UNLV football has new look on Day 1 of spring practice

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Tuesday, March 29, 2022 | 2 a.m.

After closing the 2021 season by winning two of its final four games, the UNLV football program is hoping to carry over some of that modest momentum to 2022.

That campaign begins in earnest on Tuesday when the team opens spring practice at Rebel Park. The most familiar face on the field will be Marcus Arroyo, who enters his third season as coach with a 2-18 career record. The rest of the program, from the players to the coaching staff, sports a new look.

New quarterback

The Scarlet and Gray will likely have a new quarterback atop the depth chart in 2022, with Tennessee transfer Harrison Bailey taking the reins of the offense. The former 4-star recruit committed to the UNLV in the offseason and on paper appears to be the kind of pure passer capable of unlocking Arroyo’s offense, so one of the priorities over the next four weeks will be making sure Bailey acclimates smoothly.

What will that process look like? Will Arroyo commit to Bailey right away and distribute practice reps accordingly? Last year’s three-way quarterback battle (four-way if you include since-retired Tate Martell) stretched all the way from the first day of spring to kickoff in Week 1, and beyond as Arroyo shuffled between Justin Rogers and Doug Brumfield. Injuries to both eventually forced Cameron Friel to take over down the stretch as a true freshman.

Bailey is talented, and he flashed in limited action at Tennessee (48-of-68, 578 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions as a freshman). He’s also got four years of eligibility remaining, which Arroyo made sure to note when talking about him on signing day.

“Good skill set, delivery pace, arm level, anticipation, strength, some other macro-level stuff at that position,” Arroyo said. “Exciting to have him here and to have the years he’s got left in that [QB] room.”

All signs point to Bailey being the man at UNLV. We’ll get our first glimpse of that on Tuesday.

New Jacoby Windmon

UNLV’s best player last season was unquestionably linebacker Jacoby Windmon. He transferred shortly after the final game and took his 6.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss to Michigan State; now Arroyo has the tall task of building a competitive defense (UNLV allowed 32.6 points per game in 2021, 105^th out of 130 teams) without Windmon in the middle.

Are there any players on the roster capable of stepping up and moving UNLV’s defensive unit in the right direction? One player to watch is sophomore linebacker Brennon Scott. As a redshirt freshman last year he came on strong over the second half and finished with 4.0 sacks and 10.0 tackles for loss (both second on the team).

The program also restocked the linebacker position with a handful of transfers. Jordan Eubanks is a former 3-star recruit who didn’t get a chance to play at Florida State last year, while juco product Fred Thompkins (San Francisco CC) brings immediate impact potential.

New weapons

Between junior Steve Jenkins and sophomore Kyle Williams, UNLV has the makings of a good receiving corps. Adding another weapon or two to that group, however, would really put Bailey (or whichever QB ends up taking the snaps) in a position to succeed.

Arroyo seems to share that vision, as he made the position a priority in the 2022 recruiting class by bringing in a trio of receivers to augment the group. The most promising additions are Michigan State transfer Ricky White and juco product Jeffrey Weimer, as they fit the physical profile UNLV is trending toward.

Arroyo said he wanted to top off his collection of receivers with speedy, lengthy pass-catchers who can win their matchups with physical tools.

“The length of those wideouts is really important,” Arroyo said. “There’s some matchups there that you’ve got to get into. I think having that size and speed and separation is something we wanted at wide receiver.”

If one or more of the new recruits pan out, Arroyo is open to shifting the offense to a pass-heavy attack. We should have an idea of that in the spring.

“I can’t tell you exactly what the number is, but we’re not going to be afraid to spread those guys out and put them out there,” Arroyo said.

New running back?

Charles Williams is gone, and he leaves a huge void in the backfield after he took 253 of UNLV’s 287 handoffs last year.

How will Arroyo replace that production? Will he pick the next workhorse running back and simply plug him into Williams’ role? Or will it be a committee approach, with several players of various skill sets combining to account for those touches? Spring practice should give us some early intel on that situation.

One name to watch: Jayvaun Wilson. A former Oregon recruit, Wilson transferred to UNLV last year and saw limited action in two games; at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, the former 3-star recruit could be first in line for Williams’ carries.

New coaches

It was not a quiet offseason for the program, as UNLV turned over half of its coaching staff since the end of the 2021 campaign.

Arroyo is working with new personnel at offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, cornerbacks coach, inside linebackers coach and defensive line coach. While that much coaching churn might normally be a reason for concern, it’s probably not a bad idea for a team coming off a majorly disappointing 2-10 season.

So as much as the players will benefit from four weeks of spring practice, the coaching staff will also make the most of the on-field work.

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