QB Orji on UNLV future, injury rehab and relationship with Randall Cunningham

UNLV quarterback Alex Orji said this month he plans to return to the Rebels next season after his 2025 campaign was cut short because of injury.

Orji, who transferred to UNLV from Michigan this year, suffered a Grade 3 LCL sprain in the Rebels’ third game of the season in September against UCLA.

After the quick end to his maiden season with UNLV, Orji said he looks forward to returning to the Rebels next year.

“Right now, I’m planning on being a Rebel next year,” Orji told the Review-Journal this month at Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum at the Aria. “It’s been great being here.

“The main thing for me this year, was when football was taken away from me and not being able to play, my life was still a 10 out of 10. I was waking up every day and just thanking the Lord for the life that I live.”

UNLV’s starting quarterback, Anthony Colandrea, who was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, also announced this month that he plans to return to UNLV for his senior season.

Before his injury, Orji played behind Colandrea this year, completing all three passes he threw for 37 yards and rushing the ball 10 times for 42 yards and a touchdown.

Orji said his surgery to repair his LCL injury went great and that the rehabilitation process has been proceeding equally as well.

“I’m back walking; it feels like I’m on track,” Orji said. “I’m going to start running here pretty soon. I should be back and pretty active by the end of spring ball.”

Cunningham connection

Former UNLV and NFL quarterback great, Randall Cunningham, has played a big role in Orji’s time away from football. Cunningham, who is now a pastor, has been a crucial resource as Orji navigates his return from a season-ending injury, with the 22-year-old QB attending his mentor’s church services on Wednesdays and Sundays.

“As a legendary Black quarterback, being the ‘Ultimate Weapon,’ a guy can run and can throw, but right now his name in my phone is just ‘Pastor Randall,’” Orji said. “It’s definitely not a relationship that I expected to build, especially in the way that I did, but it’s great and probably the most important relationship that I’ve built since I’ve been here.”

Las Vegas has become home for Orji and he foresees the area remaining in his life in some capacity moving forward, even after his days at UNLV are over.

“He (Cunningham) tells me he thinks I’m going to live here when I’m older because he lives here now that he’s older,” Orji said. “I can definitely see it. I love Dallas, because that’s near home.

“But I think when it’s all said and done, I’d love to grow roots back down in the south in Dallas or here in Vegas, I think it’s great.”

Looking ahead

The Rebels enjoyed another winning season (10-4), but lost the Mountain West championship game to Boise State for a second consecutive season and fell to Ohio 17-10 in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night. Orji said the plan for next year is to continue to win at a high level.

“As a team, if you don’t have similar goals every season, then you can’t really build consistency,” Orji said. “The main goal this year, as coach (Dan) Mullen established, was to be a better team at the end of the year than at the beginning.

“Then the underlining goals were to beat our rivals, Reno and Boise, win the Mountain West and go to the College Football Playoff. I feel like we continue to accomplish one those goals at a time and multiple over time, then we’ll have a great chance to be happy at the end of the season and build a great team.”

NIL

Orji took part in a panel discussion this month at the Aria about how collegiate athletes handle name, image and likeness and social media banter from angry fans, as part of the forum.

Coming from powerhouse Michigan and being part of the university’s 2023 national championship, Orji noted the NIL landscape is much different in Ann Arbor, Michigan, than in Las Vegas.

Orji said there are small, local brands in Ann Arbor that are all in with Michigan athletics and its players, especially Michigan football, as it’s the hottest thing in town,” Orji said.

With Michigan sports being the biggest thing in the city, even players that don’t have a big social media presence can land NIL deals, by just being associated with the school.

“Here at UNLV I definitely presumed it would be a little bit different with the town being bigger and the university a bit smaller,” Orji said. “Which to an extent can be true. But at the same time, we have a head coach who has done a miraculous job at marketing the UNLV logo and the players.”

Orji said he has been gratified to see his teammates on billboards along the Strip and as well as the suburbs.”

“For me, I feel my agent has been able to do different things with me here that he wasn’t able to do at Michigan and vice versa,” he said. “So, they’ve both been great opportunities.”