How the Lobos that played under Bronco Mendenhall are treating his return

Jason Eck gets it.

Nobody had to explain to New Mexico’s first-year head coach why fans feel a certain way about his predecessor, Bronco Mendenhall. Why his move to become the head coach at Utah State last December — after just one season with UNM — left fans disappointed, if not utterly incensed. Why he might not receive the kindest of receptions Saturday afternoon at University Stadium, returning for likely the last time with the Aggies.

Eck gets it.

He probably won’t be leading any chants directed towards Mendenhall, though.

“I was glad he left. I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t left,” Eck chuckled in a news conference Tuesday.

But it’s a little more complicated for the 34 players who stayed in the wake of Mendenhall’s departure. To a man, just about all say they understand why he left; the Utah native has repeatedly stated his decision to leave was based on a desire to be closer to family, including his 94-year-old mother, Lenore.

They also get why fans weren’t happy with him.

“If a player can leave, a coach can, too. It is what it is. It’s a business right now,” defensive lineman Gabe Lopez said Tuesday. “But I understand why the fans were pissed, because he came in and said this is where he wanted to be, he wasn’t gonna leave.”

Still, Saturday figures to be “a little emotionally loaded,” as offensive lineman Malik Aliane put it Tuesday. Mendenhall was his coach, their coach, the dominating, defining force for one of the most memorable seasons in recent program memory.

Now? He’s on the other sideline. Mendenhall’s feelings about that were made clear this summer — if he had a choice, he’d rather not stand on the opposite side of the field as his former players.

“However, it’s required,” he said at Mountain West Media Days in July.

But what about those holdovers actually playing the game?

For his part, Aliane said he still has plenty of respect for Mendenhall. After all, the former BYU and Virginia coach gave him his shot as a Division I player. The Rouen, France native spent two seasons at New Mexico Military Institute before Mendenhall and his staff keyed in on the raw 6-foot-1, 310-pound guard, making a simple, but effective, pitch.

“(Mendenhall) told me we’re in a place where a lot of people don’t want to go,” Aliane said. “And it’s true. Albuquerque is not the most flashiest place in America. It’s not the most flashiest place for players that are international. But he told us that this city has a lot of heart, has a lot to offer and a community that’s dying for the Lobos to be great again.”

That was enough for Aliane, who played in all 12 games and made two starts as a redshirt sophomore last season. After UNM’s 5-7 finish, he remembers sitting at home in early December and seeing rumors that Mendenhall was in Logan, Utah, possibly interviewing for the Utah State job.

Then he got a text: A team meeting was scheduled for the next morning, where Mendenhall announced his decision to leave.

“That was a heavy conversation to have,” Aliane remembered. “The atmosphere was very tense. Honestly, that wasn’t a great day, you know.”

Sillemon also remembered sitting at home and seeing reports about Mendenhall before receiving that exact same text. To him, that’s why there’s a “little more oomph” to Saturday for the players who stayed.

“You kind of seen it before ... saying he’s not gonna take it and then the next day he’s taking a job he said he wouldn’t take,” he added. “It makes you feel some type of way, but at the end of the day, you gotta take care of your family.”

But for most of the holdovers surveyed, it’s just another game with a little more motivation built in. Lopez said he’s talked to other teammates who played under Mendenhall, but acknowledged it hasn’t been discussed much with players who weren’t at UNM last year.

“The guys that he left, I’m like, ‘hey, this is the chance to show him that he was wrong,’ all those different things,” Lopez added. “The rest of the team, I’m just preaching doing us, (focusing) on us.”

It’s also an opportunity for those holdovers to square off against some of their old teammates. Six former Lobos now play for the Aggies: cornerbacks Noah Avinger, D’Angelo Mayes and Bryson Taylor, long snapper Hyrum Hatch, running back Javen Jacobs and safety Bobby Arnold all transferred over last offseason as UNM and Utah State retooled rosters.

Beyond that, it’s simply another game.

Then again, it isn’t.

“It might mean a little more, but (we’re) still preparing like it’s San Jose State, still preparing like it’s a normal game … Your heart breaks a little bit when your coach decides to leave after one year,” Sillemon said. “But it’s a business at the end of the day. You gotta respect it.

“And you just gotta play hard Saturday.”