By Daniel Libit

Despite initial reports that Lobo football coach Bob Davie would be taking a roughly $70,000 hit for his 30-day suspension, it appears that Davie’s actual docked pay will be significantly less than that.

NMFishbowl.com recently viewed a copy of the suspension letter that Davie received from UNM interim President Chaouki Aballah, which explicitly states that the coach would only lose out on one month of his base salary.

In the letter, Abdallah tabulated that amount to be $32,514.62. Per his current contract, Davie’s total annual compensation is $822,690, not including bonuses or compensatory benefits. This means that Davie’s suspension will ultimately cost him less than four percent of what he is due to earn during this contract year.

Davie’s Phoenix-based attorney, Michael Kennedy, filed an unsuccessful petition to vacate the suspension on Feb. 8. After the UNM Board of Regents decided not to hear Davie’s appeal, Kennedy filed a supplemental petition on Feb. 13, accusing the university of violating the coach’s employee rights and due process.

NMFishbowl.com has learned that Kennedy filed a second supplemental petition to UNM last week, which, among other things, decries Davie’s punishment as “excessive.” (Kennedy did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.)

According to Abdallah’s Feb. 15 suspension letter, Davie is forbidden from the following activities during the suspension period:

• “Conducing business on behalf of UNM;
• Representing UNM in any capacity
• Accessing your office in any UNM athletic facility without prior approval from AD Nuñez; and
• Contacting any employees, including coaches in your department or student-athletes in any way (in-person calls, emails, texts, etc.)…”

As it relates to the last prohibition, Abdallah provides exceptions for Davie’s “familial relationship(s)” with his son, UNM tight ends coach Clay Davie, and his son-in-law, football operations director Brian DeSpain.

Davie’s suspension commenced on Feb. 17 and is set to be in effect until March 18. After the Board of Regents denied Davie’s appeal last month, it subsequently acknowledged that it had not properly held the vote in open session and would have to do it again. As of now, the re-vote has still not been scheduled to take place.

This week, Abdallah officially returned to his previous job as UNM’s provost, as the school welcomed its new, full-time president, Garnett Stokes.

(Featured Image by Kate Ter Haar / Flickr)