Two coaches dispute an ESPN story claiming that University of New Mexico football coach Mike Locksley threw

a chair at another coach during a staff meeting when

the two were assistants at

Illinois in 2008.

During ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” report of Locksley’s physical altercation with former wide receivers coach J.B. Gerald, reporter Mark Schlabach said two coaches who were in the room during that meeting at Illinois told “Outside The Lines” that Locksley threw a chair at then-defensive line coach Tom Sims in Locksley’s last year as offensive coordinator before accepting the New Mexico coaching job.

Two other coaches who say they were also in the room of the alleged chair-throwing tell the Journal that Locksley never threw a chair at Sims.

One coach said the incident started when Sims pushed Locksley.

Both coaches who talked to the Journal said a brouhaha between Sims’ defensive linemen and the offensive linemen earlier that day in practice spilled over into a late-night coaches meeting.

“Everybody was worn out,” the first coach says. “Mike obviously sticks up for the offensive players, and the defensive coaches stick up for the other players. What happened was it was late, it got to be a heated conversation and Tom Sims — you don’t know Tom Sims but he weighs about 380 or 400 pounds, stands up and comes over to our side of the staff meeting room, and obviously, we all kind of stand up, you can tell that he’s upset.

“And Locks stands up, we’re all standing up and he pushes Locks. There was never (any) punching, fighting type (stuff) like that. It was more two guys yelling at each other after Tom had pushed him.”

Asked whether Locksley retaliated by throwing a chair at Sims, the coach said, “No, I did not see a chair being thrown. All I saw was a chair being knocked down because we were in a staff room and trying to maintain people.”

The coach added that he had grabbed Locksley’s arms from behind, which would’ve made it impossible for Locksley to throw a chair.

The second assistant did not say that Sims pushed Locksley. He said both men stood, approached each other and yelled at each other.

“There wasn’t any chair throwing, there may have been chairs flipped, things like that with guys just being upset, but there were no punches thrown or anything like,” the second coach said. “I’ve never been on a staff where there’s never been an argument. But as far as punches being thrown or chairs being thrown, that’s not true at all. It was an argument. Period.”

The second coach added that he’s known Locksley for 10 years.

“I’ve never known him to have an anger-management problem,” the coach says. “He’s compassionate and loves the players. I have never seen that part of Mike Locksley.”

Sims, now a defensive line coach at Kansas, did not return a phone call to his office or an e-mail requesting an interview.

One day after ESPN’s report, Illinois special-teams coach Mike Woodford refuted its claim to the Journal that Locksley tried to attack him at a hotel bar in Nashville in January.