UTEP Miners football

Early history (1914–1949)

The State College of Mines and Metallurgy fielded its first football team in 1914, under the direction of head coach Tommy Dwyer, who led the team until 1917. 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. Former Texas head coach E. J. Stewart led the Miners football program from 1927 to 1928, compiling a 5–6–3 record during those two seasons.

Mack Saxon served as the head football coach of the Miners from 1929 to 1941, compiling a record of 66–43–9. He had three 7–1 seasons. His 1936 team lost in the Sun Bowl, the only bowl game to which his teams were invited.

Jack Curtice had a successful run as the Miners head coach from 1946-1949, compiling a record of 24–13–3, which included back to back 8-2-1 campaigns during his final two years. He left the Miners to accept the position of head coach for Utah.

Mike Brumbelow era (1950–1956)

In June 1950, Mike Brumbelow was hired as the head football coach and athletic director at Texas Western. 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. Brumbelow served as head football coach at UTEP from 1950 to 1956. He had a successful tenure as coach, guiding his teams to a 46–24–3 record. The team won eight or more games three times, in 1953, 1954 and 1956. He led UTEP to appearances in the 1954 Sun Bowl, 1955 Sun Bowl, and 1957 Sun Bowl, two of which UTEP won. Brumbelow retired as UTEP's football coach in July 1957 and as athletic director in 1959. He was inducted into El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 1964, and the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

Ben Collins era (1957–1961)

Ben Collins was promoted from assistant coach to head coach following Brumbelow's retirement. Under his tutelage, the Miners compiled a record of 18–29–1. He also succeeded Brumbelow as athletics director. Collins resigned after multiple losing seasons at the helm of Miners football.

Bum Phillips era (1962)

Bum Phillips came to Texas Western from Amarillo High School and led the Miners for one season, a 4–5 campaign in 1962. He left the Miners to return to the high school ranks with Port Neches-Groves High School in 1963.

Warren Harper era (1963–1964)

Texas Western again returned to the high school ranks to find a head football coach, this time nabbing Warren Harper from Sherman High School. However, after two seasons and a 3–15–2 overall record, the Miners athletics administration relieved Harper of his head coaching duties.

Bobby Dobbs era (1965–1972)

Coach Bobby Dobbs came to Texas Western from the Calgary Stampeders. In his first season as the Miners head coach, Dobbs turned a 0–8–2 team into an 8–3 that defeated powerhouse North Texas 61-15 and beat TCU 13-12 in the Sun Bowl. He compiled a 41–35–2 overall, including two Sun Bowl wins. His 1967 UTEP team led the nation in passing and scoring that season, losing its two games by a total of three points. He resigned as UTEP Miners coach midway through the 1972 season, following a 56–7 loss to New Mexico on October 21, 1972. In April 1966, Dobbs turned down an offer to succeed Paul Dietzel as Army Black Knights coach due to his wife, Joanne's illness that required her to stay in the warm climate in El Paso. While at Texas Western, he sent many players into the pro ranks, with quite a few going, including Fred Carr, Billy Stevens, Ron Jones, and Leon Harden to Green Bay to play for Vince Lombardi. At one point Bobby ranked second among college coaches in number of players going in the National Football League. In 1972, Bobby said that if his 1–5 team didn't beat New Mexico, he would resign. The team lost and Bobby resigned.

The 1967, Texas Western College changed its name to the University of Texas at El Paso.

Tommy Hudspeth era (1973)

Tommy Hudspeth was promoted form offensive coordinator to head coach following Dobbs' resignation. In his first season, the Miners freefell to 0-11, which led to Hudspeth's firing, quickly and abruptly.

Gil Bartosh era (1974–1976)

The Miners struggles continued under head coach Gil Bartosh, who came to El Paso from his post as running backs coach at Texas A&M. Bartosh's Miners compiled yearly records of 4–7, 1–10 and 1–11 before Bartosh was fired by a frustrated athletics administration desperate for sustained success.

Bill Michael era (1977–1981)

UTEP turned to Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Michael, the Miners' defensive coordinator from 1964-1966, to right the ship. However, the struggles continued. Under his tutelage, the Miners compiled a 5–43 record, with no more than two wins coming in a single season. Michael was relieved of his duties as head coach two games into the 1981 season, with assistant coach Billy Alton leading the Miners as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Bill Yung era (1982–1985)

Bill Yung came to UTEP from West Texas State and brought with him extensive recruiting ties in west Texas, an up-tempo and pass-oriented offense with offensive coordinator Hal Mumme and a renewed spirit of optimism that things would get turned around, but unfortunately they didn't. Yung's record was 7–39. Yung was fired after a 1–10 campaign in 1985.

