Albuquerque Journal

Lobos a Haven For All Those Under-Recruited
By Rick Wright
Of the Journal

    It's a long walk-on from Houston to Albuquerque, but Wesley Beck is glad he made the trip. So is coach Rocky Long.
    Beck, the UNM football team's starting nose tackle, came to Albuquerque without a scholarship in the fall of 2004.
    Though the Lobos have a history of success with walk-ons, most of those— like safety Clint McPeek from La Cueva and former Rio Grande Raven Jeremiah Lovato, Beck's backup at nose tackle— have been New Mexicans.
    Occasionally, though, an under-recruited player from outside the state will take a chance on UNM, and on himself.
    Beck, who had no Division I offers coming out of Klein High School in Houston, is one of those.
    "I had a few junior college and Division III offers," the 6-foot-1, 279-pound senior-to-be said Thursday after the Lobos' first spring-practice workout. "But I wanted to play D-I.
    "(Former UNM defensive coordinator Osia Lewis) came down and said that if I walked on, I'd have a chance to earn a scholarship. It was just a blessing that New Mexico gave me the chance to play, and I'm very appreciative."
    That appreciation works both ways. Long, whose only D-I offer came from UNM in 1968, loves to see under-recruited players make good.
    "Those are my kind of guys," Long said, "because they're playing football for the right reason— because they love the game."
    Beck certainly isn't the first out-of-state walk-on to have success at UNM. There was quarterback Casey Kelly from Oregon (2000-03), safety Terrell Golden from California (2000-03), current wide receiver Jonathan Brooks from Arizona, and others.
    "It happens more often than people think," Long said. "Not every kid has the kind of success Wes has had, but we have a reputation among high school coaches. They'll advise a young man that if he's gonna walk on anywhere, he should walk on here."
    Four years after showing up without a scholarship, Beck is a mainstay of UNM's defensive line. He has started a total of 20 games, 10 as a sophomore, 10 as a junior.
    Two former walk-ons, in fact— nose tackles Beck and Lovato— anchor a defensive line that could be a major strength of the team next fall.
    Beck is the only returning starter. Yet, at the three defensive-line positions, players on UNM's two-deep roster have earned a total of nine varsity letters.
    It's also one of the biggest D-lines the Lobos have had during Long's tenure. The listed starters, Beck and ends Phillip Harrison and Kevin Balogun, average 283 pounds.
    There are no slow-pokes in that group, either.
    "We're bigger, stronger and faster," Beck said. "It's a tribute to the work in the weight room that we've done with Coach P (strength and conditioning coordinator Mark Paulsen) and coach Joaquin (Chavez, strength and conditioning assistant).
    "But I think the core of our team is heart. We've got a lot of heart."
    And, it seems, a lot of faith, too— which, in the case of Beck and UNM, was mutually rewarded.
    LOBO NOTES: Lovato, the walk-on from Rio Grande, on Tuesday became the first Lobo to power-clean (raise to the chest level) 400 pounds.
    Lovato actually lifted 401 pounds at UNM's "Night of Champions," surpassing Jarrod Baxter's program record of 391 set in 2001.
    ... Former Lobo and Cleveland Brown Nick Speegle is working as a team manager during spring practice.
    "He's thinking about going into coaching," Long said, "so he's doing this to get a feel for what coaching's all about."
    ... Long was pleased with Thursday's first spring workout. "We probably got more work done on the first day than we ever have before," he said.