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#EPisMAD

JCorona

MI Miner Maniac
Jun 15, 2014
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We can all agree that Senter isn't very good at his job. The coaches he hired and then the contracts he gave them are looking worse by the day.

With his contract expiring this summer I think it's time for fans and local media to turn the heat on Wilson. Let her know our displeasure with the current state of the athletic department and demand a change be made.

We can bombard her email, get the hashtag trending on social media, write articles in the local media, etc.

The point is make sure we are looking for a new AD and renewed hope of the athletic department by this summer.
 
We can all agree that Senter isn't very good at his job. The coaches he hired and then the contracts he gave them are looking worse by the day.

With his contract expiring this summer I think it's time for fans and local media to turn the heat on Wilson. Let her know our displeasure with the current state of the athletic department and demand a change be made.

We can bombard her email, get the hashtag trending on social media, write articles in the local media, etc.

The point is make sure we are looking for a new AD and renewed hope of the athletic department by this summer.
We can try to force her hand, but if she has any fortitude at all she already has plans to let Senter go. Personally I would give her that liberty. I just don't see any justification for him to get an extension. She didn't hire him, so I think his tenure is over.

One of my colleagues that has been a season ticket holder for 40+ years and is a big name in the medical community is super pissed right now. He told me yesterday he will be writing a letter to Wilson.

Does anybody know exactly what she said about athletics when she was hired?
 

"Sports like football and basketball are the front porch of the institution; they are one of the ways a community and the university connect with each other," she said. "I think the athletic department knows where they are and they have a plan to improve athletic results.

"My approach to this is: I know our coaches want to win more than I want to win for them. There's no way I can tell them how to run our programs, that's not what I do — unless we have a rowing team, then I can help them there, but we don't.

"My approach as a university president is to make sure we have great athletic programs, they're properly run, they follow the rules, we use athletics to develop young people as leaders in their professions," Wilson said.
 
"My approach as a university president is to make sure we have great athletic programs, they're properly run, they follow the rules, we use athletics to develop young people as leaders in their professions," Wilson said.

We are far from a great athletics program. Maybe the other stuff applies, but the reality is very few will even care if we are constantly losing and being embarrassed. There is little to no connection with the community. Right now we are like the basement window, not the front porch.
 
IMO she will give Senter another year and depending on the fb team results will make a determination going forward. If the fb team does well like making a bowl game, no change will be made.
 

"Sports like football and basketball are the front porch of the institution; they are one of the ways a community and the university connect with each other," she said. "I think the athletic department knows where they are and they have a plan to improve athletic results.

"My approach to this is: I know our coaches want to win more than I want to win for them. There's no way I can tell them how to run our programs, that's not what I do — unless we have a rowing team, then I can help them there, but we

"My approach as a university president is to make sure we have great athletic programs, they're properly run, they follow the rules, we use athletics to develop young people as leaders in their professions," Wilson said.
Her actions will ultimately speak louder than her words.

“Ok dear 8 pound 6 ounce, newborn infant jeezuz...”
 
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I like JCorona's idea. It wouldn't hurt to contact Wilson and her chief of staff and voice your displeasure with the terrible state of UTEP Athletics. Their emails are cited below.

hwilson@utep.edu

acortinas@utep.edu
Agree. Best to keep it short and keep it civil so that it is read rather than trashed due to foul language and venom. Just my .02 worth.

Maybe all emails should have a common hashtag as Corona suggested. Any ideas?
 
I wrote this to Wilson email on March 16th, and have not gotten a response.

Good morning Ms. Wilson,


I am writing to you as a very concerned and longtime UTEP athletics fan that Jim Senter has done more damage than good for the athletic program and its way past due for a drastic change to the culture and leadership of UTEP Athletics.

For one, Jim Senter is not following through on his promises he made when hired.

When hired, Jim Senter promised to bring in an exciting offense to the football program, but the truth is UTEP has been one of the least explosive and efficient offenses in the nation under three years of Dana Dimel which included coordinator changes after a three-win season this past season.

