Finally.
Finally UNLV football held a spring practice under head coach Marcus Arroyo on Tuesday.
After having last year's scheduled month of 15 field sessions completely wiped out by the pandemic shutdown, everyone – the players, coaches, staff, even the media – was ready to be back out to Rebel Park.
"Good to get these guys out here and get rolling," is how the second-year head coach put it. "I haven't been to a spring practice in a couple of years. We didn't have a March 30 in this program last year."
A cool and breezy but sun-bathed morning welcomed the 90 current members of the roster for a spirited two-hours-plus workout in shorts and helmets.
Arroyo met with reporters after practice and was seemingly all smiles under his mask for no other reason than to be finally overseeing the development of his team in a nearly normal setting after going through a rushed half-season in fall 2020.
"Everybody looks totally different," he said. "The whole program looks different – the expectations, the culture, the mindset, the habits, the leadership has been better at all positions. Everything is different. We're not near where we want to be but we're a lot further along."
