Thanks to the Stanford Cardinal football team, Marcus Arroyo is closing in on filling out his first UNLV coaching staff.
Tuesday, UNLV announced the hiring of Peter Hansen as Arroyo’s defensive coordinator. The longtime Bay-area coach will also be responsible for the Rebels’ inside linebackers.
Hansen served two different stints as part of the Stanford Cardinal football program over the past decade-plus.
In 2008, Hansen was part of the strength & conditioning staff. From 2009-10, he was a defensive assistant. After a stint in the NFL, Hansen returned to the Cardinal in 2013. The past seven seasons, he was Stanford’s inside linebackers coach.
In between the two Farm stops, Hansen was a defensive assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. He worked with both inside and outside linebackers during his two years with the NFL club.
Hansen, who played his college football and basketball at Arizona, was born in Palo Alto and began his coaching career at a high school in the city. This will mark the assistant’s first coaching job outside of the Bay area.
Hansen and the rest of the Rebels defensive staff will have their work cut out for them. At least, based on the campaign they will.
This past season, UNLV was dead last in the Mountain West Conference and 108th nationally as they gave up up 33 points per game. In total defense, they were 13th in the conference and 105th in the country as they allowed 442.3 yards per game. In passing defense, they were 13th and 104th.
With the Hansen hiring, Arroyo now has eight of his 10 on-field assistants in place. The others already on the staff are:
- Danny Langsdorf, quarterbacks coach/passing-game coordinator
- Cameron Norcross, offensive line/running-game coordinator
- Scott Baumgartner, running backs
- Jordan Paopao, tight ends/special teams coordinator
- Kenwick Thompson, linebackers
- Damon Magazu, safeties
- Tre Watson, cornerbacks