Mike Price lands on his feet...sort of...its UTEP.

[The_herd]

Tough to say who's more desperate, UTEP or Price.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1691469

Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas -- Mike Price has been given a chance to redeem his reputation as a Division I college coach after an official said on Sunday that Price will take over as Texas-El Paso's head football coach.

UTEP spokesman Jeff Darby said a Sunday afternoon news conference was scheduled to announce Price's hiring.

In 14 seasons as head coach at Washington State, Price, 57, was given credit for turning around the fortunes of a school that regularly had been a conference doormat.

He was known for grooming prostyle quarterbacks who moved on to the NFL. His successes included Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser.

After leaving Washington State to take a job at Alabama last spring, Price spent a drunken night in the company of strippers while attending a Florida golf tournament. He quickly found himself in the unemployment line.

Price filed a $20 million lawsuit against Sports Illustrated, which published a story that he had sex with two women in his hotel room and fondled strip club employees.

Price acknowledges that he went to a strip club called Arety's in Pensacola, Fla., and got drunk. He says a waitress from the club helped him into a cab and went with him to his hotel room where he passed out on the bed with his clothes on.

"I would think I would have a good chance to get a job anywhere if it wasn't for an hour and a half of my life" Price said at the time.

He spent the intervening months looking for work. He said he was interested in the vacancy at Arizona.

That solicited a response from UA President Peter Likins that Price "will never be in the picture," and the job went to Mike Stoops.

Price didn't last long enough to coach a regular season game at Alabama, but he took WSU to an unprecedented five postseason bowls. However, Price's WSU and career coaching records only climbed above .500 in 2002. With eight years as head coach at Weber State, Price's career record is 129-121. He was 83-77 at WSU.

Price replaces Gary Nord, who was fired Dec. 1 after compiling a 14-34 record in four years.

The former WAC Coach of the Year directed the Miners to a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship and a spot in the Humanitarian Bowl in 2000.

It was the Miners' first league trophy in 44 years and the team's first bowl appearance since 1988, when Bob Stull, now the school's athletic director, was coach.

However, Nord's Miners could only muster two wins in each of the next three seasons.

Stull said the fact that the Miners had beaten only three Division I opponents in the last three seasons was an indication that the program was not headed in the right direction.

Others who had been mentioned as candidates for the job included San Francisco 49ers defensive backs coach Dick Tomey, TCU offensive coordinator Mike Schultz, who was a former UTEP assistant, Nebraska offensive coordinator Barney Cotton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight ends coach Art Valero, Auburn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, Philadelphia Eagles line coach Juan Castillo and Western Kentucky defensive line coach Mike Fanoga.

[The_herd]

I guess this is more of a PING: Jeeber. I'm interested in what he thinks of this.

[MrBug708]

I wonder how many "Price is Right" titles we are going to see?!?

[HornedFrog Purple]

I wouldn't laugh as yet. With the plethora of talent in this state, Price can turn UTEP around.

[MrBug708]

I wouldnt be surprised. If he got players into Pullman and made them winners, UTEP should be a cakewalk

[Chief Rum]

Well, it may be a different style of isolation (and a more populaous area), but I think Price faces some of the same challenges here that he did in Pullman. El Paso is still relatively out in the middle of nowhere, and he will have to deal with that.

He will also have to find the best local nudie bars. Go Mike. "Roll TIde, baby!"

CR

[HornedFrog Purple]

That's easy, just go down the street to Mexico. Cheaper too.

[GrantDawg]

What 18 year old wouldn't want to play for a coach that could hook them up with a stripper?

[tucker342]

LOL

I bet Jeeber is pretty happy about this one

[Raiders Army]

There are a bunch of "topless" and fully naked joints around here. Maybe I'll see him at one and give him some advice about Jordan Palmer.

[JeeberD]

I'm just on for a second while I'm at my sister's house for Christmas and I had to see what you guys thought about the Price hiring.

First of all, I'm extatic about the hiring. He's a proven winner in a similair environment to UTEP (a school with a history of losing in an isolated area). I think he'll do a great job with the Miners as long as he doesn't do anything stupid. I'm not foolish enough to think that UTEP is anything more than a stepping stone for him, but hopefully in the three or four years that he'll be in El Paso he can make UTEP football respectable. I'm also not expecting an overnight turnaround (what my brother-in-law now calls "A Parcells"). Hopefully he'll be able to bring in better talent than we've had in years and he'll certainly be able to give them better coaching than Goofy Gary Nord could have given them.

RA is right, there are plenty of strip clubs in El Paso. The closest one to the school that I can think of is Prince Machavelli, and I think it's supposed to be one of the nicer ones in town. I'm sure that Mike will have plenty of fun there...

Oh, and how about those Miner hoopsters? 7-1 and an RPI that has reached as high as #16 (until we beat Arkansas Pine-Bluff by 40 and it dropped us into the sixties)...

I'll be back for good on Monday. Thank god...

[JeeberD]

This from The Sporting News...

Grading the coaching hires for the 2004 season:

1. Mike Stoops, Arizona. He doesn't have the charisma of brother Bob, but he has the same ability and attitude. Mike Stoops also was an integral cog in the reshaping of the Oklahoma program the last five years as co-defensive coordinator. How will it play at Arizona? Think Southern California, which struggled under Pete Carroll in his first year, then blossomed into a Pac-10 power with a foundation of defense and speedy skill players on offense.

Stoops, who immediately becomes the league's second-best recruiter behind Carroll, made a key move in his first week on the job, hiring brother Mark to run the Wildcats' defense. Mark Stoops coached the secondary at Miami the last three seasons -- remember how well those units played? -- and will use a mix of Hurricanes defensive coordinator Randy Shannon's cover 2 philosophies and Bob and Mike Stoops' zone blitz schemes. Grade: A

2. Mike Price, UTEP. The guy made a stupid mistake, but understand this: There's no way -- no way -- Alabama finishes 4-9 under Price. He's a terrific coach who deserved a second chance and got it. Any coach who can take Washington State to two Rose Bowls knows how to coach and recruit, and Price will bring his killer instincts to the sidelines and folksy personality to the recruiting trails.

Plus, when it comes to recruiting liabilities, El Paso looks like Los Angeles compared to Pullman, Wash. Price is still in the early stages of putting together a staff, but it could look similar to the group he put together at Alabama, which included sons Aaron and Eric Price on the offensive side. Bottom line: The Miners will win the WAC within three years. Grade: A

3. Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State. With his knowledge of the South and the SEC and his ability to recruit, Croom, one of the most respected assistants in the NFL over the last decade, should make a smooth transition-even with the NCAA set to pounce on the Bulldogs. There won't be anything fancy; Croom's teams will be fundamentally sound, and his offense will be more balanced than some units under Jackie Sherrill.

Croom made a good move early on when he named former Tennessee assistant Woody McCorvey offensive coordinator. Not only does McCorvey have years of experience in the SEC, he is one of the South's best recruiters and is an underrated offensive mind. Expect the Bulldogs' offense to look a lot like Tennessee's, with some West Coast principles from Croom's years with the Green Bay Packers mixed in. Grade: A

4. JD Brookhart, Akron. Pittsburgh emerged as a Big East power the last three seasons because its offense flourished under coordinator Brookhart. He's young, he's innovative, and he has a proven track record-look at the development of wide receivers Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald and Pitt's overall passing game in recent years. Brookhart teaches as well as any coach in the game, and that's an underrated quality. Grade: B

5. Mark Dantonio, Cincinnati. This was a no-frills hire. Cincinnati A.D. Bob Goin wanted a football coach, not a face to charm boosters and temporarily fill a stadium. Winning, Goin says, will permanently fill seats.

