Heck, put some of those rugby players on scholarship since that’s basically football without the armor (as many brits say)
@ USM Game Thread
- Thread starter JCorona
- Start date
Next week we have a homecoming game in a stadium that looks like s*** because of a botched renovation. The team is being led by a coach who nearly caused his last school to shutter the program. There will probably be 5,000 people in attendance. If that's not the height of ineptitude I dont know what is. Dimel has at least another year. Senter needs to be replaced asap before things get worse. We need real leadership.
A lot of stadiums look that way during in-season renovations. What program did Frank Wilson lead before UTSA?
Let’s wait until the end of the basketball season to demand Senter’s head on a pole.
I strongly believe Dimel gets at least a third year. Senter has even more job security and will obviously be around as well.
However, with that said, those two are from the Natalicio-Stull tree. If there isn’t a significant increase in wins next year, I think it is within reason for Heather Wilson to start shopping around. She already stated her belief that strong athletics are a doorway to building a better university.
While the stability argument is reasonable, the fact that HW wasn’t involved in those hires and might want to go in a different direction, can negate any negative perception for being quick to pull the trigger.
Dana Dimel ran UH's program into the ground. He went winless his second season. He was fired after his third. The university seriously considered dropping football. Dimel is still universally hated at UH. I honestly didnt think there was any way in hell he would ever get another fbs job.
The stadium renovation was pretty simple in scope and supposed to be finished before the season. There is no guarantee it will be finished before next season.
Botched? Really? Need I remind you of how many times prices rise for construction projects across the nation? Maybe more construction companies that El Paso uses (keep in mind the sun bowl project used a local contractor), should hedge prices on materials like some airlines do with fuel
https://www.kvia.com/sports/high-construction-costs-slowing-down-sun-bowl-renovations/1063000720
Meanwhile I saw this gem on twitter (part 3 of a thread). Keep in mind, parents do read this board. I can name two in this thread that have commented in the past
Yet, they won with those players and a new coach. Almost like Price winning with Nords players. Granted, they did party a lot before both bowl games....
Talking about football only Art Briles is one of the most talented coaches that's ever walked the sidelines. You could put him in a 12 team league and give him the least talented starting 11 on both sides of the ball and he would win. Art Briles can coach em up like few others. I guess you think guy Morris's players were why he won at Baylor as well. Dimel had no part in UH's revival or Briles success.
The difference between Price and and Briles is that once Nords players were gone Price never won again. Briles kept winning but at even bigger clip. He saved two programs and changed the landscape of Texas college football forever.
Delays happen all the time around the world. Even with big companies
https://www.dallasnews.com/business...plant-in-richardson-by-two-years-letter-says/
I dont think these comments have any bearing on the program. For all we know this could be a parent that is making a skewed and protective broad statement. People have talked shit about UTEP since before these players were born. The easy answer to this is the program needs to reasonably show improvement and get some wins, then people will want to support more. That's just the way it is.
I dont think it's reasonable to want to fire Senter at this point. I do think Dimel's offense will work when and if he ever has the right combo of players. Yes it's not that exciting, but it does work. He said from the get go that he would need "years" to build the program. Personally I'm not happy with the time frame and the losing, but I think he should get at least 3 years given the circumstances. Success in basketball should hopefully take the edge off of us and put more on Dimel.
It's crazy you're okay with what he allowed at Baylor. I'd rather lose. As much as I wish I could see a top 25 Miner team in my lifetime. It's not worth the price. Not to me at least.
I clearly stated from a football perspective. I dont condone any of sexual violence or coverup the went on at Baylor. Reading comprehension is a great skill you may want to develop.
Okay, you did say from a football perspective. You're right, Briles is a brilliant football mind.
I was a little harsh in my reply. I just wanted to make sure no one thought I was condoning sexual violence.
Given how bad the program was run into the ground, the only “quick fix” would’ve been to dump everyone on scholarship and replace them all with JC’s. Even then, don’t think that’s legal with NCAA etc
yes, I agree that basketball ought to take the edge off.
