Hell ya we would want him. The problem is he would have zero interest in the UTEP job. He can land a way better gig than UTEP.
More UTEP Football Drama
- Thread starter JCorona
- Start date
For me its more about getting the younger guys experience. Dimel has gone with upperclassmen this entire season and hasn't mixed in a lot of young guys in a season that he should be doing this. We saw it last year when he didn't want to play our younger QBs during the last 4 games of the season. I believe Hankins only played in 2 games last year even though he could have played in 4 and kept his redshirt.
Dimel better upgrade the talent through the transfer market.
I don’t watch a lot of college football other than UTEP but how common is it for teams to play kids just to get them experience? I would think there‘s a compelling argument against turning to a kid who gets little to no reps in practice especially in a tight game. Plus a lot of the kids UTEP have on the roster are projects who have to get bigger/stronger and adjust to the speed of the college game before they’re ready. If I remember correctly weren’t people saying that Hankins was having trouble picking up the offense when he first arrived at UTEP? You throw a kid in there who doesn’t have a complete grasp of his responsibilities and you’re flirting with disaster or even worse injury. Whatever Hankins did during the offseason made him ready to compete at this level. Everyone at UTEP whether they’re starters, backups or scrubs should make sure they’re preparing themselves to the best of their abilities this offseason so that if and when their number is called they can perform when their number is called.
There should be a ton of great quality transfer and JUCO transfers available for Dimel to select from. No excuse for not upgrading backup QB, Dline, wide receivers, safeties and corners. Dimel knows he is on thin ice so he better win next year.
What would be a reasonable number of wins for Dimel to earn an extension and how long of an extension should he get?
Bowl or bust. 2 year extension if we win 6+.
I agree with Corona. Six wins at a minimum earns 1-2 year extension. Eight or more possibly three year extension.
All good points. Last year we were on the bad end of a lot of blowouts, he could have easily gotten young guys reps then but didn't. Putting in a young receiver like Workman for a play or 2 every now and then seems feasible to me even in games that matter, I'm not saying put in all the the young guys, just saying he could have done a better job sprinkling in young guys that show promise.
We all just kind of blamed it on rice but why exactly did our entire secondary transfer out? It wasn’t because of playing time. There is internal turmoil that’s preventing this team from progressing and winning games.
That would be a huge mistake. He's gotta stop doing transfer portal and JC for his starters. That's not how you build a program. Transfer portal and juco players should only be used to supplement a few key spots. If the majority of your starters are those types of players you will never build the necessary culture that is needed to win long term.
That plan went out the window when he brought in a heavy juco class. At this point that’s all he can do to win before his contract runs out.
Culture is so important to building team buy-in. Going out and grabbing guys who have already shown a propensity to quitting on a team is not the answer for building a winning program. If you look at the guys that are leaving all of them have been with other programs before. Quitting isn't something that just happens, that's something that is innate in that person's character. Too many people on the team with that character flaw, allows it to fester in the program and work its way into the character of the young guys that are the future of the program. Got to stop bringing in guys like that to be the bulk of your starting players. It creates a real problem in the locker room that no coach is going to be able to overcome. It's probably too late in the game for him now to start building the program. It seems he's pretty much in a win now situation. Hopefully, whoever in the next guy is will not start by bringing in a bunch of transfers. Instead, develop the players that he already has and sprinkle in a few key transfers at spots.
Also, next year I hope they keep practices competitive for everyone on the team. This business of only giving your starters real reps is ridiculous. Had he been given everyone competitive reps and practice all season long, we would have had better performances out of our backups. There was absolutely no reason for these backups to be this poorly prepared, other than they simply refused to allow players to compete up and down the roster.
Also, next year I hope they keep practices competitive for everyone on the team. This business of only giving your starters real reps is ridiculous. Had he been given everyone competitive reps and practice all season long, we would have had better performances out of our backups. There was absolutely no reason for these backups to be this poorly prepared, other than they simply refused to allow players to compete up and down the roster.
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At some point, he has to stop throwing good money after bad. It's probably over for him though. The athletic director should take a realistic look at the program and either decide to give him more time to actually build the program or just get rid of him this off-season and allow someone else to build the program. This juco and transfer portal mess is not going to get the job done. Next year we'll probably suck no matter what. I'd much rather it suck while we're building towards the future.
May be the only way to save his job. I agree with your points but I think he is in a 'must win situation.
