Hypothetical: Who’s your pick for Utah HC (assuming KW leaves)?

[SalUteopia]

Since most people are clamoring for Whitt’s “retirement”, who is your hypothetical pick for the HC job?
Someone mentioned Petersen and DeBoer in another thread, and I’d 100% go with either over Scalley. I’m a big Whitt fan, but I’d have taken Petersen even in Whitt’s best years; he’s that good IMO!
Who’s your hypothetical pick?

Realistically, Whitt will be around for at least another year, and then Scalley will take over. FWIW, I do think Scalley will grow into a very good HC.

[ryynoo]

Pete Carrol! 😉

[The Miami Ute]

Urban Meyer, but I only chose him because Ron McBride is too old.

[Utah]

Jon Sumrall
Ryan Silverfield
Jamey Chadwell
Spencer Danielson
Barry Odom
Jay Hill
Jake Dickert

There is a list of successful HC’s.

I’d also talk to Dan Mullin and see if Chris Petersen is interested. If DeBoer became available I’d go hard after him.

[SalUteopia]

Assuming Scalley is HC, I’d be very happy if we could get Mullen (OC) and Hill (DC). The Mullen connection needs to be persuaded harder. He might be interested in going the Chip Kelly route.

[Tony (admin)]

Chris Petersen. He’s probably got it too easy now though.

[Kellso]

Scalley. No question.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Scalley with Whitt as a consultant. OC outside the program DC within (Swan) or go after Jay Hill.

[UM4G]

Cignetti would be my first choice, but he seems intent to stay in Indiana and likely wouldn’t leave for anything short of a blue blood school.

I would like to see the following at least interviewed before it’s just given to Scalley:

– Brian Johnson, he’s had coaching stops at Houston, Miss St & Florida with Dan Mullen, had a hand in coaching Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts, and Jayden Daniels, also was the one to recruit Anthony Richardson to Florida.
– Spencer Danielson (BSU)
– Barry Odom (UNLV)
– Rhett Lashlee (SMU)
– Eric Morris (North Texas)

[2008 National Champ]

Cignetti just signed a deal worth ~ 1.5 MM more per annum than Whitt makes. That’s a non-starter

And I don’t see Lashlee taking interviews from Utah after putting his school in the playoff. Or at least the ACC CCG with a chance at the playoff

Odom is intriguing. SEC experience, understands that offense isn’t a four letter word, would represent a big pay increase. Probably only looking at a two-year hire though if he does well

[UM4G]

Yeah I debated including him for that reason, plus their boosters could probably match or exceed any offer we make. Left off the Louisville coach for the same reason.

[Utah]

I think the reality is, we may revert back to a stepping school for coaches.

Not being in the SEC/Big 10 means we won’t be able to pay as well. The Big 12 is just a better paid MWC again.

That is the one big plus for Scalley: He’d never leave. Neither would Jay Hill.

Every other coach outside of those two? Probably just here to Urban Meyer us. Which I’m ok with.

[2008 National Champ]

Probably just here to Urban Meyer us. Which I’m ok with.

If those two years are DeBoer at UW level, sign me up.

The truth as I see it is that any coach who wins 9 games at Utah will be a commodity going forward. And I’ll take as many of those as you’re willing to throw at me. Whitt is a unicorn and current recruits have no idea who McBride is or that Urban coached at Utah. That’s fan stuff.

Utah’s current recruits see Utah in the same way future coaches outside of Scalley will. Come in, show out, move on and get paid. I say let’s ride that wave instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.

[UM4G]

Sign me up as well. I’ll take 2 to 5 years that results in a playoff run over 20 years of consistency with a Rose Bowl loss ceiling.

[The Miami Ute]

For what it’s worth, here are the salaries of current Big 12 football head coaches with the exception of Sitake:

Highest-Paid Big 12 Football Coaches

1. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State – $7.75 million
2. Lance Leipold, Kansas – $7.5 million
3. Kyle Whittingham, Utah – $6.525 million
4. Deion Sanders, Colorado – $5.7 million
5. Chris Klieman, Kansas State – $5.25 million
6. Sonny Dykes, TCU – $5,008,414 million
7. Dave Aranda, Baylor – $4,540,885 million
8. Willie Fritz, Houston – $4.5 million
9. Joey McGuire, Texas Tech – $4,247,960
10. Matt Campbell, Iowa State – $4,009,886 million
11. Neal Brown, West Virginia – $4 million
12. Gus Malzahn, UCF – $4 million
13. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State – $3.95 million
14. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati – $3.6 million
15. Brent Brennan, Arizona – $3.1 million

With, inflation, let’s say that, before bonuses, Utah can pay its next football coach $7M per annum. I think that would get some nationwide interest.

Now, let’s take a look at the highest-paid football head coaches around the nation:

1 Kirby Smart Georgia $13,282,580
2 Dabo Swinney Clemson $11,132,775*
3 Steve Sarkisian Texas $10,600,000*
4 Lincoln Riley USC $10,043,418*
5 Ryan Day Ohio State $10,021,250
6 Mike Norvell Florida State $10,000,000
7 Kalen DeBoer Alabama $10,000,000*
8 Brian Kelly LSU $9,975,000*
9 Mark Stoops Kentucky $9,013,600*
10 Lane Kiffin Ole Miss $9,000,000*
11 Eliah Drinkwitz Missouri $9,000,000
12 Josh Heupel Tennessee $9,000,000
13 James Franklin Penn State $8,500,000*
14 Dan Lanning Oregon $8,200,000
15 Brent Venables Oklahoma $8,152,000
16 Mario Cristobal Miami (FL) $7,783,059*
17 Mike Gundy Oklahoma State $7,750,000*
18 Luke Fickell Wisconsin $7,725,000
19 Jedd Fisch Washington $7,700,023*
20 Lance Leipold Kansas $7,500,000*
21 Billy Napier Florida $7,370,000
22 Jonathan Smith Michigan State $7,250,000*
23 Kirk Ferentz Iowa $7,000,000*
24 Mike Elko Texas A&M $7,000,000*
25 Hugh Freeze Auburn $6,728,100
26 P.J. Fleck Minnesota $6,700,000*
27 Pat Narduzzi Pittsburgh $6,699,551
28 Marcus Freeman Notre Dame $6,687,754*
29 Bret Bielema Illinois $6,650,000
30 Kyle Whittingham Utah $6,525,000*

