Only a full day since his hiring, new UTEP football head coach Dana Dimel flew down from Kansas to El Paso and was introduced to the media on Thursday, Dec. 7.
Dimel, 55, was joined by UTEP President Diana Natalicio and Athletic Director Jim Senter. The program announced him as the 26th head coach in program history.
He is currently the offensive coordinator, running backs coach and the tight ends coach for Kansas State, and has been with the program since 2009. He was apart of the Wildcats’ eight-straight bowl appearances. Dimel’s offense is prided on its efficiency on third down and in the red zone.
“So much that can be done here,” Dimel said in his introductory press conference. “I see the great potential. Everything that is going to be done is going to be done in a positive attitude. That’s what I want to bring to the table. They’re (the players) going to represent everyone very well… Players are going to care about academics, go to class, respect people in the community. Parents are going to feel comfortable about that.”
Senter, who first formally introduced Dimel to the media, said as soon as he got the athletic director job, he began the coaching search. He also said how Dimel felt like the perfect hire for UTEP.
New UTEP head coach Dana Dimel speaks at his introductory press conference on Thursday in El Paso. (Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball)
“We were looking for the right fit. I stood here about a week ago saying that we need high character, who’s going to be a great recruiter…” Senter said. “At UTEP we want to find the right guy for the right fit. We talked about running the football. It’s not how many yards can you put up. This is about how many games you win. The object is going to win the game. I think this individual is going to do that.”
Dimel will take over a UTEP football team that was in a rut this past fall, going 0-12 and losing former head coach Sean Kugler midway into the season.
“I know that we’re going to be able to accomplish so much here,” he said. “My whole career has been about rebuilding. Obviously there’s a lot of challenges in rebuilding, but we’re excited about that. That’s where I am. I want to have that gratification around this job. I’ve kept an eye on it.”
In fact, Dimel understands what it takes to win as a head coach. He is currently has most active wins of any offensive coordinator in the nation (60) and has been the head coach for Wyoming and Houston in his early years of coaching.
“I’m a winner,” he said. “If you want to win, the nucleus is now. To me, the pedigrees there to win, you have to see the product on the field.”
His first step will be to compile a staff together for the team. He said that as the news broke of him being the head coach, he nearly received 120 messages from coaches around the nation who were interested in a job at UTEP. He will not rule out already staffed coaches too.
New UTEP head coach Dana Dimel sits in the background during his introductory press conference on Thursday.
(Photo: Adrian Broaddus/TexasHSFootball)
Dimel anticipates to have his complete staff ready by the new year and will fully commit to the team’s duties as soon as he wraps up the Cactus Bowl with Kansas State on Dec. 26.
“It’s a pretty interesting process,” he said. “We had about 120 guys reaching out to us. The staff that’s here now would be considered. Right now I’m processing everything in the window.”
Although UTEP still has no verbal commits as far as recruits go, Dimel has a lot of hope for recruiting in Texas and in the JUCO areas.
“We’ll be heavy high school. The juco talent will be to fill needs,” he said .”We’ll take about 4-5 JC guys, once we get on a strong ground, we’ll go even more heavy. I don’t want to go that heavy on juco system.”
Ultimately it was the timing that drew Dimel to take the UTEP job.
“There’s timing in me wanting to get back into coaching. The timing of it is good,” he said. “There was stability at Kansas State. Now I’m ready to get back into the helms as a head coach. I look at what I have here and it is so similar to what I’ve done in the past.”
Dimel, who claims he’s been in similar situations to that of UTEP will have a hefty plate ahead of him with the program in the coming months.
Now, fans, media and the nation will wait as coaches and recruits start coming in for the Miners.
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