Oct. 11—New Mexico State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tyler Wright has been fired, a university spokesperson confirmed to the Journal on Friday morning.
KTSM-9 News’ Sam Guzman was the first to report the news.
Wright, NMSU’s first-year offensive coordinator, had not been with the team since the Las Cruces Sun-News released a report on Sept. 27 detailing upward of 150 posts containing derogatory and offensive language posted to his social media account more than a decade ago.
NMSU Athletic Director Mario Moccia told the Sun-News then that Wright would be away from the team as the school conducted an investigation. Assistant head coach and offensive line coach Andrew Mitchell took over play-calling duties in Wright’s absence.
“The university made a decision based on the facts they got,” Sanchez said in a prescheduled press conference previewing NMSU’s Tuesday game against Louisiana Tech. “It’s a tough deal. We love Tyler, you know, been around him, he’s a good guy.
As reported by the Sun-News, the posts in question contained homophobic and racial slurs and frequent references to former Ugandan warlord Kony. Many were posted to X (formerly Twitter) during Wright’s time as a wide receiver at Tarleton State University from 2011-14, and largely ceased upon his hiring at Odessa-Permian (Texas) High School in 2015.
“It’s unfortunate that he made some comments while he was in college,” Sanchez added. “It’s a long time ago. But it’s one of those deals where it’s just like, I understand the university’s position, but I also understand the fact that, all around the country we’ve got kids that we’ve given second chances to that have made bad mistakes.
“And then you get a guy who’s now paying the price (for what he did) at that exact same age, and being a little too free with maybe some of the things he said with teammates and stuff. It’s a great learning lesson for guys on our team, it’s a hard learning lesson for him. He’s a good football coach, I’m sure he’ll get another opportunity. Other guys have and I believe he deserves one.
A Granbury, Texas native, Wright was hired by former head coach Jerry Kill as NMSU’s tight ends coach and special teams coordinator in December 2021 after previous stops at TCU and UT-Permian Basin. Head coach Tony Sanchez tabbed him as NMSU’s offensive coordinator in January following Tim Beck’s departure to Vanderbilt.
Wright’s X bio no longer has any references to NMSU or Las Cruces: “Texas Native / 2024 @WeAreAFCA 35 under 35” replaces his “Offensive coordinator — Quarterbacks — New Mexico State Football.” Previous posts featuring offensive language have seemingly been deleted from his account.
