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CDM Era: Transfer Portal and Recruits Thread

Both of these guys came in as freshman for this past season. Toby had announced he was staying about 3 days ago. Irvin was originally an AF commit that we flipped. They are young and still a lot of growth potential for them. I'm glad we were able to keep them.
Yeah, wasn't saying it was a bad thing... just mentioning that our portal pick ups and stays so far are a certain type, lol.. small speedy WRs and OLs...
 
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Cam Friel staying. I think he's definitely got a shot to be Dan's QB this year.

I don't know how excited I am about the prospect of him being the starter.

Couldn't beat out Hajj, Sluka or Brumfield.

If he earns the job, by all means but if you're telling me going into Spring it's his job to lose or he's the favorite...Man I don't know if I feel great about where we are at. He hasn't played a truly meaningful snap in almost three years.
 
I don't know how excited I am about the prospect of him being the starter.

Couldn't beat out Hajj, Sluka or Brumfield.

If he earns the job, by all means but if you're telling me going into Spring it's his job to lose or he's the favorite...Man I don't know if I feel great about where we are at. He hasn't played a truly meaningful snap in almost three years.
The Spread requires a different skill set than the Go-Go...Cam is built perfectly for spread, just enough running ability to be a threat and ability to pass. He was never going to beat out either on Marion's system which requires a hyper mobile QB.
 
According to the portal listing, they are staying. It is hard over the last week watching people leave with very few commits due to the holiday season more than anything else. I really want to see some high level transfer recruits commit to UNLV!
I was kind of wondering. It seems like under Odom there was a commitment just about every day. Although I'm not sure how timeliness were compared to right now. It could have been later on in the recruiting cycle.
 
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The Spread requires a different skill set than the Go-Go...Cam is built perfectly for spread, just enough running ability to be a threat and ability to pass. He was never going to beat out either on Marion's system which requires a hyper mobile QB.

I'm aware of the different skill sets involved in the two offenses.

He couldn't beat out Brumfield either. Or Justin Rogers under Arroyo. He couldn't beat out true freshman Maiava last year and they are similiar type QBs.

He played ok as a true freshman all things considered.

I'm not saying he's devoid of talent but I would hope our options were a little better heading into a season with a lot riding on it.

If he wins the job, great and I'll trust Mullen's ability to coach him up. But he has had zero meaningful reps the last two years and barely a games worth of reps 3 years ago.

I'm not sure what you're basing your analysis on. His 6 TD 11 INTs as a freshman?

Reports that he looked solid in spring ball?

I'm not trashing the guy but he's played so sparingly and been buried on the depth chart for three straight years, hard to be excited at the prospect of him as the starter until I hear some reports out of camp saying he's lighting it up.

That would mean at face value we went out and got a two year starter from a P4 school to be an insurance policy for a guy that's been 2nd if not 3rd on the depth chart at UNLV for three years.
 
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I don't know how excited I am about the prospect of him being the starter.

Couldn't beat out Hajj, Sluka or Brumfield.

If he earns the job, by all means but if you're telling me going into Spring it's his job to lose or he's the favorite...Man I don't know if I feel great about where we are at. He hasn't played a truly meaningful snap in almost three years.
With the QB whisperer that is now the coach for UNLV, I am not worried about whomever Mullen decides is the starter. Freil has the talent, he just needs the right coach.
 
It's never a bad idea to have an experienced backup at any level of football.

Friel is not a starter for a good team. He's learning for his coaching future and I'm not mad about that. He doesn't need a BA in something that won't help him land a job. He's learning an SEC offense next year and has been in the Go-Go the last two seasons, not to mention whatever Arroyo ran.

Smart move thinking about the future and not just the present.
 
Friel was the MWC Freahmen of the year. The Go-Go offense at its core is a triple option offense. Friel is not a triple option QB. That’s why he didn’t start. In contrast, neither Haj or Sluka have the arm to be effective in a pro-spread offense. They are running QB’s and would not beat out Friel if UNLV ran the spread which is perfect for Friels skill set. Also, the reports coming out of the fall camp was that Friel was the better passer with the stronger arm over both Haj and Sluka who couldn’t throw a lick.
 
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Friel is known as a great teammate and leader. Not a huge surprise that he is staying. He has been recruited over every year since he has been here. It made much more sense for him to leave long ago, so it is not surprising now. He obviously loves UNLV and has been content with his role over the past several years.
I don't think him staying is a huge sign that he will start our even be a major contender to start next year.
I think he has some talent and perhaps he makes a push in camp, but most likely he is staying to continue his role as a mentor and leader without necessarily playing.
Again I think he is good enough to be a back up and not a wasted schollie by any means.
 
