Price Rises From Ashes of Career

All Mike Price wanted was a second chance.

Sunday, he got it.

Five days before Christmas and seven months after his embarrassing dismissal at Alabama, Price was named football coach at the University of Texas El Paso.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but you can bet Price will earn a pittance compared with the seven-year, $10-million contract at Alabama.

“A guy can have only so many color TVs and I’ve got one,” Price said at his introductory news conference.

Price’s story was classic rise and fall, and a coaching cautionary tale.

After leading Washington State to the Pacific 10 Conference title in 2002, he left Pullman to become coach at Alabama, one of the nation’s three or four most prominent football programs and a school that still pays daily homage to the legend of Bear Bryant.

Price’s stay, though, was short and disastrous.

Last spring, before he coached a game or even signed his contract, Price was fired after reports surfaced of a night spent cavorting in a Florida strip club while he was attending a golf function.

Sordid allegations of Price’s night with strippers were detailed in Sports Illustrated. Price has vehemently denied the majority of those charges.

Price filed a $20-million wrongful termination lawsuit against Alabama, which has been dismissed; a $20-million defamation lawsuit against Time Inc., which publishes Sports Illustrated, and writer Don Yaeger, is pending.

“What was reported was drastically different from what happened,” Price said Sunday. “I made a mistake, and nothing like that will ever happen again to Mike Price. I consider the issue behind me and closed, and I do not plan to address it again.”

Price, 57, has been fighting for months to earn back his reputation.

He announced himself a candidate for several vacant coaching jobs, including Arizona, which publicly shunned him and eventually hired Mike Stoops.

Instead of coaching at Alabama, in the prestigious Southeastern Conference, Price will attempt to resurrect his career at UTEP, a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Miners have gone 14-34 the last four years under Gary Nord.

UTEP President Diana Natalicio said Sunday that Price “is a man who has been humbled by a highly public mistake. He paid dearly for that grievous error in judgment, and all of us believe he has earned the opportunity to restart his career.”

Sunday, Price could hardly express his glee over his hiring.

“I was born to be a football coach,” he said.

During his time away from coaching, Price admitted to bouts of depression. For a period, he was secluded in a house on Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, owned by former Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf.

In recent months, Price returned to a public life and attended several Washington State football games this season.

Price promised to turn UTEP into a winner and was effusive in his praise for El Paso, not exactly considered a garden spot for recruits.

Price said he is even going to take Spanish courses to better acclimate himself to the multicultural city that borders Mexico.

“My job is to come here and graduate as many players as we can -- 100% is my goal -- to win the WAC, to win the bowl game and fill this stadium with 53,000 people every weekend that we are here,” he said. “I think the sky is the limit.”

Price is no stranger to turnaround projects in remote places.

Before accepting the Alabama job, he led Washington State to an 83-77 record and two Rose Bowl appearances in 14 seasons.

Price’s offenses in Pullman were innovative and wide open, while Washington State defenses were known for their Cougar-like speed.

At UTEP, Price will get the chance to coach Jordan Palmer, the younger brother of former USC star Carson.

“I saw Jordan when he was a sophomore in high school at a quarterback camp,” Price said. “He has grown pretty big. The quarterback position is very solid from what I understand.”

After the darkest chapter in his coaching life, Price thinks his life is finally back on solid ground.

“I feel reborn,” he said.

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Price Facts

Mike Price, the 1997 National Coach of the Year, was named University of Texas El Paso’s 24th head football coach Sunday:

* Age: 57.

* At Washington State (1989-2002): Record of 83-77 with three 10-win seasons.

* At Weber State (1981-88): 46-44 record.

* Bowl appearances: Five (3-2 record).

* Career record (22 years): 129-121, three conference titles.

* 2002-03: Washington State won the Pac-10 (10-2, 7-1) and lost to Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.

* Last two years at Washington State: Record of 20-4 (13-3 in Pac-10).

* Five first-rounders: Washington State had five players picked in the first round of the NFL draft during Price’s tenure: Steve Broussard (RB, 20th pick, Atlanta, 1990), Drew Bledsoe (QB, 1st pick, New England, 1993), Mark Fields (LB, 15th pick, New Orleans, 1995), Ryan Leaf (QB, 2nd pick, San Diego, 1998) and Marcus Trufant (DB, 11th pick, Seattle, 2003).