Dantonio constructed the dominating Ohio State defenses of the last two seasons, and he will coach much like his mentors Jim Tressel and Nick Saban. The Bearcats won't be dazzling offensively, but they'll play hard and keep games close and win with execution. So it's boring. It's also the same formula Ohio State has used to go 24-2 the last two seasons. Grade: B

6. George O'Leary, Central Florida. The Knights shelled out big money -- a total compensation of $1.7 million for the coaching staff -- to land O'Leary and try to restart a program that has fallen to fifth in the state behind the Big Three and South Florida.

Now, the problem: If O'Leary is successful at Central Florida, you'd better believe he won't be long for Orlando. School administrators say they're willing to take that chance in the hope his tenure can set the foundation for the move to C-USA in 2005. Grade: B

7. Nick Holt, Idaho. A gem for the Vandals, who are in danger of falling further into college football obscurity -- if that's possible. Holt is much like Florida coach Ron Zook: a high-energy recruiting dynamo who will make up for tactical lapses on game day by instilling passion and attitude in his players. Grade: C

8. Ted Roof, Duke. Duke A.D. Joe Alleva said he liked the way the team responded to Roof after he took over as coach during a time of adversity last season. Fine. But what happens in the offseason, or in recruiting season, or when Duke becomes Duke again in 2004? Roof has been hit-or-miss as a defensive coordinator, but considering the job ahead, he probably was just as good a hire as any Duke could've made. Grade: C

9. Bobby Ross, Army. When he left the Detroit Lions in 2000, Ross was burned out and tired of coaching. He's now 67 years old and three years removed from the sidelines; how long will he last at West Point? If Ross truly is re-energized, this is a fantastic hire and the grade surges into the "A" category. If he isn't, and if he is another in an inglorious line of coaches who can't get the job out of their system, things could get John Mackovic ugly. Grade: D

10. Chris Ault, Nevada. This will be Round 3 in Reno for Ault, the most successful coach in Nevada history. He left his role as athletic director to return to the sidelines and will bring his spread offense with him. Problem is, the WAC is a much better conference than when Ault last coached in 1995. He brings credibility and experience to the program, but will he be able to consistently recruit against some of the league's big guns? Grade: D

11. Jeff Genyk, Eastern Michigan. At the very best, Genyk is a curious hire at an important time in the development of a program that can't seem to keep pace with the rest of the surging MAC. A 12-year assistant at Northwestern, Genyk never really established himself as an elite assistant and never was a coordinator. Grade: D

So, how did we do grading last year's hires? Here's a recap of the grade given, with each coach's 2003 record:

Grade A

Dennis Franchione, Texas A&M (4-8)
Urban Meyer, Utah (9-2)
Joe Glenn, Wyoming (4-8)

Grade B

Gregg Brandon, Bowling Green (10-3)
John L. Smith, Michigan State (8-4)
Art Briles, Houston (7-6)
Guy Morriss, Baylor (3-9)

Grade C

Bill Doba, Washington State (9-3)
Charlie Weatherbie, Louisiana-Monroe (1-11)
Bob Petrino, Louisville (9-4)
Mike Riley, Oregon State (8-5)
John Thompson, East Carolina (1-11)
Steve Kragthorpe, Tulsa (8-4)

Grade D

Karl Dorrell, UCLA (6-6)
Mike Shula, Alabama (4-9)
Brady Hoke, Ball State (4-8)

Grade F

Rich Brooks, Kentucky (4-8)

Staff writer Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. Email him at [email protected] and include your name and location.

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by JeeberD
This from The Sporting News...
2. Mike Price, UTEP. The guy made a stupid mistake, but understand this: There's no way -- no way -- Alabama finishes 4-9 under Price. He's a terrific coach who deserved a second chance and got it. Any coach who can take Washington State to two Rose Bowls knows how to coach and recruit, and Price will bring his killer instincts to the sidelines and folksy personality to the recruiting trails.

Plus, when it comes to recruiting liabilities, El Paso looks like Los Angeles compared to Pullman, Wash. Price is still in the early stages of putting together a staff, but it could look similar to the group he put together at Alabama, which included sons Aaron and Eric Price on the offensive side. Bottom line: The Miners will win the WAC within three years. Grade: A

Interesting comments.

However, I get a little tired of people equating Pullman to some kind of Siberia-like gulag. Sure, it's in a rural area. Yes, it's not a big city atmosphere, and the nearest sizable city (Spokane) is over an hour away. But the Palouse is a gorgeous part of the state, it's a great, friendly college town, and though I grew up in the Seattle area I never felt that Pullman was a terrible place to be. I loved it. I think the sports media overblows the whole isolation thing.

But I'm biased. And no, I'm not bitter.

[JeeberD]

Price is already paying dividends. UTEP only has ten schollies to give this year, but the people he's getting are much more talented than just about any other class we've ever had. The star of the class is Marcus Thomas, who was a high school all-american two years ago and signed with Arizona, but couldn't make the grades and never went there. He was a four star recruit coming out of high school, and that might possibly be the first four star football recruit that UTEP has ever signed...

Thomas Coming To UTEP
Arizona Recruit Changes Mind

Tuesday, February 03, 2004 -- One year ago Marcus Thomas signed with Arizona. On Wednesday, he will become the star of Mike Price's first recruiting class at UTEP.

News Channel 9 has learned the star from Tolleson High outside Phoenix will sign with the Miners.

"I took a trip to UTEP expecting nothing and was just blown away. The coach, the facilities, the school, just blew me away," said Thomas.

"I could have taken a trip to USC, they called last weekend, but after coming back from UTEP I knew it was right."

Thomas origionally signed with Arizona in 2003 but did not make grades and never entered school. He passed his SAT last summer and will have four years at UTEP.

"Me and Coach Stoops (Arizona Coach) just never got right. After the change in coaches it just never got right."

Thomas, 6-0 185, was an all state running back in Arizona and a Parade All American, rushing for 3573 yards and scoring 46 touchdowns his senior season. He rushed for 5,878 yards during his four years at Tolleson but is expected to play wide receiver at UTEP.

"They told me I would be a wide receiver and it's cool."

UTEP has 8 to 9 scholarships available but may sign up to 13 players on Wednesday. It will be up to Coach Price to sort out the paper work.

No signing is official until the paper work is received but a list of tentative UTEP signees follows:


UTEP Football Recruits

Marcus Thomas--receiver
Chris Day--quarterback
Roger Fontenette--running back
Tyler Ebell--running back
Taber Minner--running back
Brandon Jackson--running back
Andre Bailey--corner back j.c.
James Delgardo--corner back j.c.
Tyler Ribitzki--lineman
Jamar Hunt--tight end

[Chief Rum]

Good lord, he couldn't make the grades at Arizona?!?

What kinda standards does UTEP use? Sign your name correctly (two mispellings or less), and you're in?

CR

[Peregrine]

You also have to be able to spell SAT.

[Chief Rum]

So true.

BTW, I don't suppose the distinction matters much, but RB Tyler Ebell is a transfer from UCLA. Not technically a recruit, but you can toss him in as a newcomer. He will get one year in a UTEP uni, starting in 2005.