Dana Dimel’s play calling has been very questionable as well as his game management situations which are never questioned by the local media and is always pushed off as excuses, the time for excuses is over, you are losing fans at an alarming rate and the time to make changes is now.

A lot of people will say UTEP football ‘improved’ this past fall due to winning three games, but the three teams Dimel beat all allowed more than 700 points combined when those teams faced other FBS opponents so bragging about three wins against those programs isn’t saying very much in terms of the improvement, Dimel has won just one C-USA game in three years, ONE CONFERENCE USA GAME IN THREE YEARS. He is 1-19 in conference play in three years, how does this justify that he is improving the program, 1-19 Ms. Wilson, 1-19.

I’ll give Dimel as slight pass on this due to the fact the UTEP football program has always struggled, but Dimel was chosen over Sterlin Gilbert who was a proven offense coach and recruiter, only to settle for someone who only won a handful of games in past head coach experience, again going back to Senter (Richard Aduato included) and his/their poor judgement.

Over the past decade, UTEP has been a laughing stock in terms of athletics. It’s a punchline across C-USA, a joke nationally, and our city and university deserve better and Senter has set the program back so many more years, I see declining fan interest becoming a bigger thing than it already is and that means declining attendance which is already terrible and has fallen to new depths under Jim Senter.

You know for a fact the Sun Bowl upgrade was a disappointment in terms of what else could have been done if the AD raised enough money. Senter did not raise enough money for what Bob Stull had originally planned which was an overhaul of the south end zone, and instead Senter was only able to fund raise for the recent updates, which are nice and welcomed, but nowhere near the great and lofty visionary plans set forth by Mr. Stull. I saw the renderings in 2014 and man, it would have been nice to see the Sun Bowl transformed in that way, rather than what Mr. Senter was able to do.

Before Senter took over, Media Relations women were sleeping with football coaches, SID’s were tweeting terrible criticism of athletes DURING GAMES, and some of these people are still employed in the athletic department, why?

Then we get to Rodney Terry’s major shortcomings after his big promises when hired.

Terry has shown major arrogance and has done unethical practices that will not make UTEP attractive to assistant coaches or support staff and this is well known in coaching circles. His assistant Arturo Osmand was a part of a recruiting deal to bring in Bryson Williams, so basically Terry is doing back door deals and bringing in people to the program as a deal, not to help the betterment of the program but to please kids and their handlers, this is a known problem in college basketball and it has backfired as Terry does not have an adequate coaching staff to assist him with on court issues that plague this team.

He has shown ZERO basketball development, his offenses are stagnant and rely too much on isolation with no team development, and while he has proven he is a great recruiter, from a X’s and O’s standpoint he continually gets out coached due to his basic schemes and lack of adjustments, and his talented kids deserve better and the paying fans who put their time, effort and hard earned dollars into the program deserve better.

Two players who transferred from last year’s roster are now star players for other programs, fans want to know why is that? But when asked by local media, Rodney is quick to throw players under the bus and take zero accountability.

Rodney Terry promised conference championships, a return to the UTEP hay-day, but has not recorded double digit wins in conference play and has not had a winning record against D-1 teams if you combine the last two seasons in which he had the talent to accomplish those feats. How does this justify him getting an extension, and why didn’t the athletic department announce this, rather than a local news station breaking the news?

Do you see the terrible disconnect going on?

Then we get to the way Senter and his coaches (mainly Terry) treat fans.

Jim Senter and Rodney Terry have blocked multiple fans on twitter who are outspoken about this issue, and basically showing they can’t accept any criticism which comes with running a D-I program. I don’t see Chris Del Conte, or other major AD’s blocking upset fans on Twitter. This is childish, this is major college athletics.

I have donated to the athletic program in the past and feel that is very disrespectful for a failed athletic administration who promised exciting offense, championships and a culture change do the exact opposite and seem to be content with below average results.

