Illinois hires ex-UTEP coach Dana Dimel as offensive assistant

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Former UTEP coach Dana Dimel has been hired as a senior offensive assistant at Illinois, coach Bret Bielema announced Monday.

Dimel was UTEP's coach from 2018 to '23 and previously was coach at Wyoming and Houston.

The Miners were 5-26 over Dimel's first three seasons in El Paso and went 7-6 and played in the New Mexico Bowl in 2021. He was fired last November after back-to-back losing seasons.

Dimel coached Wyoming to three straight winning seasons from 1997 to '99 and had three losing seasons in a row at Houston from 2000 to '02. He had three stints as an assistant at Kansas State and also worked at Arizona.

Bielema also announced the hiring of former Western Illinois coach Myers Hendrickson as a senior analyst.