UTEP basketball coach reveals long journey with three Pittsburgh football players to El Paso

Traveling around the holidays can be a disaster, no matter the city. If you factor in the state of Texas dealing with below-freezing temperatures, not many flights are going to be taking off. Just ask an unlikely cast of characters heading from Dallas to El Paso.

UTEP head coach Joe Golding was stuck at Love Field Airport recently, needing to get back to El Paso to resume activities with his team. When flights were canceled, he decided to rent a car and make the drive themselves.

Alongside his family — which consists of his wife, Amanda, and two sons — in the car were three Pittsburgh football players who were in need of a ride as well.

“I just talked to UTEP coach Joe Golding,” Jeff Goodman shared via Twitter. “He and his family were stranded at Love Airport. Got a rental and drove to UTEP overnight and brought three Pittsburgh football players with him to get them to Sun Bowl game.”

Going from Love Field back to UTEP’s campus is not exactly the shortest drive in the world either. According to Google Maps, the journey took over nine hours, spanning three different regions of the state and even two time zones.

Even if the group had gotten on a plane, the Southwest flight most likely would have flown over the state of New Mexico to get there. Basically, the state of Texas is quite large and it’s a lengthy journey Golding took his family and three Pitt players on.

Unfortunately, Golding and company are not the only people dealing with issues. Love Field has been backlogged for days, with over 2,500 flights being canceled.

This is what it looks like at Dallas Love Field Airport – Southwest Airlines.

As of right now, 2,675 flights canceled, that’s 66% of flights, according to Flight-aware.

TWU Local 556, representing flight attendants: they’ve been demanding better technology for years now.@wfaa pic.twitter.com/zaJVVbCvkt

— Malini Basu (@MaliniBasu_) December 26, 2022

UTEP basketball, Pittsburgh football scheduled to play in El Paso

With Golding now back in El Paso, UTEP basketball can resume practice as conference play fully begins. Thursday will mark the second Conference USA game of the season, with the Miners traveling to Birmingham to face UAB.

Golding will be hoping for better travel luck this go-round.

As for Pittsburgh, they are in El Paso to face off against UCLA in the Sun Bowl. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 30. The Panthers were able to end the season on a four-game winning streak and get to 8-4.

Head coach Pat Narduzzi will be looking for the first back-to-back nine-win season within the program since 2008-2009. Thanks to Golding, he will have a full roster available in El Paso.