UTEP Football: Can Miners improve upon 2020 season’s 3 wins?

UTEP football is one of the toughest programs to win at in the entire country. It’s in a strange spot to be able to recruit and it loses talented players to other Texas schools. Couple that with no football history as a program, and UTEP is one of the toughest jobs in the nation.

The West division in Conference USA is one of the best in the Group of Five and that could make wins hard to come by. However, the three wins the team had last season could provide some momentum for the program moving forward.

Before going 3-5 last season, head coach Dina Dimel was 2-22 the first two years on the job. That is pretty tough sledding and in his fourth year in the program, it is not unreasonable to expect some improvement.

Even with the mild success of last season, Dimel decided that he wanted to make some changes at the coordinator spots. Dave Warner was hired to be the new offensive coordinator and Bradley Dale Peveto was hired to be the new defensive coordinator. How these new coordinators fit in with the program will be a key factor for the team this season.

This is a team that is going to be bringing back 16 starters from last year’s team and that is a reason for optimism heading into 2021. Experience has not been easy to come by for the program and to have that is huge. The schedule does not feature any Power Five opponents this season and there is an opportunity for a quick start.

With that being said, the Miners play in a very tough division, and wins will be tough to come by, especially for a program that is not used to winning consistently.