A brief story: In 1893, Sam Steel, the only senior and the lone member of the first graduating class of what is now New Mexico State University, was shot and killed before he could even receive his diploma.
So when you learn that things got off to such an inauspicious start out in Las Cruces, a 57-year streak of football futility doesn鈥檛 seem that bad.
Lo and behold, in one of the great stories of this college football season, the Aggies make their bowl rebirth, at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in the NOVA Home Loans 蜜柚直播 Bowl.
It was 1960 the last time New Mexico State went bowling. Dwight D. Eisenhower was still in the White House, Elvis Presley鈥檚 鈥淎re You Lonesome Tonight?鈥 was No. 1 on the Billboard music charts. And the top three television shows were all Westerns: 鈥淕unsmoke,鈥 鈥淲agon Train鈥 and 鈥淗ave Gun 鈥 Will Travel.鈥
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Which brings us back to Las Cruces, a small city in western New Mexico, just down Interstate 10, a town that is having a rollicking good time.
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Doug Martin can鈥檛 go shopping these days.
Dinners out, for now, are off the table. If he wants a measure of anonymity, that is.
The fourth-year New Mexico State head coach, who arrived in Las Cruces with a bold vision predicated on heavily recruiting 蜜柚直播 and Texas, can barely walk around town anymore without drawing applause from the crowd. His back has been patted so much it鈥檚 going to callous over.
This is what happens when you take a team bowling for the first time since many of its fans were in diapers.
鈥淭he people here have been very appreciative of the progress we鈥檝e made, and this year, my wife and I walked into a couple restaurants and people have started to applaud,鈥 he said. 鈥淎 lot of people in this town have been on this journey with us. This has been the most rewarding time of my career. I had a great time at (Eastern Carolina, where Martin served as an assistant 10 years), and I worked for a great head coach there. But we鈥檝e done here something that nobody else has been able to do. Nothing bad about people chasing national championships, but a lot of people have won at the big schools, at the 鈥橞amas and Ohio States. There haven鈥檛 been many to win at NMSU. That鈥檚 the big thing I wanted.
鈥淚 hoped to leave a mark.鈥
And he has, helping New Mexico State rebound from one of the worst football situations in the country.
The team has had talented coaches.
Martin replaced DeWayne Walker, the former UCLA defensive coordinator, and he inherited the program from former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme 鈥 but Walker and Mumme went a combined 21-78 in eight years.
Under Martin, who took over in 2013, the Aggies weren鈥檛 much better. Martin went 10-38 in his first four seasons.
This year鈥檚 Aggies were experienced, focused and 鈥 maybe not coincidentally 鈥 all Martin鈥檚. This year鈥檚 seniors were among the first players he recruited to Las Cruces.
鈥淚 finally went out for spring practice and there was a different mentality about us,鈥 Martin said.
鈥淭here was a chip on our shoulder, a toughness. A great leadership that hadn鈥檛 been there before. Because we finally cycled through everyone on the team, everyone on the same page, same mentality.鈥
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In the dog-eat-dog world of college football, when the biggest, baddest bullies on the block 鈥 the Alabamas and Ohio States 鈥 are competing over giant T-bone steaks, the New Mexico States make do with less.
Las Cruces is about as far away from big-time college football as you can get. Other small towns have succeeded in the sport, but there鈥檚 usually a football lineage there.
Some of the current crop of Aggies鈥 grandparents weren鈥檛 born the last time the team played in late December.
When Martin took over, he says, the program was in disarray. He likens it to Kansas State in tiny Manhattan, Kansas, which was football purgatory until Bill Snyder came to town.
鈥淲hen we started we had 61 on scholarship, and you鈥檙e supposed to have 85,鈥 Martin said. 鈥淭he program had never made the APR score in the history of the school. The facilities, absolutely horrible. The whole thing was a train wreck.鈥
Martin approached his interviews with a plan, a plan to recruit differently, veering away from the California-and-junior-college-based strategies of the past, and with a plan to address scholarship numbers.
He admits now that 鈥渆verything we talked about was not a quick fix.鈥 He credits school administrators who, he says, were willing to buy in.
鈥淭he arms race wasn鈥檛 going to fix it,鈥 he said.
Even now, the Aggies make do with eight assistant coaches when most schools have nine.
But there have been results.
Scholarship numbers are up. The team has hit its APR target four times in a row. The program has sunk $1 million into the weight room and another $500,000 into the field.
Martin has revamped the strength and conditioning program, turning to director of sports performance Don Decker, whose bona fides included stints at Arkansas and Ole Miss.
