Mike Price

Michael Bruce "Mike" Price (born April 6, 1946) is a retired college football coach, who was most recently the head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He was previously the head coach at Weber State College (1981–1988), Washington State University (1989–2002), and the University of Alabama, the last from which he was fired before coaching a game in 2003.

Early years

Born in Colorado, Price grew up in Everett, Washington, twenty five miles (40 km) north of Seattle. He was the son of Walt Price, the longtime head football coach at Everett Junior College. At Everett High School, Price was a teammate of Dennis Erickson, the son of Pinky Erickson, the head coach at cross-town rival Cascade High. Everett High was coached by Bill Dunn, a next-door neighbor of the Ericksons. Dennis Erickson was a year behind Price, but took his job as starting quarterback mid-way through Price's senior year, and Price was moved to defense as a safety. The team finished 9–1. Price went on to play at Everett Junior College, Washington State, and finally at Puget Sound, where he co-captained the football team and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.^[1]

Price met his wife, the former Joyce Taylor, in kindergarten in the early 1950s. They were married at age 19 and they had three children: two sons (who were his assistant coaches) and a daughter.

Assistant coaching career

Price started his coaching career in 1969 as a graduate assistant for two seasons at Washington State, then was the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, UPS, for three. He returned to WSU for four seasons in 1974 as the running backs coach, where he unsuccessfully recruited future baseball hall-of-famer Ryne Sandberg to play quarterback.^[2] His final job as an assistant coach was at Missouri, where he coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers for three years, from 1978 to 1980.

Head coaching career

Weber State

Following the 1980 season, Price landed his first head coaching position at Weber State of the Division I-AA Big Sky Conference, a job for which friend Dennis Erickson was also a finalist. Erickson would get the Idaho job the next year, and returned the favor (following the 1986 season) by beating out Price for the Washington State job. Upon leaving just two years later for Miami, Erickson recommended Price, who got the WSU job and then rented Erickson's Pullman home. Price was head coach at Weber State through 1988, compiling a 46–44 record in eight seasons. His best season was 1987, when the Wildcats went 9–2 (6–1 in conference), and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division I-AA playoffs to finish at 10–3.

Washington State

On the field, Price was noted for his successful head coaching work at Washington State, where he served for fourteen seasons, from 1989–2002. At WSU, he compiled a record of 83–78, with three 10-win seasons and five bowl appearances. His last two seasons at "Wazzu" combined for a 20–5 record (13–3 in the Pac-10). Price's 2002 team compiled a 7–1 mark in the conference and advanced to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by the Oklahoma Sooners 34-14. Five years earlier in 1997, Price was named National Coach of the Year, as the Cougars returned to the Rose Bowl after more than sixty years. During his tenure at Washington State he mentored some of the greatest players in the school's history, including quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser.

Prior to his departure, Price had recently signed a five-year contract at a base salary of $600,000 per year. With incentives, his compensation exceeded $900,000 in his final season at WSU.^[3] His original contract in 1989 was a four-year deal at $75,000 per year with unspecified television and radio revenues.^[4]

Alabama

Price may be best known nationally for an off-the-field incident during his brief stint at Alabama. In December 2002, he was hired in principle to replace Dennis Franchione as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. Price was at Alabama during the 2003 spring practice, but in May his contract was rescinded shortly after news reports surfaced of Price being seen at a strip club during a trip to Pensacola, Florida, where Price was playing in a golf tournament, and he also had about $1,000 charged to his hotel room by an unknown woman staying in the room. This development came on the heels of an earlier reprimand for visiting campus-area bars and drinking into the early hours in Tuscaloosa.^[5][6]

UTEP

On December 21, 2003, Texas-El Paso announced the hiring of Price as its new head coach.^[7] At the press conference, Price said, "I feel reborn. I think this is the right situation for me. My dad told me a long time ago if you go somewhere where you're wanted and needed, your chances for success are a lot better. I want to be here. It's a match made in heaven." In his first season in 2004, he led the Miners to an 8–4 record and a berth in the Houston Bowl, where they lost to Colorado. The season was an astounding turnaround for the Miners, who had won only two games in each of their previous three seasons. At one time during the 2004 season, UTEP earned its first-ever ranking in the AP Poll, rising as high as 23rd. Price was a finalist for Eddie Robinson Award and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award for coach of the year.

In 2010, Price became the second Miner coach to take UTEP to three bowl games, after Mike Brumbelow, who led the Miners to the Sun Bowl in 1954, 1955 and 1957.^[8]

Price's starting salary at UTEP in 2004 was $225,000 plus incentives.^[9]

On November 19, 2012, Price announced that he would be retiring, effective at the end of the season.^[10]

Head coaching record

References

• "Out of Everett," 'The Seattle Times' Pacific Magazine, Sunday, August 13, 1995, p. 12-17.

External links

• Mike Price at the College Football Data Warehouse