CR

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

What kinda standards does UTEP use? Sign your name correctly (two mispellings or less), and you're in?

CR

That's how I got in there.

In regards to Ebell, I think they included him in the list because he's going to be taking one of the few scholarships we have available this season...

[Chief Rum]

Makes sense (about Ebell, not the other thing ).

He's a very good player, but he displayed a lot of immaturity here at UCLA. I hope Price can whip him into shape. Last I checked, Ebell still holds the single season record for most rushing yards (beat out Travis Henry's old record in his senior year).

CR

[JeeberD]

Great, great story on Price and how El Paso is treating him so far from a Seattle paper....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Smiling again, Price rises from the ashes in El Paso

EL PASO, Texas -- Entering the final approach to El Paso International Airport, you think you're about to land on the moon because there's a whole lot of nothing below.

But after arriving, you look around and see a good town with a bad rap, a perfect place for a good man with a bad rap wanting to clear his name.

Going from Washington State and Alabama to Texas-El Paso isn't a step back -- it's a giant leap for Mike Price.

He is in his office overlooking the Sun Bowl, far removed from Tuscaloosa, Ala., Pensacola, Fla., and the depressing days that followed his dismissal.

No one here talks about what Price calls "it," the strip-club incident that cost him his job at Alabama and millions of dollars while smearing his image and placing his future in doubt.

Instead, he is revered, embraced for what he has done in the past, not scorned for what he did on one night.

This is where Price has replaced the big time with the big picture, where small things mean more to him, where a greater sense of appreciation figures to make him a better coach and person.

This is where he plans to rebuild a football program and a tarnished reputation.

'It's great to get up'

The UTEP campus is in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains, high above the city.

It is similar in size to WSU with more than 18,000 students, most of whom are commuters who live off-campus. Seventy-one percent are Hispanic.

Don Haskins won an NCAA basketball championship at UTEP in 1966. Nate Archibald and Tim Hardaway played basketball here, and Bob Beamon long-jumped here.

A member of the Western Athletic Conference, UTEP is a school on the rise.

Billy Gillispie turned last year's 6-24 men's basketball team into one with more than 20 victories and an NCAA Tournament contender.

Athletic director Bob Stull, a former longtime assistant under Don James at Washington, has overseen the construction of new facilities, such as the Durham Center, where Price was settling into his new office last week.

This is a first-rate place, complete with a 10,000-square-foot strength and conditioning center that would rival any in the Pac-10.

Price, 57, is beaming. It is good to see him like this.

"It's great to get up and have goals and things you need to do rather than, 'What am I going to do today?' " he said.

His assistants are down the hall, excited as he is. It's an Apple Cup ensemble with five having WSU connections -- Jim Clark, Jeff Banks, Lawrence Livingston, and sons Aaron and Eric Price -- and three having UW connections -- Jeff Woodruff, Tim Hundley and Ikaika Malloe.

Woodruff's son is attending Franklin High, where one of the school colors is purple and its nickname is Cougars.

Price and his staff are in charge of a team that won two games each of the past three years, resulting in Gary Nord's termination as coach.

A bigger-than-life picture of his predecessor hangs on a wall at the Durham Center, and it won't come down. Four years ago, Nord won a WAC title.

"I haven't earned my stripes yet," Price said. "Striving to get to the top 25 is a worthy goal."

To make progress this year, Price will have to "coach them up." Price had only eight scholarships to work with, but his first recruiting class features two Parade All-American running backs, UCLA transfer Tyler Ebell and Marcus Thomas, who rushed for 3,573 yards and 47 touchdowns last year at Tolleson High outside of Phoenix. Thomas told Price he chose UTEP over USC.

Price also landed James Delgardo, a cornerback from Pima CC in Tucson, Ariz., and Rainier Beach.

Six-foot-six, 230-pound Jordan Palmer, Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer's "little" brother, is on campus along with UTEP's best receiver, Chris Marrow.

"When I talk to him, I get pumped up," Marrow said of his new coach. "Every time I walk into his office, I've got a smile on my face. It's a whole new feeling. I can't wait. I want to start right now.

"We've got a great coaching staff that can take us all the way. Last year we had a car without the engine. Now we've got the engine."

And it's revving up, preparing for the start of spring practice March 29 and the first game Sept. 2 at Arizona State.

The town is buzzing, not only about the basketball team's success but the hiring of Price.

'Excitement is unreal'

More than 700,000 people live here, separated by the Rio Grande from 1.7 million more in Juarez, Mexico. Many are blue-collar workers, and most are warm and friendly.

El Paso has the Class AA Diablos baseball team and the A-League Patriots soccer team, but for spectator sports, the UTEP Miners are No. 1.

"When the football team is winning, the whole town has a spring in its step," said UTEP president Diana Natalicio. "We tend to be the focal point for community pride."

If that's the case, the buttons on Maynard Haddad's UTEP shirt are bursting. Haddad and his brother, Kenneth, operate H&H Car Wash, which has been in business since 1958.

You can get your car washed while you have a Mexican lunch at their legendary diner, a joint with a few scattered tables surrounding customers at the counter.

Price drives up in his wife's Honda Accord and takes a seat on a bar stool.

He can't finish his meal without several fans stopping and thanking him for taking the job and wishing him well. They worry about him leaving before he even gets started.

They are in disbelief that a coach of his stature would come their way.

"I have never seen this town this fired up," Maynard Haddad said. "The excitement this guy has created is unreal.

"I don't want this to come across wrong, but I told him how grateful I was that he messed up. If he hadn't, we'd never have a coach like him."

Price laughed.

"This is a dream come true," Haddad said.

From Southern nightmare to Southwestern hospitality -- acceptance and adoration, highlighted by a 10-minute standing ovation when Price was introduced at the Don Haskins Center during a Miners' basketball game in late December.

It's hard to tell which is soaring higher -- football season-ticket sales or Price's morale.

Doing more with less

Natalicio said nothing. Twice. The first time when her athletic director mentioned Price as a candidate. The second when Stull said Price was his top candidate.

Natalicio's silence was not a bad sign. Initially, the UTEP president wanted to be thorough with her background checks. Then she wanted to be sure.

"My first reaction -- do we as an institution want to take on the baggage?" Natalicio said.

She received hundreds of unsolicited e-mails from across the country. All but one supported Price.

"There was an outpouring of affection for him," Natalicio said. "There was a hope that he be given an opportunity to redeem himself."

To avoid a media circus, Natalicio and Stull met with Price and the other finalist, Dick Tomey, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.

Both coaches were impressive in their interviews. Price admitted his mistake and assured Natalicio that "it" would never happen again.

In one of her many phone calls, Natalicio talked to an old colleague who was president at Texas-Arlington before leaving to take another job.

It was Robert Witt, the new president at Alabama, the man who fired Price.

Natalicio would not reveal what Witt said and even acknowledged she doesn't know what she would have done with Price if she were at Alabama.

But she knew what to do at UTEP.

"After balancing it all out, this guy has already paid a big public price," she said. "If you look at his history, nothing else pops out that is even close to the one incident.

"I saw a pretty distinguished record, so distinguished that he was hired by Alabama at a pretty fancy price.

"We're the kind of institution that tries to give people a second chance. I'm very comfortable with the decision. I don't feel at all worried about it."

