If Dana Dimel builds it, they will come: From winless to a sold-out Sun Bowl for the UTEP Miners

The FBS season in Texas begins Saturday when North Texas travels to El Paso to face Conference USA foe UTEP in front of what is expected to be the first sell out of the Sun Bowl since a 2008 contest against Texas. This is on the heels of the Miners’ first winning record – and bowl appearance – since 2014. The last sell out for a conference game came against Marshall in 2005. 

The excitement building around football in El Paso is the product of hard work and patience. UTEP athletic director Jim Senter and head coach Dana Dimel sat in the athletic offices two years ago and dissected every aspect of the Miners’ football program. The coaching staff. The admin. The trainers and every member of the support staff. Even each of the scholarship players and the donors who encountered the program. It took over three hours.