According to online reports, the University of New Mexico is investigating head football coach Bob Davie for possible mistreatment of players and potential irregularities with the drug-testing program.
That’s according to this report from NMFishbowl, a New Mexico watchdog site, which is apparently something they needed to have:
According to multiple sources apprised of the investigation, the school is looking into specific claims of player mistreatment, as well as allegations about the athlete drug-testing process being compromised.
The Davie investigation was initiated in recent months, sources say, following the latest round of athlete exit interviews conducted over the spring.
NMFishbowl.com has not been told who the school has tasked with carrying out the investigation, or what precisely triggered it. However, sources say that the severity and volume of the allegations made by players were deemed to be of a serious enough nature as to warrant outside review.
The school confirmed the investigation’s existence, but not much else:
“I can confirm there is an investigation underway in Athletics,” said UNM spokesperson Cinnamon Blair. “We are not going to comment on the details or the individuals involved until the investigation is complete.”
Davie, most famous for his time in charge of Notre Dame, has been at New Mexico since 2012, and has seemingly turned things around on the field, even going to a bowl game in 2015. (The New Mexico Bowl, though, so it’s not like they went anywhere. And they lost.) But nothing on the field should outweigh mistreatment of players, if that’s indeed what’s happened. That’s not even touching on potential problems with the drug testing program.
As we saw with Indiana’s firing of Kevin Wilson for potentially similar issues, schools aren’t going to open themselves up to legal liabilities that could stem from multiple player lawsuits. It’s much more effective to dump coaches, and not that hard when it’s just Indiana or New Mexico. There’s not a longstanding tradition of success to be upended by making these calls, and it’s also (coincidentally, but still) the right thing to do!
Of course, the existence of an investigation isn’t the existence of wrongdoing, so we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. But it’s certainly a story to monitor going forward.