There were other factors. Natalicio gave Price an edge over Tomey for doing more with less, producing winners with limited resources.

A baseball fan, Natalicio has read "Moneyball," which details decisions made by the Oakland A's within a tight budget.

"You have to be strategic and creative," she said. "You have to seize opportunities when they're presented. I saw this as a wonderful opportunity for us. We were both lucky."

After missing out on $10 million at Alabama, Price, with incentives, could earn $250,000 this year at UTEP. The size of the contract doesn't matter as much as it once did.

The chance to coach again, to coach with his sons again, to prove himself again -- those are the things that matter.

"When it's taken away, it humbles you," Stull said. "It brings it back into focus."

Added Natalicio: "If people are hungry for success, they will work hard. Mike really wants to dust himself off and be a winning coach again. If he achieves his goal, we'll achieve our goal.

"Everybody loves redemption, don't you think?"

'The truth's the truth'

At an afternoon meeting, Price and his assistants briefly discuss their concerns about players going out that evening because it's Fat Tuesday.

Evidence that he's moved on: Price laughs when the topic of strip clubs comes up and gets a kick out of a story that Livingston tells from his distant past.

Every day in the El Paso Times sports section, there are as many as 10 ads for strip clubs. One day in a coincidental occurrence, Price's picture appeared in a story that ran next to ads for the Naked Harem Boutique, Foxy's Cabaret and Exotica.

When Price got a tour of the town from Stull, they drove by a place called Prince Machiavelli's. It looked nice from the street, and Price asked about it, thinking it was a restaurant.

"Uh, Mike," Stull said, "I'm not telling you what to do, but I don't think you want to go in there."

After the meeting, Price is back in his car, pointing out sights, talking about the past and how fortunate he feels now.

Price recalls the high life, going from a suite at the Beverly Hills Wilshire with the Cougars at the Rose Bowl to a Lear jet that whisked him and his wife to Alabama.

When all of that went "poof," Price drove a motor home from Tuscaloosa to Couer d'Alene, staying at KOA Campgrounds along the way.

"Don't stop here!" Joyce would say. "It's $24! We paid $19 last night!"

A few more dollars are involved in his $20 million libel lawsuit against Time Inc. and a Sports Illustrated writer. It is in the appeals process. Price got a favorable ruling by a federal judge in December who said the magazine must reveal its unnamed sources.

There were lies told by strippers about a wild time in Price's hotel room. They have recanted their stories, and whether he gets a dime or not from Sports Illustrated, Price feels a sense of vindication from that.

"The story's the story," Aaron Price said. "The truth's the truth."

There's no point in rehashing "it" again. The truth is Price was drunk and was helped to his room by a waitress at the club, awakening with his clothes on and later getting a call about an outrageous room-service bill.

But at some point every day, he still thinks about what happened.

"Only one night, one night," Price said. "Weird."

His wife, Joyce, was mad at first. His sons said they never had time to be angry.

"The first thing we did was come together as a family," Eric Price said. "We've stood by him from day one. We wanted to help him through it. That's how a family is supposed to be."

Aaron said his dad has a different perspective. Maybe money and prestige meant a lot before -- now, coaching with his sons is more rewarding.

"He's enjoying having us around more, maybe more than he did at Alabama," Eric said. "He definitely has a different outlook. He's realizing how good he has it."

The cost of living is cheap, the average three-bedroom home selling for $90,244 four years ago. The city is clean, the crime rate low.

The weather is nice with 318 days of sunshine and less than 8 inches of rain a year.

His perks include two courtesy cars, one a Cadillac. And country club memberships at Coronado and El Paso CC, which has as a member former PGA champ Rich Beem, whose wife is a Coug.

Price just purchased a $490,000 home about 15 minutes west of campus in an area called the Upper Valley, the greenest part of greater El Paso. His house is in a development just a few miles from the Rio Grande.

At the end of this day, his dogs, Kokanee and Jessie, are there to greet him along with Eric's wife, Jody. Joyce is in Spokane, helping their daughter Angie, who is expecting to give birth soon.

The kitchen has a restaurant-size refrigerator freezer and purple cabinets that Price can't stand for reasons a Coug would understand.

"I'm getting rid of that," Price said.

Out back, there's a swimming pool with a slide, a hot tub, a barbecue pit, and a new patio under construction.

Although Price is wearing his orange UTEP golf shirt embroidered with a Coeur d'Alene Resort logo, he still has crimson and gray in his walk-in closet. "But I don't have any of that other stuff," he said, referring to Alabama.

"It" is behind him now. As he drives a visitor back to his rental car near campus, Price said he's thrilled to be a Miner and wants to "pick, pick, pick until we find a gold mine."

In many ways, he already has.

[rkmsuf]

From the original article it's funny they termed Ryan Leaf a success...


"He was known for grooming prostyle quarterbacks who moved on to the NFL. His successes included Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser."

[JeeberD]

Well, Leaf was a stud in college. You can't deny that...

[rkmsuf]

And now he is an eternal running joke...

I wouldn't term him as NFL ready...

[JeeberD]

Does it say that they were NFL ready? It just says that they moved on to the NFL...

[WSUCougar]

Great story! Thanks for posting it.

I've said this many times before, and I'll say it again: Mike Price was the perfect coach for WSU and I wish he'd stayed there for the rest of his coaching career. He's a truly likable man, and a very good football coach. I wish him nothing but the best.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Does it say that they were NFL ready? It just says that they moved on to the NFL...

Rutgers has multiple QB's in the NFL. I wouldn't get too excited.

[stkelly52]

To me it seems that the fact that Leaf was a stud at WSU speaks a lot of his ability. I mean if he can make Leaf look good what else can he do?

[JeeberD]

I'm getting excited? All I was doing was making rkmsuf back up what he said. He was misquoting the article, and I was correcting him...

[dawgfan]

A few comments:

- For those that assume that because Price did a relatively good job recruiting in Pullman, WA for WSU he'll do a similarly good job recruiting in El Paso, TX for UTEP, I offer this: Yes, Price did a great job of selling Pullman as a family-style environment where players could get away from the distractions of a big-city and play somewhere more "wholesome" and really devoted to supporting the local college. He also had the advantage of recruiting for a Pac-10 school - those players that wanted to stay on the West Coast, have a chance to play big-time football but couldn't get schollie offers from USC, UCLA, Washington, ASU, Oregon and Stanford could still play Pac-10 football at WSU and prove the doubters wrong. Price can still use the family-style environment and push the upsides of a more rural setting on behalf of El Paso, but the WAC carries much less prestige than the Pac-10 - it will be harder for Price to get top-notch talent to go to UTEP.

One thing working in Price's favor - he did an outstanding job of projecting players and developing success stories out of lightly recruited H.S. players - he took a lot of H.S. TE prospects and groomed them into successful O-linemen and defensive ends. He also relied fairly heavily on JC transfers, something he'll likely continue to do with some success at UTEP.

- Price did a pretty good job in WSU, but he also had what appears to be a very strong staff there, most of whom remained at WSU when he left. Bill Doba is a real good defensive coach, and the Coug's offensive coordinator Mike Levenseller is also quite good. A lot of the better Coug coaches are alumni of the school and feel strongly enough about the school that it'd be hard to lure them away. I wonder if Price can get the same caliber of assistants in UTEP, and if he can will he be able to keep them there? How good will Price be without Doba and Levenseller?

