Wow! Talk about coming out of left field!
hope Dana does well. He laid the groundwork in players for Art.
3 Likes
I was surprised it took them this long. Their coach stepped down in October – I figured they were content to let all of the chips fall in this crazy hiring spree and see what was leftover. Instead, their guy was someone likely not considered for the openings. Interesting times…
I wish him well at UTEP because, at the end of the day, I don’t think it impacts UH at all.
This can only go well.
At least they didn’t just go down the hall, right?
Dana wasn’t a bad coach just had the bad timining of taking over at our worst. He and his sister in law sure could recruit.
1 Like
One thing I remember about Dimel (other than our only 0-11 season) is Wyoming fans thanking us for hiring him.
1 Like
Dana deserves a second chance after failing so miserably here. I’m just really surprised UTEP went this route.
And, they haven’t had a coach leave with an overall winning record since. Dimel was 22-13 there.
4 Likes
Was there internet back then?
He helped reestablish local recruiting that had been ignored by the previous staff. I remember when he sent his staff out to meet with coaches at some schools there were coaches that said they couldn’t remember the last time a UH coach stepped foot on their campus.
1 Like
How many options does Utep have for a HC?
2 Likes
DD did a good job in putting together well-rated classes, but in terms of managing a program and in-game coaching he was a complete disaster. Even after the disaster of Helton, he still stepped into a Houston program where you are a few hours (if not much closer) to lots of D1 talent. He doesn’t have that luxury in El Paso where he’s closer to LA than Houston and his school isn’t even an after thought in either of those places (and most places in between).
And I only followed UH very casually when DD was actually here (I was 11-13 at the time), but Briles’ 2nd year/Kolb’s sophomore year (when I followed the program a lot closer) sure as heck didn’t look like a team that was stocked with talent. People seem to soften on Levine and Helton because they brought in some good recruits while ignoring how poorly they actually coached the games.
1 Like
Man…has the man aged! Wish them the best, unless he faces UH drown the line.
I wish Dana Dimel well. What I remember is him inheriting not much of a team when Helton left. The 0 - 11 season that he gets criticized so much for was the groundwork that help Briles be successful his first year. He redshirted I want to say the whole freshman class that year and sacrificed the season to build depth and to set the team on a path to get better. Maggard came on board as AD prior to Dimel’s last season at UH. One has to wonder, if Barrick Nealy does not get hurt in the Rice game, how things might have played out.
Note: He was following the path of Snyder at Kansas State. What a lot of people do not know or remember is that Snyder, shortly after starting his coach career there did the same thing. Prior to him getting the Head Coaching job, Kansas State was a doormat. Lucky to win a game or two a year. Snyder took over the Head Coaching job and early in his career redshirted a whole class one year. This lead to the turnaround in Kansas State’s fortune and they have been a good to very good team ever since considering where they are located and resources.
1 Like
Multiple guys who played in the NFL came out of Dimel’s recruiting classes. He was an excellent recruiter, but ran a very dry offensive scheme. Something Maggard would not accept. There were two things that Dimel couldn’t grasp:
- In-game decision-making… Fake punt deep in your own territory is just one of the many
- Evaluating talent at the quarterback position.
Briles remedied a lot of Dimel’s faults. Briles, say what you want about his ethics, had the best eye for quarterback talent I have ever seen. That is no small thing either.
However, Briles still struggled with keeping momentum during games while at UH, something he corrected at Baylor. He would never go for the throat and get too conservative too quickly in a game.
Maggard, despite causing a rift with CAB at the time, forced Briles’ hand a couple of times on firing and hiring. What I think Briles didn’t realize at the time is Maggard was helping a young and new collegiate head coach become an elite coach whether he liked it or not.
2 Likes
Is Head Coach again, at UTEP.
Three yards and a cloud of dust . . . errr SMOKE! This does not look like a good fit for UTEP
unless he has changed a lot.
Im also surprised, I expected an FCS Texas HC or FBS level Texas assistant coach.
Maybe his JUCO recruiting connections from Kansas State?