LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's another head coaching change for UNLV football.
UNLV athletic director Erik Harper confirmed this morning that Marcus Arroyo is out. Arroyo leaves the Rebels with a 7-23 overall record.
"This is a tough decision by all means," Harper said. "I didn't make this lightly. It's important to get the right person at the right time for this program."
The announcement comes on the heels of the Rebels defeating in-state rival Nevada on Saturday, ending a 6-game losing streak and bringing back the Fremont cannon.
"If we go from the start, everybody dealt with COVID year. Obviously, that wasn't a very good year for us. Next year, didn't have much success until the end of the season," said Harper. "This year, we had success at the beginning of the season, but then we stalled out for six weeks and had a very struggling game against UNR. But that full body of work did not see the trajectory of the program moving where we want it to go, and that's winning championships."
Despite news of Arroyo's firing, players and students gathered on campus Monday to keep a long-standing tradition alive: re-painting the cannon red.
"We feel good about this season. We could have done better, but we got the cannon back and that's something that really means a lot to this community, " said sophomore defensive lineman Jalen Dixon. "That's something we really wanted to do and get that done."
"This is just the start of it right now. We're just progressing as a team, everyone coming together, all the transfers coming in," senior defensive lineman Naki Fahina added. "It's going to be a great future for us. I know you guys hear a lot of the time 'next year is going to be better,' but I promise you this program is going somewhere with some of the stuff that is going on right now."
And now the search is on for the next UNLV head football coach. Harper says he is feeling the pressure to get this one right.
"Right now is a time for us to do that at a level we haven't seen consistently," said Harper. "I think with the right person here we can get that done. This is going to be the biggest decision because this is my first gigantic decision that I'm going have to make."
