New Mexico head coach Bob Davie was suspended for 30 days without pay on Thursday amid multiple investigations into the athletics department, including one by the state attorney general.
The report that UNM based Davie's suspension on didn't point to a single smoking gun for temporarily forcing Davie out of his job, but instead alluded to a general culture of non-adherence to proper protocol in dealing with disciplinary issues within the program, most notably sexual assaults allegedly committed by one Lobo players.
One allegation -- which I did not put into Thursday's article because it was uncorroborated by witnesses -- stated that Davie said in a team meeting that Lobos players should "get some dirt this whore" in reference to one woman accusing a UNM player of rape.
Davie released a statement Friday, stating he will appeal his suspension and defending himself. He also specifically denied ever saying he wanted player to "get some dirt" on an accuser.
The statement:
Over the past nine months the University has conducted three investigations involving the football program dating back to 2012. None of these three investigations determined that I had violated any University policy. I have appealed the suspension imposed by Interim President Abdallah to the Board of Regents.
I fully cooperated in every respect and met multiple times with the investigators, but was never asked to meet with or provide information to Hogan. In fact, the Hogan Report reads “Given the lack of specific evidence that he or his staff engaged in criminal obstruction or retaliation with respect to these three incidences, we also determined that it was not necessary to interview Coach Davie or conduct a further review of additional police, OEO and medical records.”
While I do not think it is appropriate to discuss specifics of the investigation at this time, I will respond to one of several troubling allegations. Apparently some unnamed person has claimed that during a team meeting I told the players to “get some dirt on this [victim]”. None of the investigators told me about this claim or asked me if I ever made this remark. So there is no misunderstanding, never did I make that or any similar comment.