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UNLV football opened spring practice on Tuesday, and the general message throughout the program seemed to be simple: This is not the 2020 team.
That squad went 0-6 last year under new coach Marcus Arroyo and failed to come within single digits of any opponent. There were extenuating circumstances, of course—a lack of an offseason program, a first-time head coach being indoctrinated to the job via Zoom, and an ever-evolving schedule (and roster) due to COVID-19.
Now, four months after the final snap of the 2020 season, UNLV believes it is turning the page on that forgettable campaign.
“Everybody looks totally different,” Arroyo said. “The leadership has been better at all positions. The overall influence the team’s had, the habits, everything we’ve done in the weight room and carrying it out to here. We’re not near where we want to be, but we’re a lot further along.”
One area where UNLV will look decidedly different is at quarterback. Senior Max Gilliam started all six contests last year, but in 2021 the team will be helmed by one of three signal-callers who will begin the battle for the job in spring practice and likely continue to jostle through fall training camp.
Junior Justin Rogers got into two games last year and completed 14-of-22 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Doug Brumfield also saw action in two contests and hit on 9-of-21 throws for 151 yards, with no touchdown passes (he did run for one score).
The two veterans will compete with incoming freshman Cameron Friel, a 6-foot-4 lefty from Hawaii who enrolled early. A 3-star recruit, Friel passed for 1,694 yards and 19 touchdowns as a high-school junior in 2019.
Whoever ends up claiming the QB1 job will surely spend much of the 2021 campaign targeting sophomore receiver Kyle Williams. Arroyo touted Williams as a someone who wields leadership clout in the program despite his youth.
Though he’s coming off a debut season in which he caught 35 passes for 426 yards and two touchdowns, earning him Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors, Williams is also ready to leave 2020 in the past.
“Since the winter conditioning and having our first spring ball, the offense and the whole program, I feel like it’s a whole different mindset,” Williams said. “I feel like it’s going to be a completely different year.”
UNLV will hold four weeks of spring practice, then return to their offseason workout routine until training camp opens in late July or early August. By then, Arroyo hopes UNLV football will look nothing like the team that took the field last year.
“The No. 1 goal out of spring is to make these guys have basically an unrecognizable on-field culture,” Arroyo said. “I want someone who played on last year’s team to come out [to spring practice] and go, ‘That looked nothing like what we did before,’ and can’t believe it.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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