In Head Coach Scotty Walden’s quest to build up the UTEP football program in his second year, an eye-catching job was finalized to bring former Texas Christian University (TCU) coach Mark Cala to run the Miner offense in the 2025 season

In addition to Cala, UTEP hired former deputy head coach/offensive line coach of Florida International University (FIU) Joshua Eargle as a tight ends coach.

Cala is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and played high school football at La Cueva High School. He would go on to play until 2014 at New Mexico and Puget Sound. The new man on campus began his coaching career in 2015 at Puget Sound as a quarterbacks coach. From 2016, Cala would then take a position as a running back and special teams assistant at Florida Atlantic.

From 2017-2018, he was brought in as an offensive analyst and offensive graduate assistant (quarterbacks) at the University of Houston. Then, in 2019, Cala landed a big house name in Florida State as an offensive graduate assistant.

In his longest stay (2020-2022) for the Arkansas Razorbacks, Cala helped improve the team’s offensive numbers, going from No. 111 to No. 16 by 2021. This would land him at TCU as a quarterback coach and assistant over the last two years.

Eargle brings in a vast amount of experience on the field as well, with his 20-year coaching experience. His offensive line coaching at FIU allowed the Panthers to grab the No. 1 spot in Conference USA for the least number of sacks allowed (17) in the 2023-2024 season.

Eargle has an array of coaching experience, from recruiting coordinator/tight ends coach in 2020 in Kansas to defensive coordinator at Hallsville High School in 2011.

Based on the signing of Cala and Eargle, Walden has a vision of great things with these two this upcoming season.

Cameron Mason is a contributor for The Prospector and can be reached at [email protected]ep.edu.