Scotty Walden’s start has been the dream Miner fans have wanted. Yet, for dreams to come to fruition, it takes understanding, patience, and hope.  

For multiple years, hope has been foreign to Miner fans.  That was until 34-year-old exuberant coach, born in Cleburne, Texas, Scotty Walden arrived.  

The 27th UTEP football head coach in history immediately demonstrated a reason to have hope, for both the casual, and diehard UTEP football fan.  

“Hello! It’s a great day to be a Miner! Come on!” said Walden when speaking to the press for the very first time as the official head coach of UTEP football.  

All offseason, UTEP’s new hire has reinvigorated spirit and aspiration into an El Paso community drooling for football success.  

In return, Coach Walden just asked for one thing. 

“One request; that you bring the energy, into the Sun Bowl this fall. ‘Picks Up’!” exclaimed Walden to a roaring Memorial Gym during UTEP volleyball’s Great Eight national tournament matchup versus Clemson in December 2023, soon after his hiring.

Well, Miner fans lived up to the request.  On Saturday, Sept. 7th, the Sun Bowl welcomed over 40,000 fans ready to reignite their passion for Miner football.  

As the Miners walked down from the Mineshaft for the first time in over a decade, the entire 915 had much anticipation for what was to come.  

The troops, led by Walden, played until the last whistle in a home-opening thriller.  

And, in front of the mass crowd, the Miners played to a loss.  

“They (fans) wanted to see a butt kicking, but it just didn’t work out for them,” commented Abel Rodriguez an independent contractor in sports marketing and entertainment. “We’d be talking much different football if (Walden) had won the first game.”

For the first 9 games, the Miners faced loss after loss. 

The community has turned said record into a heated debate over whether hope should still even be constituted for the remainder of the season.  

“The bottom line is winning the game,” said Rodriguez. “That’s what brings them (fans) back it’s the whole cycle of college football.”  

Of course, winning a game is easier said than done in college football. 

The treacherous road that has led fans into the slippery slope of “all being lost” started when we lost sight of how hard it is to win.  

“The normal is three or four years.” said Luis Zuniga, when asked how long a rebuild for a new coach usually takes.  

Zuniga has followed UTEP sports for three decades as a sportscaster for Univision 26. His effect on the city earned him a spot in the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.  

When analyzing the main hurdle in Walden’s Road, Zuniga referenced recruiting.  

“Most of the players come here as freshmen it’s a combination of mixing new talent with experienced talent.” said Zuniga. “This will take some understanding from the fans.”  

But when observing the Walden era of football, the thing that makes him preeminent is his personality. 

“Just listen to the things Coach Walden talks to his student athletes about, and the things that he does with, and for his student athletes, I believe (that) will lend itself eventually to success,” proclaimed the voice of the Miners, Jon Teicher. “There’s too many things well and too many things right (during practice) not to be successful at some point.”

Walden’s genuine self is one which has a strong framework to push the symbol of hope.  

A football head coach who faced a similar task of reconstructing the program is New Mexico State University’s football head coach Jerry Kill. 

In two years, Coach Kill turned the Aggies into a program who had one a total of four games over 700 days (about 2 years) prior, into earning back-to-back Bowl game appearances. 

“(Kill’s) personality was definitely one of it, he had the sort of personality that fit in this town perfectly.” said the voice of the Aggies Jack Nixon.  

Nixon sees a variety of the qualities that helped Kill turn NMSU into a successful program, in Walden.  

“My impression is that he wants to show the fans in El Paso that he is someone who appreciates their support. I am sure it is in El Paso the way it is here, if people see your genuine, they will respond to that and realize it is not just coach speak.” said Nixon.  

However, it takes time to build a successful program.  

“Things are not going to change overnight.” said Teicher. “As much as we want everything here and now, the reality is that things take time, and things take a while often to develop.”  

The symbol of hope, energized by Walden, has been volatile since the season began.  

But hope itself is a variable that can be described as a plan, and in all our lives, a plan does not occur without patience.