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5.0 Notable former Aggie athletes and coaches

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New Mexico State Aggies Wiki Information

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New Mexico State University's teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. Since 2005, they have competed in the Western Athletic Conference. The mascot is known as "Pistol Pete". The current athletics logo was designed in 2005 as part of a controversial plan to remake the university's image on the national stage; Pete's pistol has been replaced with a lasso, and his name was briefly officially abbreviated to simply "Pete". In addition to the new logo, the costumed mascot seen at games was also given a new look, losing his six shooters and holster belt in favor of a lasso. The disarming of Pete led to a massive uproar among students, alumni and outsiders demanding the return of Pete's guns. The decision was even criticized by Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly during his "Most Ridiculous Item of the Day" segment. ^[1] The most popular nickname given to the widely unpopular new mascot was "Lasso Larry". After one year the university dumped the cartoonish mascot in favor of a real student dressed in more traditional cowboy attire, carrying a holster belt and six shooters, and wearing nothing on his head but a black cowboy hat. The "Pistol Pete" name was also restored. NMSU's colors are crimson and white. The current athletics director is Dr. McKinley Boston (since December 2004). In 2007, NMSU fully restored the Pistol Pete mascot, which is now on all of the university logos, souvenirs, and promotional material as it was before NMSU changed to Lasso Larry.

Prior to 2000 the women's intercollegiate athletic teams were known as the Roadrunners, placing NMSU among the handful of NCAA Division I schools which had separate nicknames and mascots for its men's and women's programs. By the late 1990s sentiment began to grow for the university to adopt a single, uniform mascot for all its athletic teams, and during the 1999-2000 academic year the school's female student athletes voted to adopt the "Aggies" moniker. NMSU's women's teams officially became the Aggies at the start of the 2000-2001 academic year.

The NMSU Aggies have had various conference affiliations, listed below with the year of change:

1931 - Border Conference
1962 - Independent
1971 - Missouri Valley
1983 - Big West (formerly Pacific Coast Athletic Association)
2001 - Sun Belt
2005 - WAC

NMSU maintains major rivalries with the University of New Mexico (see Rio Grande Rivalry), and with the University of Texas at El Paso, called "The Battle of I-10." The winner of the NMSU-UTEP football game receives the Silver Spade trophy.

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES TICKETS

EVENT	DATE	AVAILABILITY
New Mexico State Aggies vs. University of the Southwest Mustangs Tickets 12/28	Dec 28, 2024 Sat, 4:00 PM
Oklahoma Sooners Women's Basketball vs. New Mexico State Aggies Tickets 12/29	Dec 29, 2024 Sun, 4:00 PM
Sam Houston Bearkats Women's Basketball vs. New Mexico State Aggies Tickets 1/2	Jan 02, 2025 Thu, 6:00 PM
New Mexico State Aggies vs. Sam Houston Bearkats Tickets 1/2	Jan 02, 2025 Thu, 7:00 PM
New Mexico State Aggies vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Tickets 1/4	Jan 04, 2025 Sat, 2:00 PM

Basketball

NMSU Basketball has seen much success throughout the years, even making an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1970. Aggie Basketball has seen 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, 5 NIT Tournament appearances and 14 conference championships. The current head coach is Marvin Menzies.

Football

Under coach Warren B. Woodson, the Aggie Football team was very successful during the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1959 the NMSU went 8-3 and in 1960 the Aggies had their only perfect season, finishing 11-0 and ranked #17 in the year-end Associated Press poll. Both years they won the New Year's Eve Sun Bowl. Charley Johnson, the Aggie quarterback from 1958-60, is the only player in NCAA history to be selected as MVP in a bowl game two consecutive years (Sun Bowl 1959-60) and went on to play in the NFL for 15 years with the St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, and Denver Broncos. Dr. Charles Johnson is now a professor in the Chemical Engineering school at NMSU.

The Aggies continued to fare well under Woodson through the 1967 season. However at the end of that season university administration, with whom Woodson had a contentious relationship throughout his career, invoked a clause requiring state employees to retire at age 65. Thus Woodson, who would turn 65 that offseason, was essentially forced out despite a 7-2-1 1967 campaign that ended with a 54-7 shellacking of archrival New Mexico. Since his departure Aggie football has spiraled into an abyss of perennial mediocrity (at best) that some Aggie fans have begun to refer to as the "Woodson Curse." In the 40 seasons since Woodson's firing, NMSU has amassed just four winning seasons and a single conference title (1978), while failing to appear in a single bowl game. The Aggies' current 47-year bowl drought is the longest in Division I-A. The Aggies once again failed to accrue enough victories to be bowl eligible for the 2007 postseason.

On October 31, 1998, Aggie running back Denvis Manns become just the third player in NCAA Division I-A history to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in four consecutive seasons. The only other backs that had accomplished the feat at that time were Tony Dorsett (University of Pittsburgh) and Amos Lawrence (University of North Carolina).

On September 18, 1999 the Aggies travelled to Tempe and upset the #22 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils by a shocking 35-7 score.

The Aggies started the 2005 season with some interesting changes in the coaching staff. Hal Mumme stepped in as head coach, best known for his success at the University of Kentucky with his "Air Raid" offense. Woody Widenhofer took over as defensive coordinator, known for the "Steel Curtain" defense that took the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl victories in the 1970s. Roy Gerela, known for his days as a placekicker with the Pittsburgh Steelers, became the kicking coach. However, the new staff failed to bring much immediate success, as the transition from the option-based offense of previous coach Tony Samuel to Mumme's wide-open "Air Raid" resulted in a humiliating 0-12 record, the Aggies' first winless season since 1989 and just the fourth in school history, not including a few limited schedule campaigns in the early years of the program at the turn of the 20th century.