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Friel was the MWC Freahmen of the year. The Go-Go offense at its core is a triple option offense. Friel is not a triple option QB. That’s why he didn’t start. In contrast, neither Haj or Sluka have the arm to be effective in a pro-spread offense. They are running QB’s and would not beat out Friel if UNLV ran the spread which is perfect for Friels skill set. Also, the reports coming out of the fall camp was that Friel was the better passer with the stronger arm over both Haj and Sluka who couldn’t throw a lick.

Tim he was fresman of the year with a pretty uninspiring stat line. He had a similiar completion % to Hajj and had 6 TD to 11 INTs.

He's barely played since. The uninspiring mix of QBs Doug Brumfield, Justin Rogers (Pre GoGo), Hajj and Sluka kept him off the field. Maiava a freshman himself got the nod over the more experienced Friel. Maiava is a similiar skill set to Friel. He did well in the Go-Go and he isn't exactly mobile.

Yes I think he has some talent. Yes I think with Mullen he could possibly do well.

But no I'm not excited about the prospect of a guy leading the team to the CFP that hasn't taken a meaningful snap in three years.

If reports come out of camp that he is flourishing in the offense, great I'll be pumped. Until then though I'm hesitant to get excited about it.
 
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Friel is known as a great teammate and leader. Not a huge surprise that he is staying. He has been recruited over every year since he has been here. It made much more sense for him to leave long ago, so it is not surprising now. He obviously loves UNLV and has been content with his role over the past several years.
I do think him staying is a huge sign that he will start our even be a major contender to start next year.
I think he has some talent and perhaps he makes a push in camp, but most likely he is staying to continue his role as a mentor and leader without necessarily playing.
Again I think he is good enough to be a back up and not a wasted schollie by any means.

Exactly this.
 
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It's never a bad idea to have an experienced backup at any level of football.

Friel is not a starter for a good team. He's learning for his coaching future and I'm not mad about that. He doesn't need a BA in something that won't help him land a job. He's learning an SEC offense next year and has been in the Go-Go the last two seasons, not to mention whatever Arroyo ran.

Smart move thinking about the future and not just the present.

Crap I'm agreeing with the idiot..
 
Tim he was fresman of the year with a pretty uninspiring stat line. He had a similiar completion % to Hajj and had 6 TD to 11 INTs.

He's barely played since. The uninspiring mix of QBs Doug Brumfield, Justin Rogers (Pre GoGo), Hajj and Sluka kept him off the field. Maiava a freshman himself got the nod over the more experienced Friel. Maiava is a similiar skill set to Friel. He did well in the Go-Go and he isn't exactly mobile.

Yes I think he has some talent. Yes I think with Mullen he could possibly do well.

But no I'm not excited about the prospect of a guy leading the team to the CFP that hasn't taken a meaningful snap in three years.

If reports come out if camp that he is flourishing in the offense, great I'll be pumped. Until then though I'm hesitant to get excited about it.
Don’t you think CDM watched film on him before he was invited to stay? Also, Friel was a 18 yo freshmen and Haj a 26 yo 6th year senior. Friel is not a triple option QB and that is what the Go-Go offense is and UNLV has run it the last two years. Triple option. Lastly, there is no need for anyone to get excited about Friel staying. That wasn’t my point. My point is not to immediately discount Friel staying as a disappointment. But I do feel his skill set could do well in the spread offense.
 
That's what I'm saying. His skill set is suited for the spread. He's a bigger QB and bigger body. He can throw deep. And his freshman stats weren't great, but that was a 2 win team in 2021 and he got sacked alot behind a terrible OL. After his injury he had confidence issues and Arroyo brought in Bailey to start and Doug beat Bailey out. But you can see in the past 2 yrs on mop up duty he's got his confidence back and he has a good skill set with experience to push for a starting job and absolutely succeed. He just isn't built for the Go-Go
 
One other scenario. Sluka ultimately won the starting job after fall camp. Assuming he stayed and had one more year of eligibility does anyone think CDM would waste a scholarship and invite Sluka back in anticipation that he potentially could run the spread offense? I don’t. He could never run the spread. But he was the starter in the Go-Go.
 
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One other scenario. Sluka ultimately won the starting job after fall camp. Assuming he stayed and had one more year of eligibility does anyone think CDM would waste a scholarship and invite Sluka back in anticipation that he potentially could run the spread offense? I don’t. He could never run the spread. But he was the starter in the Go-Go.
Umm... Sluka has the same build, slightly less bulk as Tebow. He'd absolutely have brought him back.
 