“I'll tell you, probably the biggest ingredient of all is winning. Winning drives people to come in and watch. Being exciting drives people to come in and watch. And so we've got to hire the right kind of coaches who do that and get it done. Now the flip side of that is, I will tell you, being engaged in the community and making sure that you're visible and people know that they're welcome. That's a big part of it as well. I don't know what things the staff has done here to engage the community and do that. I'm going to learn about it very quickly and get up to speed and ask a lot of questions. But certainly, I think every community and every organization and every university and athletic department can do a better job of that." – Jim Senter quote during his introductory press conference

All we are seeing is mediocre at best results, and the culture is a culture in which excuses are made rather than solutions and the results are even worse than the last decade. No accountability just aww shucks, our guys play hard. No, us fans want a competitive winner, not excuses.

Not to mention his softball hire gave up the most home runs in a D-1 softball game in college softball history, I don’t understand why this is allowed as the norm at UTEP.

This is unacceptable, but it only makes fans feel this way, and the administration just collects a paycheck and says ‘oh well’ we tried.

Ms. Wilson, several UTEP fans are pleading for a change, the challenge of the pandemic is considered as it adds a big strain on your decisions , I understand that, but the decisions Jim Senter have made do not deserve any justification of why he should continue leading the athletic program into the 2021-22 athletic calendar.

UTEP was two years removed from a winless season in football, badly needing a culture change to a winning culture, and Mr. Senter goes and hires a coach who has a winless season under his tenure just as a small example.

Ms. Wilson, I have a been a UTEP fan since I was four years old, born in 1988, I've sat in empty Sun Bowls in the 90’s, cheered in packed Don Haskins’ Center in the mid-2000’s, and dealt with the sad end of the Haskins day’s in the late 90’s and now I hope the Miners lose every time out so change can be made, and most of El Paso feels the same, why do you think attendance has been so low? El Paso doesn’t care because Jim Senter is not the right fit for the El Paso community and UTEP Athletics.

It is sad that the program I have loved and followed since childhood doesn't accept me as a fan because I tweet some criticism, so I get blocked.

I really hope change is made, you have a chance to make a big move and save your athletic program from getting deeper down the totem pole of college athletics while creating some excitement and showing fans you have expectations and won't settle for being a laughing stock, that is not happening right now.

On behalf of UTEP fans, and the city of El Paso, please relieve Jim Senter of his position as UTEP Athletic director, he is in over his head, and doing damage to the fan base who proudly supports the program but are tired of being the laughing stock of the entire college sports nation.

Thank you,
 
I wrote this to Wilson email on March 16th, and have not gotten a response.

Good morning Ms. Wilson,


I am writing to you as a very concerned and longtime UTEP athletics fan that Jim Senter has done more damage than good for the athletic program and its way past due for a drastic change to the culture and leadership of UTEP Athletics.

For one, Jim Senter is not following through on his promises he made when hired.

When hired, Jim Senter promised to bring in an exciting offense to the football program, but the truth is UTEP has been one of the least explosive and efficient offenses in the nation under three years of Dana Dimel which included coordinator changes after a three-win season this past season.

Dana Dimel’s play calling has been very questionable as well as his game management situations which are never questioned by the local media and is always pushed off as excuses, the time for excuses is over, you are losing fans at an alarming rate and the time to make changes is now.

A lot of people will say UTEP football ‘improved’ this past fall due to winning three games, but the three teams Dimel beat all allowed more than 700 points combined when those teams faced other FBS opponents so bragging about three wins against those programs isn’t saying very much in terms of the improvement, Dimel has won just one C-USA game in three years, ONE CONFERENCE USA GAME IN THREE YEARS. He is 1-19 in conference play in three years, how does this justify that he is improving the program, 1-19 Ms. Wilson, 1-19.

I’ll give Dimel as slight pass on this due to the fact the UTEP football program has always struggled, but Dimel was chosen over Sterlin Gilbert who was a proven offense coach and recruiter, only to settle for someone who only won a handful of games in past head coach experience, again going back to Senter (Richard Aduato included) and his/their poor judgement.

