'The compensation has to be there': How NMSU plans to keep Jerry Kill in Las Cruces

Dec. 4—Nearly a decade ago, Mario Moccia stood at the podium and said he was going to get it right.

"People will maybe ridicule me," New Mexico State's then-newly appointed athletic director said in his introductory press conference in November 2014. "We're not gonna accept that we can't win in football here. Absolutely not.

"We can win, and we're gonna put things in place to try to make sure that happens."

At the time, it might have been a claim worthy of ridicule. The Aggies were coming off a 2-10 season — the program's 12th losing season in a row. NMSU hadn't qualified for a bowl in 54 years. Whether it was the "Woodson Curse" or financial struggles, the program was entrenched at the bottom of the FBS with uncomfortable questions — a potential move down to FCS — looming.

Nine years later, the world might as well have flipped on its axis for NMSU football. The Aggies are 10-4 after playing for a Conference USA title, touch-and-go years wandering in the wilderness as an independent behind them. NMSU has won double-digit games for the second time in program history. Received AP Top 25 votes for the first time ever. Beat an Southeastern Conference Team for the first time ever.

NMSU is finally winning, finally right — even if Moccia sometimes had his doubts, too.

"After the UMass game, I wasn't as confident as I was in my press conference in 2014," Moccia laughed, referencing the Aggies' 41-30 season-opening loss on Aug. 26.

Keeping it right is the next challenge.

After NMSU head coach Jerry Kill took the program to unprecedented heights in his second season, Moccia told the Journal on Saturday he's committed to finding ways to retain Kill for the long haul. Kill, 62, said earlier this season he's not quite courting suitors, especially given his age and how much he enjoys living in Las Cruces.

"I've never applied for a job, really — well, I know I haven't applied for a job," he said during a press conference in November. "Never applied for a job. Took care of the job that I was at and things happened.

"But I've told everybody, I've told our administration what it's gonna take to keep me here. I'll leave it at that. Really, the ball's in our administration's hands."

Kill made $600,000 this season and is set to make $650,000 in 2024 due to performance-related bonuses, according to data collected by USA Today. Compared to other CUSA programs, Kill's 2023 salary is tied with Sam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler for the lowest of any head coach in the league.

Moccia made it clear that has to change.

"The compensation has got to be there," Moccia told the Journal. "Jerry's not money-motivated, but New Mexico State University does not want to have the lowest-paid coach in Conference USA. That's not how you want to build a championship program."

In that vein, Moccia compared NMSU's current situation to previous attempts to retain Chris Jans amid ongoing success. The former Aggies and current Mississippi State basketball head coach compiled a 122-32 record with three NCAA Tournament bids over five seasons in Las Cruces, despite being courted by larger, more resourced programs.

"Where you have a coach who won 28 games, won (30) games, then (25) games, was (beating) Power 5 opponents," Moccia said, "and the university, from our budget, didn't have much or anything to contribute to it. So then you have to think outside the box a little bit, and that usually means going to individual donors to fund the salaries and (drawing) on your relationship with the NMSU Foundation."

"And that's what we're in the process of doing right now."

Moccia added reactions from their donor base have been "very, very positive" in ongoing efforts to bump Kill's salary to a higher, if currently unknown, number.

"We're talking with the foundation, but the private donors have spoken," he said. "So I don't have a problem if the private donors want to fund Jerry's (salary) to X, whatever. I don't care. I mean, the donors are telling me, 'Hey, we want to keep him. We want to keep this thing going.' They felt that, they tasted it."

NMSU's athletic director indicated it would be a similar situation to increase pay for full-time football staffers. Assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Tim Beck and defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling were two of eight assistant coaches to receive raises after the Aggies finished 7-6 in 2022, according to USA Today.

"You'd like to give pay increases every year," he said. "I think the reality of it is, there is only so much that can (go) around, and I think you would take any of those situations on a case-by-case basis."

Facility upgrades are also in store. After a $28.5 bond issuance was approved in August 2022, NMSU football is set for a new $15 million locker room in Aggie Memorial Stadium that Moccia said is coming in "a little over budget."

A state-funded $2 million jumbotron will also be installed prior to the 2024 season. Moccia added that the paving of a parking lot that's stipulated in Kill's contract is an "existing difficulty" due to infrastructure concerns and pricing ($900,000) but will be resolved prior to the upcoming season.

For now, it's about getting the next offer to Kill right.

"It's incumbent upon us to get that up," Moccia said of Kill's salary. "That's a big deal."