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Don’t you think CDM watched film on him before he was invited to stay? Also, Friel was a 18 yo freshmen and Haj a 26 yo 6th year senior. Friel is not a triple option QB and that is what the Go-Go offense is and UNLV has run it the last two years. Triple option. Lastly, there is no need for anyone to get excited about Friel staying. That wasn’t my point. My point is not to immediately discount Friel staying as a disappointment. But I do feel his skill set could do well in the spread offense.

The Go-Go offense is not a triple option offense. It's a spread offense that uses unbalanced sets that relies on zone read, rpo and some option elements. The offense this year looked different than last year.

I didn't say I was disappointed he's staying. I never even implied it. I said I'm not overly excited at the prospect of him becoming the starter because the only tape we have of him is four years old and mop up duty this year.

If I told you before Mullen got hired we were bringing in a P4 two year starter to be Cam Friel's back up you'd look at me like I was nuts.
 
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That's what I'm saying. His skill set is suited for the spread. He's a bigger QB and bigger body. He can throw deep. And his freshman stats weren't great, but that was a 2 win team in 2021 and he got sacked alot behind a terrible OL. After his injury he had confidence issues and Arroyo brought in Bailey to start and Doug beat Bailey out. But you can see in the past 2 yrs on mop up duty he's got his confidence back and he has a good skill set with experience to push for a starting job and absolutely succeed. He just isn't built for the Go-Go

Dude I mean this sincerely. I like your takes even though we disagree on some stuff. Pretty insightful stuff. One of my favorite posters on the boards.

But

'you could see his confidence was back during mop up duty'

Its mop up duty. There's zero pressure.

Also didn't he fumble with the Rebs going in for the score twice this year in mop up duty? I know at least once.
 
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Umm... Sluka has the same build, slightly less bulk as Tebow. He'd absolutely have brought him back.
Why are you guys still talking about a guy who quit?

His completion percentage was below 50% and that included a game against Utah Tech!

If Mullen would have retained his services in his offense, he would instantly lose credibility as a HC who runs the spread offense.

Who cares about the what if’s of Slug-ka, he sucked as a passer here and he turned his back on his team!
 
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The Go-Go offense is not a triple option offense. It's a spread offense that uses unbalanced sets that relies on zone read, rpo and some option elements. The offense this year looked different than last year.

I didn't say I was disappointed he's staying. I never even implied it. I said I'm not overly excited at the prospect of him becoming the starter because the only tape we have of him is four years old and mop up duty this year.

If I told you before Mullen got hired we were bringing in a P4 two year starter to be Cam Friel's back up you'd look at me like I was nuts.
No need to argue. But it’s a triple option:

"Go Go at its essence" refers to the core principle of the "Go-Go Offense" being built around the "triple option" concept, meaning the quarterback has the ability to choose between handing off the ball to one running back, keeping it and running himself, or pitching it to another running back on the outside, forcing the defense to defend multiple potential running options on a single play.”
 
It’s all over the net:

Core principles of the Go-Go Offense​

The option
At its heart, the Go-Go Offense is first and foremost built around the triple option. As a former wide receiver though, Marion wanted to retain a little more balance. “Really I wanted to run triple option but I didn’t want to lose any cool pass plays”.
Where the Go-Go differs from the traditional triple option is that their standard formations have the quarterback working from shotgun, rather than under center. They then have freedom to change up the positioning of the running backs.
Contrary to what you might think, Marion is adamant that teams do not require a mobile quarterback to run the option. UNLV’s starting quarterback in 2023 was Jayden Maiava, who ran a 5.24 40-yard dash coming out of high school. Marion says that simply the threat of the option is enough to create favourable situations for the offense.
One of the ways that the Go-Go really likes to attack offenses with the triple option is using the sidecar formation. This has the quarterback lined up in shotgun, with both backs lined up to the same side. You can see just how effective it is in the cutup below.
 
One other scenario. Sluka ultimately won the starting job after fall camp. Assuming he stayed and had one more year of eligibility does anyone think CDM would waste a scholarship and invite Sluka back in anticipation that he potentially could run the spread offense? I don’t. He could never run the spread. But he was the starter in the Go-Go.
I think this point is moot. Sluka left when he did to preserve his senior year of elgibility. He would have been gone either way.
I wouldn't fit because he needs to be more of a passer and his completion % just isn't good enough. He could play the young Tebow role as a wildcat qb. But he wouldn't be an every down starter. Sluka probably wouldn't have excepted that.
 