If the majority believe Dimel needs 6 wins and a bowl to save his job he may already be a dead man walking because I think that it will be a miracle if they reach that. This is when I wish UTEP was rolling in money because I’m almost convincing myself that you should just cut your losses and bring in a new guy sooner rather than later.
I think you're right. Unfortunately, to me that means he must be let go. Right now is a perfect opportunity to load up on freshman that would otherwise have gone to other schools. More established programs will be looking to add a lot of players with experience. That's going to leave freshmen without a home. The administration should be focusing on that instead of doubling down on bringing in players that will not contribute to the kind of culture that is needed to win.
I think if the Miners had played UNT and FIU when scheduled and in EP, they would have won. The team was improved enough this year that it could/should have won at LT and Charlotte. Both lines were improved this year as were the WR's and RB's. A lot depends on who else we lose to the xfer portal and how recruiting turns out.
The UNT loss didn’t bother me at all given everything that happened. Hardison and the whole secondary would have surely made up the difference in that game but unfortunately “could have/would have/should have” doesn’t show up in any win/loss record.
On one hand I do feel like there could be a lot of potential coming back at the skill positions on offense and D-line looks like it could take a step forward next year too. I’m still not sold on Hardison just because he seemed to miss some throws down field and the WRs need to work on cutting down drops. Do they get 6 wins? They have NMSU, UNM and Bethune-Cookman so that could be 3 wins right there. If they go 1-3 during the non-conference (which could happen) then we should blow it up on the spot.
Right now in the Transfer Portal
QB - TJ Goodwin
WR/TE - Rashad Beecham
WR - Adam Cousins
TE - Austin Yankowy
DB- Duron Lowe
DB - Dennis Barnes
DB - Dyvonne Inyang
DB - Broderick Harrel
DL- Dekari Bickham
QB - TJ Goodwin
WR/TE - Rashad Beecham
WR - Adam Cousins
TE - Austin Yankowy
DB- Duron Lowe
DB - Dennis Barnes
DB - Dyvonne Inyang
DB - Broderick Harrel
DL- Dekari Bickham
Aside from Goodwin, Lowe, Inyang and maybe Barnes is there anyone we’re really going to miss? You can spin this and say every year we lose more players due to graduation/transfers. But we still need quality players to come in.
I agree. I'm not saying the team will be better but I do think there is a real possibility that it will be a pretty good team capable of winning 6. If they bomb out of the gate or fail to win 5 or 6 games, I hope the plug is pulled on Dimel.
Not really.
Last year we had something like 14 enter the Portal. Cooper and Dawn returned. Greg Long went to Purdue and Started every game at RT. Sione Tupou went to Texas State and Started. Our Punter went to Michigan State but was a back up Punter. Tre Wolf went to Incarnate Word and they didn't have a season. Other than that, I don't think anyone else played D1.
And we brought in 1, Q Drennan who never made it to the first game
Yup, and really if you think about this it was a free year. All these kids needed game time/practice time to improve and they all got it. Next year has to be the year if they’re ever going to show something. They have a winnable non conference schedule, and I’d they go 3-1 they are halfway to a bowl season. But questions remain.
I dont miss Goodwin. He got beat out and quit the team. He did zero for UTEP
Fair enough but he was a 3 star recruit and had he stayed the course and worked at it he probably could have been a starter in a year or two
In year four of Dimel the biggest question is still qb. Outside of the ULM and UNT game the offense was anemic. Hardison really regressed as the season went on. He has a big arm but no accuracy. He's not good at all on short or intermediate throws. The offense looked better with Brownholtz at the helm. In Dimels offense the qb has to make plays with his legs. I hope he has a legit qb competition.
This year was disappointing. Year three we still can't win a conference game. We lose all of talent from the secondary. I don't think we're done losing players yet. If we play our original schedule we probably go 1-11 and people wouldn't be positive. I don't see light at the end of the tunnel. I don't think anything is going to improve with UTEP athletics until Jim Senter is gone. Only Wilson can push that button. It's been apparent Senter is way in over his head from day one.
This year was disappointing. Year three we still can't win a conference game. We lose all of talent from the secondary. I don't think we're done losing players yet. If we play our original schedule we probably go 1-11 and people wouldn't be positive. I don't see light at the end of the tunnel. I don't think anything is going to improve with UTEP athletics until Jim Senter is gone. Only Wilson can push that button. It's been apparent Senter is way in over his head from day one.
I like your positiveness lol You're right in not seeing hope, from what we've been served as Utep Fans. However I'll go on board as saying I saw clear improvements this year. I disagree strongly with the 1-11 statement. It was obvious that the talent was improved both defensively and offensively. The execution and coaching is still not there however. If we don't hemorrhage players I think 5-7 wins is actually realistic and should be expected.
