A look back at the Paul Krebs Era

by Zach

At the beginning of June, Paul Krebs announced that he was retiring from his post as the UNM Athletic Director at the end of the month. During his time at the helm of Lobo Athletics, the department had some of its best years, highlighted by a National Championship in Women’s Cross-Country in the fall of 2015. Krebs tenure had plenty of great things, but it is undeniable that there were some bad things that happened under his watch. To try to make sense of his legacy, here we look back at both the highs and the lows of the Krebs Era.

The Bad

  • The Mike Locksley Era: While there are a lot of Lobo fans who will say this was a terrible hire to begin with, there is a lot of revisionist history going on with the Locksley era. After all, the hire was praised by almost every national writer and College Football talking head, speaking to the offensive mind Locksley had and his ability to recruit. The general consensus seemed that Krebs might have found his next rising star, his next Urban Meyer. So, I will give a pass to Krebs on the actual hire of Locksley.
    However, where Krebs takes a hit on the Locksley era are the red flags that appeared quickly, some of which before he even coached a game. The most visible of these red flags came just a few weeks into his first season, when he got into a fight with an assistant coach, earning a 10-game unpaid suspension. While I understand the reasons Krebs didn’t fire Locksley at that point, particularly that he still believed in Locksley as a coach, this decision led UNM to become the laughing stock in College Football. I remember being at college in football-crazed Nebraska and having friends laugh and comment on how bad Lobo Football was, which meant that the Lobos had finally obtained a national profile, but not one that anyone wanted. Things got so bad that when Bob Davie led the team to a 4-9 record in 2012, it was a breath of fresh air, as that was more wins than they had picked up over the previous three seasons combined. The Locksley Era has been especially damaging to the program as it has made it especially unlikely for the Lobos to join a Power 5 conference, given that people still seem to think of the Lobos as being an awful football team. So yeah, I think we can safely tuck this one into the bad category.
  • Craig Neal Era: Once again, this isn’t about the hire of the coach, as it generally seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Instead, this one is more about the wildly interesting topic of contract negotiations. After Alford had turned down numerous opportunities to cash in at another university in favor of staying at UNM, UCLA came calling and it was a job he couldn’t turn down. As he so famously pointed out, “IT’S UCLA.” This left Krebs looking at a men’s basketball program that was in the middle of its best run in program history, along with the whole team returning, minus first-round NBA Pick Tony Snell. Because of that, fans, players, media, and Krebs himself believed Coach Neal deserved a shot to win with a program he had a huge part in building. Neal’s first year went as expected, finishing second in the conference during the regular season and winning their third-straight MW Conference Tournament Championship. Unfortunately, the Lobos went out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year with a loss to Stanford, ending what had the potential of being a magical season. After the season, with the fear of Neal taking another job, Krebs panicked and gave Neal an extension, a raise, and a million dollar buyout for the remainder of the contract. After three straight disappointing seasons that dropped fan interest about as low as I can remember, it got to the point where Krebs and the Athletic Department couldn’t afford to not buy out Neal, despite announcing Neal would be the coach for 2017-2018 season the day after the season ended. Because of that, the athletic department is on the hook for $500,000 each of the next two season, hamstringing the finances of an already struggling department.
  • Budget: Speaking of finances, it is likely that things are always going to be tight at UNM, unless they happen to find themselves in a Power 5 Conference. Because of the combination of that and the desire to compete with the big boys, Krebs struggled throughout his tenure to keep the university from have to foot at least part of the bill. Part of the problem is tied to the previous two points, as those coaching hires killed the attendance for football and the last 3 basketball seasons. During the Locksley Era, the football program basically lost all of the lukewarm football fans, and has yet to recover. The new AD will need to find a way to get the average football attendance between 25,000-35,000, instead of the 18,708 they averaged this past year. If they are able to do this, it will help a lot in the budget. Part of the budget problem is due to Lobo fans not showing up, as well as the advancement of TV/Streaming and just general shifts in the college sports landscape, but the Athletic Department needs to work on the budget and find ways to not be a constant stream of losing money.
  • The Scotland Trip: This was probably the final nail in the coffin for Krebs at UNM. I won’t go into much detail about this one, as Geoff Grammer covered it with plenty of depth in the Journal earlier this year. That said, it was clearly not a smart decision by two of the highest paid state employees (Krebs and Neal) to use public funds for a booster trip and taking their families on the trip. Since there is no way of knowing how much this trip increased donations, as they people who went were already boosters, the public is left wondering why their tax dollars were used for the trip and the penalties for not having enough people on the trip. In my opinion, it would be silly not to think the investigation played a part in his sudden retirement announcement.
  • Skiing: The handling of the Ski Team during the spring months this year was not done well. (I mean, it’s a bad look when, the announcement of the termination of the program came out before the team heard of it, most even finding out from notifications on Twitter)* Clarification: The team was in a meeting with Krebs and found out from Krebs not Twitter. Because the Ski Team doesn’t make money for the university in a sport that doesn’t have very many colleges competing, on paper it makes sense to cut the sport. However, it is hard to argue that the Ski Team doesn’t bring great things to the university and the athletic department in general. Not only is it a source of pride for many around the state and is a reflection of one of the largest tourist attractions that New Mexico has to offer, before the Women’s Cross-Country National Championship in 2015, it was the only team National Championship at UNM. After petitions and money raised by skiers around the state, the UNM Ski team will be around at least for the 2017-2018 Athletic year. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees beyond that. 
  • Sanchez Hiring: Coach Sanchez was a key part in the Coach Flanagan-led Lobo teams, so I can see how she deserved to have a shot at a D1 Head Coaching position. However, unlike when Alford left and there was a desire to keep a good thing going, the women’s program was in a rough spot. After all, they lost a whole freshmen class right before Flanagan retired and the future looked shaky. I don’t necessarily fault Krebs for hiring Sanchez, as she was a legitimate candidate for the job, but it felt at the time, and even moreso feels now, like a missed opportunity to hire a high-quality coach with Head Coaching experience. I will probably always wonder what would have happened if the Lobos hired former Lobo Kelly Graves instead.
  • The PIT Remodel: The PIT is a staple for every College Basketball fan, but during the remodel there are a few things that will have lasting, negative impact. Due to the NCAA change in their flooring for the NCAA Tournament, The PIT will never host a Men’s NCAA Tournament game again (unless something drastic happens). Which is a shame, as that was a primary reason why the remodel made since to begin with. With the money spend on the remodel, it probably would have made more sense to spend some more money to fix the roof to allow a hanging scoreboard and concerts and UFC/Boxing events, rather than add a bunch of suites that tend to be half-filled. The sound system has also been a problem before and after the remodel, but it appeared to get better last season.