During the 2006 season sophomore quarterback Chase Holbrook totaled 4,619 yards passing, the most in Division I-A. This broke the NCAA record for a sophomore set by Ty Detmer at BYU in 1989 with 4,541 yards. The same year Chris Williams was first in the nation with 1,415 receiving yards, 7.67 receptions per game and 117.92 yards per game. However, despite the prolific offensive output, the Aggies only managed a 4-8 record, with just two of their four wins coming against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.

At the end of the 2008 season the Aggies ended their fourth season under Hal Mumme at 3-9 (1-7 WAC) with a disappointing 47-2 loss to the Utah State Aggies. The following Tuesday, December 2, Mumme was fired. Mumme's record at NMSU over 4 seasons was 11-38. DeWayne Walker was named as the new head coach on December 31, 2008.

Despite some impressive single game wins and individual player stats, the Aggies have struggled as a team in the days since coach Woodson. In November 1990, the 106th ranked team managed to snap their 27 game losing streak, the longest active losing streak at the time, when they defeated 105th ranked Cal State Fullerton 43-9. (Fullerton dropped its football program following the 1992 season.) The 1988-90 NMSU team is ranked the 9th worst college football team of all time by . The Aggies were also featured in the August 31, 1992 issue of in a piece that chronicles a tradition of losing games. The longest active losing streak in Division I-A football is a title the Aggies have owned multiple times in recent decades. The Aggies currently have the longest bowl drought in the Football Bowl Subdivision, having made their last bowl appearance in the Sun Bowl in 1960.

January 1, 1936, Sun Bowl - Hardin-Simmons 14 - New Mexico A&M 14

December 31, 1959, Sun Bowl - New Mexico A&M 28 - University of North Texas 8

December 31, 1960, Sun Bowl - New Mexico State 20 - Utah State 13

Note: Originally "New Mexico College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts", New Mexico A&M changed its name to New Mexico State University in 1960.

Fight Song

NMSU's "Aggie Fight Song" is based on a popular turn of the century song titled "Oh Didn't He Ramble." The music and lyrics are similar to songs used by several other universities, most notably Cal ("California Drinking Song") and Ohio State ("I Wanna Go Back to Ohio State"). However, only NMSU uses it as the primary school song. The fight song's lyrics have evoked some controversy in recent years due to the reference to drinking, but a vast majority of students and alumni support preserving the traditional lyrics.

Aggies, oh Aggies
the hills send back the cry
we're here to do or die!
Aggies, oh Aggies
we'll win this game or know the reason why!
And when we win this game
we'll buy a keg of booze
and we'll drink it to the Aggies 'til we wobble in our shoes!
A-G-G-I-E-S!
Aggies, Aggies, go Aggies!
Aggies, oh Aggies
the hills send back the cry
we're here to do or die!
Aggies, oh Aggies
we'll win this game or know the reason why!

Additionally, during the time that NMSU's women's teams were known as the Roadrunners, an arrangement of the theme song from the Warner Bros. "Road Runner" cartoons was used as the unofficial women's fight song. However, since the adoption of the Aggies nickname by the women's teams, this practice has fallen from use and the "Road Runner" song is no longer used.

Facilities

Aggie Memorial Stadium
Pan American Center

Notable former Aggie athletes and coaches

Football

Roy Gerela, former NFL kicker;
Duriel Harris, former NFL receiver;
Charley Johnson, former NFL quarterback, only football player in school history to have his uniform number (33) retired, member of Denver Broncos Ring of Fame;
Leo Barker former NFL Line Backer member of the Cincinnati Bengals Played in Super Bowl XXIII
Kenton Keith, former Indianapolis Colts running back, CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats;
Denvis Manns, former NFL Europa running back, third player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 years in four consecutive seasons;
Buck Pierce, current CFL quarterback;
Troy Sienkiewicz, former NFL San Diego Chargers offensive lineman ^[2]
Danny Villanueva, former NFL punter and placekicker, later became a prominent television executive and was instrumental in founding Univision;
Fredd Young, former NFL linebacker Seattle Seahawks;
Donald Malloy, former NFL, CFL, Arena strong safety
Siddeeq Shabazz, former NFL Oakland Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins., CFL Edmonton Eskimos safety
Tony Wragge, NFL San Francisco 49ers
Nick Cole, NFL Philadelphia Eagles
Courtney Bryan, NFL Miami Dolphins

Men's Basketball

Randy Brown, former NBA guard, won three NBA Championships with Chicago Bulls, current assistant coach of Sacramento Kings;
Steve Colter, former NBA guard with Portland, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Sacramento and Cleveland
Jimmy Collins, former ABA and NBA guard, member of 1970 Final Four team, current head coach at UIC;
Charlie Criss, former ABA and NBA guard, member of 1970 Final Four team;
Lou Henson, former player and head coach, currently sixth-winningest coach in NCAA history with 779 career wins;
Sam Lacey, former NBA All-Star center, member of 1970 Final Four team;
Reggie Theus, former head men's basketball coach; current NBA Head coach of Sacramento Kings;
John Whisenant, former NBA guard, former coach of WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, 2005 WNBA Coach of the Year;
"Super John" Williamson, former ABA and NBA guard, number retired by New Jersey Nets
Reggie Jordan, former NBA guard, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards. ^[3]

Women's Basketball

Anita Maxwell, former WNBA forward for the Cleveland Rockers ^[4], only basketball player (male or female) in school history to have her uniform number (40) retired. ^[5]