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Then it was disclosed that Locksley got into a fight with an assistant coach. That led to him being suspended for 10 days. On top of that, his team is winless, marking the first time in 22 years the Lobos have been 0-6.
It could hardly get much worse for Locksley and the Lobos.
New Mexico (0-2 Mountain West) faces UNLV (2-5, 0-3) without its first-year head coach on Saturday night. Locksley's suspension ends Sunday.
In announcing the suspension last week, athletic director Paul Krebs warned that another physical altercation would result in Locksley being fired.
"I accept the punishment the university and Paul and the administration has rendered on me with no bitterness," Locksley said when his suspension was handed out. "I accept the punishment as just for my role in the incident."
Without question, the new coach has put himself and his program into a deep hole. At a school where it's already difficult to recruit - and thus difficult to win consistently - Locksley insisted he can recover from the tailspin.
"As I've said before, in 20 years of coaching, this hasn't been my character," he said. "I'm not going to let one incident deter me from the goals I have for this program or for myself."
Receivers coach J.B. Gerald told police Locksley struck him during a coaches meeting Sept. 20, splitting his lip. Locksley acknowledged he put his hands on Gerald but maintains he threw no blows. No witnesses backed up Gerald's story, which might explain why Locksley was suspended and not fired.
"It was a heated argument, with some grabbing, pushing and shoving. It was broken up pretty immediately," Locksley explained. "I did not throw a punch."
Before that, there was an ugly dispute where a former administrative assistant accused Locksley of sexual harassment, age discrimination and retaliation. According to the plaintiff's lawyer, Locksley told the woman she was too old to be attractive to recruits.
That problem seemed to go away when, earlier this month, the university issued an ambiguous statement saying all sides agreed the dispute had been resolved.
Yet it lingers as another reminder of Locksley's mess, especially as the team struggles on the field.
Locksley was hired by New Mexico after four seasons as Illinois offensive coordinator.
During his introductory news conference in December, Locksley turned to Krebs and predicted New Mexico would be one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation.
"Our offense is going to be high-tempo, up-tempo, wide-open spread, get the ball to the playmakers, score touchdowns," Locksley told his new boss, reporters and a campus ballroom filled with boosters and fans. "We may have to add another digit to the scoreboard, Paul."
If only that was the case.
Six games into Locksley's first season, the Lobos are averaging 14.5 points per game, 118th out of 120 major college teams. They also rank 117th in scoring defense, allowing 37.8 points per game.
All this with a program that, in 11 seasons under former coach Rocky Long, never won a league championship but spent more time near the top of the Mountain West standings than in the cellar. The Lobos reached five bowl games in Long's last seven seasons.
Locksley made his name at Illinois, Florida and Maryland as a heralded recruiter, a skill that is sure to be tested in Albuquerque.
"Recruiting is a people-driven business," Locksley said. "The people that know me, that have come to know me, that get to know me, understand that this is a one-time mistake. This isn't who Mike Locksley represents, who he's going to become or who he's going to represent."
Krebs has a big stake in this, too.
During his time at Bowling Green before coming to Albuquerque, Krebs was acclaimed for hiring an unheralded Notre Dame assistant named Urban Meyer. New Mexico fans were hoping Krebs could strike gold again after Long departed, and now Locksley might need to save Krebs' reputation along with his own.
"I'm convinced that Mike ... is truly sorry for what has occurred," Krebs said. "When the suspension is over, I expect coach and his staff to get back to the business he was hired to do, which is to lead the young men in a way that I think he can."
