Is anyone else concerned?
- Thread starter Rebel_Luv
- Start date
The two portal commits that UNLV has had would both be at or near the top of the class. It is going to take more than a couple of days for them to get more than a handful of commits!
Eh. I don’t like it. We just came off our best season ever and we are losing a ton to graduation, now to the portal. It does suck.
Not really concerned though. It’ll be tough, a lot of work to do. But it makes it easier, in a sense, to get what he wants. It’s a cleaner slate. It’ll be interesting, makes spring ball even more important than usual.
It may up being a near complete rebuild from a personnel standpoint. But at least it wouldnt be from a perception standpoint.
It is easier to tunrover a roster these days but hard to be super successful right away that way. Look and Deion that first year. A lot of buzz, but they ended up being not very good that year. This year was much better.
Even before Odom left I thought we would likely take a step a back from graduation alone. A lot of things lined up to make this past season what it was.
I think we will be good next season, I think we will be a bowl team and still probably be in the mix for the MW championship game. I just don't think we will be winning double digit games
We do need to try to talk some players back and of course hit some doubles, triples, and least a solo home run or 2 in the portal.
It is easier to tunrover a roster these days but hard to be super successful right away that way. Look and Deion that first year. A lot of buzz, but they ended up being not very good that year. This year was much better.
Even before Odom left I thought we would likely take a step a back from graduation alone. A lot of things lined up to make this past season what it was.
I think we will be good next season, I think we will be a bowl team and still probably be in the mix for the MW championship game. I just don't think we will be winning double digit games
We do need to try to talk some players back and of course hit some doubles, triples, and least a solo home run or 2 in the portal.
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There is a huge difference between what Deion walked into and what Mullen is walking into. Deion took over a 1-11 program while Mullen will take over a 11-3 program.
Yes. But what could be the same is the complete roster turnover.
SJSU actually did a really good job. They lost nearly everyone and came back pretty strong all things considered.
I think the general perception of the program does matter. Harder to build from scratch. I think Deion being Deion helps transcend some of that. But he did struggle that first year
Looking at some of our portal offers has me concerned because I look and see the other offers are James Madison, Toledo and the equivalent and a SC QB who looks like a backup. But it is early hopefully that improves.
The biggest area where rebuilds are difficult is on the O line. Its difficult to get 5 guys to gel and be a cohesive unit. But that was going to be the case no matter what with pretty much everyone being a senior. Hopefully some of those guys who got relief reps this season stick on. Keeping Jet is huge, hoping him and the transfer from Utah give our run game a chance.
Very true.
But a spread option O line may require different type of players
Im not worried. there will be thousands of players in the transfer portal looking for new homes. We have a very attractive new home with a coach who has a history of being very successful and a schedule that screams "Come win and play for a National championship" which a lot of these guys in the portal will be looking at. Turnover is kind of the name of the game these days in the portal era, especially with a competitive team. Just look at even the bad teams in conference and see how many players they are losing... Itll be key to re-recruit some of the guys entering the portal, but also there alot of players out there needing places to play and time.
That's very true as well. Our O line great this season at the run game, but towards the end the pass protection became a bit of an issue. I m not sure if that was a player type issue, or a scheme thing. Statistically, Williams got sacked way more this year than Maiava did last year. In 2023, we were sacked 26 times losing 161 yards. This year we got sacked 41 times losing 283 yards.
I would add DL to this because we have a hard time getting decent DL even being in the MWC. I would like to see OL, DL, WR, QB, CB and Pass Rushers from decent conferences if possible. If he can find good guys in these spots, he should be able to fill the other positions from our holdovers and other decent G5 guys!
I actually disagree a bit with the O line.
Having 2 preseason all confernce tackles I expected more.
Our run game was heavily elevated by scrambles. We struggled to run between the tackles most of the time. The run game performance was a big part of our red zone struggles.
Pass pro wasn't great either as you mentioned.
That's why I wasn't terribly upset with the loss of Vice.
