Entering his 8th season with the Mustangs, 2020 being his first being a coach, the local star, James Lee looks to his experience as a player to help develop future Mustangs. Lee will use his experience in coaching the Outside Linebackers.
"I am looking forward to seeing the players grow into young adults. I’ve always said that the game of football has always been a teacher of life because, off my personal experience, I wouldn’t have learned or be who I am today if it weren’t for the game. The farther the players take themselves, the more they will grow into the person they striving to be in their future."
From just a few miles down the highway, Lee is from Bayard and played his high School ball at Cobre High School. In 2015, he made the 10 minute drive to Silver City, playing football for the Mustangs from 2015-2019.
In 2018, Lee earned his Bachelors degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Coaching. He is currently working on his Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies with my concentration as in Educational Leadership and Psychology. He will get his Masters in the Fall of 2020.
Helping out in the community, he and many other Mustang football players would set up tents and canopies to cleaning the side of road ways and yards of community members. "This gives off the ultimate feeling for giving back to the community and helping those who are unable or in need of help" explains Lee.
In his spare time, he likes to workout and draw.
Lee concludes saying, "I am thankful for my parents and family, all of the coaches, players, and those in the community for supporting and helping me in any way to get me to where I am currently at!"
Playing at WNMU:
Defensive End LSC All-Conference in 2018 and 2019. Team Captain in 2018 and 2019. Awarded Team Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2019. Selected by LSC to represent the conference at the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Development Forum in Orlando, FL, in the spring of 2019.
2019: Ending his senior year and college playing career, Lee had 54.5 total tackles, 42 of them being solo, had 13 tackles for a loss, and had 6.5 sacks. Being a force on the defensive line in the passing game, Lee hurried the quarterback 9 times, and broke up and defended two passes. He tallied on one force fumble and blocked one kick.
2018: As a Junior, Lee appeared in 8 games, totaling 41Â tackles, 23 solo, 6 tackles for a loss, and sacked the QB twice. Lee also broke up and defended one pass.
2017: Entering his sophomore campaign, Lee appeared in all 11 games, getting a fumble recovery, tackling 30, in which 10 were solo, and 4.5 were tackles for a loss. Lee also hit the quarterback 6 times, resulting in 4 sacks.
2016: Coming off a redshirt year, Lee made a strong impact during his first season on the field for the Mustangs as he played in all 11 games, starting three. He came away with 38 tackles, 12 solo, along with a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Lee posted seven tackles twice against Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Commerce. He tallied a tackle for loss against Eastern New Mexico.
2015: Redshirt season.
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