Tennessee assistant coach among those rumored to be in the mix for UTEP job

UTEP got the coaching carousel started this year when coach Sean Kugler resigned on Sunday after an 0-5 start.

Now, it’ll be interesting to see who the Miners tap to replace Kugler, and at least one potential candidate is a current SEC assistant.

According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Tennessee QB coach Mike Canales is an early candidate for the open job, along with several other current assistants in other conferences.

Though Canales took over at Tennessee after Joshua Dobbs had a great season in 2016, his work with the current Tennessee quarterbacks — Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano has left a lot to be desired.

Still, when you’re in a situation like the Miners are right now, with an 0-5 record and one of the worst offenses in college football, you’ll take your chances on unproven candidates.

Canales twice served as an interim head coach at North Texas, once in 2010 and again in 2015.

It’s still early, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Canales and if he ends up at least interviewing with the Miners.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.