UTEP head coach Sean Kugler knows things have not gone well so far this season, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Fresh off a 63-16 loss to Arizona on Friday night, Kugler decided it was time to make a change. As a result, Brent Pease was officially out as offensive coordinator on Sunday afternoon and Kugler expanded on the decision on Monday during his weekly press conference.
“We had to make the difficult decision to let Brent Pease go,” Kugler said on Monday, “We could not continue to head in the direction we were going on offense. All of that falls on me, but I feel that it was necessary to make a change moving forward.”
Kugler announced on Monday that tight ends coach Brian Natkin would take over as the offensive coordinator while wide receivers coach Chuck Veliz would work with the quarterbacks. Natkin, a former All-American in 2000, has been with the program as a coach since 2011. Kugler hopes that making this change will jump start an offense that hasn’t been able to get much of anything going.
Photo: Courtesy of UTEP Athletics
“I think Brian has a very sound understanding of the style of play that we want,” Kugler said of Natkin, “He also understands these players. They have a lot of respect of what he’s been through as a player and as a coach. They respond to him and he’s an outstanding football coach.”
The Miners rank as the second worst total offense in FBS, averaging 204.7 yards per game. They’re just ahead of Georgia Southern, who’s averaging 202 yards per game with one fewer game played.
“You can’t sit there and do the same things with the same ineffectiveness and think that you’re going to be okay,” Kugler said on making the change, “If that’s considered shaking up the team, then yes, we are shaking things up. What we really need is a spark to get ourselves going in the right direction.”
One way the Miners will look to change up their fortune is by getting back to that philosophy of establishing the run. It’s something they have not been able to effectively do in the last two games, rushing for just 43 yards combined.
“Offensively, there’s a lot of things that we need to correct, especially our inability to run the ball,” Kugler said, “We had nine carries by our running backs in our last game. That will never happen again.”
Heading into Saturday’s rivalry matchup at New Mexico State, Kugler still has to figure out who’ll be starting at quarterback. With Ryan Metz still questionable from nursing a shoulder injury, Zach Greenlee or redshirt freshman Mark Torrez could very well get the nod again for Saturday’s game in Las Cruces.
“Behind Metz, it will come down between Greenlee and Torrez and who can most effectively move our offense,” Kugler said, “I think they both have the ability to do that but we haven’t made that decision yet.”
As the Miners get ready to game plan against the much-improved Aggies, Kugler knows just how important this week is for his team and hopes that the changes he’s made will help the team moving forward.
“No matter who we play this week, we need to win period. Winning solves everything and that’s what we desperately need. It just so happens that we’re playing our rival this week and we’re going to have to play our best on Saturday night because I think they’re an outstanding team.”
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