Jerry Kill says New Mexico tried to deny Aggies access to practice field

Jerry Kill says New Mexico tried to deny Aggies access to practice field

ByADAM RITTENBERG

December 17, 2023, 12:19 AM

New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill criticized New Mexico athletic director Eddie Nunez after Saturday's Isleta New Mexico Bowl, saying Nunez attempted to deny NMSU access to practice facilities in retaliation for an incident earlier this year.

Kill, whose team lost to Fresno State 37-10 at New Mexico's University Stadium in Albuquerque, ended his news conference by saying New Mexico State had a great bowl experience but faced “all kinds of stuff” with its attempts to practice at New Mexico, where the event has been played since 2006.

A New Mexico spokesman told ESPN that New Mexico State used New Mexico's indoor facility on each day it wanted to practice, as contracted through the bowl game.

Kill told ESPN on Saturday night that New Mexico State would have had to practice at a local high school field if New Mexico Bowl executive director Jeff Siembieda had not intervened and pushed for the use of New Mexico's facility. When NMSU showed up Thursday, as snow fell in the Albuquerque area, four police officers were at the New Mexico facility to monitor the Aggies' practice.

“The police officers kind of laughed. They said, 'There's a lot of stuff going on in Albuquerque, I don't know why we're here watching the logo,'” Kill said. “It's a great bowl game, but here's the deal: They were going to make us practice on a high school field and let Fresno practice in the indoor, and that particular day, it snowed. But Jeff busted his butt and had to argue with their people to get us on the thing.”

Kill added that no police were present when New Mexico State practiced in the facility Friday.

Kill said Nunez had “better be disciplined by this state” for how he allegedly treated NMSU. Kill also referenced an incident involving New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia, who appeared in a video urinating on the New Mexico logo on the school's indoor practice field. The video surfaced in September, shortly after New Mexico State's win at New Mexico. Kill said Saturday that the Pavia incident occurred during the summer and that he didn't learn about it until after his team beat New Mexico, and immediately took action once he knew.

Pavia was not allowed to do interviews for most of the season and also performed community service. In an interview last month with KTSM, Pavia apologized for the team for the distraction and said he learned from the mistake. Pavia started throughout the season at quarterback for the Aggies.

“I hope the AD here gets the same damn discipline with the people around this state that Diego got, because he deserves it,” Kill said. “It don't bother me a damn bit. When he don't let us … practice in the indoor facility, when he don't want us to do this and do that, that's chickens—. I don't care, that's my opinion, if I get in trouble, I don't give a s—, either. Because I can go down to Mexico tomorrow, drink margaritas and let you all enjoy your life, because I'll be enjoying mine. But I've got class. I've had class my whole life.”

Kill added that he had “never been treated like that.”

In a statement following the news conference, the New Mexico Bowl said it “works with both participating institutions to ensure equal access to training and practice facilities. The University of New Mexico has been gracious hosts of this game for the past 18 years and this year's game was no exception. Understanding the nature of the both in-state and in-conference rivalries there is always a sense of ensuring that all parties respect each other's property, which in this case was upheld by both institutions.”

Kill has led New Mexico State to bowl games in each of his first two seasons at the school, and the Aggies reached the Conference USA championship game this fall.