The New Mexico Miners are undefeated.
The Farmington-based semi-professional football team opened the 2016 season by thumping the Rio Rancho Yellow Jackets, 49-0.
And then they took down the Sante Fe Venom, 28-6, Las Vegas Grizzlies, 47-14 and Albuquerque Outlaws, 19-6.
On Sunday, they torched the Albuquerque Thunder, 41-6, to move to 5-0.
The Miners are outscoring their opponents 184-32 on the season and sledgehammering their way through the New Mexico Independent Football League.
What’s the local significance of the team?
Well, the man calling the shots for the Miners is Dolores head football coach Chris Trusler.
And ironically, Trusler first heard of the organization through another local football coach: Montezuma-Cortez defensive coordinator Keith Mikhail.
Mikhail previously played semi-pro football for the Farmington Roughnecks, and after the team changed hands, it eventually became the New Mexico Miners.
Back in the area and still with a love for the game, Mikhail reached out to the team when the M-CHS football season ended, and he transitioned from coach back to player.
“I just wanted to keep playing,” he explained. “So right when our season ended, that next Sunday I went and started practicing for the Miners. It’s actually kind of weird though, because I’m still kind of in coaching-mode. It’s weird being a player again, for sure.”
Mikhail said that while working out and going through off-season training, he noticed that the Miners did not have a head coach.
Mikhail’s father had just purchased a vehicle from Trusler at New Country Auto Center in Cortez, and Mikahil said that while at the dealership, he and Trusler began talking about the Miners organization and the coaching vacancy.
“Finally, I just asked,” explained Mikhail, “Why don’t you just come out and coach?”
Trusler was no stranger to semi-pro football. He previously served as the owner, general manager and coach for the Pensacola Lightning, compiling a 49-5 record.
So with the Dolores football season wrapped up, he jumped at the opportunity and began working with the Miners in February.
And as Trusler noted, the Miners are running an offense similar to the one he runs with the Dolores Bears.
“The team was already familiar with a spread-style offense,” he explained. “So it was mostly just changing terminology a little bit and adding in a mixture of what we do at Dolores and what the Miners were already doing. We took a combination of both and that’s what we’re using right now.”
Both Mikhail and Trusler stressed that their coaching responsibilities with M-CHS and Dolores are their primary focus. And with their high school squads already getting into off-season workouts, they’re staying busy.
“I’m going to be doing Dolores stuff Monday through Friday, and Miners games on Sunday,” said Trusler.
But as they balance high school football along with their roles with Miners, the hope is that they will continue to amass experience that will benefit their high school teams this fall.
“Last year was my first year actually coaching and running a defense,” Mikhail said. “So everything I tell my kids is just things that I’ve picked up throughout my whole career.”
Now, playing both sides of the ball for the Miners, Mikhail can pick up even more wisdom before heading into year two as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator.
As for Trusler, he hopes to continue to grow as a coach, and perhaps take concepts from the Miners organization and introduce them at Dolores this fall.
“Being a football coach, you have to be a student of the game,” he said. “You’ve always got to be learning and trying new things out, so it definitely is accelerating the football season and preparedness for us at Dolores. More experience just makes you a better coach.”
The Miners play their home games at Navajo Prep High School in Farmington, and their next home contest is on Sunday, April 17 against the Capital City Warriors at 2 p.m.
