Univ. of Houston Fires FB Coach 11/24/2002 HOUSTON (AP) - Houston football coach Dana Dimel was fired Sunday after compiling a 7-26 record in three seasons. Dimel will stay on for the Cougars' final game Saturday, at home against Louisville. Following last season's 0-11 record — the first winless campaign in school history — Houston went 4-7 this year. The Cougars ended a 15-game losing streak with a season-opening 24-10 victory over Rice, and they were 4-4 at one point, but they lost their last three games. "This is not a market that we can have the kind of program that we've had in the past few years and we need to elevate that," athletic director Dave Maggard said. "We need to have greater expectations." Maggard said a search would begin immediately for a successor. Dimel was hired in 1999 after leading Wyoming to a 23-12 record in three seasons. Dimel went 8-5, 8-3 and 7-4 at Wyoming, but without strong recruiting classes, the program dropped off dramatically. The Cowboys went 1-10 the year after Dimel's departure. The Cougars went 3-8 in Dimel's first season before the winless 2000 season, in which the team lost by an average of 22 points. The Cougars blew a 28-6 second quarter lead and lost to Alabama-Birminghan 51-34 on Oct. 12. They defeated Army 56-42 to snap a 14-game Conference-USA losing streak. "There are a lot of games we lost that we should have won, so I can see where he's coming from on that," running back Joffrey Reynolds said of Maggard's decision. "You can't fault him for trying to get the program going in the direction that it should be going, which is winning." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021125/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_dimel_houston_2 --- Poor guy. Never had a chance Trivia: What bold prediction did Dimel make at his introductory press conference?
He clearly didn't give the program a chance to turn it around. I'm guessing his prediction was that within five years they'd win a conference title.
I am glad. It sucks that UH has dropped off so dramatically from where it once was. Hopefuly someday it will be back. Dimel had alot of talent, but obviously he didnt use it in the right way. There always seemed to be questionable calls in alot of games. This sucks for him though, he is a nice guy the few times I've talked to him. But he had his chance, and at least UH is not going to accept losing, and the Cougars will not be happy until they are back to respectability in the top 25. With the recruiting classes they've had the last few years, it is certainly possible given the right coach.
He came into a bad situation. The "cupboard" was bare. The program hit its low point last year. While Dimel will get blamed for it, I think it was lag from the Helton years. If his players quit on him then it is time for a change. It will be interesting who UH gets next...will they feel burned after paying Dimel? Getting Mike Stoops is a pipe dream, but his little brother Mark will be available. UH shouldn't have a problem winning in C-USA (the main reason Dimel got canned). UT fans will know the answer to the trivia
I'm gonna get this rumor started: The Coogs need a drastic change. Hire Grambling's Doug Williams. He's got the name recognition and has put up good numbers there.
Greg Davis as OC and RC Slocum as DC A win-win situation I hear Randy Shannon, the DC of the Miami Hurricanes is on the Coogs shortlist. They've had a Dana. Now they can have a Shannon.
Good move. Ever since 96', it has just been downhill. The only good thing coming out from UH football has been Antowain Smith. That's it. Dimel sucked and has never recruited a good class of players.
And the cougars lucked into getting Smith. I dont get the thinking here: UH was terrible before he got there, sorry but any coach needs more than 3 years to rebuild a program. Was dimel great, no, but was he "really" given a chance?
Well, there is the talk of not giving him a chance. That's true. He was 4-7 this season and 7-26 overall. But we gave him 3 years. We could of fired him after that winless season! But we gave him another chance and still couldn't pull through. I think there should be more blame on the coaches he worked with. They should be fired too.
Dimel clearly wasn't getting it done. One could say that he wasn't given long enough and they'd have a good argument. But let's be realistic...UH athletics will disappear if they continue to rack up red ink financially. Maggert knows that he has ZERO margin for error and that he has to energize the alumni base. In order to even have a remote chance of doing that he will need to bring in a coach who will generate excitement just because of his presence. Any of the Stoops brothers will have enough name recognition to create interest in Cougar football.
Another reason why I don't join the Alumni events and other crap is because overall, UH SPORTS SUCKS!! They haven't improved anywhere in their sports except for baseball. That's it. Their football team hasn't had a legitimate season since 1996. Their basketball team hasn't been all that since the early 90's. I'm embarrassed at times when people say they've graduated from UT, A&M, etc. They have that sports pride to back them up while UH can't help me out in that department.
A&M basketball has been AWFUL for a long time now. I still went to as many games as I could when in school and still find my way up for 1 or 2 a season now. If you and your friends at UH don't do the same and fast...you might not have any teams to complain about in the near future.
But even before I went to UH, I was never a fan of their sports administration. I was just going there to get a degree. They just didn't do it for me. They need to get their athletic administration straightened out and try to build on some strong marketing skills to attract some major players and more fan basis. Then I might be there supporting them in the near future....
It didn't help that their starting qb Neely went down against UT to a knee injury. That guy could play. What about the basketball team losing to PRARIE VIEW Saturday night? Talk about embarassing.
I don't disagree Refman, on dimel getting it done, however, for any bad bad d1 teams out there, 3 years is not enough to resurrect a program is my contention. Either you fold football or you be patient. All the recycling of coaches does is make it worse. You can't develop continuity, chemistry, time to see out your imprint on the team, etc. And Smith only went to UH because he had to care for his sick grandmother. Whatever its worth. This isn't as knock at Cougar football, this is an objective college football fan seeing this dilemma all across the country and not surprised when these programs go down the toilet.