I don't remember what the situation looked like when Odom took over and how that compares to now? The biggest diff seems to be the number of seniors graduating?
That's a great point. I went back and I compared 2023 to 2024 and removed all QB yards, even the designed run ones since I don't have a great way to separate the data. In 2023 that number totaled to 2236 yards while in 2024, it was 2403 yards. It was better, but 167 yards isn't a tremendous improvement.
Brutal castration to our offensive line. Not gonna lie it’s concerning to lose this much. Basically will be a complete rebuild at this point. I’m interested if any of these guys are just “testing” the market and will return or if all plan on going to Purdue.
Good next season? I think the expectations will be high as ever which I like but we are gonna be in serious revamp mode.
way too early to press the panic button. Jet is staying and others will come back + Mullen will get his guys in eventually.
It’s also very early in the process, lots of teams still bowling and there’s the CFP. There’s a lot of moving parts here so it will be a process before Mullen gets his staff in place and players in.
It’s also very early in the process, lots of teams still bowling and there’s the CFP. There’s a lot of moving parts here so it will be a process before Mullen gets his staff in place and players in.
Those ESPN highlights, and Pat McAfee praising the team help a lot too.
The fake punt was due to the special teams coach who is at Purdue, but the recruits only see that UNLV pulled of this amazing fake punt! It is still blowing up on social media, and could have an impact on recruiting for UNLV football!
That’s the unlv brand, excitement. I don’t know if that fake punt would happen without Del Alexander OK’ing it, I’m not sure Barry would have given his overly conservative approach to the game.
UNLV has always had good kickers but our special teams were bad for years. SHIBEST WAS THE REASON WE WON AS MANY GAMES AS WE DID THIS YEAR. Without all the blocked punts and long returns we lose another 4 games. Whoever replaces him has big shoes to fill.
In the interview where he mentioned a spread option he also said he'd consider an "I" formation. It all would depend on the players he had.
That was a bit of a joke. Saying that an I formation would be a radical formation these days.
He did say that 60% or his playbook will be the same. Or was it 80%. He will tailor the offense to the players we have so that's good, but i dont think he will do anything radically different
at this point, it's TBD on what offensive players we're going to have. We're losing both QB's, most of the WR's, the TE, and most of the OL. So at this point, you build the offensive playbook on Jet Thomas it seems.
Some of our portal departures may have been 'encouraged' to explore other options.
by most of our Wrs you mean White and Dejesus because outside those 2 we didnt have any other real WRs, lol...
Again, some are concerned about "rebuilding" a team and thats fair. But its not like Mullen is a first time HC and doesnt have any connections, recruits, etc. We are going to see a lot of movement, but thats not a sky is falling moment. Especially becuase of the media hype Mullen has gotten since being hired. Hes been on the Bowl game coverage on National TV, on the Herd, etc. He's going to get talked about during the CFP because his friend Urban is on the big noon kickoff and theyll talk about UNLV when Boise is on..
Yes, those 2 obviously, but also in the portal are McDaniel, Irvin, and Corey Thompson.
Who caught how many passes this year? Frankly our WR Corp outside White and DeJesus was a big letdown especially given Marion was a WR. I know it's partially on Hajj/Sluka to get them the ball but when they tried, there was a lot of dropped passes. Getting a fresh group might not be so bad...
Hayden Anderson is a big time WR. So far he is staying committed. Cassidy is a huge WR but he plays soft af. Also staying put.
Yeah, I saw some of those names and said, "Who's dat?"
Yes, Mani Powell and Catalon are big loss but they follow CBO from Ark.
Burrell is good but he's been replaced with that kid from Utah.
Chittenden and Nichols ....WTF? You are kickers. Where are you going?
Fisher Camac. Going to be stud. Big loss.
Grimes another big loss.
I hope Marsel McDuffie stays.
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Correct.
There have definitely been some guys especially Camac that sting and will be a challenge to replace. Others not so much.
