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UNM Lobos football

KaneFan29

KaneFan29

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Jan 8, 2018
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Started 0-4 including a loss to a FCS schools, now 5-6. Just upset their 1st Top 25 opponent in 21 years last night. Coach is in year 1. How come UTEP couldn’t win 5 games this year? Beat a Top 25 team? They only had 14,000 for their upset last night. That’s the same number that the last 2 home games had.

“Scotty need 8 years to turn it around”
“Scotty needs his own players”
“Scotty has too many injuries”

Bronco and UNM have won 5 of their last 7 and could get bowl eligible with a win over Hawaii. Scotty is recruiting guys who think UTEP could win the national title.
 
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You can't compare Bronco Mendenhall to Scotty Walden. Mendenhall has been coaching for over 30 years and has been a head coach for almost 20 years.

Given Walden time.
 
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I’ve always said these are the type of coaches that will be able to win at UTEP. Successful at the G5 level. “Failed” at the P5 level. Back at the G5 level to redeem themselves.
 
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utep1966 said:
You can't compare Bronco Mendenhall to Scotty Walden. Mendenhall has been coaching for over 30 years and has been a head coach for almost 20 years.

Given Walden time.
Click to expand...
While I have not been impressed with Walden this season, I've said many times this year that you should give a coach more than a single season to prove himself. The best approach to try to allay concerns about Walden is to point out that, at least on paper, he is doing a good job recruiting talent to UTEP. One argument that no chance to work, at least with me, is to say that he needs more time to learn the job. If a head coach needs training wheels then he shouldn't have been hired in the first place.
 
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picks up said:
I have not seen anyone write these things.
Click to expand...
The one about Scotty needing to bring in more FBS talent ("his own players") is one that I think is true. He brought a lot of FCS players for year one (some of them ended up being good players). With time and the way Scotty recruits, I'm confident by year 3 or 4, this will be the most talented UTEP roster in decades.

The coaching aspect is a different animal though.
 
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Temple just fired their coach after winning a game in overtime. We just won a game in overtime. Therefore, we should have fired Walden last week since it happened somewhere else
 
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KaneFan29 said:
8 years was hyperbole. You can just search and see how many times using his own players is brought up.

Post in thread 'If Utep loses to Kennesaw State...'
https://utep.forums.rivals.com/threads/if-utep-loses-to-kennesaw-state.12828/post-264183
Click to expand...
Isn't the purpose of a quote to avoid hyperbole?

Anywho, the "his own players" quote is most likely written somewhere. I'm not searching for any quotes, I just wanted to point out that quotes and hyperbole don't mix.

Back to the original topic, These 1 season turn around jobs are the exception not the rule. Yes, it's possible but it only happens once every so often. The exception happened to us once with Price and now we are back to being the rule.

The fact that our AD isn't great at hiring good coaches doesn't help too. Did Senter hire our VB coach? If so, he was Senter's exception.
 
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utep-piggy said:
Bronco wasn’t dumb enough to run off and replace 3/4 of his players with DII talent like Walden did. This is reason they have struggled and even lost to Utah Tech. Walden has a lot to learn.
Click to expand...
100% agree with this.
 
Bronco has experienced success with the Lobos during a previous stint. When Bronco left the program they went downhill. Moreover, Bronco was the DC under Gonzalez and knew the players and system they were running. Bronco had a major advantage over a coach coming from the outside.
 
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Rot said:
Bronco has experienced success with the Lobos during a previous stint. When Bronco left the program they went downhill. Moreover, Bronco was the DC under Gonzalez and knew the players and system they were running. Bronco had a major advantage over a coach coming from the outside.
Click to expand...
He definitely was not the DC under Gonzales and did not know the players or system they were running. Not like it was a good system to begin with??? That’s why the coach was fired.
 
KaneFan29 said:
He definitely was not the DC under Gonzales and did not know the players or system they were running. Not like it was a good system to begin with??? That’s why the coach was fired.
Click to expand...

The point is Bronco isn't a first year head coach. You're comparing apples to oranges.
 
Scotty Walden is now a “first year head coach”. Wonder what he was doing the last 4 seasons at Austin Peay? Wonder what he was doing when he was the interim head coach at Southern Miss in 2020? Guess they didn’t happen all of a sudden.
 
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KaneFan29 said:
Scotty Walden is now a “first year head coach”. Wonder what he was doing the last 4 seasons at Austin Peay? Wonder what he was doing when he was the interim head coach at Southern Miss in 2020? Guess they didn’t happen all of a sudden.
Click to expand...

First year head coach in 1-A.

All you do is bitch and complain. Do you ever have anything nice to say?
 
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That’s why patience is key. We have a rookie coach who is bound to make mistakes and face losses. But with time and support, he’ll grow, learn, and lead us to a national championship. In the meantime, let’s enjoy the journey together.
 
