Marcus Arroyo out as UNLV football coach after three seasons

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Monday, Nov. 28, 2022 | 9:57 a.m.

Updated Monday, Nov. 28, 2022 | 1:41 p.m.

Marcus Arroyo has been fired after three seasons as the UNLV football coach, the university announced this morning.

The Rebels went 5-7 this season — including beating UNR on Saturday in the Fremont Cannon rivalry game — but it wasn’t enough to save Arroyo. He went 7-23 overall in three seasons, including the 2020 pandemic-shortened season.

UNLV started 4-1 this season but suffered a six-game losing streak before beating Reno to close the season.

Arroyo's pickup truck was still parked outside the Fertitta Football Complex and he was inside the building settling his affairs when UNLV athletic director Erick Harper met with the media to discuss the firing.

Harper, who is going into his second year as AD, said the decision wasn't based on any single factor and repeatedly pointed to Arroyo's "full body of work" as the impetus for making a change.

"If you look at the start, everybody dealt with the Covid year," Harper said. "That wasn’t a very good year for us. The next year, didn’t have much success until the end of the season. And then this year we had success at the beginning of the season, but then we stalled out for six weeks and had a very struggling game the other night against UNR. That full body of work does not show the trajectory of the program moving to where we want it to go, and that’s winning championships."

Arroyo has two years and $2.3 million left on a five-year contract he signed in 2019. Harper said the buyout will be paid by private funds. And if Arroyo were to accept another coaching job during that time, even an assistant position, UNLV would be off the hook for those payments.

The coaching change comes at an awkward time for the program, as UNLV is still very much alive for a potential bowl berth. The team's sub-.500 record would normally preclude them from a postseason appearance, but if there are not enough eligible teams to fill all available bowl slots, the Rebels could sneak in due to their high Academic Progress Rate score. Harper said if a bowl offer is extended, UNLV will accept and play the game.

Linebackers coach Kenwick Thompson has been named interim coach and will steer the team through the next week while they await clarity on the bowl situation.

Harper wants to move quickly on the search for UNLV’s next head coach and noted that the school will not hire an outside search firm to direct the hiring process.

As for the type of candidate he envisions being the right fit, Harper avoided all rebuilding talk and first mentioned experience.

"We want to be better than we are today," Harper said. "That coach coming in, we hope that person has head coaching experience. That is a big key."

Arroyo had never been a head coach prior to UNLV. He served in various assistant roles at San Jose State, Wyoming, Cal, Southern Miss and Oklahoma State before becoming the offensive co-coordinator at Oregon in 2017. In 2018 and 2019 he was Oregon's sole offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Arroyo's experience on the offensive side of the ball, including his playing days as a QB at San Jose State, earned him a label as a quarterback guru, but he never could get a handle on the position during his time at UNLV. The past two years saw Doug Brumfield (a Tony Sanchez recruit) perform well above the rest of the team's passers, but Arroyo struggled to recognize that; he conducted lengthy position battles throughout training camp in 2021 and 2022 and went down to the wire with game-time decisions both years, despite Brumfield proving to be the only viable option.

UNLV stormed out to a 4-1 start this season and appeared on the verge of contending for the Mountain West title, but Brumfield suffered a concussion that led to three straight losses in his absence. Brumfield returned for the season's final month but wasn't the same, and the Rebels lost three his first three games back — including an embarrassing defeat at Hawaii last week.

Brumfield started the finale against UNR but exited in the first quarter due to a back injury. Junior backup Harrison Bailey came on and guided UNLV to a comeback victory.

Claiming the Fremont Cannon for the first time wasn't enough to save Arroyo's job, however. Harper made the call himself; he specified that while he maintains an open, ongoing dialogue with university president Keith Whitfield on all important topics, the decision to fire Arroyo came from Harper.

"At the end of the day, decisions fall on me," Harper said.

Arroyo held a meeting with his players on Monday morning to deliver the news. Senior linebacker Austin Ajiake described that gathering as "emotional," and Bailey confirmed that tears were shed on both sides.

About 50 UNLV players turned out an hour later for a cannon-painting rally on campus, where they tried to keep the focus on the win over UNR and what it means for the fan base.

Ajiake, who was on the team when Sanchez was fired three years ago, said such a transition is difficult for players but that they ultimately know it's always a possibility.

"We really appreciated coach and all that he did for us these past three years," Ajiake said. The progress that we made each year, I know it wasn’t easy. He dealt with a lot of stress and a lot of uncertain times here at UNLV. I couldn’t be more proud of the way he handled it.

"I recognize that it’s a business," he continued. "There’s no personal feelings involved."

Bailey, who transferred from Tennessee in the offseason, said the team is struggling with the reasoning behind Arroyo's removal.

“I really feel for coach Arroyo right now. He’s one of the huge reasons why I came here. He’s really my dog. Honestly, none of us know where to go forward from here.

“The future was really bright for us,” Bailey continued. “Not many of us understand why or what happened. He’s a great coach. He’ll have a great career. Coach Arroyo was never the problem.”

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