Handling of QB situation

[NashvilleUteFan]

On my flight back to SLC from Phoenix Saturday morning I was sitting next to a kid who just committed to BYU. He was at the game and was sitting by Isaac’s family who he is good friends with.

Take this for what you will but he told me that Isaac is likely going to transfer due to how poorly our coaching staff (mainly Whitt and Lud) have handled the QB situation each week. This kid said Isaac wasn’t told he was starting against OSU until minutes before the offense ran out on to the field, after the game had already started. The only game he knew he was starting for the entire week leading up to it was the USU game. He has been kept in the dark up until the final hour every other week, and him (and his parents) are p**sed, and even more so after what transpired Friday night.

If this information is true, that is completely unacceptable, and I wouldn’t blame him for being upset enough with how this has been handled that he would transfer. From a playing time perspective I do think it would be a mistake for him to transfer with him in line to be our starter for the next 3 seasons, but how can you want to play for a coaching staff that is this inept?

I can only imagine the locker room issues this whole thing has caused, however I won’t comment on that as that would just be speculation on my part. I have been a Whitt and Lud apologist for a long time but what happened on Friday night merits some serious considerations to be made about who gets play-calling duties. To perform that way after a bye is absolutely inexcusable, and accountability needs to be there for the coaching staff. Make no mistake about it, we lost that game because of the decisions made by Whitt and Lud and really no other reason. For the second game in a row. Something has to give

[Utah]

I mean…we all know this. Wilson has been absolutely f**ked this year. Especially after watching how bad Rising has played.

Wilson should have had 100% of the reps once Rising went down. Full stop. And the playcalling in the redzone has been absolutely awful. You have Singer, Kuithe, the basketball kid, King, Bernard and you can’t score TD’s? That’s insane. Just pathetic.

I’m not the least bit surprised that Wilson is thinking about leaving. If he were my kid, I’d have that on the table.

[Anfernee]

Another aspect of this (regardless if the above post is true or not) is the Wilson’s seeing how Zach was handled with the Jets. He isn’t blameless of course but seeing another one of your sons go through another baffling toxic quarterback situation that possibly stunts growth, and how it’s being handled from the top down, would make any parent quite unhappy.

[RoboUte]

If he were my kid, I’d have that on the table.

Absolutely, and why wouldn’t you? Finally someone in the program with a pair of f**king nuts. People responsible for the team need to be held responsible or face consequences. When consequences aren’t real then neither is performance. This huggybear “kyle deserves to celebrate his 100th birthday on sideline” dogs**t is what got us here in the first place.

[Ted Lasso]

If this is true, we would be happy to take him off your hands.

[2008 National Champ]

Based on the current circumstances, I’d be happy for you to take him. If Utah is no longer a place that is going to put its players in the best chance to succeed, I’d rather they go elsewhere to get that chance.

I want Whitt to get himself out of this mess. But he won’t be able to do it unless he completely overhauls his staff and that doesn’t end with Ludwig. If Whitt is unwilling to make the necessary changes, that’s when you finally start questioning whether he’s the man to lead going forward.

[The Miami Ute]

Whitt’s almost 65. He’s not the coach to lead Utah forward. The real question is if he’s the coach who can manage Utah’s present. If Whitt, at the end of this season, conducts a drastic overhaul of the staff, he might as well go along with them, because that will signify that he was part of the problem.

[RoboUte]

Whitt staying would ruin my christmas and I’m one festive dude

[2008 National Champ]

I doubt Whitt would do it but I’m seeing a parallel to what Harbaugh went through around 2020 at Michigan. He was underperforming expectations and close to being fired. The hammer came down and he kept his job under condition that he take a pay cut (I believe it was incentive laden but could be wrong) and overhaul his staff.
2021 he not only got the Ohio State monkey off his back but he put his team in the playoff 3 straight years, winning one.

Yeah, yeah, I know.,, “Utah’s not a blueblood like Michigan”, “Whitt’s done so much more than we ever thought possible”. It all comes down to whether you are okay with where you are at. And if the Utah football program is okay with averaging 9-3 and occasionally getting to a CCG based on the relative strength of their conference, keep doing what you’ve been doing. But if you want more, then you need to be willing to do what it takes to get there even if the risk of getting worse is just as likely.

[RoboUte]

S**t, you might. But I bet he stays

[RoboUte]

I guarantee it’s true that he’s being treated like that. But he’s getting heavy minutes as a true freshman and when the reins get handed to him for good this week it’s going to be pretty hard to want to vacate a starting position on a good team. The odds he transfers are incredibly slim. If Whitt leaves the odds are probably 0.

Whittingham not only isn’t doing a good job, he’s devolved to the point of sabotage in some areas. Anyone who doubts the seed of truth in this report. Remember it’s precisely why we lost Ja’quinden.

[Rick Walker]

Do you happen to know who the kid is?

[NashvilleUteFan]

Unfortunately I don’t recall his name. Tall blonde kid, just returned from his mission. He said he was originally recruited as a QB but he may end up playing LB or S

[Tony (admin)]

If we botch this bad enough that Wilson leaves that will be one of the biggest mistakes we’ve ever made.

[Anfernee]

Tuttle Part Deux

[The Miami Ute]

That’s a reach. Tuttle didn’t even get any playing time before he left. Hell, he left in mid-season.

