Some of this is true, but before we get carried away, this is what happened during Mike Price's Final Season at UTEP:
- UTEP only won 3 games during Price's final season.
- UTEP put up it's worst 4 year APR average in school history of 911.
- UTEP recieved an APR penalty and lost 4 scholarships.
- UTEP needed a miracle APR score in the following season(Kugler's first year) just to avoid receiving even more APR sanctions.
That was the state of the Football Program when Mike Price left it. Price left UTEP with 7 straight losing seasons and it was a Program that was losing both on and off the field. Yes, Price was more competitive in some instances(like OU and Ole Miss) but at the end of the day he did not win those games and above is what was left for the next coach.
What is interesting is that the UTEP Football Program has not signicantly improved on the field since Price left, yet a case can be made that it is currently in the middle of having it's greatest "off-the-field" performance in school history:
- UTEP Football this year earned a perfect 1,000 APR score for the first time in school history, which literally means that every single player in the Program is on track to graduate.
- UTEP Football also just recorded it's highest 4 year average APR score(980) in school history.
- UTEP Football Program has also not had an off-the-field incident in 13 months(since March 2016, when Aaron Jones had a DUI). Over a year of perfect behavior from an entire team of college football players is a streak that most Programs would die for(I.E. Baylor).
If UTEP should have a disaster of a season on the field, it will be interesting to see if the Administration will fire a Coach who is also running a Program nearly perfectly off-the-field?
Lots to unpack here, so let's get started. Ever heard the expression, "Figures don't lie, but liars figure"? Consider that saying in the context of this full response... (caution: long)
Point 1: Indeed, Price won 3 football games his final season. Fact. But for context (and honesty), consider the schedule that year included Oklahoma, @Ole Miss, @Wisconsin, @East Carolina, @ Tulsa, @Houston, @Central Florida, SMU, and Southern Miss. See a pattern here? Every one of those teams (except USM) was either a P5 powerhouse or joined the AAC, a league galatically beyond the current competition iteration of C-USA. Can you imagine a Kugler-coached team over the past four seasons playing anywhere near that type of year in/year out schedule? Me either. So, if you're going to continue to compare Ws and Ls, at least be honest and keep things in perspective.
Point 2: It's comical that you and others
continue to litigate the case against Mike Price. Nobody - NOBODY - has argued that Price did not need to go. He did. Fact. And I have repeatedly argued that it was probably
two seasons too late. So please, take yes for an answer on the Price replacement thing. Of course, that doesn't have jack shit to do with the
past four seasons, does it?
Point 3: As you correctly state, UTEP's APR for the entire five-year reporting period was nothing short of dismal. Fact. But, again, consider the context. Price bet the ranch and the chickens on the season UTEP went to the New Mexico Bowl. It was an overwhelmingly senior-dominated squad. On offense alone, the QB (Vittatoe), the entire starting offensive line, the wide receivers all were seniors. Unfortunately, a huge number of players on that squad dropped out of school immediately following the bowl game, did not finish. The consequences, of course, were that UTEP's APR was decimated that year which, of course, dramatically impacted the following five-year APR reporting period averages. It took the entire period to rebound from that catastrophe, but there was improvement. Proof? In YOUR own words,
"UTEP needed a miracle APR score in the following season (Kugler's first year) just to avoid receiving even more APR sanctions." Remember, Kugler was hired in January '13 and all of those football players graduated the following May.
Do you think those kids all of a sudden just got smart in Kugler's first five months? And remember, again for context and honesty, every one of those May and December '13 graduating players was a Mike Price recruit. In fact, of all the UTEP football players that have graduated on Kugler's watch, how many would you guess were Kugler recruits. I'm going with zero. And here's a final true factoid: Kugler did not even
attend the ceremony at the Durham honoring those May '13 football graduates on their graduation day. But you know who did? Yep, Mike Price. Fact.
Point 4: Kugler deserves full credit for establishing a climate and an environment of academic and disciplinary excellence. But to suggest, as you have stated, that Stull brought Kugler to UTEP to clean up Price's off the field "dumpster fire" is laughable. Proof? There certainly were issues in his later years, but if Price had been winning 6, 7, 8 football games each year, who do you think would be the Head Football Coach at UTEP today? Exactly. But he was deservedly fired for failure to consistently win football games.
Point 5: Kugler set the performance bar from himself at UTEP: three seasons. What happened to all that?
Bottom line, hear what I'm saying, don't hear what I'm not saying. Like any other head coach in America, Kugler was hired to transform UTEP into a winning football program. He hasn't. Enabled by Stull, he has instead run (literally) this program into the ground, as evidenced by fan attendance and interest. Fact. Price was "retired" on the basis of
his won-loss record. Hold Kugler - and Stull - to the same standard.