I remember the season a little different.
We struggled vs SFA. The score was 17-14 with 8 minutes left in the 4th.
We didn’t even try against Texas.
We had to sneak out of El Paso with a win vs ACU
ULM was a nice surprise.
LaTech is really the only loss in which we were competitive all game.
We were down by 17 before the garbage time td made the score respectable vs Charlotte.
UTSA handled us decisively.
The UNT score looks nice but this game was far from a heartbreak. UNT was in control and cruised at the end.
I believe we’re closer to the FCS squads than we are to our conference rivals. I’ve searched the 2021 schedule many times and can’t find more than two FBS wins.
We struggled vs SFA. The score was 17-14 with 8 minutes left in the 4th.
We didn’t even try against Texas.
We had to sneak out of El Paso with a win vs ACU
ULM was a nice surprise.
LaTech is really the only loss in which we were competitive all game.
We were down by 17 before the garbage time td made the score respectable vs Charlotte.
UTSA handled us decisively.
The UNT score looks nice but this game was far from a heartbreak. UNT was in control and cruised at the end.
I believe we’re closer to the FCS squads than we are to our conference rivals. I’ve searched the 2021 schedule many times and can’t find more than two FBS wins.
I feel we should've won against La Tech, save for some bad calls and stupid penalties on our part. UNC Charlotte didn't over match us, we just turned it over and gave them scores. N. Texas we were missing key starters and starting QB or I think we win that one. Remember 4 ints and still coulda won. UTSA we simply were not ready to play. S. Miss and FIU home games I think at that time Miners woulda won. So yeah I guess much different views. We'll see next year, this year honestly is a throw away. Dimel gets one more year to show improvement, if not he should be out.
If he gets another year, I will call it successful if there are at least 10 freshmen/sophomores playing heavy snaps. Without that growth there's not much point in dragging it out another year. 4 years in he should have at least half of his starters being players that he brought to the program as freshmen. If not, that's a red flag on player development, which is the life blood of any program.
I am on the fence in terms of how successful this season was and also on how much rope Dimel should get next year. On one hand this team could have had the UNT game, Hardison and the secondary “could” have been the difference. La Tech was close too as was Charlotte. But that’s all semantics and the official record says L next to the games.
Part of me doesn’t even want to give Dimel all of next year before heads roll. NMSU will be going on over 18-19 months with no football before we meet again. You don’t beat them, he should probably hit the road then.
Part of me doesn’t even want to give Dimel all of next year before heads roll. NMSU will be going on over 18-19 months with no football before we meet again. You don’t beat them, he should probably hit the road then.
Very good synopsis.
The thing that's frustrating is to compare our rebuild to Rice's. Both of us have third year coaches. They won three straight to close last year. They played well this year. We all talk about how hard it is to recruit to UTEP, it's not near as hard as it is to recruit to Rice. Every year they can take 98% of eligible recruits off the board because of their academic requirements. Next year the preseason favorites in CUSA West will be UTSA and Rice. We'll be picked to finish last maybe sixth depending on what USM looks like.
I would love to talk to some ex coaches and players to know what plagues this program. Is it a mental thing? Is it a city thing? Is it a culture thing? Because for the life of me I can’t recall our teams ever closing out a season strong. 2000 lost at TCU and then the bowl. 2004 lost at Tulsa and then the bowl. 2005 lost the last 3. 2006 lost 5 of 6. 2007 lost the last 6. 2008 lost 4 of 6. 2009 lost 4 of 5. 2010 lost 6 of 7. 2011 lost 4 of 5. 2014 lost 3 of 5 but I’ll give them props for winning that Middle Tennessee St game to become Bowl eligible. 2015 lost 3 of 5. 2016 lost 3 of 5 and this year went 0-4 to close out the year.
There are some crazy stats. I remember going into the season finale against Marshall in 2009 we had lost the previous 32 season finales in a row. Thats nuts. That day we curb stomped a bowl bound Marshall and they fired their coach in the locker room after the game. That was the last season finale we won until 2014. Kugler was able to win three season finale in a row 2014, 2015 2016. There are some crazy stats associated with this program. Lile you I would love to hear some perspective from former coaches. I would love to hear a roundtable discussion with Nord, Price and Kugler.
Is "has taken his name off the transfer portal" a gentle way of saying he didn't get any other offers?
