Nearly halfway through spring ball, UNLV was back at Rebel Park Tuesday and got its practice in under sunny skies and before the winds hit town.

One of the Rebels' nine Super Seniors who were granted another shot at a final campaign because of COVID considerations, Giovanni Fauolo Sr. (Oakley, CA/Freedom HS) met with the media following the session.

Truly a veteran college football player, he enters his sixth year with the Rebels (redshirted in 2016) and was even named the starting tight end on the previous All-Decade Team announced in 2019.

A steadying force on a team featuring lots of youth, the former team captain comes back with 54 career receptions for 556 yards and four touchdowns. 

He was asked about his motivations for returning for a final go-round in 2021.

"Most important reason for me coming back is I want to be part of the change here -- helping move this program forward has always been my goal since the day I arrived," he said. "I believe in what we have going on here -- the new staff bringing in a new type of energy. I'm all-in, bought-in."

And what does Gio see different this spring compared to last fall?

"You get the young guys having a true offseason. Coming into last season, they didn't have that because of COVID. Guys were coming out of high school, doing Zoom meetings, Zoom workouts. So getting a full offseason with the coaches is going to help big time in the fall. We have young quarterbacks so getting big reps is important. Just getting out here and practicing -- that's the biggest difference for us because last year we didn't have that."