UNLV football player Jackson Woodard settled in at his apartment near campus on Swenson Avenue after the team returned to town last November following a win at Air Force. He noticed there was a persistent light shining into his unit. He opened the window to realize it was the LED display coming from the nearby Sphere, or as Woodard calls it, the “greatest video screen in the world.”
It was another reminder that Woodard was no longer in Greenbrier, Arkansas, where his family has a cattle farm on many acres in a city of about 5,000 residents, and where his childhood pet pig, Calvin, awaits his visits.
“It still happens to this day when I’ll be driving at nighttime and I’ll look at the Strip and be like, ‘Wow, I’m in Las Vegas right now,’ ” said Woodard, who transferred last January from the University of Arkansas. “Never in my wildest dreams did I dream of being in Las Vegas. Another one is driving past Allegiant Stadium and realizing that’s our base. That’s where people come to watch us play.”
The Rebels are sure glad he’s here. The linebacker had 116 tackles last fall in UNLV’s breakthrough season—and he wants more. The program started spring practice March 2 looking to build off last year’s 9-5 season, which included a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season title but left a lot of meat on the bone with three losses in a row in November and December.
A 49-36 defeat to Kansas at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix leaves plenty of motivation for Woodard and his defensive teammates because they allowed Jayhawks quarterback Jason Bean to pass for 449 yards and six touchdowns. Woodard has watched the game a few times trying to analyze what didn’t work.
“I tend to watch the games a little too much just critiquing myself, especially when I do bad,” he said. “We didn’t need to watch the film to realize what we needed to do to win. We knew exactly what went wrong when it comes to miscommunication, not running to the ball and not finishing. So I think going into this season we just need to be disciplined, be consistent and ultimately swarm to the ball. I mean, if one guy misses a tackle, the next guy’s there. And if that guy misses, the next guy’s there.”
The Rebels’ stable of “next guys” was upgraded in the offseason by UNLV coach Barry Odom and his staff—with an assist from Woodard. The Rebels grabbed at least four defenders from the NCAA Transfer Portal who are expected to make over the defense, all of whom Woodard had a hand in recruiting. His message: Come to UNLV and become a pro.
That could be the path Woodard is taking after his historic 2023 season, when he was second in the Mountain West in tackles and was named Newcomer of the Year.
That honor next season could go to one of the four defenders joining Woodard— including defensive backs LaDarrius Bishop and Malik Chavis from Arkansas, and Jalen Catalon from Texas, to aid the secondary that was exposed in the bowl game. The Rebels additionally added a pass rusher in Jackson State transfer Antonio Doyle Jr., who also spent two seasons at Texas A&M.
“I knew this would happen under coach Odom,” Woodard said of the program’s transformation in the coach’s first season. Woodard followed Odom, formerly the Arkansas defensive coordinator, when he got the UNLV job.
“I believe in him more than anybody when it comes to football and building a team. So I knew under him, we’d have a winning team and a winning program,” Woodard continued.
Mike Scherer, the UNLV defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, has worked with Woodard since they were both in the Arkansas program. Woodard’s dedication to the craft—from countless hours studying film to training behind the scenes—is what sets him apart, Scherer said. It also makes him a great leader.
“It’s his work ethic,” the coach said. “Every single day he is one of the hardest workers on the team. It’s in his personality to lead the team.”
Scherer said UNLV had “just a good enough season last year to come up short” and said the sky’s the limit in the second year under Odom. Woodard has his eyes fixed on something more: the playoffs.
The NCAA is debuting a 12-team playoff next season with an automatic bid going to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The Mountain West, which UNLV competes in, is considered part of that group, meaning a league title for UNLV could also mean a playoff berth.
“We have a mission,” Woodard says, “which is to go win a championship. That’s the standard and we are going to accept nothing but the standard. As a team, we’re all going to be on that same mission.”
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.