Bob Stull era (1986–1988)

The next head coach of Miners football was Bob Stull, who came to UTEP from UMass. After a 4–8 rebuilding year in Stull's first season in 1986, the Miners compiled a 7–4 record in 1987, their first winning season in years. In 1988, the Miners recorded the most wins in a single season in the program's history with a 10–3 record and an Independence Bowl appearance, which they lost. 1988 was the best statistical season in Miners football history. Stull accepted the head football coach position at Missouri after the 1988 season, leaving El Paso with a 21–15 record, the first Miners head coach to leave with a winning record since Bobby Dobbs in 1972.

David Lee era (1989–1993)

Following Stull's departure, David Lee left his post as offensive coordinator at Arkansas to take his first head coaching position. However, things went south again for the Miners football program, as yearly records of 2–10, 3–8, 4–7–1, 1–10 and a 1–6 in a partial season resulted in Lee's firing. Defensive coordinator Charlie Bailey coached the final four games of the 1993 season as interim head coach. Lee left UTEP with a 11–41–1 record.

Charlie Bailey era (1994–1999)

Charlie Bailey was named the permanent head coach of Miners football in early 1994. Bailey had a background as an aggressive defensive play-caller and had a successful run as head coach at Memphis before NCAA infractions that occurred under his watch came to light. Bailey failed to find success with UTEP, failing to compile one winning record in six seasons with an overall mark of 19–53–2.

Gary Nord era (2000–2003)

Gary Nord was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach after Bailey's firing. UTEP posted a winning record in Nord's first season, an 8–4 campaign that culminated with a loss in the Humanitarian Bowl. After that, the Miners posted three consecutive two win seasons that led to Nord's firing after the 2003 campaign.

Mike Price era (2004–2012)

On December 21, 2003, UTEP announced the hiring of former Washington State head coach Mike Price as its new head football coach. The move was controversial, as Price had left WSU, where he had led the Cougars to unprecedented football success, to accept the position of head coach at Alabama after the conclusion of the 2002 season. In May 2003, Price was fired as Alabama's head coach before coaching a single game after he confessed to going to a strip club while on vacation in Florida.

Price's starting salary at UTEP in 2004 was $225,000 plus incentives. At his introductory press conference, Price said, "I feel reborn. I think this is the right situation for me. My dad told me a long time ago if you go somewhere where you're wanted and needed, your chances for success are a lot better. I want to be here. It's a match made in heaven." In his first season in 2004, he led the Miners to an 8–4 record and a berth in the Houston Bowl, where they lost to Colorado. The season was an astounding turnaround for the Miners, who had won only two games in each of their previous three seasons. At one time during the 2004 season, UTEP earned its first-ever ranking in the AP Poll, rising as high as 23rd. Price was a finalist for Eddie Robinson Award and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award for coach of the year.

In 2010, Price became the second Miner coach to take UTEP to three bowl games, after Mike Brumbelow, who led the Miners to the Sun Bowl in 1954, 1955 and 1957.

On November 19, 2012, Price announced that he would be retiring, effective at the end of the season.

Sean Kugler era (2013–present)

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler, a UTEP alum, was hired to replace Price in December 2012. In Kugler's first season, the Miners compiled a record of 2–10. In 2014, Kugler led the Miners to a 7–6 record and a berth in the New Mexico Bowl, a game they lost. In 2015, Kugler's Miners finished 5–7 and 4–8 in 2016.

Program achievements

Since the first season of the program in 1914, UTEP has only been in three conferences, the Border Conference (1935–1961), Western Athletic Conference (1968–2004), and the team's current conference, Conference USA, which they joined in 2005. Before 1935 and from 1962 to 1967 the Miners were independent.

Conference championships

In 1956 the UTEP Miners finished the year with an 9–2 overall record and a 5–0 in conference to win the Border Conference and its first conference champions title. The season included wins over Arizona, Arizona State, and Texas Tech. The Miners were defeated by North Texas that year. Forty Four years later in 2000, the Miners shared the Western Athletic Conference Champions title with TCU. UTEP finished 8–4 overall record and a 7–1 in conference. The season included wins over Fresno State, Rice, and SMU. The Miners were defeated by TCU, its only loss in conference play.

Bowl games

UTEP has played in 14 bowl games, compiling a record of 5–9.

New Mexico State

The Battle of I-10 Rivalry, is the New Mexico State-UTEP rivalry. The 101-year-old series has had many exciting finishes in its storied history. Although UTEP holds the series lead at 57–35–2, largely due to dominance in the series from the 1920s to the 1960s. The rivalry is either played in Las Cruces, New Mexico or El Paso.

All-time record vs. CUSA teams

Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current CUSA opponents:

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 16, 2016.