UNLV football needs new coach, not necessarily new game plan

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 | 2 a.m.

UNLV hasn’t hired a new football coach yet, but if athletic director Erick Harper is to be taken at face value, the search was already underway as of Monday morning and should be concluded rather quickly.

When that happens, what kind of situation will the incoming coach be walking into on his first day on the job?

Like three years ago when Marcus Arroyo took over, the UNLV football program is not in terrible shape. The roster does not require a total teardown, the facilities are top notch and the culture is as strong as it’s been in 20 years. This is a team that’s ready to win now.

So, what will be the top priorities for the next coach?

Find the QB

Arroyo came to UNLV with a reputation as a quarterback guru, but he never could get a handle on the position during his time as head coach. Prolonged training-camp competitions, poor internal evaluations and unprepared backups hindered the Scarlet and Gray at the game’s most important position across Arroyo’s three years.

The next head coach would do himself a favor to nail down a quarterback as soon as possible. Whether that’s somebody currently on the roster or someone from the transfer portal, finding a permanent solution to that issue is a must.

Doug Brumfield is the best on the roster now, but he is exceedingly fragile, missing large chunks of both the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to assorted injuries. And depending on the hire, he might not even be a fit for the next offensive system. That’s something the coach will have to figure out, and the sooner the better.

Keep the keepers

The rest of the roster is not a wasteland. Arroyo brought in legitimate college football players at just about every position, and the next coach will have to quickly decide which ones he wants to retain and go to work re-recruiting them.

Some of the more obvious transfer risks are homegrown recruits who have spent their entire collegiate careers at UNLV. Brumfield, junior receiver Kyle Williams and junior cornerback Nohl Williams are three such examples; they could transfer elsewhere and play immediately in 2023.

Players who have already switched schools previously, like junior quarterback Harrison Bailey (Tennessee), junior running back Aidan Robbins (Louisville) and sophomore receiver Ricky White (Michigan State), have already used their one-time transfer and would have to sit out a year if they were to move on. That makes them less likely to enter the portal, but it could still happen.

The next coach will have to evaluate the roster, identify who he wants to keep, and give them a good reason to stay at UNLV.

Embrace the community

College football is a community affair, and Arroyo seemed to work tirelessly to turn the community against him. He dismissed local high school coaches as not worth his time, was needlessly combative with the media, and generally adopted a bunker mentality for three years. By the time he left, nobody liked him — including the program’s boosters, who are now paying him to go away.

Is being liked more important than winning games? Of course not. The only people who absolutely have to like a coach are the players he’s recruiting (and even then, only until they’ve signed their letter of intent). Other than that, winning solves everything. But it would behoove the next coach to at least try to make a friend or two if he intends on sticking around Las Vegas for a while.

Do not rebuild

One phrase Harper conspicuously avoided using during his Monday press conference was “rebuild.” He doesn’t believe UNLV is a rebuilding situation, and therefore isn’t looking for a coach who will strip down the team and then spend years waxing on about the gradual nature of building a winner.

In Harper’s mind, this is a win-now job.

So in terms of nonconference scheduling, recruiting, the transfer portal and every other aspect of the program, the next coach had better come in with every intention of making a bowl game in 2023.

Hit the portal

Arroyo didn’t do much recruiting at the high-school level, and in fact only had three prep players committed for the Class of 2023. The next coach should probably follow suit, at least in Year 1.

Look for the incoming staff to hit the transfer portal hard, both to replace current players who leave and to begin building a bridge to the next full slate of recruits.

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