Nevada was perhaps on the verge of a watershed 2024 season under first-year coach Jeff Choate, as the Wolf Pack won three games and fell in six others by seven or fewer points.
Optimism is high in Reno, Nevada, with Choate, the former Montana State linebacker who as that program's head coach last decade helped ignite the Bobcats' rise to national prominence at the FCS level.
Now, Choate is making another serious move to enhance his Nevada program.
The Wolf Pack have hired veteran pro and college personnel expert Bobby Merritt into the role of general manager.
Choate and Merritt previously worked together across multiple seasons under Steve Sarkisian at the University of Texas, and Merritt spent the 2024 campaign as G.M./Executive Director of Scouting for the Owls.
It's the latest stop in a distinguished career for Merritt, whose lengthiest NFL stint came across approximately a decade with the Houston Texans -- during which time he was lead scout and integral in the franchise drafting J.J. Watt with the No. 11 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Merritt also served in a chief scouting/personnel role at the University of Tennessee immediately after his time in the NFL, where he worked with Bob Welton, the well-regarded player personnel director now at Alabama and who also has NFL experience.
Nevada returns a handful of starters from last year's squad and also is bringing in more than 50 newcomers for its 2025 roster as Choate seeks to rebuild a roster recovering from being depleted during the last coaching transition.
The Wolf Pack boast new Portal signees from Power Conference programs including Arizona, Michigan and Nebraska, among other FBS and FCS programs.
They are scheduled to open their 2025 season Aug. 30 at Penn State, a 2024 College Football Playoff semifinalist under veteran head coach James Franklin and returning star quarterback Drew Allar as well as elite running backs Nicholas Singelton and Kaytron Allen.
Nevada has additional non-conference games against Sacramento State, MTSU and Western Kentucky before eight-straight Mountain West Conference games.