Punchgate rekindles memories of Fraschilla, Ellenberger, BlissMike Locksley. Football’s Fran Fraschilla?

During this increasingly dicey Punchgate scandal, I can’t help but think about how much the Locksley-Paul Krebs-David Schmidly fiasco reminds me of  Fraschilla’s tenure at the University of New Mexico.

Just much worse.

Former UNM athletics director Rudy Davalos made a blunder by hiring Fraschilla to run the men’s basketball program — run it into the ground, that is. Davalos was stuck having to defend the foul-mouthed, story-spinning Fraschilla for things like demeaning the United States Air Force, having players quit in a furor and keeping kids on the roster after being arrested.

However, I don’t remember any public documents being destroyed back then. And Davalos did make his true feelings known about a number of the coach’s public embarrassments.

Davalos became increasingly disgusted and infuriated during’s Fraschilla’s three years, finally firing the coach in 2002.

Maybe Krebs and president Schmidly just need a little more time to come clean.

Then again, maybe they will back Locksley until University Stadium looks like a serene city park come game days.

Which leads us to an interesting topic. And we’d like to hear your opinion on abqjournal.com.

What is the worst coaching hire in UNM history?

Plumbing problems

I started tossing names about, and Locksley and Fraschilla were the first two to come to mind. But there are other legendary failures.

After Fraschilla sent the men’s basketball program into the toilet, Ritchie McKay flushed it.

Yes, I know, McKay had an NCAA Tournament appearance (thank you Duane Broussard and Danny Granger) on his Lobo résumé, but we’re talking about what happened to the entire state of the program.

Under Fraschilla, the number of fans declined. Under McKay, they vanished.

But did either do as much damage as Norm Ellenberger, who destroyed Lobo basketball in 1979 with the worst scandal — to that point — in college hoops history?

Still, prior to Lobogate, Ellenberger led UNM into the national limelight with his renegade, cheating program — taking it as high as No. 4 in the country during the 1977-78 season. Ellenberger, who I’ve always respected for not shying away from his past, was a flamboyant personality and was king of the Land of Enchantment for seven years.

While he’s never had another college head coaching position, I’ve always contended that if Ellenberger were to ever return to New Mexico, he could be elected governor.

The cheater won games — and fans loved him for it.

Former UNM basketball coach Dave Bliss — I never saw him punch anyone — berated plenty of folks. He held grudges forever and sought vengeance against anyone who crossed him. He took those same morals to Baylor, where he far-eclipsed Ellenberger’s scandal with one of his own. Under Bliss, one Baylor player murdered another and the entire program was decimated by the NCAA for numerous violations.

Did Bliss cheat at UNM?

Does Locksley enjoy a cheap buffet?

Let’s just say Bliss never got nailed at UNM.

Yet when fans finally helped boot Bliss out of Albuquerque, it wasn’t because of his questionable character or his skirting of the rules. No, it was because Bliss — with a 246-108 record in 11 seasons at UNM — never got the Lobos past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Which brings us back to Locksley.

Is his biggest crime that he’s a hot head or that he’s 0-8?

Best man, worst man

On the flip side of the Locksleys and Fraschillas, what was the best coaching hire ever at New Mexico?

Both Ellenberger (134-62, two NCAA Tournaments) and Bliss (seven NCAA Tournaments) were national embarrassments. But again, they won. So they make the list.

So does former football coach Rocky Long, who, like Bliss, was run out of town after 11 seasons.

Wait — I forgot — he resigned on his own.

Yeah, and I also forgot, Locksley is a vegetarian.

Long has suddenly become a great coach in the eyes of many Lobo fans. And the fact is, Long had the most successful tenure in the modern era of Lobo football. He built a program that finally attracted fans, and he took UNM to five bowl games.

Sure, he was just 65-69 overall, and bowl bids, these days, are about as prevalent as excuses coming out of UNM for the Locksley cover-up, but the Lobos had reached just one bowl game in the 36 years prior to Long’s arrival.

Rounding out the list of top hires are the fathers of Lobo basketball — Bob King and Don Flanagan.

King took the men’s program from obscurity and Johnson Gym to the national limelight and the Pit. From 1963-72, King was 175-89 with two Western Athletic Conference titles and led the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Flanagan, in his 15th year, is 308-137 with 12 straight postseason appearances and eight NCAA showings. He has three regular-season conference titles and six conference tournament championships — and turned a sport that drew 100 fans a game into one that has drawn more than 18,000.

My choices? I’ll hold off for now. I’d rather hear yours.