The Kyyote's Howl

Home is where the heart is, isn’t it?  Troy Collavo played linebacker for UTEP’s Miners from 2003-06.  As a senior he led the league in tackles.  The antithesis of a “dumb jock”, he used his physical talent and sharp mind to his advantage on the field, putting himself in the right place to rack up 125 tackles.  As a junior he anchored the linebacking corps that helped the Miners to an 8 win season, and a trip to the GMAC Bowl.  
     He was given a shot with the Chicago Bears, and had offers to play with a couple of teams in the Canadian Football League, but decided not to pursue those.  With his degree in Marketing, he made his way out to California.  There he lived with fellow Miner Joe Fleskoski, and spent a year working for a marketing firm.
     He returned to Texas and taught computers and coached football at AC Jones High School in Beeville.  It was there that he realized that coaching was what he wanted to do.

     “Football is easy for me, and it’s the thing I think I’m good at.  Being able to pass on things to the kids, that I can help their situation, hopefully make them good ball players, then I hope I can do that.”

     About six months ago, he contacted Coach Mike Price about coming back to UTEP to work with the football team.  He is now the Defensive Program Coordinator, and has been reunited with Linebackers Coach Robert Rodriguez.

     “Funny thing is, he was my mentor whenever I was playing here and he is kind of in the same role again.  It seems like everything has come full circle.”

     Asked about working with the Miners, he spoke of his return to El Paso.

     “It’s just a good opportunity to come back to El Paso.  I kind of got the El Paso curse.  They told me when I came here that once you live here you always come back.  It’s good that El Paso is having me back.  I feel like El Paso did a lot for me and it’s time for me to do something for El Paso.  I’ve lived here for six years, and that’s about a fourth of my life, so El Paso is home for me.”

     As with all coaches, they have to keep a bag packed.  Coaches have to have a little gypsy in their blood as there is one constant in their lives and that is that there will almost always be change.  Young coaches, working their way up, must go where the opportunities present themselves.  But, if Troy could have his way he would love to spend the next 10 or 20 years here.

     “I love this city.  It was good to me, and I just hope I can do the same.”

     Welcome home, Troy.

Imagine a Saint Bernard with the disposition of a chihuahua, a big, strong dog wound up tighter than a two dollar Timex.  That’s what Jamie Fehoko is like on the football field.  He’s 6′ 2″ tall and weighs 290 pounds.  He moves with quickness and speed, and attacks ball carriers, and quarterbacks like a junkyard dog attacks those dumb enough to enter the junkyard after dark.
     He played his high school football at Mt. Eden High School, in Hayward, California.  Then, he travelled a short thirty miles or so across the San Francisco Bay, to the College of San Mateo to continue his football career.  At CSM he played defensive end in a 3-4 defensive scheme, a testament to his ability to cover ground quickly.  His ability to get to the man with the ball with speed and tenacity earned him 1st Team All-State honors and a trip to El Paso to play for the Miners.
     With UTEP’s change to a 4-3 defense, his size and low center of gravity made him ideal for helping anchor the middle of the defensive line.  He quickly earned the starting spot as nose tackle on the depth chart.
     I asked him about switching over to the 4-3 defense.

     ”It’s good.  No problem.  We’re playing good.  I like the defense.”

     How does the defense look?

     ”The defense is looking good, man.  Everybody is flying to the ball.  We’ve just got to know our stuff, because little things could hurt us in the long run.”

     That is what the coaches are busy doing these last few days of practice before the first game of the season.  The focus is on the little things, the details, and eliminating costly mistakes.

     Here is a link to his highlight reel on the CSM site.  Watch it, and you will understand why he is a welcome addition to this year’s team;

Jamie Fehoko’s Highlight Reel

Here is my quick interview with him;

Interview with Jamie Fehoko

Lavorick Williams is a football player.  He is also a runner.  A sprinter to be exact.  And, he wants to do both.  In high school he was a receiver and caught passes from fellow Miner Tate Smith at Odessa’s Permian High School.  He also ran track.
     He was recruited by New Mexico State to play football.

     ”They didn’t have a track team and I wanted to do both.  After we lost Coach Mumme, I came over here.  I wanted to play football and run track, and Coach Price gave me an opportunity.”

