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Embattled Lobos football coach Mike Locksley told assistant J.B. Gerald that he would "slap the s-- out of" him in an encounter about a month before the two got into the Sept. 20 altercation that led to Locksley's suspension, according to a new document released Friday.
The document also quotes one assistant coach as saying that Gerald was willing to move ahead and put the incident behind him. But in a meeting two days after the Sept. 20 incident, Locksley showed no remorse and tried to downplay it. Gerald has since hired a lawyer and threatened to sue the University of New Mexico. The newly revealed document also shows that the receivers, coached by Gerald, were worried they were responsible for Locksley's mistreatment of their coach. UNM had failed to release the document to the media until Friday "because of a copying error." The omitted document was the back side of a witness statement provided by quarterbacks coach Tee Martin three days after the incident in which Locksley is accused of choking Gerald and punching him in the mouth. Locksley denies that he punched or choked Gerald, but acknowledges the altercation took place. The copying error is the latest gaffe in UNM's handling of the Locksley scandal. On Wednesday, UNM President David Schmidly revealed that Athletics Department employee Shannon Garbiso had destroyed all of the original versions of witness statements she took, though copies of those notes remain. Schmidly, Athletics Vice President Paul Krebs and Human Resources Director Helen Gonzales held a news conference Wednesday in which they acknowledged that UNM had "bungled" its handling of the altercation but insisted there was no cover-up. According to the newly released document, Martin told Garbiso about the earlier incident in which Locksley threatened Gerald. Martin said Locksley made the threat in front of a reporter for the Daily Lobo, the student newspaper. He also told Garbiso the wide receivers feel that they're doing something wrong and are provoking mistreatment of Gerald, who was the wide receivers coach. Locksley apologized to the team the day after his run-in with Gerald, according to Martin's statement. Two days after the altercation, Martin, offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey and offensive tackles/tight ends coach Cheston Blackshear set up a meeting between Locksley and Gerald. "Gerald was willing to put this behind him until he talked to Locks - Dickey, Blachshear and Martin were present - and Locks not only showed no remorse but tried to downplay what had happened," Martin told Garbiso. Copies of the witness statements previously provided to the media contained passages that are unreadable, and they appeared to be missing the margins of the originals. Cleaner copies of the documents released Friday reveal that Martin told Garbiso that some players witnessed part of the altercation. Schmidly on Friday directed a review of current practices for handling record requests "to more efficiently deal with increasing demand and to properly comply in a timely manner with these requests."
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