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Lord Chabelo said:
Wasn't that supposed to be Dimel?
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Dimel had never been a head coach at a P5 school, and the 20 year gap between head coaching roles didn’t help his case. UTEP is a challenging job, even for veteran coaches. Walden benefits from a CUSA schedule that includes several FCS level teams, giving him a chance at wins while gaining experience. However, if the team continues to struggle to reach three wins next year, it’s hard to see things improving by year three when facing the tougher competition of the MW.
 
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JCorona said:
Dimel had never been a head coach at a P5 school, and the 20 year gap between head coaching roles didn’t help his case. UTEP is a challenging job, even for veteran coaches. Walden benefits from a CUSA schedule that includes several FCS level teams, giving him a chance at wins while gaining experience. However, if the team continues to struggle to reach three wins next year, it’s hard to see things improving by year three when facing the tougher competition of the MW.
Click to expand...
He just needs his own (insert your number here) recruiting classes!!!!!
 
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JCorona said:
Dimel had never been a head coach at a P5 school, and the 20 year gap between head coaching roles didn’t help his case. UTEP is a challenging job, even for veteran coaches. Walden benefits from a CUSA schedule that includes several FCS level teams, giving him a chance at wins while gaining experience. However, if the team continues to struggle to reach three wins next year, it’s hard to see things improving by year three when facing the tougher competition of the MW.
Click to expand...
Got to speak to a former UTEP legendary player from way back many weeks ago and he thought our O line was way undersized for FBS level play. "Size matters".

Second, he felt "this is his [Walden] team", with approx. two third's of this current roster being directly brought here from Walden; "they're his players, that is not a "rebuild"".

So, if this being the case ( and no, I am not going up and down the roster from past to present. "I'll take butcher's word for it" as the movie quote goes), Corona has a good point. Walden actually has a very short window to be ready. Once again its a tough 2025 OOC schedule with Utah State, Texas, and UL-Monroe with Tennessee-Martin squeezed in and while they are a P4 easy win money game, they are top ten in many defensive categories in FCS this year and ranked, unlike S. Utah. Not good for UTEP. 0-4 is very realistic.

https://utmsports.com/news/2024/11/4/football-skyhawks-jump-into-both-national-polls.aspx
 
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utep2step said:
Got to speak to a former UTEP legendary player from way back many weeks ago and he thought our O line was way undersized for FBS level play. "Size matters".

Second, he felt "this is his [Walden] team", with approx. two third's of this current roster being directly brought here from Walden; "they're his players, that is not a "rebuild"".

So, if this being the case ( and no, I am not going up and down the roster from past to present. "I'll take butcher's word for it" as the movie quote goes), Corona has a good point. Walden actually has a very short window to be ready. Once again its a tough 2025 OOC schedule with Utah State, Texas, and UL-Monroe with Tennessee-Martin squeezed in and while they are a P4 easy win money game, they are top ten in many defensive categories in FCS this year and ranked, unlike S. Utah. Not good for UTEP. 0-4 is very realistic.

https://utmsports.com/news/2024/11/4/football-skyhawks-jump-into-both-national-polls.aspx
Click to expand...
That first part is definitely true. It was a complete rebuild along the OL with what, two holdovers from last year's OL? Walden did not address the OL like he should have, but it seems he is rectifying that with the 2025 class.

Roster turnover is a big deal. 65+ new players. Sure, some were transfers from Austin Peay. But they had to adjust to FBS. Walden had to adjust to FBS himself. Not every FCS hire is like Kinne (and even Kinne has struggled this year). It takes time to build a culture, which was awful under Dimel. Just way too many factors that affected this years team.

Next year will definitely be important to showing whether he's the guy or not. He needs to keep the defense playing at a high level, while also during up the OL and the QB situation. STs needs to massively improve. Walden also needs to show he can coach on GameDay. Lots of questionable decisions this season.
 
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utep2step said:
Got to speak to a former UTEP legendary player from way back many weeks ago and he thought our O line was way undersized for FBS level play. "Size matters".

Second, he felt "this is his [Walden] team", with approx. two third's of this current roster being directly brought here from Walden; "they're his players, that is not a "rebuild"".

So, if this being the case ( and no, I am not going up and down the roster from past to present. "I'll take butcher's word for it" as the movie quote goes), Corona has a good point. Walden actually has a very short window to be ready. Once again its a tough 2025 OOC schedule with Utah State, Texas, and UL-Monroe with Tennessee-Martin squeezed in and while they are a P4 easy win money game, they are top ten in many defensive categories in FCS this year and ranked, unlike S. Utah. Not good for UTEP. 0-4 is very realistic.

https://utmsports.com/news/2024/11/4/football-skyhawks-jump-into-both-national-polls.aspx
Click to expand...

