Utep favored on the road against Lobos

[PickMyAxe915]

I’ve said it before but UTEP misses Cowing. That guy has shown he can play in any league vs anyone and he carried that offense last year. Now the Miners don’t have a WR who can consistently bail out the offense and they’re stuck in neutral.

We definitely miss Cowing but I think Flores and Smith are good enough. Neither is a deep threat though, especially not like Cowing was. Hardison can really only throw the deep throw and that is it. He sucks in the short and intermediate game, so I'd say Hardison is the issue and not necessarily the WRs.

Our lack of consistent running game hurts too.

 

[pay4dirt]

Vittatoe should have been playing behind a better offensive line. It would have helped. A better defense would have helped. The Miners might have won a few more games. Dimel has apparently improved the caliber of athlete on the football team, but he and his staff need to do a much better job of coaching them up. We need to see it on the field. A discussion topic is the quality of the coordinators. Between Mike Price, Sean Kugler and Dana Dimel, who would you say had the best coordinators and position coaches? That is a factor in this. It's on the entire staff to coach them up. A good head coach will bring in good assistants. That is something I've heard on TV about Nick Saban at Alabama. He looks for assistant coaches that can bring in fresh ideas and look at what the team needs with fresh perspectives.
Coach Price was a very good judge of quarterbacks and receivers. He should have let his other coaches build up the offensive line and the defense better.

 

[utep2step]

We definitely miss Cowing but I think Flores and Smith are good enough. Neither is a deep threat though, especially not like Cowing was. Hardison can really only throw the deep throw and that is it. He sucks in the short and intermediate game, so I'd say Hardison is the issue and not necessarily the WRs.

Our lack of consistent running game hurts too.

[Year 5] We're now at " little nuances".

https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/s...d-to-face-other-rival-new-mexico/69486597007/

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

Price brought in highly touted recruits that were extremely disappointing... typically being on the defensive side of the ball.

You are right that he was decent... I would just say he was disappointing as a recruiter.

His recruiting faded as the years went on and the shine wore off.

 

[FeralFelidae]

Between Mike Price, Sean Kugler and Dana Dimel, who would you say had the best coordinators and position coaches?

That depends on whether or not you consider Dimel to have a real OC, since Dimel insists on calling plays. Do we consider Dimel to be the co-OC in these rankings?

 

[develman]

Vittatoe should have been playing behind a better offensive line. It would have helped. A better defense would have helped. The Miners might have won a few more games. Dimel has apparently improved the caliber of athlete on the football team, but he and his staff need to do a much better job of coaching them up. We need to see it on the field. A discussion topic is the quality of the coordinators. Between Mike Price, Sean Kugler and Dana Dimel, who would you say had the best coordinators and position coaches? That is a factor in this. It's on the entire staff to coach them up. A good head coach will bring in good assistants. That is something I've heard on TV about Nick Saban at Alabama. He looks for assistant coaches that can bring in fresh ideas and look at what the team needs with fresh perspectives.
Coach Price was a very good judge of quarterbacks and receivers. He should have let his other coaches build up the offensive line and the defense better.

What gives you this enlightened opinion? And compared to what, the rest of CUSA?

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

Dimel took UTEP to a bowl game so you had to give him an extension.

What kind of candidate are you trying to attract in the future when you show that you will fire a coach after their best year?

Every Coach is bought when they are fired. That's the business. An extension is not binding.

A good majority of FBS makes a bowl game. It’s not the accomplishment it was 20 years ago.

Candidates line up for P5 jobs where they will get fired after 2 years if they don’t produce. College football is a results business. Scott Frost got canned when they could have “saved” $7 million by waiting a couple of weeks. Yes, that is Nebraska and we’re UTEP, but the principle is the same. If you’re not doing a good enough job, you will likely be fired.

 

[pay4dirt]

I'm comparing UTEP to UTEP. There have been a few very good athletes come through UTEP. Also, some really disappointing ones. We're all over the board. Cowing was one of Dimel' s recruits for instance.

