico contacted him after Franchione decided to head for Fort Worth.

"This was totally unplanned," Long said.

"I had no desire to be a college head coach until the University of New Mexico called. It surprised me when they did because earlier in my career I had applied there a couple of times and didn't even get a call. But when the old alma mater called this time, it became an emotional decision. I couldn't turn it down."

The 48-year-old former three-time all-WAC academic selection has some big cleats to fill.

Franchione led the Lobos to a 9-4 record and the WAC's Mountain Division title last year as well as the school's first bowl appearance in 36 years, a 20-14 loss to Arizona in the Insight.com Bowl. And with star quarterback Graham Leigh back, expectations are unusually high for another big season in Albuquerque.

But New Mexico suffered heavy graduation losses and has just 10 returning starters, including only two on defense.

"We have a lot of holes to fill," Long said. "All five of our defensive backs are gone and they're all in NFL camps right now. We've got young talent, but they still have to learn to play."

And learn to play Long's complicated defensive schemes. Although UCLA finished second in the nation in turnover margin last year (plus 20) and 15th both in rush defense (108.3 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (103.84 rating), it took almost the entire 1996 season before the Bruin defense finally began to click.

"It is a very complicated and detailed defense," Long said. "You don't only have to know your assignment but also the man next to you's assignment. At most places it takes a couple of years before the players feel comfortable with it. But it's a scheme that the players love.

"To the average fan, it looks like chaos and freelance but it isn't. The faster the players understand it, the faster it begins working."

How long does Long believe it will take his new defense to catch on?

"I don't have any idea," he said. "But these kids are more receptive about doing it than the kids at UCLA were. They were like, 'Why are we doing it this way when I always did it that way before?' It took a while for them to grasp it. The kids at New Mexico have had more fun trying to learn it."

That could translate into a lot of not very much fun afternoons for opposing offenses this season.

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