Brennan Marion admits confusion over it taking so long for him to land FBS OC job

It took several years of working his way up the ladder, but Brennan Marion finally achieved his goal of being an offensive coordinator in the FBS. UNLV offered him the position ahead of the 2023 season after he had countless stops as a position coach.

Although Marion had found success as an OC in the FCS with Howard and William & Mary, it never translated into an offer at the highest level of college football. It’s hard not to wonder why after seeing what he did this past season with the Rebels.

Using what Marion has dubbed the “Go-Go Offense,” UNLV was one of the fastest teams in the country. The Rebels increased their points per game by more than a touchdown, going from 26.3 in 2022 up to 34.4.

Speaking with On3‘s Andy Staples on a recent podcast, the coach explained his bewilderment at the 12 seasons it took him to call the plays in the FBS.

“I was really confused for a while at that,” he said. “Guys would always come to a clinic and want to look at the offense, but no one was like, ‘here’s your opportunity to run the offense.’ Everybody wanted to take bits and pieces of it but not use the whole thing. I guess they thought it was a fad or just a formation.

“But obviously last year we got a chance to prove it can work at this level. I think now I look for a lot more coaches to start using it and implementing it at a wider scale.”

Marion got his start at the high school level in 2011 and worked his way up to the college level within four years to become a quality control coach at Arizona State. He took the job at Howard two years later and would go on to find immense success.

In his very first game as an offensive coordinator, Marion helped lead the Bison to a 43-40 victory against UNLV. The Rebels entered the game as a 45-point favorite, making the victory the largest point-spread upset in college football history.

Marion’s offensive philosophy blends the triple-option with a modern spread offense that allows flexibility for play calling. The coach quite literally wrote the book on how it works.

Brennan Marion is now set to return for his second in UNLV. He has never spent more than two years at any of his previous stops, so it will be interesting to see whether his offense can build upon what it accomplished last season.

The Rebels finished this past season 9-5 to reach a bowl game for the first time since 2013. With electric players such as receivers Ricky White, who ranked third in the country with 1,483 receiving yards, and Jacob De Jesus.

UNLV did lose quarterback Jayden Maiava to the transfer portal, so Marion will have to figure out that position. But with the way he started things off, there’s plenty of excitement moving forward in Las Vegas.