 

[utep2step]

No one within the past 30 to 35 years can compare to Nord for overall recruits. The man brought in pretty damn near a bumper crop that even made Mike Price shat his pants with delight when he discovered what he had to work with.

Lee did bring in some good defensive studs that Bailey built up (I don't know which were Bailey recruits). Gonzalo "Pookie" Floyd was a terror at DE. JJ Rowlett wasn't a bad wr. He just didn't get utilized much in Lee's ground game. Paul Smith (Bailey) was a beast at rb.

 

[kickballpro]

A good majority of FBS makes a bowl game. It’s not the accomplishment it was 20 years ago.

Candidates line up for P5 jobs where they will get fired after 2 years if they don’t produce. College football is a results business. Scott Frost got canned when they could have “saved” $7 million by waiting a couple of weeks. Yes, that is Nebraska and we’re UTEP, but the principle is the same. If you’re not doing a good enough job, you will likely be fired.

My point was that the extension is irrelevant. Getting an extension is not a guarantee of future employment. People act like we locked him in with no way out.

If he isn't getting the job done, he needs to be let go. Universities understand buyouts are part of the equation.

 

[Rocketsr]

My point was that the extension is irrelevant. Getting an extension is not a guarantee of future employment. People act like we locked him in with no way out.

If he isn't getting the job done, he needs to be let go. Universities understand buyouts are part of the equation.

First of all, this is UTEP you are talking about. Do you really think buyouts are in our equation?

Secondly, we didn't lock him in, by giving him the extension, he locked us in. We are the ones that are screwed.

UTEP didn't even get the $500,000 for Terry leaving because he was able to circumvent the wording of the contract. Another bumbling mistake.

 

[kickballpro]

First of all, this is UTEP you are talking about. Do you really think buyouts are in our equation?

Secondly, we didn't lock him in, by giving him the extension, he locked us in. We are the ones that are screwed.

UTEP didn't even get the $500,000 for Terry leaving because he was able to circumvent the wording of the contract. Another bumbling mistake.

UTEP knew when they gave him a new contract that they were going to be receiving CUSA exit fee money. Buying out Dimel is not an obstacle.

 

[axingfools1]

Dimel took UTEP to a bowl game so you had to give him an extension.

What kind of candidate are you trying to attract in the future when you show that you will fire a coach after their best year?

Every Coach is bought when they are fired. That's the business. An extension is not binding.

Yeah but what was the criteria for that bowl invite, who did we beat to achieve it and did we win? That all had to be considered. The standard is set way to low.

 

[axingfools1]

UTEP knew when they gave him a new contract that they were going to be receiving CUSA exit fee money. Buying out Dimel is not an obstacle.

Are we though? Serious question.

 

[Minerforlife]

Are we though? Serious question.

I think Senter hedged on the Dimel extension by adding Tennesee to the 2024 schedule. We never play two money games in the same season. It's very odd and ironic that we have two in 2024 worth almost 3 million dollars. It's like he's expecting to pay a buyout.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

Are we though? Serious question.

When it comes to UTEP’s finances and any big expenditures “Ill believe it when I see it.”

I personally think Dimmel will finish the year, because the moment a HC’s seat gets a little warm they will immediately fire the OC or DC to make them the fall guy. So one of those two will have to hit the chopping block before firing Dimmel becomes a possibility.

 

[Lil_Train]

I think Senter hedged on the Dimel extension by adding Tennesee to the 2024 schedule. We never play two money games in the same season. It's very odd and ironic that we have two in 2024 worth almost 3 million dollars. It's like he's expecting to pay a buyout.

I believe Dimel's original 5 year contract had a $700K annual buyout. The new contract has the the incentive where it automatically renews for an additional year in 2023/2024 if they make a bowl game or win a conference championship. With regard to Tennessee, I would think that if Senter was expecting a buyout before 2024, he would have tried to tweak the schedule way before then. I'd like to think Senter has that type of foresight, but that would be wishful thinking. Bottom line, Dimel isn't going anywhere.

 

[MinerFan79]

Price recruited "decent" and his teams were generally competitive. Vittatoe still ranks 30th all-time in NCAA passing yards. He put up some numbers. It's too bad the defense was so rotten those years.

