from an interview 2019
?We work every day trying to change the culture, and what I mean by that is telling people we can win here, we will win here, we expect to win here, we are worthy of winning here, but we have to do all the things that are within our power to make sure we do.?
Senter explains that if you haven?t won someplace in a while, people tend to start dwelling on all the reasons why they can?t win.
?We?ve got to get more and more people on our team, our staff, our coaching teams, our university system to believe we are worthy of winning.?
In addition to culture, Senter knows that revenue must come into focus. He says they need to drive revenue back to the institutions so they can do the things that allow UTEP to be competitive and successful.
?The pouring rights and multimedia deals are a part of it, but what it comes down to is selling tickets, attendance, and development and fundraising. We want people to be invested with us. Instead of just being fans, they are stakeholders in our success.?
Who in the fuck thinks we aren't worthy of winning! How about firing their ass! How many of you think UTEP isn't worthy of winning? What the fuck planet is he on and what the fuck is he talking about? Worthy!?
So, I am glad that he recognizes that revenue and success and competitiveness are linked. "...but what it comes down to is selling tickets, attendance..."
You know what drives attendance? Fun. Is it fun to win? Yes. I can make people downright giddy. Is losing fun? No! It makes people cranky as fuck! There are no guarantees of wins, and therein lies the excitement of the challenge. But when fans know that the outcome is in little doubt that they will be left cranky and saddened, only the people who no longer care about winning or losing and the people who like being cranky are left.
Senter has watched 5 million lost to the West Texas wind, and has been in control of our latest being ditched by teams leaving us in a skeleton of a conference. It may end up being alright, but it will be luck and not Senter's strategic thinking and moving us into our best position.
Dimel is 17-40 a 30% winning percentage. If you want to blame his first two seasons of 1-11 football on Kugler, Dimel is 15-18 for a winning percentage of 45%. I believe UTEP is right around 40% since 1956. Our kind of guy. Price ended up with a 44% winning record at UTEP. And was fired for not winning enough.
So, Dimel has had plenty of time to see what he has with Dimel. He seems to be fine with winning a few games and watching the UTEP football fans fading like cheap paint in the El Paso sun. All while sitting in the newly comfortable donor seating.
For basketball, if you watch the games you know that we are now playing in a newly empty Don. The reported average of 5k would be almost half of the Don would be full. Watching the games, the lower section at mid-court on one side is about half full and there is a sprinkling of maybe a hundred or so on the bench side. Nearly empty. They got to watch the Miners win ten games and lose 6 so far this season. Haskins used to say, win all of your home games and half of the road games. His formula. We are ten and three on the road.
Since Senter, not including the Floyd bail, 65 wins and 78 losses(45%). Since 2005-06 until and including Floyd's bail year we were 251 and 176(55%)
In 2015-16, the year before Senter UTEP was 58th natinally in bb attendance.
"In UTEP?s 16 homes games, the Miners drew 135,322 fans good for an average of 8,458, ahead of schools like California, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and UCLA."
I don't know if Senter is killing UTEP basketball or just watching it die.
But, we will have beach volleyball.
I know. I know. I'm bitching. Sorry, but so far I am not impressed with Senter. The Joe Golding hire was just plain stupid. Go look at Golding's record. Senter hired him off of one game. And Joe Golding is a fine man. No problem. But his coaching record had absolutely nothing to hire him and pay him what he is making. He won with Terry's players and then had a clean slate to put together his team and it is well below .500. It is crazy out there what with the portal and all, but it was exactly the same for everyone else. I don't know, can we even qualify to play in the conference tournament?
Again. Sorry for the negativity, but I have watched UTEP football fighting to not be the worst team in college football for decades, but at least had a basketball team. In the last few years I have watched UTEP basketball dwindle down to almost nothing. And Senter is bringing beach volleyball. It isn't just winning and losing. It is the being fine with it that drives me nuts! It is giving losing coaches extensions like we have to worry that someone was going to sweep in and steal Dimel or Terry, or Golding. I am so tired of us playing the we are too poor to compete card. That is flat out bullshit! We can't afford to pay a good coach because we are too busy losing fans with our losing coaches. I don't have the answers, but my opinion is that Senter doesn't either, and he is supposed to. Beach fucking volleyball! Because being in the middle of one of the largest beaches in the world without water we have enormous interest in that sport!
Senter D
Dimel C- (I'm an easy grader)
Golding D this reflects the place we hold in the conference. The only rson it isn't a failing grade is because of the effort shown)