     After sitting out a year, due to the transfer, he is now ready to play football again and get back to the cinder track.  He will run the 100 and 200 meters.  I asked him what his best time in the 100 meters was.

     ”In high school I ran a 10.4(seconds).”

     To put this in perspective, at this year’s C-USA Track and Field Championships his 10.4 second 100 meters would have placed him second behind UTEP’s Ronalds Arajs’ 10.34 and ahead of Houston’s Isaiah Sweeney’s 10.51.  With UTEP’s track coach’s help, he may just end up being the next one in the long line of UTEP’s history of world class sprinters.
     But first, keep your eyes on him in this season’s football games.  He will be the one that appears to be a blur running past his defender.  Don’t blink though, or you might not see it happen.
     I asked him who is the fastest man on the football team.

     ”Ah, me.  Without a doubt”

The complete interview can be seen below;

Lavorick Williams

As always, it was the kickers that were the first players on the field for practice.  They were soon joined by long snapper Matt Camilli.  The kickers began playing a game with the footballs.  I don’t know what the game was but they were into it.  One of the Graduate Assistants came out.  He began looking for takers on a bet that he could kick a 20 yard field goal.  He hit a 20 yard hot grounder that bounced 3 or 4 times before rolling to a stop in the right side of the endzone.  He fell to the ground and started pushing El Paso away from his chest, repeating the action twenty times.  The kickers did a bunch of knee slapping, and hooting loudly.  Then, Dakota Warren kicked a 40 yard field goal-left footed!  It went straight through the uprights with plenty of leg to spare.  Not to be out done, punter Ian Campbell drop-kicked a 40 yarder, splitting the uprights.
     Speaking of kickers, I asked Warren after practice if he could beat Martinez’s 63 yard record field goal.  He confidently replied that he could.  I am going to ask him to show it, soon.
     The first player other than the members of the kicking team was quarterback Carson Meger, who quickly joined right in with the kicker’s games.  He is pretty good at kicking the ball, too.
     The stands of the Sun Bowl had a much larger crowd of spectators than usual, as the University of Monterey Tech football team was there observing the Miners team.
     Alex Solot was in back pads and tight end Craig Wenrick was finally without a red jersey.
     Coach Price called the team together to begin practice, as he always does.  He introduced the team to Ft. Bliss’ Garrison Commander Joseph Simonelli.  His wife is a UTEP alum by the way.  He spoke for about 5 minutes and when he was finished he received an enthusiastic round of applause.
     During practice, linebacker Greg Watkins went up like a power forward blocking a shot and pulled down an interception.  A little later, linebacker Anthony Morrow grabbed a pass for the second interception.  Then, cornerback Martell Strange got his interception diving for a sideline pass.  Finally,  the old veteran of the defensive team, Braxton Amy went high in the air to get his interception.
     Now, remember the question about who is the fastest Miner?  Here’s a quick review.  The question was asked in the Den about a week ago.  So, I asked Coach Price.  He said it was Buckram.  I mentioned Vernon Frazier, and Coach said that Frazier might beat DBuck at 60 yards.  Coach then mentioned Traun Roberson had run a 10.4 second 100 meters, and running back Nathan Jeffery had run a 10.5 hundred meters.  So, today I went straight to the players.  I asked Vernon.  Without any hesitation he stated that he was the fastest.  About three times.  Then, I asked Buckram.  He said there was no question about it.  He was the fastest.  Not only that, he told me that he had challenged the running backs, the receivers, everyone, and no one wanted any of it.  Then, I asked wide receiver Lavorick Williams who ran a 10.4 in high school, who was the fastest.  “Ah, me!” was his instant response, grinning broadly.  I sure would love to see a race with all of them involved.

Odessa, Texas’ Permian High School is legendary in West Texas football.  Football, for young men there, isn’t just something to do, it is the thing they spend their early years of life preparing for.  Tate Smith became the quarterback of the Permian Panthers football team.  He was recruited out of high school to play for Darrell Dickey at North Texas.  But, as so often is the case, there came a coaching change, as Dickey was fired.