No need to argue. But it’s a triple option:

"Go Go at its essence" refers to the core principle of the "Go-Go Offense" being built around the "triple option" concept, meaning the quarterback has the ability to choose between handing off the ball to one running back, keeping it and running himself, or pitching it to another running back on the outside, forcing the defense to defend multiple potential running options on a single play.”

In the run game yes. It also had heavy RPO elements. Heavy zone read elements. And standard spread offense elements. We weren't Army or Navy.

Again Maiava ran it well and he and Friel have similiar skill sets.

Why was freshman Maiava any more capable of running it than Friel?
 
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It has triple option elements, but is different. It's hard to be considered a true triple option when we had no dive component. It was a read option that included an additional back or WR that made it a triple option at times.
But we threw it much more often than a true triple option. I honestly think from a basic perspective that the Go Go is closer to the spread option than a traditional triple option. Run game is heavy on the zone read. Etc.
The big difference is the Go Go is purposefully simple. It uses unbalanced formations to make pre snap reads easier. Plays really had 1 read and that's it. Obviously it worked a little different with Maiava last year. The spread option requires more on the QB as a passer.
The Go Go has its strengths. It was a huge part on why we were successful. I do think that what we saw was a bit too simple. It felt like we had 6-8 core plays (or less) that we ran from a couple other different formations. I think that we became less effective because we didn't have a ton of variety on what we tried to do.
 
It has triple option elements, but is different. It's hard to be considered a true triple option when we had no dive component. It was a read option that included an additional back or WR that made it a triple option at times.
But we threw it much more often than a true triple option. I honestly think from a basic perspective that the Go Go is closer to the spread option than a traditional triple option. Run game is heavy on the zone read. Etc.
The big difference is the Go Go is purposefully simple. It uses unbalanced formations to make pre snap reads easier. Plays really had 1 read and that's it. Obviously it worked a little different with Maiava last year. The spread option requires more on the QB as a passer.
The Go Go has its strengths. It was a huge part on why we were successful. I do think that what we saw was a bit too simple. It felt like we had 6-8 core plays (or less) that we ran from a couple other different formations. I think that we became less effective because we didn't have a ton of variety on what we tried to do.
Where did I say “pure” triple option? The Go-Go is a triple option run attack ran out of the shot gun. It’s not the wish bone or belly system but 80-90% of the runs from scrimmage are based on the core principles of the triple option. It’s that simple.
 
Where did I say “pure” triple option? The Go-Go is a triple option run attack ran out of the shot gun. It’s not the wish bone or belly system but 80-90% of the runs from scrimmage are based on the core principles of the triple option. It’s that simple.
Easy Tim. Each game seems different with the Go-Go offense. Marion's adaptation to each team varies.
 
Easy Tim. Each game seems different with the Go-Go offense. Marion's adaptation to each team varies.

Its a versatile offense.

It looked different this year vs last season.

Friel and Maiava are similiar guys.

If Friel was the best option for the offense, he would have started and the offense would have been adjusted to fit his skill set. More RPO vs zone read and option and designed QB run stuff this year.

We actually have an example of it from year 1 to year 2. Sluka and Hajj were different than Maiava and the offense looked different.

If Friel was a significantly better option he would have been the guy this year.

Yes his skill set is better suited for the spread offense. But even Mullen has used designed QB runs and zone read stuff in his offense.

Im not trashing Friel I'm just saying if I had told anybody we would be adding a two year P4 starter from the portal as insurance for Cameron Friel you would have said I was nuts.
 
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Its a versatile offense.

It looked different this year vs last season.

Friel and Maiava are similiar guys.

If Friel was the best option for the offense, he would have started and the offense would have been adjusted to fit his skill set. More RPO vs zone read and option and designed QB run stuff this year.

We actually have an example of it from year 1 to year 2. Sluka and Hajj were different than Maiava and the offense looked different.

If Friel was a significantly better option he would have been the guy this year.

Yes his skill set is better suited for the spread offense. But even Mullen has used designed QB runs and zone read stuff in his offense.

Im not trashing Friel I'm just saying if I had told anybody we would be adding a two year P4 starter from the portal as insurance for Cameron Friel you would have said I was nuts.
CDM was away from Coaching for 3 years. He have time to reflect. He was regarded as a offensive wizard. 3 years of reflections without the pressure of coaching. I am sure he understands the Go-Go offense inserts and probably utilise it too when the timing is right. You guys understand when your peers call you a wizard at something. Not the general public but your peers. That is another level. He had 3 years to reflects.
 
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