Over the past decade, UTEP has been a laughing stock in terms of athletics. It’s a punchline across C-USA, a joke nationally, and our city and university deserve better and Senter has set the program back so many more years, I see declining fan interest becoming a bigger thing than it already is and that means declining attendance which is already terrible and has fallen to new depths under Jim Senter.

You know for a fact the Sun Bowl upgrade was a disappointment in terms of what else could have been done if the AD raised enough money. Senter did not raise enough money for what Bob Stull had originally planned which was an overhaul of the south end zone, and instead Senter was only able to fund raise for the recent updates, which are nice and welcomed, but nowhere near the great and lofty visionary plans set forth by Mr. Stull. I saw the renderings in 2014 and man, it would have been nice to see the Sun Bowl transformed in that way, rather than what Mr. Senter was able to do.

Before Senter took over, Media Relations women were sleeping with football coaches, SID’s were tweeting terrible criticism of athletes DURING GAMES, and some of these people are still employed in the athletic department, why?

Then we get to Rodney Terry’s major shortcomings after his big promises when hired.

Terry has shown major arrogance and has done unethical practices that will not make UTEP attractive to assistant coaches or support staff and this is well known in coaching circles. His assistant Arturo Osmand was a part of a recruiting deal to bring in Bryson Williams, so basically Terry is doing back door deals and bringing in people to the program as a deal, not to help the betterment of the program but to please kids and their handlers, this is a known problem in college basketball and it has backfired as Terry does not have an adequate coaching staff to assist him with on court issues that plague this team.

He has shown ZERO basketball development, his offenses are stagnant and rely too much on isolation with no team development, and while he has proven he is a great recruiter, from a X’s and O’s standpoint he continually gets out coached due to his basic schemes and lack of adjustments, and his talented kids deserve better and the paying fans who put their time, effort and hard earned dollars into the program deserve better.

Two players who transferred from last year’s roster are now star players for other programs, fans want to know why is that? But when asked by local media, Rodney is quick to throw players under the bus and take zero accountability.

Rodney Terry promised conference championships, a return to the UTEP hay-day, but has not recorded double digit wins in conference play and has not had a winning record against D-1 teams if you combine the last two seasons in which he had the talent to accomplish those feats. How does this justify him getting an extension, and why didn’t the athletic department announce this, rather than a local news station breaking the news?

Do you see the terrible disconnect going on?

Then we get to the way Senter and his coaches (mainly Terry) treat fans.

Jim Senter and Rodney Terry have blocked multiple fans on twitter who are outspoken about this issue, and basically showing they can’t accept any criticism which comes with running a D-I program. I don’t see Chris Del Conte, or other major AD’s blocking upset fans on Twitter. This is childish, this is major college athletics.

I have donated to the athletic program in the past and feel that is very disrespectful for a failed athletic administration who promised exciting offense, championships and a culture change do the exact opposite and seem to be content with below average results.

“I'll tell you, probably the biggest ingredient of all is winning. Winning drives people to come in and watch. Being exciting drives people to come in and watch. And so we've got to hire the right kind of coaches who do that and get it done. Now the flip side of that is, I will tell you, being engaged in the community and making sure that you're visible and people know that they're welcome. That's a big part of it as well. I don't know what things the staff has done here to engage the community and do that. I'm going to learn about it very quickly and get up to speed and ask a lot of questions. But certainly, I think every community and every organization and every university and athletic department can do a better job of that." – Jim Senter quote during his introductory press conference

All we are seeing is mediocre at best results, and the culture is a culture in which excuses are made rather than solutions and the results are even worse than the last decade. No accountability just aww shucks, our guys play hard. No, us fans want a competitive winner, not excuses.

Not to mention his softball hire gave up the most home runs in a D-1 softball game in college softball history, I don’t understand why this is allowed as the norm at UTEP.