He got some Bigtime recruits to transfer

Fred Rouse
Tyler Ebell
Marcus Thomas
Adam Vincent

these were all big recruits that coach Price gave us

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

He got some Bigtime recruits to transfer

Fred Rouse
Tyler Ebell
Marcus Thomas
Adam Vincent

these were all big recruits that coach Price gave us

But those were his first two years. He was still hitting on skill guys like Nathan Jeffery, Donald Buckram, Jordan Leslie and Mike Edwards in the end but he couldn’t bring in defenders to save his life those last couple of years.

 

[MineroFanatico]

My point was that the extension is irrelevant. Getting an extension is not a guarantee of future employment. People act like we locked him in with no way out.

If he isn't getting the job done, he needs to be let go. Universities understand buyouts are part of the equation.

Is it possible that we aren’t equipped to buy his contract out? That Senter pulled the trigger a bit too early due to Dimel’s relative success last year thinking that the trajectory would keep going upward?

I just don’t see us letting Dimel go after this year due to what he’s owed. I think Senter screwed us for at least the next year, maybe two.

 

[MineroFanatico]

UTEP knew when they gave him a new contract that they were going to be receiving CUSA exit fee money. Buying out Dimel is not an obstacle.

If that’s the case that is pretty short sighted because that money could be better spent. Like towards the salary of the next coach…or any number of other things UTEP doesn’t seem to have $$$ for.

 

[nattybry]

When it comes to UTEP’s finances and any big expenditures “Ill believe it when I see it.”

I personally think Dimmel will finish the year, because the moment a HC’s seat gets a little warm they will immediately fire the OC or DC to make them the fall guy. So one of those two will have to hit the chopping block before firing Dimmel becomes a possibility.

He 100% will finish the year and anyone suggesting or thinking other wise is in make believe land!

 

[pay4dirt]

Let Dimel finish the season. We'll see how he does. I still think more than three wins is a miracle. We should still start looking now for our next head coach. Don't wait till the last minute.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

Let Dimel finish the season. We'll see how he does. I still think more than three wins is a miracle. We should still start looking now for our next head coach. Don't wait till the last minute.

I agree… and if you look at the writing on the wall, he’s 15-35. Kugler was 18-36 when he stepped down. Both have similar records, both have one bowl game under their belts. So have we taken a step forward?

 

[kickballpro]

I agree… and if you look at the writing on the wall, he’s 15-35. Kugler was 18-36 when he stepped down. Both have similar records, both have one bowl game under their belts. So have we taken a step forward?

You realize those 2 records were achieved completely differently? Kugler won with Mike Prices guys and sucked with his own. Dimel sucked with Kuglers guys and had been mediocre with his own.

 

[develman]

I'm comparing UTEP to UTEP. There have been a few very good athletes come through UTEP. Also, some really disappointing ones. We're all over the board. Cowing was one of Dimel' s recruits for instance.

Well compared to the rest of CUSA he hasn't moved the needle recruiting-wise.

 

[Dmanminer]

By leaving Dismel till the end of year your signally that mediocrity is acceptable.
Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it later. El Paso mentality.
Dismel has this same mentality in his coaching style. Get a 3 point lead “That’s good guys, put it on cruise control and end the game”.
Let’s take Nebraska example and get aggressive.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

You realize those 2 records were achieved completely differently? Kugler won with Mike Prices guys and sucked with his own. Dimel sucked with Kuglers guys and had been mediocre with his own.

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying. The end of the Kugler’s era was the worst thing I’ve seen as a UTEP fan and I have very low standards. But if Dimmel bombs this season I don’t know if one 7-6 season should be enough to keep his job.

 

[pay4dirt]

It shouldn't. Price went to three bowl games in his time at UTEP. Three winning seasons. He still gets complained about that he should have done better. Other coaches should use that as a baseline.

 

[MinerFan79]

By leaving Dismel till the end of year your signally that mediocrity is acceptable.
Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it later. El Paso mentality.
Dismel has this same mentality in his coaching style. Get a 3 point lead “That’s good guys, put it on cruise control and end the game”.
Let’s take Nebraska example and get aggressive.

