Illinois hires former UTEP coach Dana Dimel as a senior offensive assistant
UTEP coach Dana Dimel reacts after talking to his players during a time out in an NCAA college football game against Liberty on Nov. 25, 2023, in El Paso, Texas. Dimel has been hired as a senior offensive assistant at Illinois, coach Bret Bielema announced Monday, July 22, 2024. Credit: AP/Andres Leighton
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Former UTEP coach Dana Dimel has been hired as a senior offensive assistant at Illinois, coach Bret Bielema announced Monday.
Dimel was UTEP's coach from 2018-23 and previously was coach at Wyoming and Houston.
The Miners were 5-26 over Dimel's first three seasons in El Paso and went 7-6 and played in the New Mexico Bowl in 2021. He was fired last November after back-to-back losing seasons.
Dimel coached Wyoming to three straight winning seasons from 1997-99 and had three losing seasons in a row at Houston from 2000-02. He had three stints as an assistant at Kansas State and also worked at Arizona.
Bielema also announced the hiring of former Western Illinois coach Myers Hendrickson as a senior analyst.
