With National Signing Day in the rearview mirror, we are evaluating the state of each Texas FBS program. The next team up is the UTEP Miners, which heads into year four of a rebuild under head coach Dana Dimel. 

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UTEP Miners

2020 Record: 3-5, 0-4 Conference USA

Head Coach: Dana Dimel (5-27 in three seasons)

Returning Production Ranking (O/D): 55 / 112

Key Returners: RB Deion Hankins, DL Praise Amaewhule, WR Jacob Cowing

Key Losses: DB Duron Lowe, QB TJ Goodwin, DB Broderick Harrell

Key Additions: CB Walter Neil (Kansas State), WR Tyrin Smith (Cisco CC), ATH Nick Ast (Kansas State)

Final 2020 Ranking: 10

Way-Too-Early 2021 Ranking: 12

What went wrong: Do we even have to say? 

No program – maybe in America – was more impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic than the UTEP Miners. El Paso County consistently ranked as one of the worst-affected areas of the pandemic, and the issues did not stay off the field. 

UTEP’s final home game of the season occurred on Sept. 19 against Abilene Christian. From that point on, a combination of positive tests and teams refusing to travel to El Paso ultimately cost the Miners home games. By the end of it, UTEP only played half of their conference games. 

The 2020 season got off to a pretty decent start for the Miners. Still, all the cancellations and losses – including one against UNT after starting QB Gavin Hardison was lost to COVID protocols – meant that the modest 3-5 season in El Paso wasn’t an especially joyful one. 

What went right: UTEP has stars again

When I started the job at Texas Football three seasons ago, you would be hard pressed to name a single Miner that could start on another team in the state. By 2020, there were a handful of players that could play in almost any rotation in Texas. 

Defensive lineman Praise Amaewhule took the incredible step forward than many hoped he could, leading the team with seven sacks, four QB hurries and nine pass breakups. His production, along with development on the back line, was key in the Miners rising from No. 95 to No. 46 in total defense. 

The offense looked much more modern after transitioning from Kai Locksley to Gavin Hardison at quarterback. The sophomore was inconsistent, but showed flashes of real stardom that allowed the offense to change. More importantly, it opened the door for running back Deion Hankins and wide receivers Jacob Cowing and Justin Garrett to put together breakout seasons. 

From numbers one to 85, UTEP still lags behind the state in overall quality depth. However, the MIners finally have a few talented pieces to hang their hat on. More importantly, UTEP’s offense and defense finally has mismatches that opposing teams have to take into account. That’s a start. 

Dana Dimel cleared the deck at coordinator

After an encouraging season, Dimel opted to make changes at both coordinator spots, relieving offensive coordinator Mike Canales and defensive coordinator Mike Cox of their duties. 

On offense, Dimel is turning to former Michigan State offensive coordinator Dave Warner to keep the production going. Warner helped develop Kirk Cousins, Brian Hoyer and Connor Cook into NFL players, but also presided over MSU’s offense as it fell apart. However, Dimel will likely still call plays, so Warner can hopefully focus on developing Gavin Hardison. 

Defensively, Dimel brought former Texas A&M linebackers coach and Northwestern State head coach Bradley Dale Peveto into the mix. Peveto won a national championship at LSU under Les Miles, but has not served as a primary defensive coordinator since 2004. 

Getting some new voices in the room should hopefully continue the improvement on both sides of the ball. However, both new additions are seasoned assistants who have likely already coached their best ball. Can the Miners get the most out of their coaching staff – and subsequently, their players? 

The roster still needs a lot of work

UTEP’s quick start meant the Miners managed to avoid the bottom spot in the College Power Poll. However, the roster still lags far behind the rest of Texas. 

The Miners rank No. 118 nationally in the 247Sports talent composite with the lowest average player rating out of any non-service academy. Dimel has just one recruiting class that didn’t rank lower than No. 125 nationally. 

Granted, Dimel pitched UTEP on being a developmental program in the mold of Kansas State. The Miners have been aggressive by adding players through transfer, junior college and finding hidden gems at the high school level like Jacob Cowing. The composite doesn’t take those factors into account. Still, being one of the least talented programs in the FBS isn’t ideal. 

The good news? UTEP’s recruiting should ascend to an FBS level in the class of 2022. 

When Dimel took over, the Miners were well below the 85-man scholarship limit. To catch up, the staff utilized the “blueshirt” rule to effectively steal scholarships from future classes to get talent on campus now. However, that also meant that UTEP was in an endless cycle to keep numbers flowing in. For a variety of reasons, blueshirts are typically not the same level of recruit as a traditional recruit. 

With a small 2021 class, the Miners should be caught up and be able to put together a complete 2022 class of traditionally-recruited high school athletes. Will that suddenly make El Paso a recruiting hotspot? Probably not. However, it gets the Miners back to zero, and that’s a good place to start. 

Now what? 

The Miners are heading into year four of the Dana Dimel era, and it’s time for the program to shift from plucky young upstart to competitive Conference USA program. 

UTEP hired Dimel because of his background in taking on difficult situations and turning them around. Most significantly, he was there every step of the way when Bill Snyder took over Kansas State following a pair of winless seasons and led them to national prominence. 

Dimel doesn’t need to be Snyder – the latter ranks among the greatest coaches in college football history. However, Snyder had his team pushing for .500 within the first four seasons. To stay on track with the five-year rebuild, Dimel needs to compete for the same in a full season.

Thankfully, the schedule is reasonably manageable. The Miners have winnable games against New Mexico State, Bethune-Cookman and New Mexico in the nonconference slate. Anything short of 2-1 through that stretch is below expectations. 

Then, UTEP plays new coaches at Old Dominion and Southern Miss in the first two games of the conference schedule. Games against Louisiana Tech, FAU, UTSA and UAB won’t be easy, but there are opportunities against North Texas and Rice later in the season too. There’s only a handful of games in which UTEP shouldn’t expect to be very competitive. More importantly, it would be nice to see the Miners pull off a victory against one of the conference’s more impressive teams. 

UTEP is one of the most difficult jobs in America, and the pandemic only made the task more challenging. Dimel deserves all the patience he’s gotten to this point. But after three years, the era of beating FCS teams and staying competitive being good enough is over. It’s time to win some games.