Knowing what we know now, if you were in Whitt’s shoes

[chinngiskhaan]

after the second Rose Bowl game, would you part ways with Cam Rising?

After that game I suggested here that I was kinda ready to move on from Rising and Co., and I got reemed (not unusual for me, LOL).

In hindsight, in my opinion, that probably would have been better for the team. Keeping him around has stunted our growth as a team (unless you want to argue that his presence emits such a sun like aura that the pudding players around him soak in his light like fledgling plants in the morning sunlight).

Its hard to say what impact having him around has had on recruiting. It certainly hasn’t been good for QB recruiting, but it is hard to say it has hurt there (because we got our guy in Wilson either way). Its possible that it has hurt WR recruiting, but again, we got our guy, so maybe not?

In my opinion, the biggest impact has been in team morale. I think a reason for our flat performance last week was “will he/won’t he” fatigue. A lot of these guys signed up to play, or have stuck around, because of what Rising brings to the table, but Rising has brought nothing to the table for two years now, and that has to have a negative impact on team morale.

If I had it my way, I would have parted ways back then and focused on developing and recruiting new talent rather than relying on someone who wasn’t going to see the field for two years.

So… What would you do? Lets hear it.

[UtesRule]

Sick of discussing this.

Cam is our best QB and, when healthy gives the Utes their best chance of winning. Period.

[Tednab]

Nah .. he’s worth his weight in gold when he’s healthy, I’m still convinced he’ll be back sooner rather than later

[Yergensen]

You’re right.

Utah is 2 for 2 when playing for P4 conference championships with Cam Rising at QB.

Utah is 0 for 12 when playing for P4 conference championships without Cam Rising at QB.

The solution is simple. If we want to win a conference championship, we need Cam Rising at QB.

[The Miami Ute]

So I guess Utah is s**t out of luck winning anything once Rising leaves? That’s flawed logic for the simple reason that the past doesn’t always predict the future. In addition, this version of Rising is not the same version that won those two CCGs.

[Yergensen]

Win now is typically any program’s goal. A coach doesn’t have time and tolerance on his side.

Add to this taking the next step of CFP, the small and fleeting window of P2 opportunity and talent and experience on both sides of the ball, we have been in win now mode ever since that 2nd Rose Bowl.

Cam Rising gave us the best chance to win and maximize our opportunities and he still does.

Cutting bait pre-2023 might have given us enough runway to find and prep a transfer QB to keep us on track. However, it was and is better to dance with the devil you know than the one you don’t know. Successfully finding a good and ready QB is hard to do in any case. Compounding this is Whitt and Lud’s low QB aptitudes and it’s safe to say, we would not have a better option in place today.

Cut bait now and you shut the door on all 2024 opportunities. Maybe 2025 will benefit, assuming Isaac Wilson is the guy and grows accordingly, but would we win the B12 and go to the playoff in 2025 losing all starting skill players on the offense and a few more key players and leaders? Not highly likely.

We didn’t and don’t have the luxury of taking these risks. We have to win now. We have to take advantage of all opportunities to put the program in a positive light and position and Cam has always given us the best chance to do this. After all, when he plays a season, he has always delivered.

[RoboUte]

“After all, when he plays a season, he has always delivered.”

Cam has never played a season through.

[Ute Dub]

I see what you’re saying. Of course you keep Cam, but for every returning starter you bring back you’re missing out on portal transfers.

[Utah]

Hell no. If I’m Whitt, I open practice back up and stop with these injury nonsense.

If we can all watch practice, we know that Cam isn’t ready last year. And Whitt gets questions and has to have accountability as to why he is giving Cam reps when he isn’t ready. And maybe because Whitt has to be accountable, he gives Barnes/Johnson more reps and we have a better QB situation last year.

And same for this year. If we can watch practice, we can see that Cam has no zip on the ball, Whitt has to be accountable for his decision to not give more reps to Wilson, Wilson gets more reps earlier in the week and is hopefully better on Saturdays.

All of this is because Whitt doesn’t want to be accountable for his decisions, so he shuts everything down and tries to be coy and secretive, which leads to all these misunderstandings.

Like I’ve always said, any organization that hides things…that is suspect. Open your books, open your spending, open your decisions. Sure, it leaves you open to criticism, but it also requires you to be your best.