This is unacceptable, but it only makes fans feel this way, and the administration just collects a paycheck and says ‘oh well’ we tried.

Ms. Wilson, several UTEP fans are pleading for a change, the challenge of the pandemic is considered as it adds a big strain on your decisions , I understand that, but the decisions Jim Senter have made do not deserve any justification of why he should continue leading the athletic program into the 2021-22 athletic calendar.

UTEP was two years removed from a winless season in football, badly needing a culture change to a winning culture, and Mr. Senter goes and hires a coach who has a winless season under his tenure just as a small example.

Ms. Wilson, I have a been a UTEP fan since I was four years old, born in 1988, I've sat in empty Sun Bowls in the 90’s, cheered in packed Don Haskins’ Center in the mid-2000’s, and dealt with the sad end of the Haskins day’s in the late 90’s and now I hope the Miners lose every time out so change can be made, and most of El Paso feels the same, why do you think attendance has been so low? El Paso doesn’t care because Jim Senter is not the right fit for the El Paso community and UTEP Athletics.

It is sad that the program I have loved and followed since childhood doesn't accept me as a fan because I tweet some criticism, so I get blocked.

I really hope change is made, you have a chance to make a big move and save your athletic program from getting deeper down the totem pole of college athletics while creating some excitement and showing fans you have expectations and won't settle for being a laughing stock, that is not happening right now.

On behalf of UTEP fans, and the city of El Paso, please relieve Jim Senter of his position as UTEP Athletic director, he is in over his head, and doing damage to the fan base who proudly supports the program but are tired of being the laughing stock of the entire college sports nation.

Thank you,
That last paragraph was perfect. Hopefully she read it and will refer to the letters of discontent when she releases Senter.
 
I wrote this to Wilson email on March 16th, and have not gotten a response.

Good morning Ms. Wilson,


I am writing to you as a very concerned and longtime UTEP athletics fan that Jim Senter has done more damage than good for the athletic program and its way past due for a drastic change to the culture and leadership of UTEP Athletics.

For one, Jim Senter is not following through on his promises he made when hired.

When hired, Jim Senter promised to bring in an exciting offense to the football program, but the truth is UTEP has been one of the least explosive and efficient offenses in the nation under three years of Dana Dimel which included coordinator changes after a three-win season this past season.

Dana Dimel’s play calling has been very questionable as well as his game management situations which are never questioned by the local media and is always pushed off as excuses, the time for excuses is over, you are losing fans at an alarming rate and the time to make changes is now.

A lot of people will say UTEP football ‘improved’ this past fall due to winning three games, but the three teams Dimel beat all allowed more than 700 points combined when those teams faced other FBS opponents so bragging about three wins against those programs isn’t saying very much in terms of the improvement, Dimel has won just one C-USA game in three years, ONE CONFERENCE USA GAME IN THREE YEARS. He is 1-19 in conference play in three years, how does this justify that he is improving the program, 1-19 Ms. Wilson, 1-19.

I’ll give Dimel as slight pass on this due to the fact the UTEP football program has always struggled, but Dimel was chosen over Sterlin Gilbert who was a proven offense coach and recruiter, only to settle for someone who only won a handful of games in past head coach experience, again going back to Senter (Richard Aduato included) and his/their poor judgement.

Over the past decade, UTEP has been a laughing stock in terms of athletics. It’s a punchline across C-USA, a joke nationally, and our city and university deserve better and Senter has set the program back so many more years, I see declining fan interest becoming a bigger thing than it already is and that means declining attendance which is already terrible and has fallen to new depths under Jim Senter.

You know for a fact the Sun Bowl upgrade was a disappointment in terms of what else could have been done if the AD raised enough money. Senter did not raise enough money for what Bob Stull had originally planned which was an overhaul of the south end zone, and instead Senter was only able to fund raise for the recent updates, which are nice and welcomed, but nowhere near the great and lofty visionary plans set forth by Mr. Stull. I saw the renderings in 2014 and man, it would have been nice to see the Sun Bowl transformed in that way, rather than what Mr. Senter was able to do.

