Tyrell Crosby endorses UNLV’s hiring of Marcus Arroyo

Offensive tackle Tyrell Crosby’s last game game at Oregon also was Marcus Arroyo’s first as the Ducks’ play-caller, and it took place in Las Vegas, Crosby’s hometown and Arroyo’s future residence.

Arroyo was promoted to the position in time for the 2017 Las Vegas Bowl after sharing offensive coordinator duties that season with Mario Cristobal. When Cristobal was named head coach after the regular season, he put Arroyo in charge of the offense.

UNLV will introduce Arroyo as its new coach at a news conference at 11 a.m. Friday at the Fertitta Football Complex.

“When coach Arroyo was my offensive coordinator at Oregon, he masterminded an offense that was high tempo, high scoring and highly effective,” Crosby, a Green Valley High School graduate, said Thursday in a text message. “He will be a coach I know players will want to run through a wall for, because I know I was.”

Crosby added that Arroyo will upgrade the talent level by recruiting “at a national level” and by convincing Las Vegas’ top players to stay home.

Crosby was one of the top players who got away, even though he grew up in Henderson as a UNLV fan, attended his first college football game at Sam Boyd Stadium and even was a ball boy for the Rebels.

He went on to become a standout at Oregon, receiving the Morris Trophy in 2017 as Pac-12 Conference’s top offensive lineman. Crosby was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions and has started four career games for the Lions and played in 23.

“It is no secret that the Rebels have had (their) misfortunes,” Crosby texted. “However, I believe Coach Arroyo is going to be the perfect fit to lead the Rebels into success.”

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Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.