Sources tell Dave Campbell's Texas Football that UTEP is expected to hire Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden to replace Dana Dimel as the leader of the Miners’ football program. He beat out a pack of candidates that included UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley. 

Walden, 34, went to high school in Cleburne, Texas and then played college ball at Dordt, Hardin-Simmons, and Sul Ross. He began his coaching career as the offensive coordinator at Sul Ross in 2012. He moved to East Texas Baptist as the offensive coordinator the next season and worked his way to head coach by 2016. He left after one season for the wide receiver job at Southern Miss in 2017, became the offensive coordinator there in 2019, and eventually the interim head coach in 2020. 

Walden’s next stop was Austin Peay. He is 26-14 as the head coach of Peay, winning consecutive conference championships starting in 2022. His team was 9-3 before losing in the first round of the playoffs. Austin Peay is 16-7 over the past two seasons. Add in his time at East Texas Baptist and the four games he was the interim head coach at Southern Miss, and Walden is 34-20 as a collegiate head coach. 

UTEP terminated Dimel’s contract with one year remaining following the end of the 2023 campaign. He was 20-49 in his six seasons in charge of the Miners. They finished over .500 once in that span, reaching the New Mexico Bowl after winning seven games in 2021. UTEP was 3-9 in 2023.  

 Football Scoop was first to report. ESPN has since confirmed the report. The news came out early Monday morning.