- Regarding that article calling the Mike Stoops hire an 'A' and describing him and Arizona as being the next Pete Carroll and USC - I'll believe it when I see it. I've seen a number of criticisms of Stoops that claimed he rested on the coattails of his brother Bob, and gave a lion's share of the credit for the Sooners' defense to the co-coordinator there Brent Venables. There are also claims that Stoops has some skeletons in his closet that could come back to really bite him in the ass.

I think Arizona has the potential to be a big-time football school, but I'm not yet convinced Mike Stoops is the guy to make it happen. Time will tell as always...

[dawgfan]

Dola - while WSU has gained some noteriety for producing NFL QB's, Washington has actually produced more and without as much fanfare. Every primary starting QB at the UW since 1979 has gone on to play in the NFL:

Tom Flick
Steve Pelluer
Hugh Millen
Chris Chandler
Cary Conklin
Mark Brunell
Billy Joe Hobert
Damon Huard
Brock Huard
Marques Tuiasosopo
(Cody Pickett will join this list shortly)

Under Don James, Washington ran a pro-style offense and recruited prototype NFL-style QB's - big tall guys with great arms, and success bred success in terms of recruiting these guys. The UW was also helped by the fact most of these guys were local and were easy sells for the Huskies - of the above list, only Mark Brunell and Cody Pickett didn't come from a Washington H.S.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Price can still use the family-style environment and push the upsides of a more rural setting on behalf of El Paso, but the WAC carries much less prestige than the Pac-10 - it will be harder for Price to get top-notch talent to go to UTEP.

Well, in his first recruiting class (in which we only could offer 13 schollies) Price has already brought in what looks to be the best UTEP football class, ever. We have never had a high school all-american on our roster, and he has brought two to El Paso already.

Price is already saying that he has his eye on a top ten QB for next season, and I truly believe that he can nab one for us...

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Well, in his first recruiting class (in which we only could offer 13 schollies) Price has already brought in what looks to be the best UTEP football class, ever. We have never had a high school all-american on our roster, and he has brought two to El Paso already.

Price is already saying that he has his eye on a top ten QB for next season, and I truly believe that he can nab one for us...

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying he can't improve UTEP's team or recruit some good players there, just that I suspect it will be a little tougher to do at a WAC school than at a Pac-10 school.

[JeeberD]

Well, I'm not really expecting him to bring UTEP to the same heights that he took WSU to. I really doubt we'll ever be a Rose Bowl quality team, but as long as he can keep us near the top of the WAC every year and in the Top 25 fairly often, El Paso will be ecstatic...

[JeeberD]

Another great article about Price and the Miners. And it even briefly mentions MinerDigs, the UTEP board I frequent!!!

Out in West Texas town of El Paso ... Price finds home

EL PASO, Texas -- Mike Price thought all the bile had settled. The bitterness pretty much was gone. All the stares he got in supermarkets, the advice from counselors. A bout with depression. Faded, painful souvenirs. Don't even start on the embarrassment of putting your family -- your wife -- through such a public wringer. That wound was finally scabbing over, too.

"Quite frankly, I thought it was one of the safer things as far as him getting in trouble in the future," said Price's new boss, Bob Stull. "I think he said his wife stopped beating him about three weeks ago. He was down to one beating a day."

Everyone had a good laugh at that one after Stull, Texas-El Paso's athletic director, hired his old friend. Joyce Price is at the side of her husband these days, the same way she was a year ago this week when Alabama president Robert Witt confirmed for the country what he had told his coach brusquely in the hallway moments before.

"It's not going to work out," Price quoted Witt as saying.

"I said, 'What do you mean?' He says, 'Mike, guys like you and I don't get second chances,' and he walked down and walked out to the press conference and fired me."

That day, May 7, 2003, began the worst year in Price's life. His conduct one fateful night in Pensacola, Fla., haunted him. It chased him out of Tuscaloosa. It got him turned down for other jobs. But he had no idea it would follow him to a portal of a stadium hewn out of the side of a mountain a mile from the Mexico border.

Forty-five minutes before the UTEP spring game, Price strode proudly through that portal into the Sun Bowl for the first time as the Miners coach on a game day. All arms in this lonely college football outpost had embraced him. It looked like Extreme Makeover had kidnapped him. Price had lost 30 pounds and his glasses, having undergone laser surgery. The distinguished gray hair was slicked back in a dashing sort of way. The second chance was his. How do you like him now, Dr. Witt?

Then some knucklehead in charge of the Sun Bowl's pre-game music couldn't resist one last tweak.

Sweet Home Alabama.

"Did I notice it?" Price asked incredulously. "I just happened to be coming into the stadium at the same time. I thought, 'Holy cow, how ironic is that?'"

In the time it took Price to say those words, the anger passed through him. For an instant, he thought playing the song was intentional, then thought the better of it. This is America. The only things more common than second chances are Starbucks, Wal-Marts and classic schlock 'n' roll.

Besides, he couldn't blame people anymore. It was a year ago this week, after the country speculated whether Price could stay upright, whether he had been forthright, and finally, his mind and life are just plain right.

The Comeback

Diana Natalicio nursed a Dos Equis. Hey, college presidents can relax, too. This was an opening night of sorts. Spring game. Price's debut. She talked about her decision to hire Price while looking out at one of the most spectacular views in college football. From the Durham Center at the west end of Sun Bowl, you can see blue sky, spectacular mountains, another country and a bright future.

Natalicio is a baseball fan. The St. Louis native once tutored one of Stan Musial's daughters while attending Saint Louis University. Her current favorite book is Moneyball, the Michael Lewis account of how Oakland A's GM Billy Beane beat the system.

"UTEP is the higher education equivalent of the Oakland A's," she said. "We have to be very strategic because we don't have George Steinbrenner's money. Hiring Mike Price was a Moneyball decision. We would have never been able to recruit him here under normal circumstances. He would have been at Alabama."

It's a long drive and about $750,000 less per year going from Tuscaloosa to El Paso. A visitor called it "Fort Apache" in terms of college football importance -- an outpost of 700,000 operating below the BCS radar, caught between two cultures.

The landscape itself reflects your status. The higher up you are in the Franklin Mountains, the better the homes. The valley, though, has trees, grass and water, important in a place where annual rainfall is only 7.82 inches. Thirty-three years ago, Natalicio came here and thought she was going to be to be a short-timer. She fell in love with the place and never left.

El Paso is Texas and Mexico. It shares a border with sprawling Juarez. It's closer to Los Angeles than it is to Houston. New Mexico is only 35 miles away, but Albuquerque is further east. From here, Dallas might as well be New York.

There's great food and even better people, but not much relief from bad college football. The 2000 WAC championship was the program's first conference title in 44 years. The WAC coach of the year that season, Gary Nord, went 2-11 last year and was shown the door.

Last week, UTEP changed conferences from the WAC to Conference USA looking for a better athletic identity. Don Haskins once scratched a national basketball championship out of the rock and dust with an all-black starting lineup in 1966. More recently, Billy Gillespie took the Miners from six victories to the NCAA Tournament, then split for Texas A&M.

It will have more Olympians this year in Greece (as many as 15) than it has winning football seasons since 1988 (one).

"Who really claims it as a city?" wondered defensive coordinator Tim Hundley. "Who really claims it as part of their state? You need to convince kids this is a good place to go to school."

