Price didn't say he'd be back

When asked if he'd be back to coach UTEP football next season, Mike Price said it may well be up to UTEP President Diana Natalico and AD Bob Stull. This is the first of THAT!

Price talked about which players are coming back on his post-game radio show with Jon Teicher and Bernie Ricono, and how he has most of his recruits committeed prior to actual signing day. That's the usual when the season is done.

But, when asked about retiring back to the Pacific Northwest, his homeland, he said ...

Uh oh. He kind of left it open.

Price is 65 years old. He has money. He's done a better job than virtually anybody else at UTEP in modern-day times.

But what he said after Friday's big 31-14 blowout was not consistant with other UTEP coaches, who had a losing season, said in the last game's post-game interview. All others were adamant they'd be back -but then the ax fell.

Note this. And this is what ALWAYS plays the No. 1 factor: Season ticket sales for the coming season:

If it's projected that sales will go down - and sales have been dwindling in the last three years - then there's a big decision to be made. It's money! UTEP athletics needs money to survive. This is not the Chicago Cubs. Not enough people come to UTEP games when the Miners are not winners, as do Cubs fans. And UTEP has few big-money people, as do Fortune 500 cities.

The history has been this  since the 70s:  fine somebody who can rejuvinate the fans - and the team.  But this year's question here is, who's bettter for El Paso than Mike Price?

Keep him? He's a popular coach who went- 5-7 this year - so  many more wins in a season than a bevy a coach before him.'

I say keep Coach Mike Price because he fits what UTEP and El Paso are today. And if El Paso gets better, Price's teams will get better.

Gut feeling?

This will be Mike Price's decision. He's a former National Coach of the Year (Washington State). It's presumed he has retirement money. Does he want to continute coaching in Utepia, where so many of his coaching ancestors are buried on Got The Boot Hill?

Does he? Or not?

Comments

[another fan]

Either put the cash up for a stellar coach and add more for support staff, or keep the coach you have.

[David]

Thx Mike Price for all you have done. Time for UTEPs President and AD to make the next step if he doesn't retire. The wheels are spinning and attendance is falling. Please UTEP step up. We are all tired of losing!

[Chuy]

if UTEP can see a better coach in the horizon after football season is over and can afford to pay him more, well by all means hire that coach. But if money is the issue keep coash Price, we all know that the Miners had 3 loses of 11 points of less, SMU-11, Houston-7 and Rice-4, against Southern Miss, played 3 good qtrs but lost it in the 4th. Played well against Southe Florida, espically on Offense becasuse the scored 25 points on a ranked team. We can all say "What if" on those loses becauses if those whould of been victories everyone would of been happy and with a new young team that had new players and nobody knew what to expect when the season started.

[Chuy]

Correction to chuys comment,
keep coach Price

[andyspringer]

UTEP should be 7-5. We lost to SMU and Rice. We should have won both games. Lamaison went down in Dallas. Okay so we could be 6-6. We never should have lost to Rice. UCF was a pick of mine that we would not win when the season started. If UTEP had performed in every game like they did against Houston, we might be 8-4. UCF was a poor performance. Poor execution, poor tackling, poor defense. Our guys do not know how to tackle. Diving at heels is not the way. I hope Price stays.

[Willie]

Pony up with the money! Even North Texas is paying Dan McCarney 500,000.00+ per year.

[MC]

UTEP fell back into mediocrity for the same sentiment seen here. It's good enough. Keep what you have, it's good enough.

If being 500 and losing bowl games is good enough. Keep Price. If not, do something about it. There will be no change. Time has shown that.

[bo knows]

El Paso cannot sit back anymore and remain stagnant. UTEP athletics, especially football and basketball bring national recognition to the school and the city. Besides a second to third tier bowl game once a year, El Paso does not get national exposure. College football is the second highest profile sport in America. UTEP has reached a higher rung on the college ladder but has stayed there for the past five years and at times has dropped down one. We need to stop saying this is the best it has ever been so we are fine with it. We need to say we need to keep progressing and moving higher. Stop being satisfied with just being okay. UTEP needs to hire a new head football coach and try to get the program to the next level. Bowl games should be the norm. Contending for the conference title should be the norm. It's time for UTEP to raise the level of the program to the next rung on the ladder.
Three other teams in the conference are headed to a BCS conference (not a great one, but still BCS). The Big East is looking for a partner for Boise St in the west, why are they looking at San Diego St and Air Force instead of UTEP? Because the program has been stagnant at an inconsistent place and hasn't shown any signs of trying to progress. This needs to change.

[Bob]

There was great excitement when Mike Price first came; the first couple of years were amazing. But the excitement is gone now--due to a series of losing seasons--and Mike Price just doesn't have what it takes to get the excitement back. I hate to keep hearing people get hopeful about the upcoming season only to have it turn out like previous seasons under Coach Price. I'd rather see what new blood can do at UTEP, even if it means only two or three wins for a few seasons.

