Jan. 24—Arizona is hiring former New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzales as their special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Gonzales, 48, is set to join head coach Brent Brennan’s inaugural staff with the Wildcats. Prior to serving as the head coach at UNM, the Albuquerque native and UNM graduate worked as the defensive coordinator at Arizona State from 2018-19 and served as the Lobos’ special teams coordinator from 2008-09.
Brennan, the head coach at San Jose State from 2017-23, is a “really good friend,” Gonzales noted as late as November. The two have not previously worked together.
Hired by UNM on Dec. 17, 2019, Gonzales accumulated an 11-32 record over four seasons at his alma mater. He was fired on Nov. 25 after a 44-41 double overtime loss to Utah State sealed a 4-8 record, the program’s seventh consecutive losing season.
In the days after his dismissal — and prior to Bronco Mendenhall’s hiring in early December — Gonzales told 610 AM/95.9 FM’s Jeff Siembieda and J.J. Buck that he’d continue to pull for UNM despite the circumstances.
“I’m hopeful that whoever comes in builds this thing and continues to go and wins that fifth conference championship, because that was the goal when I got here and it doesn’t change,” he said. “It’s just if somebody else leads them to that, I’m gonna cheer ’em on from afar as if I was still here.”
Arizona hosts New Mexico in their season-opener on Aug. 31.
This story will be updated.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/report-arizona-hiring-former-unm-200100838.html
Author : Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Publish date : 2024-01-24 20:01:00
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