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The NCAA handed the Texas-El Paso football and softball programs one year of probation for Level II violations, which will not involve loss of scholarships or postseason bans.
The UTEP administration agreed that the football program exceeded the maximum number of allowable countable coaches when noncoaching staff members provided skill instruction to the team. Specifically, defensive and offensive quality control specialists provided skills instruction during practices.
The school was fined $5,000 and coach Dana Dimel will serve a four-day suspension from all coaching activities and a 10-day suspension from off-campus recruiting during the 2020-21 football contact period.
The NCAA and UTEP also determined the softball program exceeded daily and weekly limits for countable athletically related activities, and exceeded the maximum number of allowable countable coaches when noncoaching staff members provided skill instruction to the team.
Dimel and former softball head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk, who was fired in the 2019 offseason, received a one-year show-cause for Level II violations.
In addition, the number of permissible countable athletically related activities hours in softball has been reduced for the 2021-22 academic year. The number of countable coaches for football and softball has also been reduced by one for six days of practice during the 2021-22 academic year.
“We alerted our compliance staff as soon as we became aware of the potential infractions,” athletic director Jim Senter said. “I would like to thank them for their diligence in conducting interviews, compiling information and submitting a thorough report to the NCAA.
“We are committed to running our department with integrity. We will continue to monitor all of our sports programs to ensure that they are operating in compliance with NCAA rules and regulations. We will also continue to provide comprehensive rules education to all of our coaches and staff.”
Said Dimel: “I am committed and will ensure that we do a better job of following all NCAA rules. It is my responsibility to create an atmosphere of compliance on my staff and within our football program. I acknowledge that I need to do a better job moving forward, and accept the NCAA’s penalties for this violation.”
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football, softball placed on one-year NCAA probation