The short, yet nevertheless strange tenure of New Mexico coach Mike Locksley reached a climax last Saturday when the Lobos program was hit with a one-two punch of bad news.
Shortly before UNM’s home game against 1-AA opponent Sam Houston State -- a game the Lobos would ultimately lose -- a 19-year-old teenager by the name of Josh Butts was pulled over by police just blocks from University Stadium after nearly hitting a pedestrian.
Police discovered that Butts was impaired and he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, but when Butts stated that he was in town from Chicago to play for Locksley, who “gave him the vehicle to use”, it raised a few eyebrows.
The university later released a statement that claimed Butts was not a recruit, but a friend of Meiko Locksley, a UNM walk-on and son of coach Locksley.
Speaking with the Albuquerque Journal, Butts’ JUCO coach Jeremy Richardson said he didn’t know what Butts was doing in New Mexico, but that it likely wasn’t to play for the Lobos.
“I thought he was a Division II football player at best,” Richardson said. “It’s kind of hard for a small receiver like that (to be recruited) unless you’re lights out on the football field.”
Butts had been ruled academically ineligible for this season at Joliet (Ill.) Junior College. Richardson said he was unaware of any D-1 scholarship offers -- or even interest -- for Butts.
If Butts was a recruit and the car was registered in coach Locksley’s name (the university states it was registered to Locksley’s wife and son), it almost certainly would have been recognized as a recruiting violation.
It’s unclear what Locksley’s actual level of involvement was in the whole situation, but an 0-4 start to the season (and a 2-26 overall record) combined with the incident was obviously enough to push the school’s athletic administration over the edge. Locksley was fired on Sunday.
