LAS VEGAS — Louie Addazio has spent fall camp moving offensive linemen around, testing different combinations and trying to figure out which five give UNLV the best group when the season begins. Through all of that movement, one thing has stayed consistent. Addazio has built the identity of the offensive line around what he calls “The Room.”
It is how UNLV’s new offensive line coach refers to the group, the meeting space and the standard he has tried to establish since arriving during the offseason. Players are expected to take care of the room, protect the room and understand that whatever affects one player affects the entire group.
“Our meeting room is special,” Addazio said. “We call it the room. We meet in the room. We take care of the room. Every time we break it down, we break it down on the room, and that’s our identity. The guys have really bought into that and really embraced it.”
Austin Boyd, who has moved to center and taken on a larger leadership role, said the idea is built around the offensive line functioning as one group instead of five separate players.
“It’s all about a mentality, a mindset,” Boyd said. “We’re a unit. We stick together. Everything starts and ends with us up front.”
That identity is being built while UNLV continues to work through one of the biggest questions on the offense. The Rebels have experience across the line, but Addazio has not settled on one combination and has spent camp moving players across positions.
Addazio does not see that as a problem. His priority is finding the five players who give UNLV its best offensive line, even if that means moving them away from the positions they opened camp playing.
“You’re always looking to put the best five on the field,” Addazio said. “I’m a big believer in make it work to get the best five guys on the field. So in order to do that, guys got to play different positions.”
Will Thomas has taken reps on both sides at tackle. Colton Thomason has worked at both guard spots. Jackson Brown came to UNLV with experience moving across the offensive line and said right tackle has become his most comfortable position after initially arriving as a guard.
Addazio has also continued to look at Alikai Afoa at tackle. Afoa redshirted last season after previously spending time in junior college, and Addazio said his growth since January has stood out even though he is still relatively young in terms of actual playing experience.
“I always joke with him, I’m like, ‘You’re the oldest freshman I have,’” Addazio said. “I’m really, really proud of the growth he’s had from January to now, and I think he’s got a really bright future.”
The movement is intentional. Addazio wants to see which players can handle multiple positions, which combinations work best together and who gives UNLV the best five before the Rebels get too close to the opener and have to narrow things down.
Versatility also matters beyond college. Addazio pointed to NFL roster construction, where offensive linemen who can handle multiple positions have more value because teams do not carry separate backups for every spot.
For now, the biggest priority remains finding UNLV’s best combination, and Boyd appears to be a major part of it.
After playing elsewhere on the line last season, Boyd has moved to center and taken on the responsibility that comes with controlling the middle of the offensive line. Addazio described him as smart, direct and experienced enough to identify protections and get the rest of the group lined up.
“He’s a great, just very definitive, direct guy in the middle,” Addazio said. “Point stuff out, especially in protection. He’s smart. He can identify it, and that gives great stability to the middle of our pocket.”
Boyd said playing center has forced him to understand more than his own assignment. He has to know what is happening across the line, communicate protections and make sure the rest of the offense is working from the same call.
“I feel like I’m processing things a lot faster,” Boyd said. “Obviously making that transition to center, just understanding the offense as a whole. I gotta get everyone on the same page. I’m the quarterback up front.”
That responsibility has also pushed Boyd into a more vocal leadership role. Addazio refers to the center as the “apex” of the offensive line, and Boyd said he understands that the position comes with an expectation to lead both on and off the field.
“As far as the center goes and the O-line goes, that’s as far as our team will go,” Boyd said. “Just making sure everyone knows how we do things in our program, how we do things in the O-line. I gotta get everyone on the same page.”
That includes whichever quarterback eventually wins UNLV’s competition between Jackson Arnold and Alex Orji.
Boyd has worked to take as many snaps as possible with both quarterbacks during the offseason and fall camp, including under-center work and shotgun snaps before and after practice. He said the extra work has helped him understand the differences in cadence and how each quarterback prefers to operate.
Brown said the offensive line has seen both quarterbacks continue to push each other during camp while still maintaining a good relationship with the rest of the offense.
“Both of them are great leaders,” Brown said. “They’re pushing each other hard every day, and they’re great friends too. That’s the best thing. At the end of the day, it’s competition, but these are your boys for life. We’re teammates and we want to win.”
Brown has played at Cal and Pitt before coming to UNLV, and he said there is a noticeable difference between working with quarterbacks who are still learning college football and veterans such as Arnold and Orji who have already been through multiple seasons.
The offensive line has its own veteran presence, but there is also a large group of younger players developing underneath it. Brown said UNLV has nine freshman offensive linemen, with several already working with the third group during camp.
Having that many freshmen getting those reps stood out to Brown after playing at multiple Power Four programs, but he said the younger linemen have earned their opportunities through the work they are doing away from the field.
“They’ve all deserved it,” Brown said. “They’ve done a really good job. They’re in the room studying the playbook and they always are asking questions, so it is unique.”
Brown also pointed to freshman center Eli Sanchez as one of the younger players helping bring that group together. The freshmen have built their own closeness inside a room where the veterans and coaching staff have made that a priority.
“The O-line room, you have to be close,” Brown said. “If you want to have a good O-line, you can’t not like each other.”
Addazio has taken a loud approach to building that group. He described himself as coming from a loud Italian family and made it clear that nobody in the room is protected from getting yelled at or having their chops busted. Players are expected to be able to handle it and give some of it back.
“No one’s safe,” Addazio said. “Everyone gets it. That’s how that rolls. That’s how it was growing up. We bust everyone’s chops in there, they bust my chops. I mean, it’s open season now. Can’t be sensitive in my room.”
Boyd described Addazio as more intense than the offensive line coaches he has previously played for at UNLV. He also said that approach has helped the group get back to fundamentals, particularly with footwork, hand placement and playing with more physicality.
The pressure is part of what Addazio is trying to create. Boyd said the offensive line has learned that if players cannot handle being challenged during meetings or practice, it becomes difficult to trust them when the pressure increases during a game.
“If you can’t handle the pressure in the film room or on the field, how are we gonna trust you on Saturdays and Fridays?” Boyd said.
Brown had his own introduction to Addazio’s style shortly after arriving at UNLV. He said the intensity was obvious early, but it has also helped build the relationship between the coach and his players.
“I remember the first week here, he got on me good, and I’m like, ‘This is gonna be a long year,’” Brown said. “I love Coach Louie to death. I’m so glad I got to come here and play under him.”
Addazio’s expectations start with the offensive line believing the offense runs through them. He said the group has to win at the line of scrimmage whether UNLV is running or throwing the football.
“It all starts up front,” Addazio said. “You gotta win the line of scrimmage. That’s the mindset we have every day in the meeting room, in individual, on the practice field. We gotta be the tip of the spear. We gotta accelerate this thing. Whether we throw, run, doesn’t matter. It starts with us.”
Boyd has taken the same message into camp. As UNLV moves closer to the opener, he said the focus has increasingly turned toward getting movement in the running game, improving communication and accepting the responsibility that comes with being the group expected to control the offense up front.
“As far as we go, our offense will,” Boyd said. “We’ve taken that mentality into camp and we’ve kind of put that weight on our back, and we like the pressure.”
Addazio will continue moving pieces around while he still has time to do it. The combinations will eventually narrow, and UNLV will have to decide which five give the offense its best chance when the season begins. Until then, the larger message inside the offensive line room has remained the same.
“You take care of the room, you protect the room, you look after the room,” Addazio said. “If someone messes with the room, they mess with the whole room. That’s how it rolls. Me included.”