UTEP football kicks off 2021 campaign with the start of training camp

EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP football team is feeling the pressure as they prepare to kickoff their season in 2021.

Friday was the official start of training camp for the Miners.

Normally, UTEP would head to Ruidoso, NM for Fall camp, but due to the pandemic the Miners are staying put in El Paso.

UTEP head coach Dana Dimel enters his 4th season at the helm of the UTEP football program.

Last season was Dimel's best season at UTEP as the Miners ended the year with a 3-5 record, UTEP was only able to play 8 games due to Covid-19.

The Miners are looking to build off that three win season, and they have the veteran experience to be successful.

UTEP wide receiver, Justin Garrett (redshirt senior) returns to the team after being granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA due to the pandemic.

The veteran leadership is there for the Miners, but so is the pressure to win.

"It's a lot of pressure this year," Garrett said. "We're not just close anymore, we are right there, and now we got to go in there and finish those games and get those wins. There's a pressure to win games for sure."

The Miners made some coaching changes during the off season with the hiring of new offensive coordinator, Dave Warner and new defensive coordinator, Bradley Dale Peveto.

UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison likes what he sees from the new coaching staff, and he feels like he's made some strides entering his junior season.

"I think there were a lot of things that I wanted to improve on," Hardison said. "I felt like I had a lot of weaknesses and I wanted to really improve on my accuracy, deep ball accuracy, better timing with my receivers and seeing things faster.

Coach Dimel likes where his team is at entering Fall camp, but it's still a work in process.

"It's a big day for our team and we were so looking forward to this," Dimel said. "Obviously you want to execute, and be on point the whole day, and I was pleased with our effort and where we were today. We'll clean some things up, we'll have a short turnaround and we'll be back at it tomorrow morning."

The 2020 season was filled was various challenges due to the pandemic, but the Miners are thankful to be back and they're looking forward to a successful campaign in 2021.

That all starts with training camp.

UTEP opens their season on the road at New Mexico State, August 28.