Hear what NMSU coach Tony Sanchez had to say on National Signing Day

NM State signed three new high school players during National Signing Day on Feb. 4, giving it 36 total newcomers for the 2026 season so far.

Aggies coach Tony Sanchez will enter his third season at the helm when that season kicks off, and he addressed the newcomers in a press conference on Wednesday. Here’s what he had to say:

Offensive highlights

Furman transfer Trey Hedden passed for 2,967 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season to earn a Southern Conference All-Freshman honor. Junior college recruit Kalani McLeod threw for 3,022 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions for Diablo Valley College (California) in 2025. Both will compete with Adam Damante, who is returning after throwing for 711 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions across five appearances, including two starts.

SEE NMSU’S NEW TRANSFERS: 2026 NMSU football transfer portal tracker. Who’s in, out for the Aggies?

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“Those guys have been out there on weekends throwing, so we’ve gotten a chance to take a sneak peek and look at those guys, and we have three very capable guys of being able to battle,” Sanchez said. “We’ll bring one more arm in for sure, and then another walk-on quarterback to add five into that room. But going into spring, we expect it to be stiff competition.”

The Aggies ranked last in FBS with 77.3 rushing yards per game last season, and responded by adding three new running backs. Delaware State transfer James Jones and former Georgia Tech commit Xavier Rucker each had power conference interest, while Iowa transfer Terrell Washington Jr. comes from a power conference school.

NM State also beefed up its offensive line. Offensive tackle Armond Owens (Grambling State) and interior offensive linemen Luke Moise (Wofford), James Williams (UTEP) and Mark Chapman (Columbia) all started for their former teams last season, while Boise State transfer guard Tyler Keinath started eight games in 2024.

“I think every football organization everywhere starts off with quarterback… But then after that, we knew the No. 1 thing we needed to do on this football team was improve the offensive line,” Sanchez said. “Then all those short, close losses have a chance to flip. We have to be able to run the football, especially late in games.”

Defensive highlights

Tayden Barnes highlights NM State’s group of seven new defensive backs.

Barnes earned Conference USA All-Freshman and All-CUSA honorable mention honors with the Aggies in 2024. He transferred to Cincinnati for the 2025 season, with Sanchez stating it was due to the Bearcats offering him more NIL money.

MORE AGGIES FOOTBALL: Tony Sanchez frustrated by agents in transfer news, talks selling points for NMSU

But now, Sanchez says, Barnes just wants to play.

“When he went in the portal, he was looking for an opportunity to come in and play, and he had already done that here,” Sanchez said. “He played 800 snaps his redshirt freshman year, so that’s a lot of snaps. One of the better safeties in the conference. Great thing for us is when you lose a guy like Naeten Mitchell, and all of a sudden Tayden Barnes pops right in, and you’re like, ‘Hey man, we can fill that role right away.'”

NM State also brought in six new defensive linemen. Two of them are Kaian Roberts-Day and Vic Shaw, who both followed new Aggies defensive line coach Siddiq Haynes from UTSA.

Recruiting in El Paso

Sanchez highlighted Williams and El Paso El Dorado wide receiver JaDarius Sanders on Wednesday.

Sanchez lauded his speed and the “old-school” relationship he and other coaches formed with Sanders. He says that relationship development for a “long time” allowed the Aggies to carve out more ground in the Sun City.

“We consider El Paso our hometown when it comes to recruiting,” Sanchez said. “There’s a lot of really good players there, and for them, it gives them an opportunity to move 45-50 minutes down the road. They’re away from home, but they’re kind of still at home. Their families get a chance to be a part of it. The more players you get on your roster that can play at a high level from El Paso, I think it’s a big deal for us.”

MORE LOCAL SPORTS: Meet the Las Cruces-area football players who signed on 2026 National Signing Day

Retention

Sanchez believes NM State has “recruited at a high level” over the past few seasons, but that retention has been an issue. This year, starters like wide receiver Donovan Faupel, tight end Gavin Harris, interior offensive lineman BJ Tolo, defensive lineman Ezra Christensen, linebacker Tyler Martinez and Mitchell transferred to other teams.

Sanchez says NIL is the main issue, which NM State has addressed by ceasing its relationship with the A-Mountain Sports collective and bringing its leaders in to start a new internal NIL operation. However, Sanchez believes NIL must be addressed across CUSA.

“We’re having conversations at the conference level about where do we want to be, at a minimum,” Sanchez said. “Because if we don’t invest in this thing, it’s going to get away from us and get away from us fast. I think there’s a great opportunity for Conference USA to take a step forward.

“At the end of the day, you’re gonna have to have some investment, and it starts with your presidents, and then it goes to your athletic directors, and then it filters down to your different teams. If you want to compete in this day and age, that is part of the equation.”

Bulk of transfers

Twenty-six of NM State’s current 36 newcomers are transfers. Only six of the newcomers are high school players, and the remaining four are junior college recruits.

Sanchez says the non-transfer numbers are low for two reasons: The first being the number of starters the Aggies lost, and the second being the perceived high likelihood of an impact freshman transferring after a good first season. Sanchez says he misses the “old days” of forming relationships with freshmen and watching them grow, but “that ship sailed.”

“If you have the opportunity to get a guy like JaDarius, you want to bring that guy in. At the same time, when you do have attrition, and you do lose guys like Donovan Faupel, you need to replace them with older guys,” Sanchez said. “You need a certain amount of guys that are ready and locked and loaded to go win football games right now, and part of it is just being older, bigger, stronger.”

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Hear what NMSU coach Tony Sanchez said on 2026 National Signing Day