[RocMan Ontiveros]

Mike Price is not the reason attendance is down at UTEP. When the University decided to implement tailgating guidelines, a lot of people stopped going to the games. The excitement Mike Price brought to UTEP football was now deflated, Most top rated college football prospects want to play for a program that packs the stadium with electricity in the air. It's hard for.any coach to.recruit blue chip players when the University takes away from the excitement of the game. The one who needs to be fired is Bob Stull for not standing up for what's good for UTEP football and the City of El Paso. Keep Price and fire Stull!!!

[iwantrealhd]

So who realistically thought this team was going to win 6 games back in august?? Granted yesterday was disappointing, and they should have beaten rice, but a new coach doesn't mean it will get better. Yeah that up and comer David Lee and many others in the last 40 years have really worked out well here. When you have just about the smallest budget in the nation to work with, there is not a lot that can be done. Too bad t Boone Pickens didn't go to school here.

[CLEOFITZWITZ]

Tailgating rules. Coach Price is over paid. The ticket prices are high. We want the old WAC. The band is too small. Just excuses. Real fans show up to the games. Understand that sold out stadiums draw recruits. Butts in the seats brings revenue. Revenue bumps up the athletic budget. A big budget brings better coaches and facilities. All that adds up to more wins. Stay home and nothing happens. If you want a quality program, you have to pay for it. The chicken does not come before the egg.

[Rick Santiesteban]

Hey Cleofitwitz YOU are clueless!! Wins and hard working teams bring the fans!! How long have you been a Miner fan?? When the Miners are winning, the stadium practically sells out. Ive been a "real fan" for forty years! Do you remember the year we went to the Independence bowl?? Almost every game that year the stadium was packed! Especially when we played Airforce the last game of the season on that Saturday afternoon! WE NEED A COACH AND A COACHING ADMINISTRATION WITH A HARD WORK ETHIC and a WINNING DRIVE ATTITUDE!! We have great sports fans in El Paso that just want some commitment from the school and the city politicians to bring quality sports leaders to this city. Even when we had the REAL DIABLOS and the city politicians pushed for the stadium, The fans came out and supported it almost every day of the week (I was one of those fans!). If we as citizens continue to say "oh Mike Price is the best we can get" soley because of what our record was before we got him, then we ought to just give up football at UTEP! Have you forgotten that we (UTEP) are the only Texas college to ever win a national championship in basketball!! Cmon sports editors, UTEP administrators, El Paso politicians and UTEP fans, get a hold of your pride in yourselves and your city and school and quit setteling for less when we and you deserve more. Thats exactly whats wrong with our team...NO DRIVE!!! Get rid of "FREE RIDE MIKE" and demand a coach that will light a fire under some A*&%#% and lets fill the stands TOGETHER!!!! AND ONE LAST THING, PLEASE UTEP, BRING BACK WEARING ORANGE UNIFORMS FOR GODS SAKE!!! Who in the H... decided the Miners should wear Denver Bronco Look a Like BLUE?????? MINER ORANGE PEOPLE!!!

[doug]

Are you drunk, Joe? Proofread your column. Yuck...

[raider]

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and Mike Price did better than what was expected. UTEP should appreciate what they have. We are all frustrated by losing, but getting rid of Coach Price is not the answer. Lets give him another year!

[ScoutWest]

Give Price another year.....like Rice did with their coach...UTEP needs to find a way to get 6-6 every year, play in a minor bowl game or whats the point......Memphis, UAB and Tulane all fired their coaches this year looking for answers.

UTEP is mainly know as a Basketball school and expectations are always higher..UTEP should always excel in that sport.

[HECTOR SALAZAR]

TIME TO GO AFTER TURNER GILL WHO WAS LET GO BY KANSAS. THEY OWE HIM TONS OF MONEY SO WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO COME UP WITH BIG MONEY. HE YOUNG AND ENGERGETIC. PRICE HAS DONE AS MUCH AS HE CAN. TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE.

[FIRESTULL]

FIRE Bob Stull!!! The guy is a joke. Take a look at the bigger picture. I do not agree with the lack of discipline Price displays through his players, but in all reality, Stull screwed up. Tailgating is pathetic, prices have gone up, and the overall feeling in the stadium is dull. The head coach needs to worry about having his team ready to play and not what is happening in the parking lot, so yes he is accountable as well for lack luster performances, but the major problem is Stull. Get rid of the guy, bring back tailgating and fun and you will see how much more exciting games will be. Money is always and issue at UTEP, again it goes back to Stull. Where are all his rich buddies he wines and dines with? Gives golf cart rides to? Where are they to help bail this University out? The only 2 that are readily available, Paul Foster and Larry Durham. Foster for AD? Just a thought. He has done more for UTEP than Stull.

[NineteenRabbit]

What the hell is a "Utepia?" The only sports "figure" that ought to be got rid of in El Paso is Joe Munch.

[ptowncoug]

Isn't MP contract over with at the end of the season. This seems highly odd. I don't think you have to worry about MP coming back because he won't, I think you have to worry about whether tailgating is more important than football in El Paso. Sheesh!!

[jcLEEt]

A major problem is that El Paso is a large city that still has a small-town outlook. With the manana attitude, that will probably never change much.

When I was a kid in EP in the middle '60s, the city was growing and had a bright future (the Miners were good, too). Now EP is just growing.