[The Miami Ute]

I’ve said this a few times already. Given the current circumstances, Utah’s best move after the 2023 Rose Bowl would have been to part company with Rising. That’s hindsight but, if I was Whitt and I knew the full extent of his injury, and I can’t imagine he didn’t, that’s exactly what I would have done. Doing so would have opened the QB1 spot for any number of QBs available in early 2023 and, yes, Cam’s NIL package would have been diverted to whoever came in.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Last year was a disaster any way you look at it. So at the end of last season our options were:
1. Rose who never took a snap and got beat out by Barnes.
2. Wilson an incoming freshman
3. Find a veteran QB in the portal who doesn’t know Ludwig’s offense (Bentley and Brewer) and want 1.7 million Gabriel unknown$$ Cam Ward. Neither and the other top tranfers would have interest in Whitts conservative offense.
4. Cam at 1-1.5 million has won two CCGs knows the offense and is a local hero. He could have made more $$ elsewhere but chose to stay and get Whitt the CFP he is after.

Decisions were made based on Cams full recovery from knee surgery not if he was going to get hurt again by a freak accident. The season is not over yet with 7 games left. What was a better option?

[The Miami Ute]

Jim, at the end of the day, in business and in life, you’re judged on your results. If this season ends up as bad, or worse, than 2023, then sticking with Rising after the Jan 2023 Rose Bowl will have been proved to have been the wrong decision. We can play if/that and shoulda/woulda all day long, but that doesn’t feed the bulldog. The only thing that matters is the final result. Yeah, sure, Brewer and Bentley were busts in Utah but there’s tons of transfers that have gone to to other schools and, at least, been serviceable QBs. Now, is Utah’s failure with Brewer/Bentley but success with Rising, a function of the first two guys’ lack of ability or something related to the system Utah runs?

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Miami I’m sure they looked at options at QB. 2023 was a mistake not finding a portal QB. 2023 was a disaster period. 2024 is a different circumstance. Rising was the right choice to give us the best chance to win and mentor Wilson. We are 4-1 which everyone predicted we would be at this point. 7 games left its a little early to judge on results until the results are in. If Rising comes back and leads us to another CC then it would be the right choice. Shoulda coulda woulda only applies when the season is over not 5 games in.

[The Miami Ute]

Oh, I totally agree that the season is not over yet. We’ll just have to see how the rest of the games play out. Hopefully Rising is under center next Friday night.

[UTE98]

Chingiskhan, YES! 100% YES!

Sticking with Rising got us last season. Sticking with Risng got us a QB who took all the 1st team reps which were wasted and held back Wilson’s progress. Rising waited too long to throw the ball away which led to his injury.

YES!

JJ gone, YES, it hurt our run game. YES, it has taken NIL money which could have lured better players or kept JJ. YES!

[RoboUte]

Just going to mention one little tidbit. All of the NIL numbers I’ve heard about Cam. I heard from a source within the program a… significantly higher number. It’s clear the money could’ve been better spent even if you believe Rising deserves a spot on the roster.

[RoboUte]

Good points. I pointed out over a year ago that keeping Cam around for 20 years is going to end up being a net negative on our team. The dude is permanently injured and no one is coming to Utah to play QB when they can see that we have a pathetic, illogical, pathological obsession with Cam Rising. At this point not only is keeping Cam around looking like a worse and worse decision, but after watching this sad joke of team management, keeping Whitt around is looking like it too.

I’m watching Vandy play right now and the only time we’ve played like that in the last decade is against Ohio State and Oregon. Once apiece. I’m tired of hoping Utah will play with the fire of 15 years ago when everyone knows it’s not coming back.

[Tony (admin)]

Dumb question, but do we really think the coaches keep giving Cam #1 reps when he has “no zip” on the ball? Maybe it’s the coaches that are the problem and not Cam?

[RoboUte]

food for thought

[The Miami Ute]

Tony, it’s always been on the coaches. As I’ve said many times on this site, Cam is an employee and the coaches are the Execs (Whitt is the CEO). Cam doesn’t run the show but does what Whitt and Ludwig tell him to do. He has input regarding his physical health but the final calls are all made by the coaches.

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