UNLV fires coach Marcus Arroyo after 3 seasons
UNLV has fired football coach Marcus Arroyo, the program announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Arroyo coached the Rebels for three seasons and was 7-23 overall.
- UNLV went 5-7 in 2022 and is second in line among 5-7 teams for a bowl based on APR. First is Rice, third is Michigan State. UNLV’s last bowl appearance was in 2014.
- Arroyo joined the Rebels after three seasons in multiple coaching roles at Oregon, most prominently as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. UNLV was his first head coaching job.
Arroyo started 0–14, but went 6–3 over the next nine. Then a 1–6 finish to the season, including a loss to Hawaii, while the UNLV team was battered with injuries.
Program got better, but AD Erick Harper didn’t hire him. Harper says in release that expectations have increased.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) November 28, 2022
Backstory
Arroyo lost his first 14 games as head coach but seemed to turn the corner earlier this season with a 4-1 start. Things fell apart after that, including a bad loss to Hawaii. Still, a bowl game looked possible, or even likely, as UNLV is second in line among 5-7 teams. The program got better every season, but there is also a new athletic director, who did not hire him. – Vannini
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What went wrong for UNLV this year?
UNLV’s downslide this season coincided directly with a rash of midseason injuries. Starting quarterback Doug Brumfield missed two games because of a concussion, receivers Kyle Williams (foot) and Jeff Weimer (shoulder) missed three and five games, respectively, and several other defensive starters missed time. UNLV followed its 4-1 start with six straight losses before a season-ending win over rival Nevada. The first three of those losses, in the wake of injuries, came by an aggregate score of 126-35.
Still, Arroyo had shown signs of progress, as this was the program’s first five-win season since 2017. UNLV has not had a winning season since 2013 (7-6) and has posted just three seasons of .500 or better this century. The move came as a surprise to those in the locker room, as word broke before they were set to gather on campus and paint the Fremont Canon red in honor of beating the in-state rival Wolf Pack on Saturday. – Fortuna
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(Photo: Matt Cashore / USA Today)
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