Dana Dimel knows he can’t build a defense around cornerbacks, but it’s a position that might be able to begin building his culture. 

UTEP hasn’t won a game since Thanksgiving 2016. Dimel’s to-do list is long, but senior cornerbacks Kalon Beverly and Nik Needham should be a pair of building blocks Dimel turns to in Year 1 in El Paso.

Beverly came to El Paso from New Orleans and Needham, an honorable mention All-Conference USA performer as a junior in 2017, arrived from Buena Park, California. 

Needham is 6-foot and Beverly checks in at 6-1, giving the Miners uncommon size on the outside of the defense. Together, they have amassed 57 career starts in their first three seasons and will be the most experienced members of a Miners defense that ranked 106th in yards per play in 2017.

“Size, length and athleticism; they both are really good, hard-working kids that show up every day and they’re reliable,” Dimel said. “Reliability looks like a guy you know you can count on. He’s going to class, volunteers his time outside the program. They’re going to be consistently performing at a high level, and that’s how you rebuild a program.”

The Miners are looking anywhere for positives and steps forward, and a pair of four-year starters at cornerback is a logical place to start. When Dimel and defensive coordinator Mike Cox start piecing together game plans, Beverly and Needham’s importance and value will only be more obvious. 

“You build around the line, but if you’re good at corner, you can do some things defensively that you wouldn’t normally do,” Dimel said. “They both have really good speed and athleticism. They’re as good as we need to have at that position.”

If Cox wants to play aggressive and bring pressure with seven defenders, Beverly and Needham give him the freedom to do so effectively and often. 

For Dimel, a man looking to rebuild a program, it didn’t take long to figure out that if he was looking for a pair of cornerstones, he could look at cornerback.