Kugler fluff piece

[UTEPMiners8106]

Post Stull Coach rank:
1) Price
2) Nord
3) Kugler
4) Bailey
5) Dimel - only because of length
6) Lee

If you want to flip Kugler and Bailey, I’m okay with that, but David Lee was beyond awful. At this point only Dimel looks to be in contention to dethrone him.

That’s a fair assessment but at the same time how much emphasis do you put on Kugler’s last year? That 0 win season is probably the worst season any UTEP coach has ever had and depending on how bad of a taste that left in your mouth I can see moving Kugler further down the list. I also agree that Dimel has a legitimate chance of being the worst of the bunch.

 

[unihorn]

If Lee ever beat a D1 team, he’s ahead of Dimel.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

That’s a fair assessment but at the same time how much emphasis do you put on Kugler’s last year? That 0 win season is probably the worst season any UTEP coach has ever had and depending on how bad of a taste that left in your mouth I can see moving Kugler further down the list. I also agree that Dimel has a legitimate chance of being the worst of the bunch.

I think his last year does a lot of damage to him. I 100% disagree with the article and do not think he is “under appreciated” in any way. He got lucky with Aaron Jones. He recruited too many El Paso kids. He has to be third though because the other 3 didn’t make a bowl game or finish close to .500. Doesn’t mean he was any good though. Making a bowl game doesn’t have the same meaning as it did 20 years ago, but he accomplished that.

Dimel is headed towards being in last for sure.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

If Lee ever beat a D1 team, he’s ahead of Dimel.

Lee got 4 1/2 years though and Dimel won at Rice his first year.

 

[unihorn]

Lee got 4 1/2 years though and Dimel won at Rice his first year.

With Kugler’s players.

 

[Hot For Keitha]

With Kugler’s players.

Someday I hope one of our football coaches can win with his own players.

 

[UTEPDefense]

Ranking all UTEP Coaches in the post Stull era only by their final season at UTEP(mid-season coaching changes counted as final season):

Best: Charlie Bailey 5-7(only played 5 home games, played no 1AA opponents and lost to 3 P5 schools).

2nd best: Mike Price 3-9(lost to 3 P5 schools and played no 1AA opponents).

3rd: Gary Nord 2-11(lost to 2 P5 schools and played 2 1AA schools, including losing to one of them).

4th: David Lee 1-11(only beat UNLV).

Worst: Kugler 0-12.


Even when measured against our bad coaches, nobody left our program in worse shape than Kugler did(from a wins & losses standpoint).

I thought for a long time that Kugler's success(perfect APR score) and continuity off the field would eventually translate into more success on the field, but I was wrong.

In summary, the title of Kappy's article is wrong as the award for most "under appreciated" UTEP coach should actually go to Bailey for the results that he produced against that very harsh 1999 schedule, the team that he transferred to Nord to win the championship the very next year, and the poor facilities that Bailey had to build all of this with(no Durham Center, no Miner Village Apartments for athletes, a turf field that was harder than some parking lots, a lower coaching/program budget, rumors being publicly addressed by the AD about possibly dropping to 1AA, etc.) Imagine spending years at a place building a program despite having terrible facilities, then missing a bowl game due to one missed 2 point conversion against one of the toughest schedules in recent school history, then watching your offensive coordinator win the conference championship with the team that you left him the very next year.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

Imagine spending years at a place building a program despite having terrible facilities, then missing a bowl game due to one missed 2 point conversion against one of the toughest schedules in recent school history, then watching your offensive coordinator win the conference championship with the team that you left him the very next year.

Not entirely correct. Even if UTEP had made that 2 point conversion, there was only 23 bowls at the time and UTEP would not have been picked at 6-6. Texas Tech, Houston, Air Force and Wyoming all had records above .500 and didn’t go bowling.

 

[JCorona]

Not entirely correct. Even if UTEP had made that 2 point conversion, there was only 23 bowls at the time and UTEP would not have been picked at 6-6. Texas Tech, Houston, Air Force and Wyoming all had records above .500 and didn’t go bowling.

To add to that. The previous year, 8-3 Wyoming, 8-4 Colorado St and 7-4 Utah didn't receive a bowl invitation. Very unlikely a 6-6 UTEP would have.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

To add to that. The previous year, 8-3 Wyoming, 8-4 Colorado St and 7-4 Utah didn't receive a bowl invitation. Very unlikely a 6-6 UTEP would have.

That is a major reason why the MWC was formed. Even though, it had already been announced, not having an increased number of bowl and tournament teams made the WAC-16 a failure.