“When he was fired, I was kind of left high and dry”, said Smith.

     So, he enrolled at Cisco College.  His stay at Cisco was a short one.  He called Rocky Long, the head coach at UNM and asked if he could walk on to their program.  Long promised only that he would be given a chance.  The next season, when the Lobo’s starting quarterback was injured, Smith got his chance.  He played against some of the top ranked teams in the country, including the 6th ranked Utes of Utah, and the 8th ranked BYU Cougars.

“You know, 80 thousand in front of BYU, that’s pretty exciting”, he said, with a big smile.

     Then, another one of those coaching changes came.  Rocky Long stepped down from the UNM head coaching job.  Mike Locksley came in, and Smith’s time at UNM began to sour.  Locksley promised a scholarship, but it never came.
     Back home, Smith’s mother was battling breast cancer and the Smith’s needed the help that the scholarship would provide.  Smith realized that the scholarship wasn’t going to be given to him.  With all of those years of doing what is right for the team that had been instilled in him, he decided to leave the team.  Even though he was the starter, he decided that it was best for him to leave rather than allow his situation with Locksley to cause a problem for the team.
     Smith resigned himself to giving up his college football career.  He had already worked it out that he would become the quarterbacks coach back at his high school.
     Smith called his old teammate from Permian,  receiver Lavorick Williams.  Williams had transferred from New Mexico State last year and was now at UTEP.  Williams told UTEP’s quarterback coach, Aaron Price that he had a friend who would be interested in walking onto the UTEP team.
     
“But, now I have a chance to play the great game.”

     Asked if he was looking forward to the upcoming UTEP/UNM game a broad grin spread across his face.

“I definitely am…I definitely would like to go down there and beat those guys.”

     His mother’s cancer is in remission and it was her fighting spirit that inspired him to come back and fight to play the game he loves so much.

Watch the entire interview;

Tate Smith Interview

The patches of blue were few and far between the varying shades of gray clouds in the sky above the Glory Road practice field.  The place kickers were the first to arrive.  Dakota Warren just missed dropping a football into the platform at the top of the tower in the end zone with a kick, and hitting the equipment person in it.  Grinning, he put another football under the holder at the 35 yar…

Ian Campbell

As for practice, it was a short one today.  At this point, it seems to me that coaches are doing some of the polishing to get ready for the season.  Corey Trisby looks really good at the receiver position.  He is 6′ 2″, and a natural athlete who can really go up and pull a pass in.  Braxton Amy went up and intercepted a pass, something we should see a lot of when the season gets underway.  De Andre Little, the highly ranked linebacker from Arizona was back on the field practicing after having gotten dinged up a little in last Saturday’s scrimmage.  Power running back Leilyon Myers speed is deceptive.  He is big and strong, and takes longer strides than the other backs, so his legs don’t seem to have the quickness of motion.  But, you realize that when he gets through a hole, he is running down hill, and is a load to stop.  Coach Banks told me when we landed him that he would remind me of Marcus Thomas, and the more I see him run, the more I agree.
     A question came up on the Den’s board about who was the fastest player on the team.  I posed the question to Coach Price, and he said it would be Buckram.  When I asked how Vernon Frazier would compare, he said that Frazier might beat Buckram at 60 yards.  Then he brought up Traun Roberson, who has run a 10.4 100 meters and a 21.7 200.  He also said that Nathan Jeffery has run a 10.5 100 meters.
Coach Price;

