ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KTSM) – New Mexico State football head coach Jerry Kill ended his press conference, after a 37-10 loss to Fresno State in the 2023 Isleta New Mexico Bowl, with a rant about quarterback Diego Pavia’s incident at the New Mexico Lobos’ practice facility earlier this year and about UNM’s Director of Athletics Eddie Nunez.
Kill enjoyed the New Mexico Bowl experience but said his program faced “all kinds of stuff” during the bowl game week. Kill alleged that UNM Director of Athletics Eddie Nunez attempted to deny NMSU the opportunity to use its indoor practice facility during bowl game week in response to Pavia’s incident at UNM earlier this year.
Back in September, a video published by KOB, showed Pavia allegedly urinating on the Lobos’ logo on the practice field at the University of New Mexico’s indoor football facility. Pavia told KTSM the incident happened before the 2023 college football season.
“We had all kinds of stuff here at the bowl game trying to get done. We had to fight our asses off to get us to be able to practice indoor because of a situation that happened down the road.” NMSU football head coach Jerry Kill said.
New Mexico State did end up getting to practice at UNM’s practice facility this week.
Pavia was disciplined for his actions. Pavia, who broke his silence on the incident late November, was not allowed to do any media interviews since Sept. 24. Kill added in his post-game press conference that Pavia had to “take a toothbrush and clean toilets all the time” as well as do community service.
“I hope the AD [Eddie Nunez] here [UNM] 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.”
Kill, who has been around the college football scene a very, very long time said he has never been treated like this.
“You can ask the college football profession. I’ve had class. Never been treated like that,” Kill said. “Guess what? When that incident happened, I didn’t know about it for two months. And we beat them [New Mexico] right here [University Stadium, home of the New Mexico Bowl]. Then they tell me after the game, take that to the bank and he better be disciplined. He better be disciplined by the state that he’s not, it’s a crime.”
After the press conference, the New Mexico Bowl released a statement.
“The Isleta New Mexico Bowl 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.”
The University of New Mexico issued a no comment, per Sean Reider of the Albuquerque Journal.
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