Before Senter took over, Media Relations women were sleeping with football coaches, SID’s were tweeting terrible criticism of athletes DURING GAMES, and some of these people are still employed in the athletic department, why?

Then we get to Rodney Terry’s major shortcomings after his big promises when hired.

Terry has shown major arrogance and has done unethical practices that will not make UTEP attractive to assistant coaches or support staff and this is well known in coaching circles. His assistant Arturo Osmand was a part of a recruiting deal to bring in Bryson Williams, so basically Terry is doing back door deals and bringing in people to the program as a deal, not to help the betterment of the program but to please kids and their handlers, this is a known problem in college basketball and it has backfired as Terry does not have an adequate coaching staff to assist him with on court issues that plague this team.

He has shown ZERO basketball development, his offenses are stagnant and rely too much on isolation with no team development, and while he has proven he is a great recruiter, from a X’s and O’s standpoint he continually gets out coached due to his basic schemes and lack of adjustments, and his talented kids deserve better and the paying fans who put their time, effort and hard earned dollars into the program deserve better.

Two players who transferred from last year’s roster are now star players for other programs, fans want to know why is that? But when asked by local media, Rodney is quick to throw players under the bus and take zero accountability.

Rodney Terry promised conference championships, a return to the UTEP hay-day, but has not recorded double digit wins in conference play and has not had a winning record against D-1 teams if you combine the last two seasons in which he had the talent to accomplish those feats. How does this justify him getting an extension, and why didn’t the athletic department announce this, rather than a local news station breaking the news?

Do you see the terrible disconnect going on?

Then we get to the way Senter and his coaches (mainly Terry) treat fans.

Jim Senter and Rodney Terry have blocked multiple fans on twitter who are outspoken about this issue, and basically showing they can’t accept any criticism which comes with running a D-I program. I don’t see Chris Del Conte, or other major AD’s blocking upset fans on Twitter. This is childish, this is major college athletics.

I have donated to the athletic program in the past and feel that is very disrespectful for a failed athletic administration who promised exciting offense, championships and a culture change do the exact opposite and seem to be content with below average results.

“I'll tell you, probably the biggest ingredient of all is winning. Winning drives people to come in and watch. Being exciting drives people to come in and watch. And so we've got to hire the right kind of coaches who do that and get it done. Now the flip side of that is, I will tell you, being engaged in the community and making sure that you're visible and people know that they're welcome. That's a big part of it as well. I don't know what things the staff has done here to engage the community and do that. I'm going to learn about it very quickly and get up to speed and ask a lot of questions. But certainly, I think every community and every organization and every university and athletic department can do a better job of that." – Jim Senter quote during his introductory press conference

All we are seeing is mediocre at best results, and the culture is a culture in which excuses are made rather than solutions and the results are even worse than the last decade. No accountability just aww shucks, our guys play hard. No, us fans want a competitive winner, not excuses.

Not to mention his softball hire gave up the most home runs in a D-1 softball game in college softball history, I don’t understand why this is allowed as the norm at UTEP.

This is unacceptable, but it only makes fans feel this way, and the administration just collects a paycheck and says ‘oh well’ we tried.

Ms. Wilson, several UTEP fans are pleading for a change, the challenge of the pandemic is considered as it adds a big strain on your decisions , I understand that, but the decisions Jim Senter have made do not deserve any justification of why he should continue leading the athletic program into the 2021-22 athletic calendar.

UTEP was two years removed from a winless season in football, badly needing a culture change to a winning culture, and Mr. Senter goes and hires a coach who has a winless season under his tenure just as a small example.

Ms. Wilson, I have a been a UTEP fan since I was four years old, born in 1988, I've sat in empty Sun Bowls in the 90’s, cheered in packed Don Haskins’ Center in the mid-2000’s, and dealt with the sad end of the Haskins day’s in the late 90’s and now I hope the Miners lose every time out so change can be made, and most of El Paso feels the same, why do you think attendance has been so low? El Paso doesn’t care because Jim Senter is not the right fit for the El Paso community and UTEP Athletics.

