LAS CRUCES, N.M. — New Mexico State fired football coach Hal Mumme today, ending a four-year run in which the program often ended up in the news for the wrong reasons.

Athletic director McKinley Boston said he has begun a national search for a successor. Head coaching experience won't be required, just an eagerness to work with a program that for decades has been one of the nation's worst.

"I am looking for energy, a fire in the belly, someone with at least experience as a coordinator," Boston said. "It would help to have familiarity with this part of the country. We need an exceptional recruiter and someone who enjoys the external part of job."

The Aggies lost seven straight games to end the season 3-9 and 1-7 in the Western Athletic Conference. They lost 49-0 at home to Boise State and ended the year last weekend with a 47-2 defeat at Utah State.

During Mumme's tenure, the university also paid $165,000 to settle a 2006 lawsuit brought by three former Muslim players who claimed they were dismissed from the team because of their religious beliefs.

Mumme had a 11-38 record as NMSU's head coach, but five of those victories were against teams from the Football Championship Subdivision.

Boston named Charley Johnson, a standout NMSU quarterback who played in the NFL, as acting coach. To maintain continuity, Boston said he wants New Mexico State to stay with the spread offense employed by Mumme.

Boston also asked defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn, hired before this season, to remain. Dunn, who signed a two-year contract, attended the news conference and said he is interested in being the head coach or, depending on the hire, staying as coordinator.

"The main thing is that I have been a part of this, working with the players we have recruited," Dunn said.

Boston cited concerns about the business side of the program. He said regents last summer approved a 10-year business model for the athletics department that hinges on football becoming a moneymaker.

"I would have anticipated more progress, especially this year, than we have done," Boston said.

He also expressed concern about attendance and corporate support. Boston said New Mexico State is expected to narrowly meet the NCAA's two-year attendance minimum, averaging 15,000 fans per game, to maintain membership in the Football Bowls Subdivision.

"We need football to be successful here," Boston said.

Mumme, who formerly coached at Kentucky, Valdosta State and Southeastern Louisiana, signed a five-year deal that expires in January 2010. He was offered a one-year extension last December but did not sign it.

Boston said Mumme will receive a $305,000 buyout.

Mumme's arrival in Las Cruces four years ago coincided with New Mexico State's entry into the WAC. And while Mumme is respected for his wide-open "Air Raid" offense, his teams were just 4-28 in conference games.

New Mexico State hasn't reached the postseason since the 1960 Sun Bowl, currently the nation's longest skid without a bowl game.

"Probably the most consistent message I've been hearing from the community is that we don't want to rebuild," Boston said. "We don't want to start over again. We've been starting over since 1960."

Boston said he feels the Aggies made strides under Mumme and the program has improved with better facilities. He thanked Mumme and his wife, June, for introducing Las Cruces to breast cancer awareness initiatives.

Ultimately, Boston said a change was needed to move things forward.

"This team could have been 8-4 or 7-5," Boston said. "We were very, very competitive. The cupboard isn't bare. But at some point it is performance. You have to be able to win. You have to be able to sell the business side of it."