The Good

  • Hiring of Coach Alford: Some people will still say that Krebs didn’t really make this hire, and there is probably some truth to this, but in the end, Krebs was the AD when the hire was made. Besides, Alford himself would say many times during his stay in Albuquerque that Krebs was a big reason that he was at UNM. With the hiring of Coach Alford, the Lobo Basketball Program got back on the College Basketball map and in the national conversation, which the Lobos hadn’t been in on a consistent basis since Kenny Thomas. While the Lobos didn’t make a Sweet-Sixteen during Alford’s tenure, the only truly disappointing loss in the tournament was incidentally Alford’s last game at UNM, vs. Harvard in 2013. It’s interesting to wonder what would have happened if the Lobos were able to beat Louisville in 2012, as it could have been a year that Lobo Program could have made an Elite-8. The program might be in a very different place right now had that happened.
  • Hiring of Coach Davie: After the Locksley era, Krebs needed to make a great hire for the Lobo Football Program, and he went out of the box with the hiring of former Notre Dame Head Coach and ESPN Analyst Bob Davie. It was a little surprising, as Davie hadn’t been a coach for a decade and the assumption seemed to be that it would be a guy who was a current D1 head coach. While Coach Davie wasn’t the flashiest of hires, there is no questioning that the hire has worked out extremely well, as Coach Davie has put the Lobo Program on solid ground, a truly impressive feat given where the program was when he arrived. I don’t know how much longer Davie will be coaching, but the Lobos will be in a position to hire a coach that can build on the foundation he’s laid down when he decides to hang it up.
  • Hiring of Coach Birmingham: It took a while but Coach Birmingham was finally hired where he belonged: at the University of New Mexico. I believe that Birmingham should have been hired at UNM long before he finally was in 2008, so it was a relief to see Krebs make the decision to bring him in. Birmingham was doing great things at NMJC in Hobbs, but that pales to what he’s done at UNM. His tenure with the Lobos has nothing short of amazing, and it feels like it’s just a matter of time before they break through in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Birmingham has made UNM into a program on the national radar instead of being a place where people put up huge offensive numbers because it’s Albuquerque.
  • Hiring of Coach Franklin: You can make the case that Coach Franklin is the best hire that Krebs made at UNM. After all, I think that you could make the argument that Coach Franklin is the best coach at UNM, period. Coach Franklin has built a national power in Women’s Cross-Country, winning a National Title in 2015 and could be in the conversation for another title this season. Due to the strides Coach Franklin made at UNM, the Lobos have hosted plenty of great events at the regional and national level, which in turn has raised the program’s prestige. Coach Franklin has seen many All-Americans and National Champions come through his watch at UNM, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see many more in the future. In fact, Coach Franklin has four former runners competing in the World Championships the next few weeks in London, which is a great representation for UNM.
  • Athletic Department Success in Conference: You can make a very strong argument that the Lobo Athletic Department during Krebs tenure was the strongest in the MW Conference. While you can’t include Men’s Soccer in the conversation for MW teams as the MW doesn’t compete in that sport, the Lobos have won a lot of conference titles and individual championships over the past decade. In most years, the Lobos have been in the conversation to win the conference in 5+ sports per year, which is one sign of a healthy program.
  • Non-PIT Facility Upgrades: During Krebs tenure, the Athletic Department saw facility upgrades for a few sports that really needed an upgrade. The Football Program received plenty of upgrades during the Krebs Era, including a new playing surface in the stadium and office upgrades for the coaching staff. The Baseball Program received the biggest upgrade in facilities during the Krebs Era, as Lobo Field was one of the worst College Baseball fields in the country. I could make the case that the city field my NAIA college team played at in Nebraska was a better facility, which is a little embarrassing. The Lobos were able to play home games at Isotopes Park occasionally, which was great, but the team were unable to practice and were never able to take full advantage of their home field. The improvements at Lobo Field, and those still to come, have made it an enjoyable and good park to play in. The Tennis Program also received a great new facility that has received awards at the national level for being a great tennis facility.

 

Final Thoughts

Krebs will likely be remembered mostly for a couple of hiring flubs in Football and Men’s Basketball, which are the most popular college sports right now, and his poor legacy with the department finances and budget, issues that have continued to follow him out the door. However, it’s not fair to say that he did nothing right for the department, as he did make a number of successful hires, the facilities have improved overall, and there are a number of teams who are competitive across the University.

One way to judge someone’s tenure is to see if they left things in a better state than when they arrived. And honestly, I think that some things are clear better, but other things are clearly worse. Because of that, Krebs leaves behind a mixed legacy, neither a glowing success or complete disaster. Here’s hoping that the next AD can keep the good things going, while fixing the bad. The Lobos will be in a great place if they can pull that off.