[The_herd]

Tough to say who's more desperate, UTEP or Price.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1691469

Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas -- Mike Price has been given a chance to redeem his reputation as a Division I college coach after an official said on Sunday that Price will take over as Texas-El Paso's head football coach.

UTEP spokesman Jeff Darby said a Sunday afternoon news conference was scheduled to announce Price's hiring.

In 14 seasons as head coach at Washington State, Price, 57, was given credit for turning around the fortunes of a school that regularly had been a conference doormat.

He was known for grooming prostyle quarterbacks who moved on to the NFL. His successes included Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser.

After leaving Washington State to take a job at Alabama last spring, Price spent a drunken night in the company of strippers while attending a Florida golf tournament. He quickly found himself in the unemployment line.

Price filed a $20 million lawsuit against Sports Illustrated, which published a story that he had sex with two women in his hotel room and fondled strip club employees.

Price acknowledges that he went to a strip club called Arety's in Pensacola, Fla., and got drunk. He says a waitress from the club helped him into a cab and went with him to his hotel room where he passed out on the bed with his clothes on.

"I would think I would have a good chance to get a job anywhere if it wasn't for an hour and a half of my life" Price said at the time.

He spent the intervening months looking for work. He said he was interested in the vacancy at Arizona.

That solicited a response from UA President Peter Likins that Price "will never be in the picture," and the job went to Mike Stoops.

Price didn't last long enough to coach a regular season game at Alabama, but he took WSU to an unprecedented five postseason bowls. However, Price's WSU and career coaching records only climbed above .500 in 2002. With eight years as head coach at Weber State, Price's career record is 129-121. He was 83-77 at WSU.

Price replaces Gary Nord, who was fired Dec. 1 after compiling a 14-34 record in four years.

The former WAC Coach of the Year directed the Miners to a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship and a spot in the Humanitarian Bowl in 2000.

It was the Miners' first league trophy in 44 years and the team's first bowl appearance since 1988, when Bob Stull, now the school's athletic director, was coach.

However, Nord's Miners could only muster two wins in each of the next three seasons.

Stull said the fact that the Miners had beaten only three Division I opponents in the last three seasons was an indication that the program was not headed in the right direction.

Others who had been mentioned as candidates for the job included San Francisco 49ers defensive backs coach Dick Tomey, TCU offensive coordinator Mike Schultz, who was a former UTEP assistant, Nebraska offensive coordinator Barney Cotton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight ends coach Art Valero, Auburn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, Philadelphia Eagles line coach Juan Castillo and Western Kentucky defensive line coach Mike Fanoga.