New Mexico hiring Zach Lujan as receivers coach, Erik Link as special teams coordinator 

New Mexico is hiring Zach Lujan as its wide receivers coach and Erik Link as its special teams coordinator, the Journal has learned.

After spending the last two seasons as Northwestern’s offensive coordinator, Lujan would replace Colin Lockett, who was hired as UCLA’s special teams coordinator in December. A longtime Missouri assistant, Link would replace Daniel Da Prato, who was hired as Minnesota's special teams coordinator.

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic was the first to report Lujan and Link's hires. They have not been announced by UNM. 

Lujan, 31, led a Northwestern offense that averaged 23.4 points per game this season. He was not retained this offseason, with the Wildcats moving to hire former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly in late December.

Lujan joined Northwestern after two highly successful years as South Dakota State’s offensive coordinator, winning the FCS national championship both seasons. Before that, he worked under UNM head coach Jason Eck as the Jackrabbits’ quarterbacks coach for two years.

An Anchorage, Alaska native, Lujan passed for 3,877 yards and 29 touchdowns over three seasons as South Dakota State’s quarterback. He started his coaching career in 2017 as an offensive quality control assistant for the Jackrabbits before he was promoted to running backs coach; Lujan has not worked as a receivers coach in his career.

Link, 44, spent the last six last seasons as Mizzou’s special teams coordinator, his third tenure working with Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz. He previously coached special teams at App State and Louisiana Tech, and held a variety of coaching positions at Auburn, Montana State and Iowa State.

A Des Moines, Iowa native, Link played offensive line at Drake University before starting his coaching career.

UNM still has to hire a running backs coach to complete its staff after John Johnson was hired to the same role at Iowa State.