Paydirt Pete Just Got A New Design And El Pasoans Are Being Vocal About It

Every Miner Maniac knows him. The square chin, the smooth mustache, the pickaxe held high while the Sun Bowl roars. But Paydirt Pete did not strike gold overnight. Our pickaxe-wielding mascot has a backstory packed with burros, contests, cigars, and a Hollywood costume shop, and it is one of the best origin stories El Paso has to offer.

Now UTEP has unveiled a new design for the beloved mountain mascot, but El Paso's reactions are a bit mixed so far.

Paydirt Pete Started as a Doodle in a UTEP History Class

Before the muscles, before the name, before any of it, Pete was just a sketch. In 1962, civil engineering student Marshall Meece drew a pick-wielding miner cartoon after Texas Western College sports information director Eddie Mullens asked him for some drawings for football program covers.

Meece reportedly drew that very first miner while sitting in the history class of Dr. Wilbert H. Timmons, the legendary TWC historian whose name now graces a campus building. The athletics department started using the doodle unofficially, and a Sun City icon was quietly born in the back of a lecture hall.

Before Paydirt Pete, El Paso Had a Burro Named Clyde

Pete was not UTEP's first attempt at a mascot. That honor belongs to a live burro named Clyde, who served as the original pot-bellied face of Miner spirit. Clyde's tenure ended in brutal fashion when UTEP President Dr. Joseph Ray famously dismissed him as a "sorry-looking, pot-bellied creature."

Courtesy of KTEP

Clyde was swapped out for a second burro named Henry, and students would dress as rugged prospectors and parade the donkey around games to give the program that authentic Wild West feel. The school wanted something with more edge, though, and the stage was set for a real mascot.

How UTEP's Mascot Got the Name Paydirt Pete in 1974

By 1973, athletics director Jim Bowden asked Meece to rework his original drawing, and in 1974 UTEP held a naming contest. More than 500 entries poured in, but only one struck gold. The winning name, Paydirt Pete, was submitted by UTEP physics professor Michael Blue.

The name is pure mining lingo. "Paydirt" is the term for hitting the jackpot, for finally finding valuable ore underground. For a school founded in 1914 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it could not have been more perfect. You can dig into more campus history on the UTEP Traditions page.

Paydirt Pete's Many Makeovers Through the Decades

Pete has had more glow-ups than almost any mascot in the country. Here is the decade-by-decade transformation.

Courtesy of KTEP

1980, the Disney years. The first costumed Pete arrived as "Sweet Pete," a lovable little miner with a big bushy gray beard and a distinctly Disney cartoon vibe. That is no accident, since the suit was built by Roshu of Hollywood, the same outfit that made costumes for Disney and Hanna-Barbera.

1983, Pete hits the gym. Pete bulked up into a muscular, intimidating tough guy, complete with a cigar jutting from the side of his mouth. El Paso artist and former ballet dancer Richard Glass designed the muscle suit with anatomically correct biceps and shoulders so the wearer could balance out that oversized head.

Courtesy of KTEP

1986, the cigar goes out. Health-conscious Pete kicked the smoking habit and went smoke-free.

1999, cowboy era. Pete traded his mining helmet for a cowboy hat and grew out a handlebar mustache.

Getty Images

2000, the scraggly years. He got a rougher, scrappier prospector look. Mining is not easy work, after all.

Iris Lopez

2005, the Pete we know today. Pete leaned up, cleaned up, and became the square-jawed, mustachioed icon that Miner Maniacs love, the one folks lovingly compare to a "Magnum, P.I." look-alike.

Courtesy of UTEP

2026, the new Paydirt Pete of the 2020's sees the true miner outfit come back! Pete has traded in his cowboy hat for the miner helmet and of course, the very stylish full beard. Some reactions online are opposed to the new Pete, even going as far as claiming the design is AI generated. The new design was part of a collaboration between UTEP and Torch Creative, a long standing sports logo design company. There is no evidence that Torch Creative used generative AI and actually has a noted tradition of creating hand drawn sports logos and mascot designs.

Here is the statement from UTEP on the official change:

Paydirt Pete has evolved over the years, with the most recent iteration launching in 1999. New Pete has been modernized, while harkening back to the popular “retro” logo that epitomized the Miners in their ‘80s heyday.

“We wanted to give Paydirt Pete a fresh look while not straying too far from the vintage mark that our fans love,” UTEP Vice President and Director of Athletics Jim Senter said.

Apparel featuring the new Paydirt Pete is available online here and is beginning to make its way into the UTEP Bookstore. Plush and bobblehead versions of Pete are in the works and are expected to be available by fall 2026.

UTEP is partnering with adidas, Blue84, Collect Bobbleheads, L2 Brands, LogoBrands, Mascot Factory, Peter Millar, Something Inked, WinCraft and many more vendors on new Pete-branded merchandise.

“Once again UTEP Athletics aims high and delivers a new collection for the ultimate UTEP fan,” UTEP Campus Store Manager Xochitl Meyer said. “We are honored to be a part of this new era for UTEP Athletics.”

The People Behind the Pickaxe

Pete is more than a costume, he is whoever is brave enough to wear it under the desert sun. The very first student to suit up was Student Activities Coordinator Jimmy Legarreta. After two years he literally outgrew the costume and handed it off to Susana Perez, who became the first woman to don the duds of Paydirt Pete.

Things have even gotten a little rowdy. One former Pete, Richard Bland, recalled being right in the middle of a court-storming brawl during a triple-overtime nail-biter against UTEP's bitter rival BYU. You can read more first-person Pete history over at The Prospector.

Fun Facts About Paydirt Pete Every El Pasoan Should Know

• The original "Sweet Pete" costume was so claustrophobic and hot that it had to be lined with fiberglass and vinyl in 1992 just to make it cleanable.
• In 2010, Pete went national as a finalist in a mascot contest, celebrating his 30th birthday and 6th incarnation at the time.
• The two-digit "picks up" salute, made with the pinkie and thumb in a downward spiking motion, mimics a pickaxe striking the ground.
• Pete's official birthday celebration lands on Homecoming every year, so the whole campus parties with him.

Why Paydirt Pete Still Matters in the Sun City

From a burro named Clyde to a doodle in Dr. Timmons' history class to the buff, pickaxe-swinging legend of today, Paydirt Pete is a living timeline of El Paso grit. He is mining heritage, border pride, and Miner spirit rolled into one oversized head. So the next time you see him working the crowd at the Don Haskins Center or the Sun Bowl, throw those picks up. Ol' Pete earned it. For even more, check out the UTEP News archive feature on Pete.

How do you feel about the newest iteration of our Mighty Mountain Mascot??