Whitt is number #30 after 20 years of consistent success. What strikes me is that there are a lot of coaches in SEC/B1G schools who haven’t achieved the level of what he’s done (look at Sunbelt Billy in Florida, who hasn’t had one winning season yet) and are getting paid more than he is. That’s what sitting at the college football big-boy table does for you.

[jshame17]

This is the clearest example of the have and have nots in the new college football landscape.

It will be impossible to keep up with coaching and on field talent.

Like everything else, money ruins it all and it is always going to be consolidated at the top.

Also, these schools that are benefitting will also have senators that will sabotage any potential government involvement…

The goose is cooked.

[Utegator]

Seems like the SEC, mostly, go and steal successful coaches from other universities and do that with a fat pay day and ridiculous contracts.

[AZUTE]

Instead of a hypothetical you should have labeled this thread fantasy choice.

We all know Scalley is the next HC and he’s gonna be great. He’s not Whit Jr he has a different offensive philosophy than Whit. He’s gonna bring young energy to the program.

My fantasy picks

Nick Saban
Jim Harbaugh

[2008 National Champ]

We all know Scalley is the next HC and we hope he’s gonna be great.

FIFY

[Utah]

This post is so silly.

First off, you make a claim that you present as factual:

“We all know Scalley is the next HC and he’s gonna be great. He’s not Whit Jr he has a different offensive philosophy than Whit. He’s gonna bring young energy to the program.”

No evidence you provide shows he is factually going to be great (and you can’t even spell Whitt’s name right). The reality is, Scalley has never been a HC. We have no clue how he will be. Maybe he learned a lot from Whitt and can maintain the defense while improving the offense. Maybe he can’t handle meetings and boosters and being a HC. Most can’t. We don’t know.

Scalley is an unknown.

Then you go even further into the ridiculous by naming Saban and Harbaugh. You do this because you think you have done something smart by proclaiming Scalley a great HC and given a compelling argument in Scalley’s favor. You think your argument is so valid and clear and foolproof, that you can now mock others by putting Saban and Harbaugh as your picks for HC.

But all you’ve really done is shown how utterly ridiculous your whole post is.

You need to watch less 24 hour news cycle. The bulls**t doesn’t work in real life.

[RUUTES]

Chris Petersen would transform the team. But once you get that sweet TV money and don’t have to deal with NIL and the boosters and the transfer portal and can just spout off about everyone else…why would you EVER go back?

[SteelUte]

I’m all for giving Scalley a chance for a few years. I believe he knows the DNA of this program. Culture, recruiting, etc. Some view that as a weakness or problem that he will follow Whitt’s footsteps too much, others want him to be Whitt 2.0. I think he’ll give s a really good shot moving forward. He’s smart, he’s charismatic, he seems to be a good recruiter. If I was a kid I’d want to play for him, if I was a millionaire I’d want to be a booster for him. I think he’s young and hungry and will have the desire to take us forward. I honestly don’t watch much other college football games anymore so I don’t know many other candidates.

[2008 National Champ]

google Jimmy Lake and tell me the comparison isn’t apt other than Scalley hasn’t gotten the HC slot yet.

career spent on one side of the ball? check
moved from DB coach to DC to HC? almost there
considered a great recruiter and motivator? check
spent the bulk, if not all of his career under one of the top coaches? check
has his own ideas about how to make the offense better, even though he’s never coached it? check
been in the program and just needs to continue what his predecessor did so well? check
SEC, and specifically Alabama, tried to hire him away? check
Sam Huard is on the roster? check

The same players Lake could only get 4-8 out of before flaming out went 10-2 (only missing CCG because of tie-breakers) and to the playoff the next two years.

[Rick Walker]

I’ve always had the thought Scalley could potentially be a Jimmy lake situation. I know their careers are similar but how similar are their personalities? Is Morgan maybe a better coach fit overall or is the most likely scenario that they both suck.

[2008 National Champ]

Scalley could go anywhere from 0-12 to 12-0 and it wouldn’t surprise me. Lake is just one possible outcome. I’m sure if I, or someone else, wanted to research it we’d find more success stories than failures but it would be close to fitty-fitty.

There’s no guarantees in life and Scalley’s HC performance is yet to be written. I do think though that if Scalley isn’t ready by now, another year under Whitt probably won’t make a difference.

[EagleMountainUte]

Scalley and Jay Hill as DC would be my realistic and most ideal.

OC no way in hell do I want Dan Mullen. I am game for whatever. 2025 will probably be an improvement over this disaster offense.

[Red Rhino]

What I’d love to see is Urban Meyer as head Coach, Scalley as DC and Brian Johnson as OC. Let them learn under Meyer for a year and then promote Scalley.

[chinngiskhaan]

I pick Nick Saban. Before you laugh, its just as realistic an option as anyone else not named Morgan Scalley.

[Author]

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