Expectations at all-time high as UNLV football takes field for spring practice

Where can UNLV football possibly go from here?

After back-to-back trips to the Mountain West championship game, a victory in the 2024 LA Bowl and a final ranking of No. 23 in the AP Top 25, the bar has never been so high for the Scarlet and Gray. And that’s just fine with Dan Mullen, who steps in as the highest-paid head coach in UNLV history.

Mullen’s task is to keep the good times rolling and even break through by delivering a conference title and a trip to the College Football Playoff. And it starts on Thursday, when the team opens spring practice with the first of 15 sessions at the Fertitta Football Complex.

With a new system in place and a roster made up of dozens of newcomers, it may take a while for Mullen to sort out what kind of team this will be. In the meantime, he’ll be keeping an open mind.

Back in February on national signing day, Mullen said the depth chart will be fluid throughout the offseason, with no presumed starters and everyone receiving an equal opportunity to earn their way onto the field.

“Everybody’s competing,” Mullen said. “I don’t think we know that guys are competing for starting jobs; guys are competing for playing time.”

UNLV has never had a spring like this.

Newcomers debut
In 2023, an unknown slot receiver took over spring practices and dominated the showcase scrimmage; by the time UNLV was off to an historic 6-1 start under Barry Odom, Jacob De Jesus was a household name on his way to All-American status.

Last year it was Hajj-Malik Williams, a sixth-year transfer quarterback who signed on as a backup but ended up pushing presumptive starter Matthew Sluka down to the wire. Four weeks in, Williams took over and led UNLV to the Mountain West championship game while earning second-team All-MWC honors.

The lesson is, you never really know what you have with a newcomer until you get them on the field and in the new system.

Which future stars will burst onto the scene this spring? It’s tough to predict ahead of time, but one player to keep an eye on is Jaylon Glover, a junior running back who spent his first three years at Utah rushing for 982 yards and six touchdowns at a clip of 4.3 yards per carry.

Mullen recruited Glover out of high school and is excited to add him to the backfield.

“You want backs that are physical backs,” Mullen said. “He has that size and physicality to run between the tackles and also has the ability to make you miss when he does get into the open field.”

All systems go
Classroom learning is one thing, but when it comes to learning a new playbook there is no substitution for on-field repetitions.

Mullen has been drilling his players on his version of the spread offense since taking the job in December, and these 15 practice sessions will allow the team to really absorb the ins and outs of the system. And that doesn’t just go for the players — the coaching staff can use the spring to gel, too.

Offensive coordinator Corey Dennis has never worked under Mullen before, so he is looking forward to getting on the field and digging into X’s and O’s.

“The cool thing with coach Mullen is he’s been so successful at so many different places with so many different styles of offense,” Dennis said.

Quarterbacks compete
The top storyline of the offseason will obviously be the battle at quarterback, where transfers Anthony Colandrea and Alex Orji will compete for the No. 1 job. As of now, Mullen said neither player enters spring with an advantage.

Colandrea, a junior who played his first two years at Virginia, is a dual-threat scrambler who completed 62.2% of his passes with 28 total touchdowns. Orji, a senior import from Michigan, is known more for his bruising running style (78 attempts, 392 yards, four touchdowns in limited playing time).

Based on the format of spring sessions, it would seem that Colandrea’s style is more conducive to looking good in practice, so don’t be surprised if he receives better reviews over the next month.

With two disparate styles, Dennis said it will be important not force the quarterbacks into a preconceived role but rather construct an offense around their skill sets.

“From all the different types of quarterbacks [Mullen] has been around, and myself with the different styles of quarterbacks play I’ve been around, I think that both of us agree that we have to find what these guys are good at and then ultimately enhance their talents,” Dennis said.

Playmakers wanted
Springtime is great for receivers, as they get all the opportunity they could ever want to run around and flash their playmaking skills in open space. And with program legend Ricky White graduated, there will be plenty of targets to go around — starting now.

Look for power-conference transfers Koy Moore (LSU/Auburn/Western Kentucky) and Troy Omeire (Texas/Arizona State) and JoJo Earle (TCU) to bring field-stretching ability, while true freshman Tavian McNair looks to make an early name for himself.

Rebuilding the D
UNLV’s defense was decimated by graduation and the transfer portal, with stalwarts like Jackson Woodard, Antonio Doyle, Cameron Oliver, Jalen Catalon and Fisher Camac all having departed. That leaves a massive leadership void on that side of the ball.

Can newcomers step in and set the tone? Sure. That’s what Woodard did in his first year with the program in 2023, and Doyle and Catalon became leaders in short order after joining in 2024. But it would be more natural for the next wave of culture-setters to be players who have been with the program during its recent ascension and who know what it has taken to get there.

There are in-house candidates to lead the defense. Fifth-year linebacker Marsel McDuffie is poised for a breakout season, and linebacker Charles Correa flashed as a true freshman last year.

Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett doesn’t want to nominate anyone for those roles just year, as he believes it has to be earned on the practice field.

“I think you identify those guys through offseason workouts and you get a chance to watch how they perform when they get some adversity thrown at them,” Arnett said. “I don’t think any of us coaches are in a position now to say we’ve identified who the future leaders will be.”

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