June 16, 2009

By Richard Stevens -- Senior Writer/GoLobos.com

Running a 40-yard dash really is much more than lowering your head and churning your legs as fast as they can go. There is a proper way to dash. There is technique. You want to learn football the right way? Then go to Mike Locksley's Lobo Football Camps.

"They don't just run you through a drill. They teach you how to do it right," said one camper, who came over from St. Johns, Arizona to attend the Lobo Technique Camp that began Monday and ends on Wednesday.

"I didn't know all that much about New Mexico, being from Arizona," said the senior-to-be. "But I knew they had a lot of professional coaches and I would get a lot of good instruction. I'm learning a lot of things and I'm having a lot of fun. This definitely is a camp I would recommend."

The Lobo Football Camps began on June 13. The next camp is a Parent/Child Camp to be held June 19-20. The always-popular Women's Football Clinic will be on June 27. For additional information, contact the UNM football office at (505) 925-5700.

"These are teaching camps," said Lobo coach Mike Locksley, who is in his first season as the Lobos' head man. "I think it is our responsibility as the flagship university of the state to do anything and everything we can to promote and improve football.

"Our camps have been designed with techniques, fundamentals and basic skills in mind. These campers will see the same things we teach to our players."

The Lobo Technique Camp also tries to go above-and-beyond the normal stuff you see at summer camps. The Lobo campers are learning about skills and basic fundamentals, sure. But they also are learning about what to expect and how to be prepared in team meetings, with strength and conditioning, with nutrition.

"These kids aren't just being shown Xs and Os and basic skills," said Tee Martin, the director of the Lobo Camps. "These kids have the opportunity to see all facets of our program.

"We are not just focusing on football skills. We are focusing on making them complete football players while helping them become better total athletes."

There are some grass-root aspects to football that you just think a football player has run into at some point in his career: like running and being timed in a 40-yard dash. But for a camper from Lovington, his first-ever clocking in the 40 came Monday at the camp's NFL combine segment.

"I had never been clocked in a 40 before," he said. "I had never done a lot of those combine drills before. That was pretty cool."

The Lovington High camper came to the UNM camp on the advice of his high school coaches and an ex-Lovington player, who also is an ex-Lobo - some guy named Brian Urlacher, who plays linebacker for the Chicago Bears.

"I was told this would be a good camp," said the wide receiver. "I know these coaches are good and I knew I would get some good instruction."

The Lobo Football Camps are in their first season under Locksley, who expects the camps to grow each summer. But Locksley said his camps will not be like some camps, which fail to hire enough coaches to maintain a quality coach-to-camper ratio.

"We are going to have one coach for every ten campers, no matter what our numbers go to," said Locksley.

One of the huge draws for the Lobo Football Camps is Locksley's staff - a dynamic blending of experience, youth and championship history. The Lobo staff includes five coaches who have played or coached in a national championship game, six coaches have won conference titles either as a player or a coach, and one Lobo coach has played in a Super Bowl.

"All these coaches have either played on a championship team, coached a championship team or played in the NFL," said one Lobo camper from Albuquerque. "I think these are the kind of coaches who can get you to the next level and they also are nice guys."

Martin is just one example of a Lobo coach, who has high name appeal to Lobo campers. Martin played college ball at Tennessee with Peyton Manning. When Manning graduated, Martin led the 13-0 Volunteers to the 1998 national title. He played four years in the NFL.

"You remember being that guy trying to get your scholarship, trying to be seen by coaches," said Martin. "If a kid loves the game, it doesn't matter how old they are; I feel the same way about coaching them. I have a passion for the game and if a kid wants to learn, I'm going to enjoy teaching him.

"I tell the kids who come to our camp to learn and work hard, but, in the end, we want you to have a blast. These kids are going to have a good time and they are going to learn a lot and get better."

Lobos Football

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