It is sad that the program I have loved and followed since childhood doesn't accept me as a fan because I tweet some criticism, so I get blocked.

I really hope change is made, you have a chance to make a big move and save your athletic program from getting deeper down the totem pole of college athletics while creating some excitement and showing fans you have expectations and won't settle for being a laughing stock, that is not happening right now.

On behalf of UTEP fans, and the city of El Paso, please relieve Jim Senter of his position as UTEP Athletic director, he is in over his head, and doing damage to the fan base who proudly supports the program but are tired of being the laughing stock of the entire college sports nation.

Thank you,

You probably haven’t gotten a response because she’s probably still reading this. This should have chapters.
 
I wrote this to Wilson email on March 16th, and have not gotten a response.

Good morning Ms. Wilson,


I am writing to you as a very concerned and longtime UTEP athletics fan that Jim Senter has done more damage than good for the athletic program and its way past due for a drastic change to the culture and leadership of UTEP Athletics.

For one, Jim Senter is not following through on his promises he made when hired.

When hired, Jim Senter promised to bring in an exciting offense to the football program, but the truth is UTEP has been one of the least explosive and efficient offenses in the nation under three years of Dana Dimel which included coordinator changes after a three-win season this past season.

Dana Dimel’s play calling has been very questionable as well as his game management situations which are never questioned by the local media and is always pushed off as excuses, the time for excuses is over, you are losing fans at an alarming rate and the time to make changes is now.

A lot of people will say UTEP football ‘improved’ this past fall due to winning three games, but the three teams Dimel beat all allowed more than 700 points combined when those teams faced other FBS opponents so bragging about three wins against those programs isn’t saying very much in terms of the improvement, Dimel has won just one C-USA game in three years, ONE CONFERENCE USA GAME IN THREE YEARS. He is 1-19 in conference play in three years, how does this justify that he is improving the program, 1-19 Ms. Wilson, 1-19.

I’ll give Dimel as slight pass on this due to the fact the UTEP football program has always struggled, but Dimel was chosen over Sterlin Gilbert who was a proven offense coach and recruiter, only to settle for someone who only won a handful of games in past head coach experience, again going back to Senter (Richard Aduato included) and his/their poor judgement.

Over the past decade, UTEP has been a laughing stock in terms of athletics. It’s a punchline across C-USA, a joke nationally, and our city and university deserve better and Senter has set the program back so many more years, I see declining fan interest becoming a bigger thing than it already is and that means declining attendance which is already terrible and has fallen to new depths under Jim Senter.

You know for a fact the Sun Bowl upgrade was a disappointment in terms of what else could have been done if the AD raised enough money. Senter did not raise enough money for what Bob Stull had originally planned which was an overhaul of the south end zone, and instead Senter was only able to fund raise for the recent updates, which are nice and welcomed, but nowhere near the great and lofty visionary plans set forth by Mr. Stull. I saw the renderings in 2014 and man, it would have been nice to see the Sun Bowl transformed in that way, rather than what Mr. Senter was able to do.

Before Senter took over, Media Relations women were sleeping with football coaches, SID’s were tweeting terrible criticism of athletes DURING GAMES, and some of these people are still employed in the athletic department, why?

Then we get to Rodney Terry’s major shortcomings after his big promises when hired.

Terry has shown major arrogance and has done unethical practices that will not make UTEP attractive to assistant coaches or support staff and this is well known in coaching circles. His assistant Arturo Osmand was a part of a recruiting deal to bring in Bryson Williams, so basically Terry is doing back door deals and bringing in people to the program as a deal, not to help the betterment of the program but to please kids and their handlers, this is a known problem in college basketball and it has backfired as Terry does not have an adequate coaching staff to assist him with on court issues that plague this team.

