Per a report from Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, UTEP has its next offensive coordinator. The Miners will turn to Mark Cala, who's currently on staff at TCU as assistant quarterbacks coach.

It'll be a significant step up in responsibility for Cala, who has never been an on-field coach at the FBS level. However, his familiarity with the territory (he's a native of Albuquerque) and his reputation as a strong developer of quarterback talent makes him a compelling choice for UTEP, which found itself in need of an offensive coordinator after Jake Brown resigned in December.

Cala is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound, where he played collegiately after transferring from the University of New Mexico. He served as Puget Sound's quarterbacks coach in 2015, which marked the genesis of a coaching career that's taken him all over the map. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as an offensive analyst at Florida Atlantic, transitioned to Houston in 2018 as a graduate assistant, then jumped to Florida State in 2019 to work with the Seminoles' quarterbacks as a GA. He joined the Arkansas staff in 2020 as an offensive analyst, and spent three seasons with the Razorbacks before TCU hired him away in January 2023.

Now, he gets his big break in the coaching profession courtesy of the Miners, who will entrust him with an offense that floundered at times in 2024 but also showed some highly promising flashes. Cala will also get his chance to mold a former five-star quarterback talent in Malachi Nelson, who recently transferred to UTEP after one season apiece at USC and Boise State.

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