Former Cavemen football coach looks foward to 2023 season at Eastern New Mexico

Former Carlsbad High School head football coach Oliver Soukup compared reuniting with new Eastern New Mexico University head football Kelly Lee to a famous band getting back together after a breakup.

Soukup left Carlsbad in the middle of January, accepting his former position as defensive coordinator at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales nearly a week after Lee was hired to coach the Greyhounds in 2023.

Lee was ENMU’s offensive coordinator from 2012 through 2016 and was head coach at ENMU from 2017 through 2020.

More:Soukup hired as defensive coordinator at Eastern New Mexico after one season in Carlsbad

Lee coached at Veterans Early College High School in Brownsville, Texas for the past two seasons.

Soukup coached with Lee in Portales from 2012 through 2015 before taking a job at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces where he was the assistant head coach for nearly six seasons.

“I loved working with him before and he’s done great things up here (in Portales) and so I wanted to get back with him,” he said.

In a press release from ENMU, Lee said Soukup was one the finest coaches he ever worked with and was ecstatic to have him back in Portales.

“I am so excited that our players get to be coached and mentored by such an outstanding individual,” he said.

Soukup coached the 2022 season in Carlsbad after leaving NMSU. The Cavemen went 5-6 last season and were eliminated from the opening round of the 6A playoffs by Farmington.

“The kids were unbelievable, it was awesome. They believed in everything we were doing, and they were the hardest factor in leaving. Just because of the amount of work they put it in,” he said.

Soukup wanted to see more Cavemen wins last season. He said Carlsbad appeared to be on track for success in 2023 and beyond as Cale Sanders, Soukup’s former assistant coach and offensive coordinator, was named new head football coach in late January.

More:4 Carlsbad High School football players join former coach at Eastern New Mexico University

“Our goal was to finish as high as we could in the District (6-3/4A). I think we got a third-place finish there. Se lost to two teams. One made its way to the (6A) semifinals in Centennial. Hobbs could have won the district easily,” he said.

Soukup outlines goals for 2023 season

This year’s top defensive priority is getting the Greyhounds to a championship level defense, Soukup said.

In 2013, Soukup coached the defensive line when the Greyhounds won the Lone Star Conference Championship.

ENMU’s defense ranked among the best in the conference with most statistical categories at the No. 1 spot during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, according to information from the ENMU Athletics Department.

Last season the Greyhounds finished 3-8 and the defense gave up 346 points. Soukup plans to meet with defensive team members before the start of spring practice in March.

When the season starts later this year he will have some familiar names on defense as four Carlsbad High School student-athletes announced plans to continue playing for Soukup at ENMU.

DJ Moore, Wesley McKibben, Dane Naylor and Austin Blair signed national letters of intent for the Greyhounds earlier this month.

More:Former NMSU Aggies assistant Oliver Soukup hired as Carlsbad Cavemen football head coach

“DJ Moore is a steal, at the (NCAA) Division II level I think he is a phenomenal football player. He’s got his best football ahead of him,” Soukup said.

Moore was First-Team All-District as a tight end and defensive end in 2022 along with being an All-Star at defensive end.

“I get to work with him again and I’m really excited about that. (He) plays the game hard,” Soukup said.

Moore said Soukup prepared him and the others to play a higher level of football outside of Carlsbad High School.

"He let me cut it loose, he let me go. He let do my own thing when it came to rushing the passer and holding the line down and making the right reads," Moore said.

Soukup was not sure if the four Carlsbad players would start on defense this year, as they will go through a transition phase from high school to college.

“There’s a lot of new things getting thrown at guys. They’re living on their own for the very first time. They’ve got a different schedule in terms of classes, and they’ve got a new playbook,” Soukup said.

He said the four incoming freshmen know the basic techniques of the defense as Soukup instilled it last year in Carlsbad.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.