After the announcing of UTEP hiring of Dana Dimel, Kansas State’s offensive coordinator, the name took fans and media members by surprise. Many hoped for the likes of a name like Sterlin Gilbert, the USF offensive coordinator, or Sam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler, but evidently the Miners pulled a coach from left field by hiring Dimel.
With his introductory press conference under wraps, most have a feeling of approval, but nonetheless, Dimel will have to salvage a team that previously went 0-12 during the fall season.
Below are five questions for Dimel at UTEP:
1. Can UTEP adapt to the option-rush offense?
The last time UTEP ran any sort of a run option was during the David Lee era (1989-93), and needless to say it didn’t work for the Miners, who saw Lee go 11-41-1 with the team. Obviously Dimel is a new look and definitely has had way more success with his offense through the years, but it begs the question—does UTEP have what it takes to adapt to a run option offense?
Short answer, no. The Miners don’t currently have the personnel for this offense that requires a lot of speed, at not only the running back and quarterback position, but also the linemen. If Dimel can eventually recruit the player personnel for this offense, he might slowly integrate more option-based packages. But for now, as he said in his introductory press conference, the new coaching staff will “morph” their offense depending on what they have.
2. Is he comparable to Kugler?
On paper, Dimel sort of resembles the coaching strategies of former head coach Sean Kugler. Kugler used to favor linemen, the running game on offense and loved his tight ends—very similar to Dimel, an offensive coordinator, who has coached linemen, tight ends and running backs.
Although they might look alike on paper, Dimel has two major differences that separates him from Kugler entirely. First, Dimel has decades of experience in college football. He made it apparent in his introductory press conference on how he has great relationships with high school coaches across Texas, which is something he wants to improve on—recruiting throughout Texas. Second, Dimel has been in this situation before with a team that is in need of rebuilding. He improved programs like Wyoming, Houston and Kansas State when they were programs in a losing rut.
3. Will Dimel clean house?
Yes. Despite some of these UTEP football coaches really sticking it out, especially offensive coordinator Brian Natkin, who oversaw just about every position offensively and probably juggled too much on his plate, the Miners need a fresh look at every spot on the coaching staff.
It has already started as multiple reports have Dimel bringing former Tennessee quarterbacks coach Mike Canales as the team’s offensive coordinator. Also, it’s expected that Mike Cox, Kansas State’s linebacker’s coach, will join the Miners as the defensive coordinator. A coach like Chuck Veliz, Don Yanowsky or Tom Mason from the Miners is pretty unlikely to find a spot on this new team.
SOURCE: New #UTEP coach Dana Dimel loading up on experienced guys and assistants with strong Texas recruiting ties on new staff. Joe Robinson; Mike Cox; former #Arkansas RB coach Reggie Mitchell, among those expected to be hired. More here: https://t.co/uWJwKcH4LM
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 13, 2017
4. How much will his JUCO ranks help the team?
Although Kansas State is known for their exceptional recruiting in the JUCO ranks, Dimel said during his introductory press conference how they will reserve just four or five spots for JUCO scholarships. Then, he hopes down the line just to allow one or two JUCO spots for the team, and heavily focus on just high school recruits.
With his self-assessment of having good relationships with Texas high school coaches, Dimel might be able to snag some good talent across Texas.
5. Can he come back from a 8-26 record as a head coach?
If Dimel makes the right moves and builds this team from the ground up, as he said, he could have success with this Miners team. Even though he didn’t have the best stint with his previous head coaching job with the Houston Cougars, he truly helped rebuild Kansas State to eight consecutive bowl appearances.
The question might not be can he come back from a rough head coaching record, but what will we say after three seasons?
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