[Holladay Ute]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they were a little frustrated and second guessing some things, but this seems overblown to me. The Wilson family wasn’t even expecting Isaac to play this year. You’re telling me they’re mad that he had to play against Oklahoma State and Arizona? No way. Isaac himself has said, “I prepare to play every week as if I am going to be the starter.” I can definitely understand them being frustrated about Isaac not playing against ASU, but now he’s getting the full reigns. If they’re confused and frustrated about how a really weird and unique situation was handled, I think that’s something Whittingham and Co. can overcome w/ them.

Also, would I trust some random BYU commit or what Whitt said (and Isaac himself confirmed): that he found out 20 minutes before the game during a team meeting after warm-ups? https://www.deseret.com/sports/2024/09/21/isaac-wilson-told-20-minutes-before-the-game-he-was-starting-helps-utes-to-22-19-win-at-oklahoma-state/

[Holladay Ute]

Also, I’ll clarify that I’m obviously not arguing that the coaching staff hasn’t made some of the biggest head-scratching mistakes you’ve ever seen in the last couple of weeks.

But you’re telling me that Isaac’s parents are communicating to and confiding in an 18-year-old how they’re feeling about the team that their son is currently playing for and now starting for (and what they want to do in the future even though they haven’t even seen this season play out)? I doubt it. I’m sure they were frustrated during the game. Probably visibly upset. I would’ve been too. In the heat of the moment Friday night, I was ready to sell my season tickets for the rest of this year. It’ll settle in. We’ll finish out this year, hopefully w/ some good momentum. He’s our future QB. I bet all of this will be water under the bridge after this season. Whitt can look Wilson’s parents in the eye and say, “I screwed up what was a really tough and unique situation for me to handle. I’m sorry to put Isaac is some unfair situations. And I’m sorry I didn’t play him against ASU, I wish I had. This was a situation that I very likely won’t ever have to face again. But I learned some things that’ve made me better. Isaac is our QB and we’re going to build the team around him now (and we already have for half a season).” End of story.

[Ghost of the HEB]

Wilson’s parents were notified the night before OSU that there was a high chance Isaac was the guy. So it wasn’t entirely out of the blue 20-minute decision but still handled poorly if you’re trying to set up a true freshman to succeed.

[Anfernee]

Thanks for all your input 👻
You think there’s any validity to the “Isaac is likely going to transfer due to how poorly our coaching staff (mainly Whitt and Lud) have handled the QB situation each week.”

[Ghost of the HEB]

I mean, anything is possible in this day and age with unlimited transfers and bags of cash. I haven’t heard anything to make me think he or his family are talking about that right now. He was just given the keys to the offense with now lower expectations and plenty of weapons to work with. In regard to the possibility of IW transferring to byu-provo (since this post info supposedly came from a byu commit), the people who steered him away from there to begin with haven’t changed their tune, so at least there’s that.

The vibes all around just have to get better. WRs fighting with each other and whatnot doesn’t help IW or anything else. Don’t know anything about the outcome of the players meeting but hope it’s step in the right direction.

[crash11]

It’s unfortunate, but I heard similar things in the WR group. Young guys frustrated they are not on the field and guys like MP getting time over them….Seems like the culture this year has been a bit more loose than previous years. The QB situation, losing etc definitely hasn’t helped.

[22Ute22]

1) why are they mad that Money is getting playing time? Money is a solid player who knows the system.

2) This is yet another reason why I’m really gonna enjoy Ludwig leaving when Whitt leaves. Having a complicated system for the WR’s to learn prevents your most talented WR’s from getting on the field. In this day and age with NIL and the Transfer Portal, and with most teams running the spread in college and HS, having a “complex” offense is stupid and archaic.

[BD]

MP – Mycah Pittman?

[Ghost of the HEB]

Yeah MP in this drama is Pittman

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I agree Holladay. Heat of the moment comments. Let things play out this year and if he’s unhappy he should transfer. I don’t see Whitt coming back or Ludwig ( game time decision) and either the team rallies around Scalley and moves forward or you get some major portal losses.

[D T]

Nonsense….IW’s just an 18 year-old true freshman getting extensive minutes & clearly our future.

I think it’s baloney that they’d be having this discussion with that kid anyway….Just doesn’t pass the common sense test.

[Utah#1]

The Utah football issue is squarely on Whitt! His biggest failure the past two seasons was keeping injuries, especially Cam’s in the dark and it affected the team and the fanbase, and spilled over into the media. He didn’t manage it properly and let it get out of control resulting in two straight losses to the AZ schools. Can Utah win the next remaining games, I believe they can, but not with this coaching staff, especially Whitt. He has lost the confidence and respect of his players and the fanbase. I think the team is capable of winning the remaining games, but for that to happen, I think the players would have to ball out for themselves and for Cam! Listen to the coaches, but play Utah football for themselves because Whitt and Ludwig have failed them!

[2008 National Champ]

Not sure if you spend any time at 247 but the UteZone writers are openly mocking Whitt’s injury news policy in damn near every article I read. Those guys (and gals) are almost as big of homers for Utah football as the DNews is for the parochial school so it’s not just us on here who are saying enough’s enough.

[crash11]

Again, let’s all pump the brakes and see how Wilson and the rest of the season goes before worrying about a BYU commit’s comments. Jeez.

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