and so ends football 2019

[SisyphusMiner]

not with a bang.  not even with a whimper.  just a death rattle.

So if I were Senter, tomorrow I call Dimel to my office and tell him the following:
1.  Canales is gone
2.  We are going to find the most innovative offensive mind in FCS and hire him as OC
3.  You have called your last play.  100% of the play calling will be the new OC.  You don't ever overrule him.
4.  If I ever see the wildcat formation on the field again you will be fired mid-game.
5.  Special teams coach is gone.

I am really tempted to repeat 1. and 2. with Cox, but as bad as our D was I don't know that we want to fire both coordinators and rebooting the offense has to have priority.

[Miner91]

If Dimel is the one calling the plays does firing Canales really make much of a difference? Dimel is as stubborn as Kugler and no matter who the OC is, he is going to want to run the same RPO based offense. How many OCs did Kugler go through who all had to call the same run first offense to little if any success. I just don’t see Dimel being willing to change and he’ll be calling the same plays until he quits or is fired. Look at what happened today with Hardison after Kai went down. He forced him to run even though everyone knows he is not a running threat. Someone has to go but I wonder just how much of a difference it will make if it isn’t Dimel.

[Chanson]

Thank God it's over. We've got a long way to go until we see a winning season.

[EMA884]

Dimel is in my opinion not the answer for this program. I feel like after 24 games with him at coach he really has not shown me anything to believe this whole thing gets turned around. Like so many others have said, he’s a very nice guy who always appears to maintain a positive outlook, but I don’t see him being able to right the ship, not at UTEP anyway. We are all aware that he will be given another opportunity next year, but it’s doubtful that this program will win more than 3 games. What are your opinions of the job he has done so far and do you believe he has the coaching/recruiting ability to leave the program better than he found it?

[SisyphusMiner]

If Dimel is the one calling the plays does firing Canales really make much of a difference? Dimel is as stubborn as Kugler and no matter who the OC is, he is going to want to run the same RPO based offense.

I completely agree with this, which is why I said that in addition to hiring the best offensive mind in FCS, Dimel needs to be told he doesn't get to call any more plays.  In fact, he needs to be told that he doesn't get to tell the new OC anything about how to run the offense.

Maybe he will leave on his own, and we can elevate the new OC to HC if the offense is working.  Only this time with a more sensible contract.

[SisyphusMiner]

Dimel is in my opinion not the answer for this program. I feel like after 24 games with him at coach he really has not shown me anything to believe this whole thing gets turned around. Like so many others have said, he’s a very nice guy who always appears to maintain a positive outlook, but I don’t see him being able to right the ship, not at UTEP anyway. We are all aware that he will be given another opportunity next year, but it’s doubtful that this program will win more than 3 games. What are your opinions of the job he has done so far and do you believe he has the coaching/recruiting ability to leave the program better than he found it?

He's pretty bad.  He insists on continuing to pound square pegs into round holes, and that's stupid.  It's very clear that's not working.  Nor has he recruited QBs that fit his type of offense.  So when you insist on running a specific type of offense that you don't have the personnel for and don't recruit QBs that can run that offense and yet insist on running it with them in there, even though it's not working this is not a good sign at all.

We can't consistently get the right personnel on the field and the play called on time, we have continual lack of discipline penalties.

I would not say we have seen any improvement in execution or individual player performance.

In terms of recruiting, we have seen improvement at WR, but just recruiting actual WRs was going to create that.  We have acceptable RBs.  I think Hardison could be a pretty decent QB if the offense was adjusted to match his skills.  He is definitely not a run threat, but he is actually pretty good on the bootleg because of his strong arm and that gives receivers extra time to get open.

OL and DL are just awful.  But it's hard to know whether the OL is really that bad or if its because the other team knows what we are doing every down, just exactly like Kug.

Oh, and anyone that thinks that more wildcat is always the answer is an idiot.

[Minermojo]

Hey, I heard that there might be an opening in Dallas, maybe we can hire their coach. Heck, he can't be any worst. At least he has a winning record...sometimes.  LOL

[SisyphusMiner]

You know, I actually think that we might have the potential for a decent offense next year if a few things happen.
Hardison has a really nice arm, we have decent receivers, and decent running backs.

If we can do the following we could be ok
1.  improve on the OL.  We could help them out a lot by #2
2.  fix all the coaching issues -- get plays and substitutions done in a reasonable time, quit being so damn predictable, run an offense that is compatible with our QB's skills, etc.  Roll Hardison out on some bootlegs -- he has the arm.  No more wildcat.  Who in the hell thinks you can just tell the defense exactly what we are going to run and be successful?

Defensively, I don't know.  I just don't know how much of that is fixable with a better DC.  We had a game where our DL had ZERO tackles in the game.  It doesn't seem possible that is 100% on coaching.

[kyyote]

Since this is Grinch time, I am going to say that you, I, and all of us are not going to see any wins anytime soon and that is just fine with the coaches and UTEP Administration.  They are building a house.  The foundation is class and integrity, and the results will begin to be  seen in wins in the next oh, five to seven years.  I don't have any idea why no one thought to lay a foundation and build a house until now-according to Senter and Dimel but evidently Natalicio, Stull, and all of the coaches for the past 20 years or 100 were just sitting around with their thumbs up their ass in a circle out in the desert.  Maybe they were in a tent.  So, don't anyone even think about wins or attendance at the games.  That isn't important to our new AD, HC, or President.  The football players run like they are wearing cement cleats because they have been pouring the concrete foundation.  We are already seeing results and making progress.  We are two years classier and have more integrity now.  No more classless folks like Natalicio, Stull and the rest just trying to win.  Nope, now we are classier!

[SisyphusMiner]

I just took a glance at next year's schedule.  We have exactly one game that I give us a 50/50 chance of winning, and that is a home game against NMSU.  The likelihood is that we have a zero win season.

[kyyote]

"And that's OK!", said in my best Mr. Rodgers voice.  "We are classy.  We have integrity, and we are worthy!"  In my own voice, "We are losing every game!  But, we have new uniforms and they are classy, with new Miner orange which is classier!"

[SisyphusMiner]

What's really frustrating is this year's schedule was probably the most favorable in a generation for a really really bad UTEP football team to still win 4+ games while still totally sucking.  But we sucked so bad we couldn't beat other really bad teams on our own field.  Next year we have the bad teams in their house and the good teams here.

[SisyphusMiner]

Here is my choice for new OC.  Good pedigree, good experience, California connections.  If Dimel or Senter call me to ask, I'm picking him or Prairie View A&M OC
https://usdtoreros.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/tanner-engstrand/163

Obviously it's not guaranteed success, but honestly, grow a pair and at least take a chance on someone who at least has had success somewhere...

[MinerMaestro]

Dimel/Senter:  We have laid the foundation and our days of FB ineptitude are behind us!

Inept UTEP Football:  Not so fast! 

[liebestraum]

Dimel/Senter:  We have laid the foundation and our days of FB ineptitude are behind us!

Inept UTEP Football:  Not so fast! 

Right.  Because if Inept UTEP Football said, “Hold my beer” you know darn well they’d spill it first.

lieb