Mike Price a rock star? To the people of El Paso, Texas, he is.
“Mike’s the most popular person in town,” said Bob Stull, the athletic director who hired Price 11 months ago to coach the UTEP football team. “Last year when we went to the NCAA Tournament, (coach) Billy Gillispie was the most popular guy in town.
“They become like rock stars.”
And El Paso is rockin’ because the Miner football team has rolled into the top 25 of the Associated Press poll for the first time in school history.
It’s rockin’ because the Miners have won as many games – six – as the last three UTEP teams combined.
It’s rockin’ because the Miners are assured of only their fourth winning season since 1971.
It’s rockin’ because the Miners are bowl-eligible with a 6-2 record and have a good shot at finishing 9-2.
It’s rockin’ because Stull gave Price a chance to redeem himself after a wild night on the town got him fired at Alabama before he ever coached the Crimson Tide in a game.
“I owe this community and this school a lot,” Price, an Everett native, said by phone this week. “And I’m a pretty loyal guy, as you know.”
And a very popular guy in El Paso.
“I’ll put Mike up against any head coach in the country,” said Maynard Haddad, a UTEP season ticket-holder for more than 45 years. “I don’t think there’s another coach in the country who could have done what he’s done.”
Haddad, who owns a popular car wash/restaurant in town, knew the Miners had hired a good coach, but even he may have underestimated how successful Price would be in his first year.
“I projected they’d win seven games,” Haddad said, “and I’ll tell you why.”
He recalled that after spring practice he was talking to an assistant coach and told him about his prediction.
The coach said, ‘Don’t be surprised.’ ”
Now, nine victories aren’t out of the question with games against Rice, SMU and Tulsa remaining, all very beatable opponents. (The Miners have a bye this week.)
Did Stull see this coming this soon?
“Not really,” he said.
There were questions. The previous coach, Gary Nord, had redshirted almost the entire freshman class in 2000, but for some reason they hadn’t yet won.
“People always thought we had talent,” Stull said, “but we were still trying to grow up and mature.”
Someone needed to make the players believe in themselves, Jon Teicher, the long-time radio voice of UTEP football, said. “Mike has made them believe.
“The transformation has been nothing short of astonishing.”
There was also a question about the quarterback, redshirt sophomore Jordan Palmer, and how fast he could develop.
After a horrendous start against Arizona State – five turnovers – to open the season, Palmer has become “one of the most improved” players on the team,” said Stull, a former UTEP head coach who also served as an assistant coach under Don James at the University of Washington.
Then there was the schedule. The most difficult part of it was in the first half of the season, which is not the way a new coach likes to be greeted.
After losses to Arizona State and Boise State – currently ranked No.15 – in the first three games, the Miners have won five straight.
As is the case with any coaching change, there are always players from the old regime who don’t want to buy into the new guy’s program.
The Miners had an option: Do things Price’s way or hit the highway.
About 10 players left.
“I didn’t feel like it was anything we couldn’t correct,” said Price, who has been known to give difficult kids second and sometimes third chances. “The players have been real compliant with what I asked them to do.”
Cornerback Jahmal Fenner got suspended for two games last year because of a “weight room incident,” according to the UTEP sports information office.
Stull said Fenner had a temper problem. “Not a bad kid,” the AD added, “but he would explode at times and create some problems for himself.”
This year Fenner has developed into a team leader. “He has been great,” Price raved. “I guess he needed some tough love.”
Two years ago, Haddad didn’t have much respect for Fenner. “I told his coach after a game, ‘You tell me that guy’s good? All he did was bitch at the ref.’ ”
And now? “It’s unbelievable the leadership he’s shown. That’s what happens when you have the right type of people. These guys know how to coach.”
Haddad, who comes across on the phone as the proverbial “good old boy,” admits that he sometimes lets his “mouth overload my butt. I’m real good at it.”
He wasn’t too pleased that Price kept Palmer in the game after he threw three first-half interceptions against ASU.
“After the first game, my brother told me to shut up, they (the coaches) know what they’re doing,’ ” Haddad said. “He was right.”
The younger brother of the No.1 pick in the 2003 NFL draft, Carson Palmer, now with Cincinnati, Jordan Palmer is averaging 206 passing yards per game and has thrown 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, only seven in the last seven games.
Perhaps the most important thing Price did was reassure Palmer that he was going to stick with him. “You are the guy,” the coach said.
UTEP’s turnaround has turned the crowds around, too. Average attendance has zoomed from 20,009 to 39,664, with the last home game attracting 44,381.
Season ticket sales are up 25 percent, to 8,000.
The Miners play their home games at 7 p.m. and tailgating begins at 9:30 a.m. “If you’re not here by 2 o’clock, you’re going to park a mile away,” Stull said.
Quipped Price, “They tailgate for Dairy Queen openings around here.”
The coach, obviously, is having a great time, and takes especial delight in having his team ranked No.25 in the AP.
“The first thing coaches say is, ‘It doesn’t mean anything,’ ” he said. “It does to us, to this city, to this community, to these players. I’m not using coach-speak like I’m supposed to.”
Nothing means more, though, than to be given another chance, and Price is making the most of it.
He likes the city, basks in the sunshiny weather (he has a swimming pool in his backyard but says everyone does), has a beautiful home, drives a Hummer, belongs to two country clubs, and has never felt better.
He has a new hip, his eyesight is improved (through laser surgery), and he’s lost weight.
With UTEP’s quick turnaround, he might also be on some lists of hot coaches.
Is this his last stop?
“It is for right now,” he replied. “I’m certainly not bored with it.”
And El Paso is certainly captivated by him.
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