He has shown ZERO basketball development, his offenses are stagnant and rely too much on isolation with no team development, and while he has proven he is a great recruiter, from a X’s and O’s standpoint he continually gets out coached due to his basic schemes and lack of adjustments, and his talented kids deserve better and the paying fans who put their time, effort and hard earned dollars into the program deserve better.

Two players who transferred from last year’s roster are now star players for other programs, fans want to know why is that? But when asked by local media, Rodney is quick to throw players under the bus and take zero accountability.

Rodney Terry promised conference championships, a return to the UTEP hay-day, but has not recorded double digit wins in conference play and has not had a winning record against D-1 teams if you combine the last two seasons in which he had the talent to accomplish those feats. How does this justify him getting an extension, and why didn’t the athletic department announce this, rather than a local news station breaking the news?

Do you see the terrible disconnect going on?

Then we get to the way Senter and his coaches (mainly Terry) treat fans.

Jim Senter and Rodney Terry have blocked multiple fans on twitter who are outspoken about this issue, and basically showing they can’t accept any criticism which comes with running a D-I program. I don’t see Chris Del Conte, or other major AD’s blocking upset fans on Twitter. This is childish, this is major college athletics.

I have donated to the athletic program in the past and feel that is very disrespectful for a failed athletic administration who promised exciting offense, championships and a culture change do the exact opposite and seem to be content with below average results.

“I'll tell you, probably the biggest ingredient of all is winning. Winning drives people to come in and watch. Being exciting drives people to come in and watch. And so we've got to hire the right kind of coaches who do that and get it done. Now the flip side of that is, I will tell you, being engaged in the community and making sure that you're visible and people know that they're welcome. That's a big part of it as well. I don't know what things the staff has done here to engage the community and do that. I'm going to learn about it very quickly and get up to speed and ask a lot of questions. But certainly, I think every community and every organization and every university and athletic department can do a better job of that." – Jim Senter quote during his introductory press conference

All we are seeing is mediocre at best results, and the culture is a culture in which excuses are made rather than solutions and the results are even worse than the last decade. No accountability just aww shucks, our guys play hard. No, us fans want a competitive winner, not excuses.

Not to mention his softball hire gave up the most home runs in a D-1 softball game in college softball history, I don’t understand why this is allowed as the norm at UTEP.

This is unacceptable, but it only makes fans feel this way, and the administration just collects a paycheck and says ‘oh well’ we tried.

Ms. Wilson, several UTEP fans are pleading for a change, the challenge of the pandemic is considered as it adds a big strain on your decisions , I understand that, but the decisions Jim Senter have made do not deserve any justification of why he should continue leading the athletic program into the 2021-22 athletic calendar.

UTEP was two years removed from a winless season in football, badly needing a culture change to a winning culture, and Mr. Senter goes and hires a coach who has a winless season under his tenure just as a small example.

Ms. Wilson, I have a been a UTEP fan since I was four years old, born in 1988, I've sat in empty Sun Bowls in the 90’s, cheered in packed Don Haskins’ Center in the mid-2000’s, and dealt with the sad end of the Haskins day’s in the late 90’s and now I hope the Miners lose every time out so change can be made, and most of El Paso feels the same, why do you think attendance has been so low? El Paso doesn’t care because Jim Senter is not the right fit for the El Paso community and UTEP Athletics.

It is sad that the program I have loved and followed since childhood doesn't accept me as a fan because I tweet some criticism, so I get blocked.

I really hope change is made, you have a chance to make a big move and save your athletic program from getting deeper down the totem pole of college athletics while creating some excitement and showing fans you have expectations and won't settle for being a laughing stock, that is not happening right now.

On behalf of UTEP fans, and the city of El Paso, please relieve Jim Senter of his position as UTEP Athletic director, he is in over his head, and doing damage to the fan base who proudly supports the program but are tired of being the laughing stock of the entire college sports nation.

Thank you,

Probably should have addressed her as "Dr." Wilson.
 
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