Price claimed UTEP quickly when he said yes to the school, or rather Natalicio said yes to him, on Dec. 21. Stull had rounded up Dick Tomey, Bob Toledo and a slew of coordinators as candidates for Natalicio in the beginning but warned, "There is going to be one person in there who is going to be pretty controversial."

"She kind of raised her eyebrows a little bit," Stull said. "She reacted the way any president would react initially."

It wasn't easy. Price flew into the Phoenix airport for the interview. Natalicio wanted to know, needed to know, "whether this baggage is going to get heavier. If there is a problem, you need to be honest about all this."

And so Price poured his heart out. The man had sued Witt, a colleague of Natalicio's from way back. Price had literally gone from Lear Jet to motor home. He and Joyce bought an RV after the firing and toured the country.

Price went from a $10 million contract (the one he never signed at 'Bama) to pricing KOA campgrounds across the country. No, Joyce would say, there is one down the road that is cheaper than $24.95 per night. How many million-dollar coaches know that if you really want to be frugal, any Wal-Mart will let an RV rest for the night in the parking lot?

"What was reported was so grossly exaggerated," Price said of Alabama. "What I really did -- I'm looking at coaches that did a hell of a lot worse than I did, guys cheating on their wives."

Price is still suing Sports Illustrated for $20 million over some of their reporting. The "It's rolling baby" quote alone (in reference to Price allegedly having sex in his hotel room last April) was enough to ruin a man.

"It certainly was not a good night for Mike Price," Stull said. "He did not use a lot of common sense. But I don't believe all the things that were written happened."

Witt and Natalicio talked. UTEP was still willing to believe in him, if he would believe in it.

In the interim, Price made it a point to learn how to use a computer. He and Joyce retreated to Ryan Leaf's place near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He logged on to MinerDigs.com and read the reaction in one of UTEP's chat rooms.

"Shoot," he thought to himself. "At least these people want me."

If nothing else, the man was genuine. He wanted to coach again -- soon. He got along with people. No one doubted his coaching credentials. He was affordable (at $250,000 per year). He was resilient. Arizona president Peter Likins already had publicly disgraced Price by shooting down his chances of replacing John Mackovic before they were run up a flagpole.

When Stull got back to El Paso, he compared notes with Natalicio's assistant Richard Adauto. He liked Price.

"How about the president?" Stull dared to ask. "He said, 'You know what? She does too.'"

It wasn't a hard sell to the community or the players.

"The thing that went through my mind," said quarterback Jordan Palmer, "was 'big time.' He made a mistake. All of us screwed up in our college careers. That got some credibility with us. He screwed up, and now he's going back up."

The national media largely ignored the hiring or at least didn't criticize it.

"I believe that people deserve a second chance," Natalicio said. "I don't think one incident in anybody's life ought to condemn him forever. He's determined to redeem himself and we'd love to have him do it here."

The Program

Price was lucky in another way. Just about everyone he wanted for this new adventure was available. The coaching staff has a combined 50 bowls, including about eight Rose Bowls among them.

There is a definite Northwest-Huskies-Cougars feel to it. Hundley was Washington's defensive coordinator when he got the call. Six years ago, 29-year old recruiting coordinator Jeff Banks was leading the Pac-10 in punting at Washington State. Before linebackers coach Jeff Woodruff was fired at Eastern Michigan last year, he coached at Arizona and Washington.

Sons Aaron and Erin turned down NFL assistant offers to stay with their dad. Price knew Stull because Stull had spent several years on Don James staff at Washington. A bold five-year plan that resulted in $15 million in facilities had Price as its cherry.

An offseason coaching retreat has turned into what Price calls a "Chia Pet Vacation" (it keeps growing). Forty-seven staffers, wives and families will take a bus trip this summer to a Mexico resort "so we can bond," Price said.

"I thought it would be criminal if he were not in the game," Hundley said.

The Price charisma started clicking almost immediately. He had headlines clipped and copied from the El Paso Times when the basketball team won the WAC. He signed each copy, "THIS COULD BE US! --M.P." and stuffed one in each locker.

UCLA running back Tyler Ebell transferred in the offseason after Price's hiring. Parade All-American Marcus Thomas of Phoenix was in the first recruiting class. He picked the Miners over USC.

The practices are littered with the usual Price trademarks. A trick play will be put in every week. For every "big play" in practice (as determined by the coaching staff), players will have to run one less sprint.

"The thing that kind of puzzles me is how we can have this much discipline on the team without him being a jerk," tight end Jonas Crafts said.

The Community

Aaron Santos offered a beer. No? How about a Jack and Coke?

Oh well, Santos, a junior Sig Ep, still had cornered a couple of reporters while tailgating in "Miner Town," the school-sponsored pre-game before the spring game. He can't wait. Price reminds him of Dick Vermeil, coach of his favorite team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Vermeil cries at supermarket openings. Price's emotions aren't far behind.

"He parked back here," Santos gestures across the road as if ET had descended from the sky. "I never saw a coach like that come down and shake your hand. He brings that passion to the game."

One of the first people Price had to meet was Maynard Haddad. The owner of H&H Car Wash and Coffee Shop is the conscience of the people. You can get huevos rancheros and a dose of Maynard's opinion in the same stop.

"Unfortunately, with UTEP football the teams always quit in the middle of the second half," Haddad said. "I said something to Coach Price, and he looked at me in bewilderment, 'I've never had a team quit.'

"He's already a hero to us."

The fit is obvious. In a lot of ways, El Paso is Pullman, Wash., with more movie theaters. Price spent 14 years at Washington State taking the Cougars to two Rose Bowls. With a metro population of 2.5 million, El Paso is large enough to be a big city but small enough to have a heart.

When Price was introduced at halftime of a basketball game, the crowd stood for five minutes.

He's not a country club guy, but now he lives by one. In the valley, by the way, near laid back El Paso Country Club. Guests there in sports jackets are looked upon as almost out of place. Price can have a leisurely dinner with friends (even sip a couple of glasses of wine) without being mobbed or having moral sentence pronounced on him.

"This community is so different," he said. "It's kind of a forgiving community. They're not pious at all, they're down-to-earth people."

So down-to-earth that sometimes in their happiness, they don't realize what they're saying.

"Coach Price has endorsed that attitude to have fun and cut loose," linebacker Robert Rodriguez said.

Quick story: Stull was driving his coach around town one day. Price noticed what looked like a nice restaurant. Stull suggested it might not be such a good idea to stop. Prince Machiavelli's is an El Paso strip club.

"I drive by there every day (on the way to work)," Price said. "Then you open up the sports page. Here's all these strip clubs, and there's always an article about football next to them. I think, 'Oh shoot, it's never going to go away.'"

But for now it has, in the bosom of a place that will love him as long as he loves it back.

[MrBug708]

Hey Jeeb, Tyler Ebell still goes to all of the UCLA practices. I guess he doesnt want to go to El Paso til he has to. I hope playing one year is worth passing up a UCLA degree.

[JeeberD]

Well let's see. Ebell announced that he would transfer to UTEP in late January...after the current semester had already started. It would have been too late for him to enroll at UTEP by that point. Sounds smart to me that he's not throwing away a semester of education, which might impact his elgibility. And I'm sure he's still friends with a bunch of guys on the UCLA squad, so I have no problems with him watching them practice.

I think you're reading too much into this, Bug...

