He wont get a pass from Stull. He would if attendance was good but with attendance down Kugler is on a much shorter leash.
Some UTEP folks I've talked to think think Sean Kugler will be Bob Stull's last FB hire, regardless of how much additional time he gets via releasing staff. Several reasons. First, age. Stull's in his late 60s, he may not need it anymore, fire in the belly growing dim. Who knows?
Second, Stull has simply been unable to produce championships - football or basketball - in a league that some feel should be tailor-made for UTEP success. Frankly that's on HIS boss, she's obviously satisfied with UTEP's station in life, else you'd have heard/seen differently (see Rutgers yesterday, fired both HC and AD).
Third, and most important, Stull bet heavily on Kugler. With his arrogance and "committee of one" selection process, Stull went
WAY out on a limb hiring a coach with zero Texas HS recruiting roots, zero HC or coordinator experience at any level, and minimal experience in dealing with college football players, programs or assistants. Other than all that, he was the obvious choice for the job. Kugler was pure and simple a nepotism hire and a gamble by Stull.
Now, if it all works, Stull looks like a genius - former player/favorite son/Stull prodigy returns home, El Paso-centric rosters, etc. But it's hardly a good sign when you're ditching coordinators and staff after three seasons at the VERY point in time when your program should be ready to blossom. New faces, systems, schemes, terminology, etc. - no matter the justification, for a ton of reasons, it's never a good thing for the players to change staff in "mid-administration".
Bottom line, if Kugler's got a coaching bone in his body, he's better get it right over the next couple of months (e.g. right staff hires, breakout recruiting class, key QB/JC adds, etc.), or both he and his AD meal ticket may well ride into the sunset on the same pony...
