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New Mexico State Fills Out Coaching Staff

Two new assistant coach hirings pull the Aggies coaching staff even with the rest of Division One.

NCAA Football: Arizona Bowl-New Mexico State vs Utah State Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

After months petitioning on Twitter, Doug Martin finally got his wish and was granted permission to hire his 9th and 10th assistant coaches, respectively.

Coach Martin had pointed out many times on Twitter how the NMSU coaching staff had done more in terms of recruiting and on field production despite having eight coaches, whereas almost all other FBS programs have 10 assistant coaches.

Thankfully, the NMSU Board of Regents restructured the athletic department’s debt to the main campus and freed up some cash for Martin to hire more coaches.

With that money, the Aggies were able to hire Chili Davis and Ronnie Pentz to round out the staff, which are both encouraging hires.

Chili Davis

Chili Davis will coach tight ends, taking over for Chase Holbrook (moved to QB coach), after spending last year as an offensive graduate assistant. He spent most of his time with the wide receivers, helping mold Jaleel Scott into a fourth round draft pick and making NMSU’s passing game one of the best in the nation.

Coach Davis has been coaching since 2012 when he was an assistant to the head coach at Campbell.

Ronnie Pentz

Ronnie Pentz comes to Las Cruces having spent the last five seasons coaching the San Diego Toreros special teams and tight ends. In his five years as coach, USD’s special teams units have been ranked in the top 25 nationally. Coach Pentz has also coached place kicker Colton Cook to All-American honors while at Southern Utah in 2012.

This is the most encouraging news because, as you all know, NMSU’s extra point kicking has been frustratingly inconsistent.

Brief Analysis

I am always impressed by the job that Coach Martin continues to do and this news is no different. He was able to get the money to hire coaches and then went out and found two great young coaches to help out the Aggies. Well done!