Coming home: UNLV senior linebacker returns to Texas for final game

FRISCO, Texas – He saw it firsthand as a redshirt linebacker in 2021. Saw the losing, the deflated attitudes, the culture that needed changing.

Marsel McDuffie made a promise to himself when that 2-10 season concluded for UNLV’s football team.

He would be one to make a difference.

He would help build a program.

McDuffie certainly kept his word and has played a big part in where the Rebels stand today.

UNLV (10-3) is on the cusp of a second consecutive 11-win season and can achieve such an accomplishment by beating Ohio University (8-4) in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday at The Star.

And what an ending to his college career it will be for McDuffie.

Back in Texas

He has come home for this last game. McDuffie hails from Grand Prairie, Texas, a mere 38 minutes away. He predicts more than 50 family members and friends will be in attendance.

He can’t stop smiling about it.

“Back close to where I played high school football,” McDuffie said. “Lots of loved ones. It’s a great feeling.

“I played at (The Star) in some 7-on-7s and camps, so I know what to expect. It’s so surreal. I came to UNLV not knowing much about college football. I was just happy to be a Division I athlete.”

He matured into so much more.

He leads the Rebels this season with 103 total tackles and was a second-team all-Mountain West selection. But that doesn’t begin to speak of his other qualities.

Jackson Woodard — now with the Miami Dolphins — was UNLV’s all-everything linebacker last year. He was the heart and soul of the Rebels. An emotional example of what made UNLV so good.

But someone had to fill those shoes this season and in large part the responsibility fell to the 6-foot-1-inch, 245-pound McDuffie.

He has never been the vocal presence Woodard was. McDuffie has had to learn over time how to inspire others with words as much as actions. He has gotten better at it.

“He has improved quite a bit all year,” defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. “Now, with (Woodard) gone, (McDuffie) drives the bus. He has handled the things I put on him as far as X’s and O’s and scheme and the huddle really well. He has done a great job with all of that.”

Here’s the thing: In a transfer portal world where guys jump from school to school on a whim, McDuffie more than once had the opportunity to depart the Rebels for another program.

He never did. He always remained loyal to UNLV, the team that signed him under then-coach Marcus Arroyo. McDuffie never wavered.

It was a lesson taught to him by merely watching his grandfather while growing up. Seeing someone that when he made a commitment, he stuck with it.

There was no such thing as backing out.

“It’s how I try to live my life,” McDuffie said. “No matter what is going on, no matter what happens, when I start something, I finish it. I started here so I’m going to finish here.”

Said Guenther: “No doubt he’s a (loyal) kid. He’s a great kid. I think it means a lot to him. I told him he could be a player leaving here with back-to-back 11-win seasons. That’s pretty special.”

Cherry on top

He has become in tune with the fine details of becoming a standout player, of spending more time in the film room and getting treatment and stretching, whatever it takes to be the absolute best version of himself.

It hit him last week. He arrived a wide-eyed 18-year-old with no clue really about how his career might progress and is now 22 and about to finish his fifth year at UNLV.

He has come home to do so.

“Time,” McDuffie said, “waits for nobody.”

His goal was to change a culture, change how they played football around UNLV, change how they thought about the game and all it could deliver them.

There was a time when he couldn’t imagine things being any worse.

“I feel like I had a lot to do with the (improvement),” he said. “I feel like I played a part in all of it. We went 2-10 and it was demoralizing. Nobody was used to winning. It was like, ‘This is crazy.’

“To see where the program is now means everything to me. We’re just a bunch of guys who love playing ball, love being around each other. Back-to-back 11 win seasons would be the cherry on top.”

Yes. He kept his word.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.