Bob Stull

stull turned 70 on saturday! abc-seven’s stephanie valle sat down with him to talk sports, life and legacy. it’s a story you’ll see only on abc-7: “i didn’t know i could live tha long. time flies when you’re having fun.” much of the time — and the fun — happening at utep. stull was offered the head coaching job in 1985. and he wasn’t sold on the idea. they’d never won. in fact, the most games they had won from 1970 was 2. what convinced him? the fact that our children were a long way from grandma .. .we decided to go ahead and take the risk. 4.40 expectations were low. people would always tell me, ‘win three games. win nmsu and two other games and people will put a statue of you downtown and elect you mayor.’ 5.48 nats: 88 highlights steph: in three years — stull turned a division one chump — into champs. winning 10 games — taking the miners to their first bowl game in more than 20 years. 11.30 it was a special year … it really was. 11:38 nats music video the ups come with downs. nats: 5th down game five of them! nats: fifth down game stull’s stint as head coach at missouri memorialized in 1990 — when refs accidentally allowed eventual national champ colorado a game- winning fifth down — instead of four. 13.11 after the game it took them 1:30 to figure it out. when he heard what happened, he pulled over and threw up, he was so upset. nats stull eventually returned to utep in 1998 — as athletic director. 19.30 the biggest thing i wanted to do was make us a viably recognized division i athletic department. the larry k durham center was the first facility built during bob stull’s tenure. and it helped him clear a major hurdle: of creating and updating utep’s athletic facilities. we went from the very worst facilities in the conference to the very best. 15.09 the helen of troy softball field — and the foster stevens basketball complex. all made possible through major community buy-in. 14.56 if you have something you can show enthusiastic fans and donors where you can make progress, then you can buy into it. nats what they have to show right now — an injury-riddled football team with a losing record — and a young basketball team attempting a rebound after a sluggish season. but stull brushes off criticism. 23.19 what we’ve done is built facilities, hired coaches, and made progress to at some point, win that championship and stay at the very very top. but it’s a process we have to go through. 23.35 stull credits a quality staff — nats: his trusting and respectful relationship with the university president — 1.00 i think that kind of relationship is what i value the most in the time that bob and i have worked together. 1.08 “her vision for the campus ha been tremendous. 40.39 his strong wife and children — 17.15 the combination of all the being on your own, raising the children, she’s been a tremendous wife, and we’ve been together for 34 years. 17.24 and you. 34.10 what really makes a strong program is the support of the community. 34.15 at 70 — stull feels as old as the company he keeps. 42.50 she calls me frat boy sometimes. because we’re always around the student athletes. having fun — and not ready to slow down. sv, abc-7.