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Tate Martell appears to be on the move, again.
A report surfaced Sunday afternoon from Josh Poloah of WaitningForNextYear.com that Martell is transferring to UNLV and will have two years of eligibility left.
Former four-star Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) QB Tate Martell — who began his collegiate career at Ohio State before transferring to Miami — will attend UNLV this fall, a source has told WFNY.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) July 25, 2021
Martell goes back home to Vegas and still has two years of eligibility remaining.
Martell is a product of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, where he went 45-0 as a starter and was named Gatorade Football Player of the Year in his season year.
The four-star recruit originally attended Ohio State where he redshirted his true freshman season in 2017. In 2018 he was beaten out by Dwyane Haskins for the starting quarterback job. And after Justin Fields transferred from Georgia to Ohio State in January of 2019, Martell announced he was transferring to Miami.
He was granted a waiver by the NCAA to play immediately in 2019, citing the coaching change from Urban Myer to Ryan Day. But, Martell was beaten out for the Hurricanes’ starting quarterback job. In 2020, Martell opted out of the season after being suspended in Miami’s first game.
If these reports turn out to be true, Martell is walking into a wide-open quarterback competition at UNLV. The Rebels struggled to find consistency at the quarterback position last season in Marcus Arroyo’s first year.
UNLV played four different quarterbacks last year in six games, they had three different quarterbacks in the first half of their 2020 season opener at San Diego State.
Entering spring football, the Rebels had three quarterbacks on their roster, Doug Brumfield, Justin Rogers, and true freshman Cameron Friel. As Brumfield and Rogers were battling out for the starting quarterback job in the spring, it appeared there was a slight edge to Brumfield.
But, if Martell is transferring to UNLV, it would add a whole other variable in the quarterback competition heading into the fall. Martell would immediately become the favorite for the starting quarterback job over Brumfield, a freshman last year, and Rogers, who has battled injuries.
UNLV’s win total for the 2021 season is around 1.5 wins, but having Martell under center for the Rebels could help them exceed expectations in Arroyo’s second year.