Last season was one of the most disastrous seasons for the UTEP Miners. Some time not too far from today, they were ranked 117th in the league, in terms of their defensive play. UTEP Minors? management did their bit by shuffling coaches around, but that could have them improve their rankings only by 2 places. 115th place ? That's all that UTEP Minors could muster at the end of last season!

Change is always welcome, but with the UTEP Miners, it can be said that change is something of a necessity here!

Last season was one of the most disastrous seasons for the UTEP Miners. Some time not too far from today, they were ranked 117th in the league, in terms of their defensive play. UTEP Minors? management did their bit by shuffling coaches around, but that could have them improve their rankings only by 2 places. 115th place ? That's all that UTEP Minors could muster at the end of last season!

Obviously, the UTEP management realized something was amiss. Putting together a string of X and O on the board is okay, but it would sooner than later come to zero if the plans are not implemented properly. To the credit of UTEP, there was no shortage of plans. If anything, their plans were just as good as any other plan in the league. Alas! The plans could not be implemented on the field.

This triggered the UTEP management to think of wholesale changes in their defensive line. They felt the need of having bigger and stronger people in their defensive line to ensure minimal slip-up of points. This could thwart some of the defensive issues that UTEP has at the moment. In reality though, another set of problems dominate the plate of UTEP.

One of them is injuries to their key defenders. Roddray Walker, Royzell Smith and Brandis Dew, all of them seemed to have some niggle or the other. As on date, only Dew seems to be fit enough to take the field. Recruiting fresh players at this moment could pose some challenges. The first of them would be train them to gel well with the existing players.

Obviously, second in line would be on getting them acclimatized to the playing conditions. But the biggest challenge UTEP would need to overcome is the absence of Braxton Amy. Amy would have been the player who could fit easily into the scheme of things. This could have allowed the UTEP to employ a 3-3-5 hybrid defense with Amy in the middle. With Amy not in the picture, that seems unlikely to happen.

In terms of looking ahead, all their offensive line has done in the last season gives enough reasons for UTEP Miners to believe they have a potent future. On an average, 38 of the 44 UTEP touchdowns return to the base, which can only be good for the Miners. Add to this the fact that they have lost only one starter in the offensive line, and you would know that they have a strong offensive line.

It is the defense that UTEP Miners need some work. With the kind of recruits being spoken of to join the team, surely the management is working on this aspect hard.

Bleak present but a good future ahead ? That is UTEP Miners for you!