[JeeberD]

Transcript of Price's WAC media day speech

"I can't wait for the season to start. I'm so honored to have this opportunity. This is a great opportunity. President [Diana] Natalicio gave me a chance. Bob Stull, our athletic director, gave me the confidence to come here with a lot of resources. The city has greeted us warmly. The players have been super compliant. We've had no problems with them. We've raised the bar, and we're making it as difficult for them as we can. We had all the players except two, who were excused, stay all summer long and work out. They all did it as a team together in El Paso. They have not done that before.

"It's my job to build up their self confidence. Anybody who has won two games a year for the last three years hasn't had a lot of fun. We tried to make it fun in the spring, and we'll continue to do that in two-a-day camp and during the season. I've got to be able to change the way they think. When something goes bad, that little voice in their heads has to say 'here we go,' instead of 'here we go again.' It's going to take some time to do that.

"When we were raising the bar, not everybody went with us. We've lost about 10 players from last year's roster. We've got about 10 new players on the team from this spring. So we're going to be a different team, not only in our new Nike look but in the size and shape of the players who get off the bus. We're going to look like a football team, and it's going to be my job to make sure we play like a football team.

"Of the 10 new players, six offensive linemen. I thought our offensive linemen were good, but not really tall. We're big enough, but we're not tall enough. We want to be able to get a hold of the defensive guys, and keep holding onto them with long arms. We had some freak injuries in the spring which added to the already limited number of offensive linemen that we had.

"We have a couple of wide receivers who will be joining a pretty good group, and we have two cornerbacks who will be joining our defensive secondary. I felt we needed more height and physical players at cornerback. So I think we've helped ourselves a lot athletically. But it all comes back to the mental part of it. Every one of these kids is a winner, I just need to pull it out of them. The second thing we need to do is blend the new guys with the guys who have been sweating and toiling the last few years on this football team.

"We have to emulate Boise State. They don't necessarily have the biggest players or the fastest players, but they play together as a team really well.

"We're going to go up to Socorro, N.M. for a week and do a lot of team building activities. We're going to make it a really fun and special camp, and hopefully we can come back rested and in shape and ready for some tough early-season games.

"We open against Arizona State and a former UTEP assistant coach and former Boise State coach, Dirk Koetter, who is a friend of mine. Then we play Weber State, my old stomping grounds, and Boise State, who I coached against when I was at Weber and Washington State. It's a challenging start to the schedule. Weber State, although a I-AA school, tied for the Big Sky title last year.

"We have a challenging schedule, but we have some players too. You met Robert Rodriguez, who has a nose for the ball. He's a tremendous player, a tough hitting son of a gun. He's a complete gentleman off the field and on the field he's a tough linebacker. He's going to be one of the best linebackers in our league and in the region.

"We've got some really good defensive players, and that's where we'll win. Our punter, Bryce Benekos, is going to be outstanding. Keith Robinson is going to be our placekicker, and he's excellent. He's back healthy and ready to go. Our special teams will be another area we need to improve in to win. We're well-coached on defense and special teams with Tim Hundley and Jeff Woodruff.

"We'll run the one-back offense. We'll throw first and run second. Howard Jackson is so fast. He's running faster than any athlete I've ever had. He has brilliant speed, he can stop on a dime and he's really durable. Jonas Crafts is an excellent tight end. Our slotback is Chris Marrow and we have Johnnie Lee Higgins, who is a long jumper on the track team. It's going to be fun.

"I love the people of El Paso. The weather is great, the people are great and the Mexican food is the best in America.

"We've got three quarterbacks who have all started about five games at one time or another. We have three candidates. They all competed well in the spring, but not one of them won the job. After about a week of two-a-day practice, we'll decide on one guy and go with him. I think we have three good quarterbacks, but not one great one. The way you make a good quarterback a great one is to give him all the reps and go with him.

"We've got a plan, and it's going to work. I don't know when it's going to work, but we're going to be winners in the end.

"Jordan Palmer probably gets the most publicity [of the quarterbacks] because of his brother Carson, but he's also the biggest one out there. Each one of them has something special. What's probably going to determine who starts is who makes the least mistakes. We turned the ball over horribly last year, and didn't get a lot of turnovers.

"I don't speak Spanish. I'm going to learn to speak Spanish and I want to go to Juarez more. I've only been there once. The community has been so positive and it's so fun to be there. We love it. It's a very special place. There's no agenda, the people are honest and forthright.

"Our mission statement for our program is really simple. We want to win our league championship and graduate 100 percent of our athletes. Anything short of that is not reaching the goals we set. We set high goals, and do everything we can to achieve them."

[JeeberD]

Price big story in Reno

RENO, Nev. -- Mike Price strolled up to the podium, stood before the football press that covers the Western Athletic Conference, smiled his big Mike Price smile, and told a joke.

He hadn't been to one of these college football media days since August 2002, right before the start of the Washington State season that resulted in a Rose Bowl berth -- and about five months before the Alabama season that never really was after a much-publicized night out with strippers.

But Wednesday, it was as if he had never been away.

"I've been saying, 'Wait until next year' for a year," Price said. "Now, it's here. And I can't wait."

It's safe to say that Price, the 1997 national coach of the year who revitalized programs at Weber State and Washington State and who suffered through that grim saga with the Crimson Tide last year, was the star of the WAC show this week.

While members of the press corps came and went depending upon which WAC football coach was speaking, the small conference room at the Peppermill Hotel was a full house for Price.

And Price went through all the things that he's gone through in El Paso since he was hired Dec. 21, 2003.

He talked about the warmth and support provided by the people of El Paso and the tremendous Mexican food that can be found there. He talked about the responsive UTEP players. He talked about the fun he is trying to provide them since, he reasons, they haven't had much fun over the past few years.

He talked about his smallish offensive line. He talked about the quarterback situation that isn't cleared up yet. He talked about the 10 players who no longer are on the team from last season. He talked about Camp Socorro, which starts Aug. 7, with an emphasis on excitement. He talked about his new hip (he had replacement surgery in the offseason) and his new eyes (he had Lasic surgery, too, and no longer sports glasses).

And he talked about the importance of merging what was perhaps the best recruiting class in UTEP's history with the Miner veterans who have toiled away in an attempt to improve.

"Like Boise State," he said. "They don't necessarily have the biggest or the fastest, but they play together as a team very well."

He touched on his two offensive and defensive star players, tailback Howard Jackson and linebacker Robert Rodriguez, respectively.

He called Jackson the fastest athlete he has ever coached; he said Rodriguez was UTEP's "Dick Butkus."

Other WAC coaches have taken notice of UTEP's possibility of a big turnaround in 2004, including the coaches of the elite programs: Boise State, Hawaii and Fresno State.

Dan Hawkins, coach of the back-to-back WAC champ Broncos, calls UTEP's chances of a big comeback "awesome."

"I think they have a lot of great, young players, and coach Price obviously knows what he's doing," Hawkins said. "I would expect them to be the surprise team just from the standpoint of where their record was and what they can accomplish."

Warrior coach June Jones said he and Price go back a long way.

"I've always followed his career," Jones said. "I wanted to find a way to get him on my staff after that fiasco that happened. UTEP will be a better football team because of Mike Price. It doesn't take long to rally everyone up and he will do that there."

Fresno State coach Pat Hill said he, too, has known Price for years.

