The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Dana Dimel

Followed Mike Price. Dana Dimel held UTEP at Regional Program V for 6 seasons.

Peak, then fade

50–88

1997–2023 · 3 stints

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Wyoming, 3 seasons

−2.9

National Program III → National Program III.

Houston, 3 seasons

−6.9

Regional Program II → Regional Program III.

UTEP, 6 seasons

−1.3

Regional Program VI → Regional Program V.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

UTEP2.6pt#248 of 258 · less than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

2–4 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Seth Littrell.

Rivalry record

2–4

33.3% · 2 rivals

One-score games

17–24

41.5% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–2

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Colorado State1–233%

Rice1–233%

The toughest matchup

vs. Seth Littrell0–4

4 meetings, 2018–2021

’18 L · blew a 3-pt lead’19 L’20 L · blew a 7-pt lead’21 L · blew a 7-pt lead

0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

0–2 0.0%

Power Program

2–11 15.4%

National Program

7–19 26.9%

Regional Program

32–52 38.1%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact

-0.01

#163 of 319 · a typical amount

Defense marginal impact

-0.02

#174 of 325 · a typical amount

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2018–2023

UTEPcaretaker

Regional Program V → Regional Program V

Dana Dimel held UTEP at Regional Program V for 6 seasons.

17th-best UTEP tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent

+0.8 pts

#108 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

+4.1 pts

#84 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Mike Price (2004–2017) · succeeded by Scotty Walden (2024–2026).

Season	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Record & result
Record	1–11	1–11	3–5	7–6	5–7	3–9
Postseason	—	—	—	L bowl	—	—
Recruiting rank	#127	#111	#129	#127	#124	#120
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	43.1	43.0	44.4	43.2	45.1	42.5
Coordinators
OC	Mike Canales	Mike Canales	Mike Canales	Dave Warner	Dave Warner	Scotty Ohara
DC	Mike Cox	Mike Cox	Mike Cox	Bradley Dale Peveto	Bradley Dale Peveto	Bradley Dale Peveto
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	4	36	38	62	44	36
Defense	44	2	45	66	58	30
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	34.0	43.8	32.1	33.4	39.7	32.1
Red-zone pass%	26.2	38.1	14.9	30.9	35.6	31.1
4th-down go%opp. territory	22.2	38.5	42.1	31.2	44.7	48.8

Roster construction · portal era

Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.

Portal arrivals

2.2★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

-18

#180 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)

6′1″, 195 lbs

across 4 of 7 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

-1.5 lbs

#243 of 255 · less than most

Avg. class year

#149 of 255 · a typical amount

Top states: MO (1), KS (1), GA (1), TX (1)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

16.2

position-weighted

Talent lost

41.8

position-weighted

Net

-25.6

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Dre Spriggs (WR) from UTSA

Biggest loss: Jakolby Longino (QB) to Lamar

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

OC: Mike Canales → Dave Warner · 2021the system held

2-season window either side.

1st-down pass rate: 38.0% → 36.6% (-1.4 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 105% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

OC: Dave Warner → Scotty Ohara · 2023

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

1st-down pass rate: 39.7% → 32.1% (-7.6 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 54% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

DC: Mike Cox → Bradley Dale Peveto · 2021the defense leveled up

2-season window either side.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

210 lbs

6′3″ avg · #459 of 767 · a typical amount

Running back

210 lbs

5′11″ avg · #292 of 791 · a typical amount

Wide receiver

188 lbs

5′11″ avg · #600 of 791 · less than most

Tight end

245 lbs

6′2″ avg · #377 of 731 · a typical amount

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

Interior line

313 lbs

6′4″ avg · #243 of 779 · a typical amount

D-line

278 lbs

6′2″ avg · #506 of 753 · a typical amount

Edge

240 lbs

6′2″ avg · #170 of 188 · less than most

Linebacker

227 lbs

6′1″ avg · #447 of 772 · a typical amount

Cornerback

186 lbs

5′11″ avg · #576 of 771 · a typical amount

Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows K from high school

100%

#52 of 56 stints

Grows Quarterback from high school

75%

#164 of 206 stints

Postseason detail2021: Lost to Fresno State 24–31 PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl

3 NFL Draft picks: Will Hernandez (2018), Tyrice Knight (2024), Elijah Klein (2024)

20–49

2000–2002

Houstoncaretaker

Regional Program I → Regional Program II

Dana Dimel slid Houston from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 3 seasons.

16th-best Houston tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Kim Helton (1993–1999) · succeeded by Art Briles (2003–2007).

2 NFL Draft picks: Mike Green (2000), Hanik Milligan (2003)

8–26

1997–1999

Wyomingcaretaker

National Program III → National Program III

Dana Dimel held Wyoming at National Program III for 3 seasons.

5th-best Wyoming tenure of 22 by the numbers.

Followed Joe Tiller (1991–1996) · succeeded by Vic Koenning (2000–2002).

3 NFL Draft picks: Steve Scifres (1997), Lee Vaughn (1997), Marcus Harris (1997)

22–13