Coach Price

Much of Friday night’s practice was conducted under one of those thunderstorms that El Pasoans are familiar with.  They tempt you to get started on your ark, but an hour later the rain is gone.  It did give the team a chance to practice in those conditions in case they have to play in that kind of weather(remember last year’s NMSU game), and it did cool the players off.  It also drove the marching band to seek the protection of the Sun Bowl concourse, giving players and fans that sound that gets them pumped up for the kind of passionate play that college football produces.
     Last night’s scrimmage looked like it might get the same treatment, as thunderclouds gathered and flashes of lightning could be seen.  Once the scrimmage began it was Trevor Vittatoe, Donald Buckram, Joe Banyard, and the return men who provided the lightning strikes on the field.
     It wasn’t really a fair fight as the Blue Team had the star players, and starters.  Vittatoe looked sharp with his passes, and Buckram showed why he is one of the best running backs in the country.  Running back  Joe Banyard also got his turn and showed his combination of speed and power.  Marlon McClure and Evan Davis broke off long punt returns for touchdowns of 76 and 67 yards, respectively.  Donavon Kemp took a kickoff with his back foot on the end done stripe and when he was finished he had put the other 99 yards behind him for another touchdown.
     Carson Meger continues to show why he was given the reins of the Orange Team, even though he was preparing for play on Friday nights at this time last year, with his play that shows he has the instincts and perhaps the eyes in the back of his head that special quarterbacks have.  Leilyon Myers looked good, showing his style of power running for the Orange Team, and late in the scrimmage, Nathan Jeffery came in and showed what could be our running back of the future.
     One last thing I want to mention.  Punter Ian Campbell, who drove to El Paso with his father, loved the UTEP campus and the warmth of the friendly folks of El Paso, but had to drive up to Socorro to find the football team and coaches, has everyone bug-eyed and grinning like Cheshire Cats with his punting.  Even his rugby-style punts travel 50 plus yards.
     Coach Price was happy with his first team’s offense and defense, but says there is still work to  be done before the season kicks off.  He said that there will be two more chances for his team to practice under the lights of the Sun Bowl before the season starts.  See his post-scrimmage interview and get stats here;
http://kyyotesden.com/Den/index.php?topic=4273.0

The Miners hit paydirt with the 2006 recruiting class.  Here’s a look at some of the players from that class and how they have fared.
     Cornelius Brown has already gone on to the NFL with the Chicago Bears.  A couple of other players from that class, no longer Miners, are Jose Martinez and Kyle Peterson.  Martinez made the 2007 Second Team,  All-Conference Team.  Peterson was an Honorable Mention on the 2008 All-Conference Team, and Martinez moved up to the First Team.  Martinez also tied the NCAA all time record for the longest field goal of 63 yards that season.
     Members of that class, still on the Miners current roster that have already been honored, are almost sure to add to their resumes.  Wide Receiver Kris Adams and quarterback Trevor Vittatoe were Honorable Mentions on the 2008 All-Conference Team.  Vittatoe is rewriting the Miners record books at quarterback.
     The 2009 All-Conference Team included Donald Buckram, a Walter Camp Award nominee for 2010(the first in UTEP history) on the First Team, and offensive linemen Tanner Cullumber, Rod Huntley, and Alex Solot receiving Honorable Mentions.  Vittatoe was again an Honorable Mention on the 2009 All-Conference Team.  You can expect some, if not all, of those players to be selected again.
     There are other members of that 2006 class that will have a good chance of garnering recognition for their play, after the 2010 season.  Evan Davis and Pierce Hunter will have their chances to join Kris Adams on the All-Conference Team as receivers.  Tight Ends Jonathon Moore and Elijah Goldtrap will also have their chances, as they are both very strong, and talented at their position.  Anthony McNac and Will Osolinsky could easily be the fourth and fifth offensive linemen from that 2006 class to make the 2010 All-Conference Team.  Osolinsky was a member of the All Freshmen Team, as was linebacker Anthony Morrow.  Don’t be surprised to see linebacker Royzell Smith join others from the 2006 class on the All-Conference Team.
     There are other members of that class that have been solid contributors to the team, and give the Miners excellent depth at their positions.  James Thomas III will see time at quarterback, running back, and receiver.  His versatility allows the Miners to utilize him in a variety of ways, and to keep opposing teams guessing as to just what he will do.  Running back Jason Williams gives the Miners running game a different look with his power running.
     The biggest problem this class presented the Miners coaches was finding ways to get them on the field.  Too much talent is the kind of problem all coaches would love to have.  The 2006 class has already paid big dividends, and this season the dividends will most likely be even better.

