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Football Recruiting

A lot of these kids look skinny. Good frames though. They'll need to hit the weight room before they hit the field. Some of them are a couple of years away.
That's what Kikis is for.

The kid fron San Antonio that is also a basketball player is 6-7, 210 pounds. You build on that frame, you might get yourself something down the line.
 
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Best and deepest UTEP class ever.

I don’t think everyone signed is on a Scholarship. I think there are some PWO’s and I believe some kickers.

Interested to see the depth chart to see how many of their total of 85 are returning players.

Could be a quick turnaround
 
I sure hope so...but if he has a successful season next year and jumps ship, I wouldn't doubt that he would try to bring any of those players with him that he thinks would help him at the new school. Just like he did at APU...

Let's just first get a winning season and get to a bowl game, and hopefully win a bowl game. It is WAY WAY too early to talking about Walden jumping ship.
 
Best and deepest UTEP class ever.

I don’t think everyone signed is on a Scholarship. I think there are some PWO’s and I believe some kickers.

Interested to see the depth chart to see how many of their total of 85 are returning players.

Could be a quick turnaround
You may be right. I was thinking maybe the 2004 or 2005. I just looked at Rivals and they don’t have the 2004 class ranked but the 2006 class was ranked 86th. We’ll find out soon enough how good this class is. I am impressed though, Walden has ultimately overhauled the roster bringing in 47 new players. Lots of quality on paper and he just didn’t bring in bodies to make up numbers.
 

But in Walden’s defense they brought in way more players and WAY MORE 3 star recruits.

I agree, but it wasn't the highest-rated class in program history.

I am definitely a lot more excited for August 31!

I don't expect UTEP to beat Nebraska, Liberty, or Tennessee. But, it would be nice to actually hang with those teams and not get blown out. I think a win @ Colorado State is definitively possible.
 
I really don’t know what to expect. He’s overhauling 1/2 the roster bringing in 47 new players. On top of that, new offensive and defensive systems. I think he’s gonna lean heavily on the Austin Peay transfers and so this may be a bit of a transitional year. And like I’ve said on a previous thread, the 3 man front worries me since UTEP has always struggled attracting big D Linemen.

But if he is a man of his word and his teams out there running and gunning and they’re playing with energy I’m definitely going to try to focus on the positives.
 
I agree, but it wasn't the highest-rated class in program history.

I am definitely a lot more excited for August 31!

I don't expect UTEP to beat Nebraska, Liberty, or Tennessee. But, it would be nice to actually hang with those teams and not get blown out. I think a win @ Colorado State is definitively possible.
If they can manage 6 wins with this schedule, they deserve major kudos. I hope they play competitive against Nebraska. If they can score on them... Season will look promising. We also can't judge too much off of that first game. The home opener, needs to be sold-out and a blowout... EP is buying into Walden's energy and message.
 
I really don’t know what to expect. He’s overhauling 1/2 the roster bringing in 47 new players. On top of that, new offensive and defensive systems. I think he’s gonna lean heavily on the Austin Peay transfers and so this may be a bit of a transitional year. And like I’ve said on a previous thread, the 3 man front worries me since UTEP has always struggled attracting big D Linemen.

But if he is a man of his word and his teams out there running and gunning and they’re playing with energy I’m definitely going to try to focus on the positives.
Yeah I think Utep will score this year, but defense is gonna be really bad. I just wanna see the new offense and how they compete and I'd be happy with 4 or 5 wins in year one. Anything more would be great however. Then year 2 the pay off!
 
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Yeah I think Utep will score this year, but defense is gonna be really bad. I just wanna see the new offense and how they compete and I'd be happy with 4 or 5 wins in year one. Anything more would be great however. Then year 2 the pay off!
All I ask is better football than Dimel and Kugler’s football teams. Any wins will be a plus.
 
Yeah I think Utep will score this year, but defense is gonna be really bad. I just wanna see the new offense and how they compete and I'd be happy with 4 or 5 wins in year one. Anything more would be great however. Then year 2 the pay off!
The Defense is not going to be bad -- JJ Clark was recognized as 35 under 35 at the coaches convention and Led Austin Peay to best defense in their division. They WILL NOT be bad. Im willing to make a bet on it
 
What's the bet?
You tell me -- all i know is that things are better at UTEP today than they have been in a long damn time. when you say "The Defense is going to be really bad" -- just give me the measuring stick and If you are defending really bad we can figure out whats better than that. Avg number of points given up in league play? rank in defense in the league?

All i know is this football program is headed in the right direction and these coaches have proved all they could prove to this point. Great recruiting in less than 2 months -- the best in CUSA this round. next stop practice and spring ball -- lets see what we learn...
 
The Defense is not going to be bad -- JJ Clark was recognized as 35 under 35 at the coaches convention and Led Austin Peay to best defense in their division. They WILL NOT be bad. Im willing to make a bet on it
I hope you’re right. I’m just going off of the history of UTEP football. One major reason for Mike Price’s failure to win a bowl or conference title at UTEP was his lack of a defense as the years wore on. He ran through D-Coordinators and even ran a 3 man front for a minute but they just bled points and his offenses as good as they were just couldn’t keep up in the end. And big run plugging linemen don’t grow on trees and they’re even rarer here at UTEP. And like I said, switching to a new staff, new recruits and a new defensive scheme will take time. I accept that. If they play hard and don’t give up I’ll be mostly satisfied I just hate watching the Miners give up, sulk and then what should be a bad loss just becomes a blowout..
 
The Defense is not going to be bad -- JJ Clark was recognized as 35 under 35 at the coaches convention and Led Austin Peay to best defense in their division. They WILL NOT be bad. Im willing to make a bet on it
Well I hope you're right. New scheme and mostly new players usually makes it tough in year one though
 
#1 now on 247

I don’t remember getting 18, 3 star recruits at UTEP. Again, this does not translate into automatic wins, but it’s nice to see UTEP ranked first in this category. The norm under the two previous coaches was either last or second to last in recruiting rankings. The impressive thing was the short amount of time this staff had to recruit. I also like the approach of getting HS players to build a solid foundation and getting the UTEP brand out there with Texas HS Coaches and players. Coach Walden also used the transfer portal to address immediate needs. IMHO, this is the right way to build a successful and long term winning program.
 
I don’t remember getting 18, 3 star recruits at UTEP. Again, this does not translate into automatic wins, but it’s nice to see UTEP ranked first in this category. The norm under the two previous coaches was either last or second to last in recruiting rankings. The impressive thing was the short amount of time this staff had to recruit. I also like the approach of getting HS players to build a solid foundation and getting the UTEP brand out there with Texas HS Coaches and players. Coach Walden also used the transfer portal to address immediate needs. IMHO, this is the right way to build a successful and long term winning program.
I don’t know but I feel like the star rankings has probably evolved in the last 15 plus years too. Ebell and Marcus Thomas were 2 Star recruits in 2004 and that seems criminally low especially since Ebell was a former Player of the Year.
 
Poppa pop, you must forgive us on this board having little optimism, we have seen bad coaching and play for so long it’s are to turn the ship. My bet is the new attitude and coaching staff get it done, If they win the Sun Bowl will have 40,000 for every game!
 
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