UNLV hires Marcus Arroyo as next football coach

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Chris Pietsch / AP

Oregon offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo watches his team during warmups before their NCAA college football game against Washington State Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in Eugene, Ore.

Published Wed, Dec 11, 2019 (9:17 a.m.)

Updated Wed, Dec 11, 2019 (12:22 p.m.)

UNLV has hired Marcus Arroyo as its next head football coach.

The 39-year-old Arroyo spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Oregon, where the Ducks have had success operating a balanced attack. Under Arroyo, Oregon was one of nine teams to rank in the top 40 in rushing and passing offense this season, and that dual-threat scheme was on display last week when Oregon blew out Utah in the Pac-12 title game, 37-15.

“UNLV Athletics is a department on the rise, and my family and I are thrilled to be a part of the Rebel family during this special time,” Arroyo said in a statement. “The uniqueness of Las Vegas is unrivaled and the opportunity to train, practice, and compete, in some of the country’s best facilities in one of the world’s most vibrant cities cannot be understated. We will work tirelessly to elevate UNLV football to the championship caliber program that it is positioned to be.”

Arroyo played his college ball at San Jose State from 1998-2002, where he set numerous school records in the Spartans' wide-open offense. After graduating he spent one year at SJSU as an undergrad assistant before taking over as Prairie View A&M's offensive coordinator in 2004. After that one-year stop, he went back to San Jose State for four years, first as a grad assistant (2005), then as quarterbacks coach (2006) and then as offensive coordinator (2007-08).

Stints at Wyoming (2009-10), Cal (2011-12) and Southern Miss (2013) followed, and then Arroyo spent a year in the NFL as the QB coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014).

He returned to the college game after one year, becoming the running backs coach at Oklahoma State. During his two seasons in Stillwater, he emerged as one of the most effective recruiters in the Big 12, and the Cowboys' rushing attack improved dramatically from his first to second year.

That caught Oregon's attention, and the Ducks hired Arroyo as co-offensive coordinator in 2017. Arroyo became the lone OC for the last two seasons, and he was also responsible for recruiting some of the Ducks' most important offensive players.

Oregon has put a productive offense on the field under Arroyo, and his ability to orchestrate the run and pass game is a key item on his coaching resumé. His reputation as an elite recruiter may be the most important element to his hiring at UNLV, however, as the Rebels have long been unable to convince top-ranked recruits to come to Las Vegas.

UNLV announced the hiring via Twitter, but no introductory press conference has been arranged yet. That should happen in the coming days. Arroyo will have to hit the ground running, as there's only a week remaining to sway Class of 2020 recruits before the first day of the early signing period (Dec. 18).

“We set out to find a teacher and a competitor with the character, competence, energy and intellect to bring out the best in our 105 young men and recruit and develop the next group of Rebel football student-athletes," UNLV Athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said.

"We looked for a leader that is a great evaluator of talent, who can sell what makes UNLV, our community, and our program unique, and helps develop and prepare our student-athletes for the next level," she said.

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

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