Head Coach Sean Kugler sent his Offensive Coordinator packing over the weekend. With the power of a spit ball battling a tank, the Miners offense has become the offense that leaves opposing teams shaking in their boot, with laughter. An offense built on the philosophy of the power running game, controlling time of possession and out physicaling their opponents has been able to move the ball forward at the same rate as an Alaskan glacier. The past two games running attack produced 26 yards and 17 yards. The funny thing about those totals is that their really is no one word in the English language capable of capturing just how bad this is.
After Friday night’s performance against Arizona with a nationally televised audience, Coach Kugler announced that something had to change. As a Miners fan and graduate of UTEP I certainly agree with that. We Miners fans have learned not to say, “It couldn’t get any worse”. You would think that it couldn’t get any worse, but trust me, the Miners have for the past 35 years I have been witness to always find a way. If you dare God to strike you with lightning and he does it, again and again, eventually you stop daring God. So, we have learned to say things like, “I hope this works”.
That hoping this works is exactly where we are as of today. We have had Sean Kugler proudly claim ownership of his basic philosophy. To almost everyone’s eye, it is his basic philosophy that has been the failure. It is his playbook, his practices, his game planning under his leadership that has failed. What we have been given is Sean Kugler either saying that he had given complete control of the offense over to Mease or that the philosophy and plays are fine, it is just in the way they were being used.
Brian Natkin, former UTEP consensus All-American tight end and Tight Ends coach has been handed the play calling duties. This is a very interesting choice. The lack of a downfield passing attack has been blamed for the inability to get the running game going. WE had been left with the question of whether or not that was Kugler’s choice or Pease’s. Now, that has been eliminated, but of all of the coaches to pick to do the play calling, Kugler chose Natkin. A tight end in Kugler’s rushing attack is one more lineman. A lineman that can catch a forward pass. Wait, let me restate that. In Kugler’s offense, a tight end is a lineman who is allowed by the rules of football to catch a forward pass. So, we have gone from one question as to where the blame lies for how the offense has conducted it self for Kugler’s entire tenure at the helm, and specifically for the past year and a few games. Was it Pease or was Pease one head of the Kugler hydra? Will Natkin be giver the reins and if so will Kugler be standing there holding the lead horses’ bridles? If Natkin is turned loose, will he mirror his Head Coach’s philosophy and make it work, or will he open up the offense and use the forward pass as an equal partner in a complete offensive attack?
Today’s press conference will give us lots of hints and plenty of fat to chew on, but the first half of the game in Las Cruces will tell us the truth, I expect.
Maybe this will be the change the Miners needed. The final piece of the puzzle. Where are my orange colored glasses, again. No, I can’t wear those welders goggles anymore. They are just too dark. These orange ones should be alright to wear for the Aggie game.
GO MINERS!