History of UTEP Miners football

The history of UTEP Miners football covers 111 seasons since the team first represented the then-State College of Mines and Metallurgy in 1914.

[1] Head coach Harry Van Surdam took over the reins of the Miners in 1920, the same year the school changed its name to the College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas.

[4] Saxon led the Miners, an NCAA Division I-A independent for its entire 21-year history to that point, into the Border Conference in 1935.

[10] He had been operating sporting goods stores at Midland and Odessa, Texas (in partnership with Tex Carleton) at the time of his hiring at UTEP.

[27] In addition the head coaching stints in the CFL and Tulsa, Dobbs played fullback for an Army program under Earl Blaik that won consecutive national championships in 1944 and 1945.

[35] In April 1966, Dobbs turned down an offer from his alma mater to succeed Paul Dietzel as Army head coach due to his wife, Joanne's illness that required her to stay in the warm climate in El Paso.

[2] Dobbs' football team led the nation in passing and scoring that season, losing its two games by a total of three points.

[105] Many of Dobbs' players went to the pro ranks including Fred Carr, Billy Stevens, Ron Jones, and Leon Harden to the Green Bay Packers to play for Vince Lombardi.

[152][153] UTEP turned to Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Michael, the Miners' defensive coordinator from 1964 to 1966, to right the ship.

[156] Michael's squad began the season with three losses; dropping contests to North Texas,[157] Wyoming[158] and Oklahoma State.

[208] The Miners dropped games to Utah,[209] New Mexico[210] and Wyoming[211] before defeating Colorado State by a score of 35–29 to earn its first win of the season.

[131] Texas El-Paso then embarked on a ten-game losing streak, beginning with an embarrassing 12–10 defeat at the hands of I-AA foe Idaho State.

[254] The celebration would be short lived, as the Miners lost their remaining four games of the 1985 season; dropping contests to New Mexico,[251] Hawaii,[251] San Diego State[255] and Wyoming.

[251] UTEP athletics director Bill Cords decided to dismiss Yung as head coach after the completion of the 1985 season.

[260] The team's best player was quarterback Sammy Garza, who set numerous school passing records during his career with the Miners.

[262][263] The Miners suffered a 23–21 loss to Air Force on a go-ahead field goal with under one minute remaining in the fourth quarter in their second game of the 1986 season.

[301] Lee was a respected offensive mind who had served as an assistant coach under the likes of Steve Sloan at Vanderbilt and Ole Miss and Ken Hatfield at Arkansas.

[302] Lee, however, was unable to continue the momentum generated by his predecessor, Bob Stull, compiling an 11–41–1 record in four full seasons and a partial fifth.

[323] After beating Hawaii by a score of 12–10 the next week,[324] UTEP finished the season with four straight losses; dropping games to Utah,[325] No.

[361] Bailey had a background as an aggressive defensive play-caller and had compiled a 12–20–1 record as head coach at Memphis from 1986 to 1988 before NCAA infractions that occurred under his watch came to light, resulting in his dismissal.

[377][378] Bailey's squad defeated I-AA opponent Valdosta State, a team coached by former UTEP offensive coordinator Hal Mumme, by a score of 34–24 in their third game of the 1995 season.

[434] UTEP finished the season with a 52–24 blowout loss to TCU as Horned Frogs running back LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for an NCAA-record 406 yards and six touchdowns against the Miner defense.

[435][436] After the completion of the 1999 season, Charlie Bailey announced his resignation as UTEP head coach, citing exhaustion and a desire to spend more time with his family.

[437] Athletics director Bob Stull decided to promote Gary Nord from offensive coordinator to head coach after Bailey's resignation.

[439] After spending the 1996 season as the wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh under Johnny Majors, Nord joined Charlie Bailey's UTEP staff as offensive coordinator in 1997.

[520] The Miners began the season with a 34–17 win over New Mexico State, who were in their first game under head coach Hal Mumme, the former UTEP offensive coordinator from 1982 to 1985.

[565] Price's team responded by winning their next three; defeating UCF in a blowout,[566] and both Southern Miss (in double overtime)[567] and Tulane by closer scores.

[620] After losing by a score of 28–10 to Ole Miss the following week,[621] Price's Miners earned their first win of the season with a 41–28 victory over rival New Mexico State on September 15.

[699] Outgoing athletics director Bob Stull turned to Mike Price to serve as the team's interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

[707] On December 6, 2017, Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel was named UTEP's 26th head football coach.