Quarterback Doug Brumfield transferring from UNLV football

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 | 2 a.m.

UNLV’s offseason quarterback competition took a major turn this week, as junior Doug Brumfield announced he is entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Brumfield started two games last year, flashing a big arm and the ability to make plays with his legs, but the 6-foot-5 Inglewood, Calif. native could never stay healthy long enough to take firm grasp of the No. 1 QB job.

Brumfield made the announcement via Twitter:

Brumfield probably should have been declared the winner of last offseason’s quarterback battle, but instead he entered Week 1 as the backup behind Justin Rogers. When Rogers turned in a clunker for the first three quarters against Eastern Washington, head coach Marcus Arroyo inserted Brumfield, and the young lefty played well, rallying UNLV from a 14-point deficit to force overtime.

UNLV eventually lost that game in double overtime, but Brumfield did enough to earn his first career start the following week at Arizona State. Unfortunately, he took a big hit while rolling out of the pocket and was knocked out of the game in the third quarter.

The rest of the season turned into an injury odyssey, as Brumfield appeared in just one more contest before shutting it down for the year with a lower back injury. For the season, Brumfield completed 17-of-39 passes for 320 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. He ran 19 times for another 109 yards and two scores.

What Brumfield’s departure means for the program:

Bailey up

The most obvious read on the situation is that Brumfield came to believe he had fallen behind newcomer Harrison Bailey in the QB competition and chose to seek out a program where he has a better chance of playing. It makes sense, as that exact scenario seems to play out across the country every spring/fall since the NCAA instituted the one-time transfer rule.

We don’t know for certain that’s what happened, as Brumfield didn’t make the announcement until after the team held its media availability on Tuesday. But when asked about the quarterback race, Arroyo did offer some specific praise for Bailey that reads differently in the wake of Brumfield’s transfer.

“The fun part is watching Harrison fight his way to catch up,” Arroyo said. “I see an edge in that. He’s doing everything he can to shrink that gap. That’s exciting, because a lot of guys won’t do that. They’ll see competition and hit the brakes. He hasn’t done that.”

Arroyo then commended Bailey, a former 4-star who transferred from Tennessee, for putting in extra work at every opportunity.

“He has definitely elevated the competition at the position,” Arroyo said. “He’s a sponge. He’s a ball junkie. He’s in here as early as some of the coaches and leaves here late. He brings a lot of guys with him. He’s here sometimes at 5:30 in the morning with guys; he brings them in, he stays afterwards and does things with guys down the roster a little bit. He’s in the film room all the time. I think he’s really pressed the envelope and raised the bar in regards to what it takes at that position.”

The inference in those comments is that Bailey is outworking everyone and climbing the ladder. Brumfield may have seen the writing on the wall.

Making room for Jayden

With Brumfield out of the picture, the two quarterbacks left in the competition are Bailey and sophomore Cameron Friel—for now. But don’t forget freshman Jayden Maiava, who will be joining the team in the fall.

It may be unlikely for Maiava to win the job considering he’ll be jumping in fresh out of high school with no spring reps under his belt, but Brumfield’s departure at leaves more training camp reps available to help Maiava get up to speed.

Maiava is a 3-star prospect who played at Liberty in 2021.

Roster situation

This is the second high-profile transfer out of the UNLV program in the past week, as leading receiver Steve Jenkins entered the portal on Thursday. Arroyo quickly secured a commitment from transfer receiver Nick Williams (CSU-Pueblo) to fill that hole, but replacing Brumfield’s scholarship may not be an exact 1-for-1 situation.

Arroyo has spoken several times about his approach to building the roster, which includes working the portal for value throughout spring and even into fall training camp; whether or not they bring in another quarterback, expect plenty more movement in coming weeks and months.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.