This should be a good indicator that Dimmel and Senter will be around for a while. UTEP is looking at a cost overrun of anywhere from 1.25 to 6.25 million dollars and they’ve had to get the bulk of their money through partnerships and The Hunt Foundation so that leads me to believe that the general donor pool is pretty dry. If they can’t cover something like cost overruns which seem commonplace when dealing with construction projects then how can they fire Dimmel, let’s say at the end of the year and pay him 2.8 million as a buyout and then pay a new HC a 4/5 year salary at or more than the previous HC? That move alone would cost 6.3 million and that’s not considering buyouts/salaries of assistant HCs.
Ultimately if the fans want something done there needs to be money so that they can get done.
We are making progress. Those that can’t see it are bias. The last time we played at USM we lost by 24. Last night we lost by 18. It’s very slow progress but we’re moving in the right direction. In six more years we should give USM all they can handle.
I've said it here many times before. With 25,000 students, an athletic fee of $100 per semester equals 5 million dollars per year, $200 equals 10 million per year, etc..
How much are books and a parking pass at UTEP?
I’m not pro Dimel but I did see progress. The scoreboard looks uglier than it should be because of special teams. They are responsible for 10 of USM’s 31 points. We were also missing two key pieces last night in Wolf and Ross. Yet we covered the spread against a team that could end up winning the west.
I have to admit we really were two or three plays away from giving USM a good scare.
I have to admit we really were two or three plays away from giving USM a good scare.
I agree with this too. It may sound like an excuse, but take away a few big drops also and things are different. Also I'm not sure that the onside kick wasn't a squib kick fail (kickers fault).
Our defense was outmanned in the secondary, but that doesn't explain why guys were running free. That definitely needs to be fixed.
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Speaking of Ross, what happened to him? I missed any update. Also, did Hankins really play in the game? I did see a "33" on the field, but just figured it was another player. Seems silly if the staff played Hankins for only special teams, if that is in fact the case.
Ross has a bruised foot and stayed in El Paso this weekend.
I think most of you guys have brought up good points and concerns regarding the coaching staff and team. The program is improving, albeit very slowly. This is going to take time to right the ship and I think we need to hold complete judgement until the majority of Kugler’s guys have matriculated out. Now, I agree that criticism of many of the game-time decisions is fair game as a coach with experience such as Dimel should not commit so many mistakes and poor calls. However, like some on here have mentioned, with such a poor group of FBS athletes that were brought on by the previous regime, it is not fair to Dimel to judge him for their lack of execution on the field. Give the guy a chance, I believe he will help this program over time. Is it a grade-A staff? No, but it’s better than what we had previously. Let’s see how the rest of this schedule unfolds.
That score is utterly discouraging. It should remind us how inferior UTEP is when compared to average FBS teams.
Hawaii beat Arizona who beat Tech who beat UTEP who played Nevada close who beat Purdue.
Yet when the basketball team is winning, will you still be singing the same tune? I've followed UTEP Sports for over 30 years and one thing has proven true. We are a basketball school by heart. We haven't had success lately in either sport, but we expect Basketball to be good based on Legendary Coach Haskins. All the years UTEP Basketball was going to NCAA how do you think the Football team did? You guessed it, terrible with the exception of a few years. We are what we are in Football and getting rid of Senter so early won't change a Damn Thing!
In my 20 years of being a Utep fan we’ve sucked at being a basketball school.
Only one more conference title than the football team in that time span. Five bowl appearances compared to three NCAA tournament appearances
Look where being a basketball school has led us to. Stuck in CUSA 3.0 with a bunch of start ups and former FCS schools.
A true leader would have realized the importance of a strong football program in the current landscape.
I’m not blaming Senter but we have lacked vision for the last 20+ years. His hire of the most important coaching position doesn’t inspire much confidence that things changed.
