March 27, 2008

UTEP will kick off 2008 football spring drills on Tuesday at Glory Field.

The Miners will have 14 practices leading up to the annual Spring Game on Friday, May 2 at 7 p.m. in the Sun Bowl.

Workouts are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m., and are open to the public. The first day of pads will be Saturday, April 5.

UTEP returns 47 letterwinners - 22 on both sides of the ball and three kickers - from last year's squad that finished 4-8 overall and 2-6 in Conference USA play. The Miners have 16 starters back - six on offense, eight on defense and both kickers.

The Miners have five new assistant coaches, including three on defense. Osia Lewis takes over as UTEP's defensive coordinator after serving in the same capacity at New Mexico for the last five years. Other additions to the Miner staff include associate head coach/co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bob Connelly, defensive line coach DeChon Burns, wide receivers coach Guy Holliday and cornerbacks coach Allen Johnson.

UTEP will be shifting from a 4-3 defensive scheme to a 3-3-5 this fall.

"I'm excited about the start of spring ball, and I'm anxious to see how the changes we made over the winter will turn out," UTEP coach Mike Price said. "Adding five new coaches gives new breath to the team, and guys who weren't getting a chance before will get a chance now. Everybody has an even start."

The Miners return quarterback Trevor Vittatoe, who set school records for passing yards (3,101) and passing touchdowns (25) last season, as well as their top receiver in Jeff Moturi (65-891-13 in '07). UTEP has three of five starters back in the offensive line in left tackle Mike Aguayo, center Robby Felix and left guard Cameron Raschke. The Miners will need to replace 1,166-yard rusher Marcus Thomas and build depth at wide receiver this spring.

Nine of the top 12 tacklers from last season are back, including Braxton Amy who had a team-leading 112 stops a year ago while splitting time at SAM linebacker and free safety. Significant losses on defense include safety/cornerback Quintin Demps, who had 17 career interceptions, and linebacker Jeremy Jones, who registered 298 stops with the Miners.

"All kinds of positions are open, and that's the way I want to keep it," Price said. "We might have lulled ourselves to sleep the last couple of years, and I want to make sure most of the positions are really competitive."