You spoke to Tony Tolbert?
 
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utep2step said:
Got to speak to a former UTEP legendary player from way back many weeks ago and he thought our O line was way undersized for FBS level play. "Size matters".

Second, he felt "this is his [Walden] team", with approx. two third's of this current roster being directly brought here from Walden; "they're his players, that is not a "rebuild"".

So, if this being the case ( and no, I am not going up and down the roster from past to present. "I'll take butcher's word for it" as the movie quote goes), Corona has a good point. Walden actually has a very short window to be ready. Once again its a tough 2025 OOC schedule with Utah State, Texas, and UL-Monroe with Tennessee-Martin squeezed in and while they are a P4 easy win money game, they are top ten in many defensive categories in FCS this year and ranked, unlike S. Utah. Not good for UTEP. 0-4 is very realistic.

https://utmsports.com/news/2024/11/4/football-skyhawks-jump-into-both-national-polls.aspx
Click to expand...
Utah St is bad this year. UTM is FCS. ULM is beatable. If UTEP is going 0-4 against that, then Walden should be fired after that 4th game.
 
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Next year's schedule is set up to go bowling. A couple of things that need to be taken care of for that to happen:

1) Get a D1 QB from the portal or juco
--If we can't get anybody then figure it out early and roll with 1 QB from what you have. No more musical chairs.

2) Fire the current Special Teams coach.
--Special Teams has been atrocious.

3) Hold on to as many of the top returning players as you can.
--Word is Odom is a goner (P4), as is Duhon.
 
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Firstdowndash said:
Next year's schedule is set up to go bowling. A couple of things that need to be taken care of for that to happen:

1) Get a D1 QB from the portal or juco
--If we can't get anybody then figure it out early and roll with 1 QB from what you have. No more musical chairs.

2) Fire the current Special Teams coach.
--Special Teams has been atrocious.

3) Hold on to as many of the top returning players as you can.
--Word is Odom is a goner (P4), as is Duhon.
Click to expand...
Where did you hear Odom and Duhon are leaving?

Not that I doubt it though. It's the reality of college football.

Next seasons schedule is much lighter and UTEP should win enough to get to bowl eligibility or atleast close. Walden can't repeat with another 2-3 win season.
 
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KaneFan29 said:
Utah St is bad this year. UTM is FCS. ULM is beatable. If UTEP is going 0-4 against that, then Walden should be fired after that 4th game.
Click to expand...
Utah State has struggled this season, largely due to firing their head coach before the season even began. It’s worth noting that four of their seven losses were against top 25 teams. The fact that we couldn’t even win against Utah South at home makes it hard to believe we’ll pull off a victory against Utah St on the road. By then, they’ll have a new coach, potentially a strong one as they gear up to join the PAC.
 
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JCorona said:
Utah State has struggled this season, largely due to firing their head coach before the season even began. It’s worth noting that four of their seven losses were against top 25 teams. The fact that we couldn’t even win against Utah South at home makes it hard to believe we’ll pull off a victory against Utah St on the road. By then, they’ll have a new coach, potentially a strong one as they gear up to join the PAC.
Click to expand...
Yeah true, but USU isn’t Boise St or USC. I don’t chalk it up as an automatic loss.
 
Its tough being a College Head Coach because the timeline expectations are accelerated. You're really not developing kids anymore, you are just accumulating talent through the Transfer Portal and using NIL money.

Schools can be impatient with their hires because you can turn things around in one recruiting cycle.

If you're a head coach and you decide that you're going to build by recruiting High School athletes, redshirting those players, developing them over 4 years, and turn the program around through hard work, then you may not get to see your plan through fruition. The other problem with 'doing it the right way,' is that you are more than likely developing players for other schools.
 
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kickballpro said:
Its tough being a College Head Coach because the timeline expectations are accelerated. You're really not developing kids anymore, you are just accumulating talent through the Transfer Portal and using NIL money.

Schools can be impatient with their hires because you can turn things around in one recruiting cycle.

If you're a head coach and you decide that you're going to build by recruiting High School athletes, redshirting those players, developing them over 4 years, and turn the program around through hard work, then you may not get to see your plan through fruition. The other problem with 'doing it the right way,' is that you are more than likely developing players for other schools.
Click to expand...
Everywhere but UTEP. Fans accept losing and give coaches 4 plus years to be mediocre - at best.
 
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JCorona said:
Houston hasn’t reached the heights he took them to.
Click to expand...

He had a great initial season and then the next year wasn't as good. So he didn't leave them in a better place. He won 10 games a Texas too, took them to a Sugar Bowl.

Tom Herman has coached 8 years at 3 Different Schools. Only once did his team win more games than it did the prior season.
 
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