"He and (second-time Nevada coach Chris Ault) add more credibility to our conference," Hill said. "You can't get two more excellent, prominent football coaches. I think UTEP will be good. I thought they had good personnel last year. And when (a program) gets a new coach, there is a new excitement and a new cause. And that's the formula for success."

The buzz was that UTEP could possibly be the Tulsa of 2004. Last year, the Golden Hurricane rebounded from a two-win season to go 8-5 and make an appearance in the Humanitarian Bowl.

And this year, Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe thinks UTEP could be the surprise team.

"He is one of the great coaches of college football," Kragthorpe said. "He's done a super job everywhere he's been. He put Washington State in a position to compete. (Former Washington State quarterback and current Buffalo Bill) Drew Bledsoe has a tremendous amount of respect for Mike. His record speaks for itself. Pullman, (Wash.) was not an easy place to recruit to, and he did it."

When talk turned to Alabama, Price let it be known that that was the past. UTEP is his future. And he can't wait to get started.

"We'll work like Miners work. Get down and get dirty and get after it," he said.

[JeeberD]

One year ago today the Miners hired Senor Price to be our coach. I think it's worked out pretty well...

[dawgfan]

Quite well indeed.

Looking back at this thread one thing that strikes me is the coaching hire grades from the Sporting News - it's interesting to look back at those grades, especially the ones 2 years out now. That 'C' grade for Bobby Petrino at Louisville is looking a little low now. And it's still early, and I acknowledge that he inherited a mess, but I'm still skeptical on Mike Stoops and the 'A' grade they gave him. That being said, he's doing a bang-up job recruiting...

I'll be curious to see the coaching hires grade article this year. I'm getting more acclimated to Ty Willingham's hire at the UW, and while I still think we should've beaten the bushes more in the assistant ranks and smaller schools looking for the next Jeff Tedford/Bob Stoops/Urban Meyer/Bobby Petrino/Mark Richt, I think with the right staff he can be pretty successful at the UW. He's already making a big difference in recruiting (though that wasn't hard to do, given how comatose UW recruiting was this year with Gilby's job in question all season).

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

One year ago today the Miners hired Senor Price to be our coach. I think it's worked out pretty well...

Oh, get over it. Your gay-man-crush on Mike Price is getting a little tired.

[JeeberD]

Unfortunately, we all know that MP likes women...

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Unfortunately, we all know that MP likes women...

Unfortunately, the only thing he's gonna get against Colorado is a butt raping.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Unfortunately, we all know that MP likes women...

Too true... hey, if the El Paso strip club scene is any good, maybe UTEP can hold onto him for a while.

[B & B]

Odds of this thread being bumped today by:

Jeeber -700
Field +550

[JeeberD]

Coach Price ain't going anywhere, bitches...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sport...orts-headlines

[i]MEMPHIS -- For the longest period of his life, Mike Price thought he'd coach at Washington State until he was ready to put his whistle away for good.

Then Alabama came calling . . . and went dumping nearly as quickly.

When UTEP resurrected Price's spirit and career in December 2003, almost no one believed it would last. He'd turn the Miners around, he'd win and then he'd go. That's what big-time coaches do.

But Price isn't a big-time coach any more. Big-time coaches get caught up in their big-time contracts and big-time careers. And all Price wants, right next to a fun, winning football program, is to be a big-time grandfather.

In El Paso, Texas

"I could see him here [in 10 years]," said Price's son Eric, the Miners' offensive coordinator. "I haven't asked him about his professional goals lately, but I don't hear him talking about going other places. He's really taken to UTEP and people have really taken to him. They've treated him really well. He doesn't take that lightly."

A match made on the Internet just might last.

As Price put himself back together after being buried under a Crimson Tide of X-rated publicity following a public and humiliating exit from Alabama, he learned how to surf the World Wide Web. He called about job openings, then went surfing for down-home news. He discovered the creative and cruel world of sports message boards.

When news got out that Price was a possible candidate for School A, the coach read what fans were thinking. Most of the time, he didn't read for long. He wasn't wanted.

UTEP fans were different. According to Price, they were less concerned about his night in bed with a Pensacola stripper named Destiny than about their own problems -- namely, a football program that had gone 2-9, 2-10 and 2-11 the previous three seasons.

UTEP Athletic Director Bob Stull, a former coach, convinced school President Diana Natalico to take a chance. Price infused the Miners with confidence and a passing game, and eight victories later they were bowl bound.

"It's not all about me anymore," Price said. "It's about my wife and my family and my kids and my football family. It's about the university that gave me a second chance. An athletic director and president that gave me a second chance. They gave me an opportunity, and I took advantage of it."

Price pulled together a coaching staff of friends and former foes. Sons Eric and Aaron joined him, as did two others who worked for him at Washington State. He also added two men from rival Washington, including defensive coordinator Tim Hundley.

The approach from the start was not to have a quick fix. But nobody kicked away the first-year success.

"With Coach Price, the feeling is there's always a way to win," Hundley said. "It's not a one-year, formulated pattern for success. He has a method for the long term. It works."

This year it'll need to. When Price, 59, took his turn before Conference USA microphones Tuesday at the Hilton Memphis, he did so as a coach expected to lead UTEP to a divisional title. It took him back to another time and place.

"My last year at Washington State we were picked to win the Pac-10, and we did. That's the only time we've done that," Price said. "I usually turn an underdog into a wonderdog."

Across the room to his left sat a stack of UTEP media guides. On the cover, with pictures of key Miners, is a photo of Price holding high his now-trademark pick-axe and a snapshot of UTEP's rings from the 2004 Houston Bowl. Whoever said non-BCS bowls don't matter never met last year's Miners.

Price admits he inherited talent from former coach Gary Nord. But he walked into a program whose players needed a new mirror and a shot of self-esteem. So coach and players rebuilt themselves together.

"Coach Price made football fun," linebacker Thomas Howard said. "He's a players' coach. He tries not to make things dull. He cracks jokes before practice, changes things up at practice to keep it interesting. He keeps it fresh."

Not much about 2005 needs to be fresh. The Miners return 11 starters and 44 lettermen from last year's 8-4 team. Chief among the returnees is quarterback Jordan Palmer, younger brother of former Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer.

The group, minus newcomers, makes up the fastest team Price has ever coached. The Miners' average 40-yard dash time was 4.78 seconds in the spring, one about which the head coach is intrigued.

But like every other school in the reconfigured 12-team conference, UTEP's coaching staff reports to camp this week following an arduous summer. It has a new league to learn. Although Tulane is the only school that will play all six C-USA newcomers, the Miners have five new conference opponents for which to prepare.

Price, a grandfather of two, takes little for granted these days.

"I think I've grown up," he said. "I'm just happy to have a job and be in the coaching position. We love the community, and they love us back. It's a great marriage."[/img]

[JeeberD]

Well, all mediocre things must come to an end, and it looks like Coach Price will be announcing his "retirement" this afternoon...

UTEP football coach Mike Price to announce future plans at noon today - El Paso Times

I'm thankful to Coach Price for giving UTEP football a boost nine years ago, but he really should have been gone three or four years ago. He hasn't shown the drive and passion necessary to succeed at UTEP in quite some time. I'm very interested and excited to see who AD Bob Stull brings in to take over the program. I think that with the right coach we can have a good program, it's just going to take someone willing to put in the work, not just try to skate by on a reputation built 10 years ago.