Apr. 15—On the eve of the portal opening, the Lobos are already down one key player.
New Mexico tight end Keayen Nead is no longer with the program and plans on entering the transfer portal, head coach Jason Eck said after Tuesday’s practice.
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After joining the team in January, the 6-foot-5, 262-pound Weber State transfer projected as a starter during spring practice and was considered the best blocker in a completely remade tight end room. But the junior informed UNM’s staff of his decision to re-enter the portal over the weekend, setting up another position the Lobos have to address in the spring transfer window.
College football’s 10-day spring transfer window opens Wednesday and closes April 25.
Eck, UNM’s first-year coach, admitted he was “surprised and disappointed” by Nead’s decision and wished him well, but questioned the wisdom of re-entering the portal without playing an additional season.
“(If) you have no other game film to add, I don’t think you’ve created any more value for yourself,” he continued. “I think even if he would have stayed here for one year and wanted to go on next year, I think he could have created some value for himself. But obviously he’s got some people in his head, and it’s their decision.
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“And, you know, I’ve kind of learned just to be at peace with it. Because I look back when I was 18 to 22 years old, I made a lot of bad decisions. Some of these guys are gonna make bad decisions — you try to advise them, but (I) can’t try to keep myself up at night thinking about it.”
A Sugar City, Idaho native, Nead posted 16 receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown over two seasons at Weber State before entering the portal in December. He told the Journal last week that Eck’s offense and his reputation as a program-builder sold him on joining UNM; Eck is the former head coach at Idaho, the Wildcats’ conference rival.
When reached by the Journal on Tuesday, Nead confirmed his plans and wished Eck and the program the best going forward.
“I just feel like there’s opportunity that I might have left on the table when I originally entered the portal,” he said when asked about his decision. “And, you know, I only get to do this for so many years, man. I want to take advantage and say I checked all my boxes and crossed all my Ts.”
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UNM now has just three tight ends on the roster: transfers Dorian Thomas (Arizona), Aiden Valdez (Campbell) and Cade Keith (TCU). Before Nead’s departure, Eck had previously said the program planned on adding to the room via the spring portal window.
“We gotta constantly be developing our roster, because guys certainly have the right to leave, just like coaches have the right to leave,” he said. “And you gotta have guys ready when that happens.”
Nead is one of seven Lobos to leave the program or football altogether this spring. Tuesday, Eck said running back Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters “decided to hang it up” and will no longer be with the program going forward.
A former BYU transfer, Maiava-Peters rushed for 124 yards and one touchdown last season after joining the program during fall camp. He projected as the fifth or sixth back this spring, trailing transfers like Scottre Humphrey, Damon Bankston, Deshaun Buchanan and D.J. McKinney.
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“Him and his wife have their second baby on the way,” Eck said. “And, you know, he already had his degree, he graduated. We hadn’t even gotten to the point of having the exit meeting, but I think he saw the writing on the wall that some of those other guys were better than him and he wasn’t going to play a lot.”
Eck also confirmed that offensive lineman Matthew Toilolo, cornerback Devin Costello and safety Matthew Lashley have left the program and plan on entering the portal. Their decisions, he said, were based on playing time.
Spring game update
Will Friday’s spring game have a traditional game format with two set teams or that of a spring showcase, a popular alternative in recent years?
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Bank on something closer to the latter.
“We’re gonna do more of (an) offense-defense (format) where the defense gets points for getting stops or getting (tackles for loss),” Eck said. “We’ll try to keep the offensive scoring more normal, but then the defense will have the opportunity to get some points on the other side by getting stops and things.”
The decision to not have a traditional game, Eck continued, was due to depth issues — particularly at tight end. UNM will contest the game over four “shorter” quarters (“maybe 10 minutes,” Eck said), another injury precaution as the Lobos wrap up spring practice.
The spring game starts at 6:30 p.m. at University Stadium after a kids clinic at 5 p.m. UNM players will be available for autographs at the end of Friday’s session.
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Notes and quotes- After being cleared last week, it seems wide receiver Keagan Johnson is determined to finish spring with a flourish. Tuesday, the 6-0, 185-pound Kansas State transfer highlighted another rock-solid practice with a ridiculously tight sideline catch on cornerback Jon Johnson (no relation), one Eck referenced while talking about naming him the offensive player of practice.
“We had high hopes for Keagan,” he said. “Then you were a little disappointed at the start of spring because he was out, but now you’re back to being almost being pleasantly surprised and happy adding him in here these last couple weeks … he’s looked like a number one receiver here these last couple weeks.” — Tuesday’s hammer (awarded to whoever Eck deems the player of the practice) did not go to Johnson, though. Fellow receiver Kader Diop walked away from UNM’s indoor practice facility with the red, Lobo-branded sledgehammer after catching a couple deep balls and notching a few strong one-on-one wins.
“I was really proud of him, because I thought he had some errors on Saturday,” Eck said. “You know, some mental errors where he didn’t have the best effort and it just wasn’t his best day. Seeing him respond — we talk a lot about toughness in our program, and how do you respond when bad things happen?
“I thought he had a great response today. He’s really had a good spring. I think he’s impressed us.” — Every time the portal opens, it’s a discussion — should college football go down from two transfer windows to just one? Eck said he’d prefer just one, even if it meant a drastic overhaul to how spring practice is scheduled.
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“It’s gonna change things to get to one portal window,” he said. “It’ll probably have to be later, and it might change spring practice forever. You know, (it) might be more of an OTA model, where you don’t have a full spring practice and now the portal window’s more in the spring.
“Really, to get to one portal window, I’d make it work. You got to evolve in life and everything. That’s how the NFL does it. They do more OTAs that are later-tinged, they’re more May and June for their OTAs. And I think that could work in college, too, to just push the portal window back.”