I have been watching UTEP football for a long time, and I don’t know that I can remember the defense being the bright spot.  I have to wonder if I haven’t been transported to a parallel universe, where things are turned around.  I have been seeing a very different defensive attitude, and play since Andre Patterson arrived.  I have thought that it is a new scheme, and the defensive players are just fired up because it is new.  Wrong!       
     This defense got it started in the spring.  Players could hardly control their enthusiasm for the defense, and the coaching Coach Patterson and the defensive coaches had brought in.  Since retuning from the summer break, this most amazing transformation has come about.  I believe that last Saturday, in the last scrimmage in Socorro, something special happened.  The defense laid claim to the green stuff.  They made it clear to the offense that they were out to take the upper hand.  It came after the offense did what it always has done-come out and roll over the defense on the way to quick scores.  The offense got 2 touchdowns in the first three series, but then it stopped.  The offense found that the defense was getting kind of stingy with that grass.  By the end of that scrimmage, it was the defense that wanted more, and the offense that had had all they wanted.  The defense had found a heart, some guts, and some brass ones.
     Tonight, the defense showed that this new found attitude was here to stay.  With each play the defense got stronger, played with more fire, and and were feeding off of each others energy.  This is not a mirage, or some illusion.  This is not some false bravado the defense has found.  This is the real deal.  This team is playing tough, hard-nosed defense.  And having fun doing it.
     I will be putting up quite a bit of video of tonight’s plays.  Do yourself a favor, and take a look for yourself.  I love me some wide open offense, but bone crushing, smothering defense is just as good, if not better.

Some news and notes;
There were a few players who got a little dinged up, but they will be fine.
Tim Curry will be transferring out of UTEP.  He is a fine young man, and a fine quarterback.  But, he just can’t get the playing time he desires so much as the competitor he is.  Coach Price said that he will help him get to a place where he can get his chance to play.  I personally want to wish him the very best.

Every year, fans express their joy when highly ranked recruits are signed, considerable angst when comparing their team’s recruiting class to others in the conference,  and there are always those who complain that their coaches can’t/aren’t recruiting well enough.  UTEP fans aren’t immune to this desire to see where their recruiting class stands.  Recruiting sites usually have a ranking according to their ratings of the recruits.   
     I thought I would take a look at how UTEP’s recruits actually fared in conference competition.  I used a point system in which a first team All-Conference player had a given value of 2 points, and a second team player was given a value of 1 point.  I used the All-Conference teams from the period of 2006 through 2009. 
     The 2006 team had players who were recruited before Mike Price’s arrival, and one of his recruits from his 2005 recruiting class.  I should point out that the 2006 All-Conference team contributed 13 points to UTEP’s total.  Also, of those 13 points, Johnnie Lee Higgins was responsible for 5 of those points.  he was on the first team as a Wide Receiver, and Kick Returner, and on the second team as the Punt Returner.  Quentin Demps, Troy Collavo, and Reagan Schneider, also recruited before Price’s arrival, were all members of the first team.  These players had been under Price’s coaches for years, though, and so even though they had not been recruited by him, I don’t think it would have been completely fair to ignore their success.   For the four years from 2006-2009, UTEP totaled 36 points, which would rank them fourth of the twelve teams.  Here is the ranking of the twelve teams, from first to last.  Southern Miss ranks at the top of the list with 45 points, followed by Houston with 41 points, and UCF with 39 points.  Below UTEP, at fifth place is Tulsa with a total of 35 points.  At sixth place is ECU with 32 points, followed by Marshall in seventh place with a 29 point total.  There is a ten point drop from seventh to eighth place with Rice and UAB tied with nineteen points.  Tenth place belongs to SMU with eighteen points.  Eleventh place is Memphis with their fifteen points.  At the bottom of the list is Tulane with eleven points.
     I don’t claim this to be the perfect way to rate the coaches, or their recruiting, but I think it does give a general  idea of how UTEP’s recruiting compares to the other teams in the conference.  Perhaps the number of players sent to the professional ranks might be another way of looking at this, and might even be a better measuring stick.  Also, the size of the individual recruiting classes (especially the number of recruiting slots inherited from previous coaches), would be a factor, especially in this limited time period that I used. 
     Looking at this season’s UTEP roster, there is a number of recruits from the 2006 recruiting class that could easily end up on the 2010 All-Conference team.  Here is the numbers for each of the past four years, ranked from top to bottom for each year;