UNLV blocker Anton Ambuehl steps into spotlight as starting tackle

Anton Ambuehl comes from a football family. It’s also fair to say he comes from a Hollywood family.

Maybe that’s why left tackle is the perfect position for the 6-foot-6, 300-pound junior: He’s a blue-collar blocker, but also serving in a spotlight position on UNLV’s heralded offensive line.

Ambuehl is certainly ready for his close-up in 2024.

He burst onto the scene last year, winning the starting left tackle job in training camp as he adapted well to the newly installed go-go offense under newly hired coach Barry Odom and offensive coordinator Brennan Marion. And through the first five games, he and his linemates had a ball, opening rushing lanes as UNLV rolled to a 4-1 start.

Injuries caught up to Ambuehl, however. He suffered a torn labrum early in spring practice, but when doctors told him he couldn’t make it worse, he decided to put off surgery and play through it. He played through the pain and played effectively — until he also tore the rotator cuff in the same shoulder during a practice leading up to Week 6, all but ending his promising campaign.

“I tore the right labrum 100% in the second practice of spring ball, but doctors said was a pain tolerance thing, so I wanted to play the season,” Ambuehl says. “I think I was just loading up my rotator cuff too much to make up for it, and I tore my rotator cuff as well. I just lost all my strength and ability to move it. I just couldn’t play. I couldn’t punch with it. I wasn’t helping the team at all.”

How vital was Ambuehl’s run blocking? In the first five games of the season with Ambuehl starting at left tackle, UNLV averaged 214 rushing yards per contest, including consecutive games breaking the 300-yard mark in wins over UTEP and Hawaii.

After Ambuehl’s injury sidelined him, the Scarlet and Gray ran for 151 yards per game the rest of the season, cracking the 200-yard barrier just once in nine contests.

Ambuehl’s drive to play earned him the respect of his teammates and coaches.

“I love that kid,” Marion says. “He’s a dog. Last year his shoulder was hurt and he played through it for a lot of those games. I always tell him, ‘You remember that stretch we had that we rushed for over 300 yards?’ Ambuehl was one of the starting linemen in there. He’s a physical presence up front.”

Odom seconded Ambuehl’s toughness.

“He had a decision to make last year. He could have had the surgery early in the year and not played, and he decided to go ahead and play the entire year,” Odom says. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for his toughness, and his ability to be a great teammate.”

Ambuehl credits senior right tackle Tiger Shanks, an All-Mountain West selection, for helping him with the finer points of run blocking.

“I just enjoy running the ball,” Anton says. “In high school, actually, I did a lot more pass blocking than run, but then once I got to college and it was more of a run-heavy offense, I just fell in love with it and really started to work it.”

The Los Angeles native hails from a television dynasty; his mother, Cindy Ambuehl, played recurring roles on “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “Silk Stalkings,” with guest starring roles on shows such as “Seinfeld,” “Wings” and “Frasier.” His stepfather, Don Diamont, was a series regular on “The Young and the Restless” for more than a decade and currently portrays the character Bill Spencer, Jr. on “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

Ambuehl downplays the glitz and glamour of having celebrity parents.

“It didn’t really have much of an effect on our personal lives,” Ambuehl says. “When you come home, it’s mom, dad, stepdad — it’s just family.”

And anyway, football players outnumbered soap stars in the house growing up.

Ambuehl is one of four brothers; older siblings Zander Diamont and Luca Diamont played Division-I college football at Indiana and Duke, respectively, and his twin brother, Davis, is looking to make it 4-for-4.

Davis Ambuehl did not play football in high school, choosing to focus on basketball instead. He spent last year serving as a walk-on for the Mississippi basketball team, but when the coaching staff was fired in the offseason and the new coach informed him his services would no longer be required, Davis decided to make a change.

He had Anton put in a good word with the UNLV coaches, and they agreed to let him try out as a nonscholarship football player in 2024.

“I wasn’t ready to give up sports yet,” Davis says. “I wasn’t able to talk to the UNLV coaches, so it was all Anton talking for me. He sent them all my film and my transcripts and every workout for football that I had.”

Standing 6-foot-8, 270 pounds and possessing above-the-rim athleticism, Davis has been working with the tight ends in camp. It’s been a difficult month, as he’s learning the sport on the fly — these were his first football practices, ever — but he’s happy to be strapping on the pads at UNLV.

“It’s a lot,” Davis says. “My entire life I’ve always been focused on basketball, so it’s obviously confusing, but I can’t get frustrated at myself because I’m only [four] weeks into football. I’m loving it, though.”

Davis, like Anton, is focused more on the gridiron than on Hollywood. Neither have any acting credits, though Davis admits to doing a screen test years ago as a child actor.

Reunited and playing on the same team for the first time, the Davis brothers are as excited as anyone to begin the 2024 season. It will certainly make it easier for the rest of the family to see them both play.

“Our parents are very good about coming out to games,” Anton says. “Usually after games they take us out to dinner, so it will be nice to have Davis here too so we can all be together.”

Anton is back at full health and focusing on shoring up his pass blocking as UNLV prepares to open the season at Houston on Saturday (4 p.m., FS1).

“I’m good as new now,” Anton says. “We have an older offensive line, who have all actually played before, so the experience helps a lot.”

Marion believes Anton’s presence could take the offensive line to the next level, as seen during that stretch of 300-yard rushing games in 2023.

“He’s really worked his offseason on his pass protection,” Marion says. “His arm is healthy now. We really expect him to ignite us up front this year.”

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