Nebraska used to be the best program in D-1. They went 16-31 under Frost and just arguably lost their worst game in program history. Youre comparing that to our program and wanting to fire a coach who just took us to a bowl game and is coming off a win over our top rival?

 

[DBminer]

So you all are the AD how do you fix the Utep football problem ?

 

[pay4dirt]

But it wasn't good coaching that won the game vs the Aggies. If you look bad against a worse team, it's on the coaches. The AD needs to be out raising money to hire a decent coach. Pay a better salary and don't get burned on buy outs. Buy outs mean we'll pay more on the back end cause we're too cheap to pay more on the front end.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

It shouldn't. Price went to three bowl games in his time at UTEP. Three winning seasons. He still gets complained about that he should have done better. Other coaches should use that as a baseline.

3 bowl games - 2 winning seasons. Price finished 6-7 in 2010 and lost 6 of the last 7. And still coached 2 more losing seasons after that. Price had 2 winning seasons, followed by 7 straight losing seasons.

After the Texas Southern game in 2005, Mike Price was a loser at UTEP. Kept around way too long, just like most other UTEP coaches.

 

[MinerFan79]

3 bowl games - 2 winning seasons. Price finished 6-7 in 2010 and lost 6 of the last 7. And still coached 2 more losing seasons after that. Price had 2 winning seasons, followed by 7 straight losing seasons.

After the Texas Southern game in 2005, Mike Price was a loser at UTEP. Kept around way too long, just like most other UTEP coaches.

As someone else pointed out though, our team was competitive under Price. Those were good days

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

Mike Price was 16-5 in his first 23 games here.
32-56 the rest, without counting the 7 games he coached for Kugler. Which would be 32-63. He sucked here. He only beat the same teams we beat today - NMSU, UNM, FCS, and bad CUSA teams.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

As someone else pointed out though, our team was competitive under Price. Those were good days

Losing 48-46 is the same as losing 45-13. It’s a loss, it gets you nowhere.

 

[nattybry]

Everyone saying fire Dimel right now 3 games in is just ridiculous if I'm being honest.

1. Hey got an extension just last year
2. It's only 3 games in and he's 1-2 ( Despite how we think the teams playing at the moment they didn't lose to NMSU.
3. It's early and this team can either get better or stay the same, that's yet to be seen.
4. No school at Utep's level fires a coach this early in the season unless they loss to a FBS school or something.
5. Utep doesn't have the extra money to pay him to go
6. That's obviously not how Senter rolls.
7. That wouldn't be good for the kids this early in the season
8. YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY DREAMING IF YOU THINK THERE'S A CHANCE IN HELL HE DOESN'T FINISH THE SEASON, SO GIVE IT A REST UNTIL WE SEE HOW THE SEASON ENDS!!!

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

I don’t think everyone is saying that. Almost everyone is extremely disappointed with the UNT game and the way they played against NMSU. That leads people to believe this year isn’t going to be very promising. Best case is the Miners are 3-3 after the Charlotte game. If the Miners are going to be good, they should be able to beat UNM and Charlotte. Losing to them, means we probably won’t be very good. Which is unacceptable during a coach’s 5th year, when the other 4 were far from great as well.

 

[nattybry]

I don’t think everyone is saying that. Almost everyone is extremely disappointed with the UNT game and the way they played against NMSU. That leads people to believe this year isn’t going to be very promising. Best case is the Miners are 3-3 after the Charlotte game. If the Miners are going to be good, they should be able to beat UNM and Charlotte. Losing to them, means we probably won’t be very good. Which is unacceptable during a coach’s 5th year, when the other 4 were far from great as well.

I agree with that which is weird that you're being so reasonable lately, but I'll take it lol Ones on here saying he should step down or be fired immediately are who I'm speaking to.

 

[utep2step]

Everyone saying fire Dimel right now 3 games in is just ridiculous if I'm being honest.


4. No school at Utep's level fires a coach this early in the season unless they loss to a FBS school or something.

USM has done it.