Martin singles out Decker for his efforts, as this crop of Aggies is the strongest they鈥檝e had in years.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e looking at Arkansas and Ole Miss, those aren鈥檛 the premier SEC programs either and they鈥檙e not gonna get the five-stars,鈥 Martin said.
鈥(Decker) was used to getting players and having to develop them at the SEC level. Larry Rose (the team鈥檚 prized running back), when we signed him, he was 160 pounds. He鈥檚 200 now. That鈥檚 the type of thing with these guys. That鈥檚 the foundation for the whole program. Stronger, bigger, faster.鈥
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It鈥檚 not just that New Mexico State is doing better at making kids better once they get on campus. The Aggies are also going out and finding the right kids.
Rose, the senior running back with more than 4,000 career rushing yards, had precisely one Division I scholarship offer coming off a high school senior season that included nearly 3,000 rushing yards, 49 touchdowns and a Texas Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year honor.
Senior linebacker Dalton Herrington, who has over 350 career tackles, including 125 this season, was similarly overlooked. Like Rose, he, too, is from Texas.
New Mexico State has 37 players on its 2017 roster from the Lone Star State, its neighbors to the east. It has another eight from 蜜柚直播, its neighbors to the west, and 12 from New Mexico itself.
Martin has prided himself on developing this home- and close-to-home-grown talent, and doing it the right way.
鈥淓verybody was looking for the quick fix to get one winning season, to get another job and get out of here,鈥 Martin said.
鈥淲e wanted to build a program, not a team. That was the pitch. That鈥檚 what they bought into. To do that, we had to get back to high school recruiting. Looking at Texas, the mecca of high school football, and Las Cruces is geographically a lot like Texas, and like 蜜柚直播, the same thing. I thought 蜜柚直播 was totally underutilized. It鈥檚 become a tremendous recruiting ground.鈥
Aggies coaches worked Phoenix and 蜜柚直播, landing 鈥 among others 鈥 a commitment from Mountain View High School defensive lineman Kai Golden.
鈥溍坭种辈 is right next door, and 蜜柚直播 State up north, and there is enough talent in that state, they have enough they can鈥檛 take them all,鈥 added secondary coach Brian Bell.
鈥淲e have to go get a couple of them. (Wide receiver coach Cory Martin, head coach Doug鈥檚 son) gets after that state. Those guys have talent, way more than people know about.鈥
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For Martin and Co., who鈥檝e pounded the recruiting trail that is I-10, the pitch was simple.
鈥淵ou are going to be the ones who change the culture here,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l be remembered forever.
鈥淎nd they will be. They鈥檒l be remembered forever around New Mexico State.鈥
And he鈥檚 right.
Defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani, who came to New Mexico State in 2016 following a stint as Boston College鈥檚 defensive coordinator and head coach, can sense the enthusiasm around town.
鈥淭here are no standing ovations for me, but there are more people who know about the level of success that鈥檚 been reached here,鈥 he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an enthusiasm. The place is put on the map a little bit. In the two years I鈥檝e been here, I can notice some subtle differences. More people know what鈥檚 happening, notice the success, congratulate you, wish you the best of luck. A pat on the back, good job kind of deal. It鈥檚 percolating there. I wouldn鈥檛 say they鈥檝e gone rabid. It鈥檚 a little bit like a sleeping giant 鈥 it鈥檚 been dormant.鈥
Las Cruces is starting to wake up.
New Mexico State drew almost 30,000 to the last home game, a win over South Alabama that made the Aggies bowl-eligible. Martin is hearing more and more from boosters and former players who played decades ago.
鈥淎 lot of those guys have been so appreciative,鈥 Martin said. 鈥淟ike, 鈥榃e鈥檝e never thought we鈥檇 see this happen.鈥
鈥淐harley Johnson, who played in the NFL, is in the Broncos Ring of Honor, he鈥檚 been like another father to me. Sits in our QB meetings here. I just love him. To see the tears in those guys鈥 eyes, to know it鈥檚 genuine, those are things we get to keep for the rest of our lives. It鈥檚 just been overwhelming. Not to mention the fundraising, and not just for the football team but for the university in general.鈥
Ah, back to the bucks, where it always seems to go when discussing college football.
But this is different.
Bucks in this case mean better laundry detergent, not a flashy, $40 million scoreboard.
This isn鈥檛 big-time college football.
But it is college football, the best part of it.
鈥淭here is a purity to it,鈥 Martin said. 鈥淭his is a family town, and it鈥檚 grown into it. This first recruiting class, they鈥檙e all seniors now, and 22 of them had to play as true freshmen. To see them be the class that did get it turned around.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have facilities, but these kids bought in on credit. That鈥檚 been the most rewarding piece of this.鈥
