Our QB and RB rooms are empty

[ProudUte]

I knew by early November that our football program was in shambles. I assumed many players would leave. But, I am shocked by how many are going to the portal.

At QB:

Bottari is a senior.
Wilson to the portal.
Rose to the portal.
Rising ??? (Not likely returning.)

That leaves an injured Huard.

At RB:

Bernard is a senior.
Vincent is a senior.
Woods to the portal.
Glover to the portal
Stanley to the portal
Randle to the portal

Who is left?

I know we have a couple of QB and RB commitments. But, do we want to start another freshman QB.

Obviously, we will work the portal hard. But, we have a lot of work to do. We better find some great talent at both positions.

[The Miami Ute]

Gotta say, trust the process. I’m not worried because none of the guys that are leaving are key contributors. Now, if it’s April and nothing much has changed, that’s when I’ll start raising red flags.

[admiralute]

What process are you referring to? Everyone is complaining of the “process” but then turns around and says trust the process. Maybe this “process “ needs a major revamp to compete in today’s college football environment.

[Roy Rangum]

Miami: Problem is, trust in Whittingham to fix our offense is at an all time low for me. The only way I think we field a decent offense is if Beck can bring some players with him and / or pull a few good recruits (which it’s yet to be seen IMO how well Beck can recruit at this level, and / or how well his current players abilities will transfer to the higher level, if we can get them to come.)

So while I hope Beck will be the answer we’re praying for on offense, there are also a lot of unknowns there too. And even if Beck is a great coordinator, at minimum he’s being handicapped in multiple ways (starting with a bare cupboard and having to be under Whitt). Our offense might be better next year, but it feels like there is a decent chance it won’t be.

[The Miami Ute]

Roy, you have the play the hand you’re dealt. I’m not with the team so I have zero ability to affect the internal dynamics of Utah football. Given that, I can only continue to support the team and hope for the best. I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if next season is a repeat of this one, Whitt will be pushed out no matter his standing in the pantheon of Utah coaches. So, it’s Whitt’s best interest to try something new and improve the team. If he doesn’t, he’ll probably be out on the golf course sooner than he’d like.

[highlandute7]

I’m a little curious how the injuries to Wilson and Rose could affect schools giving them offers. I am sure some will be willing to take them on but do we even know if either of them will be ready to go for spring ball?

We don’t even know the severity of Wilson’s injury from Iowa St on top of the rumored surgery he has been putting off.

[The Miami Ute]

Just me, but I’m thinking that NIL is not a feature of Rose’s or Wilson’s departure. I would say that it’s more related to the possibility of getting active playing time.

[highlandute7]

Hmm…so you think that Beck had no intention of seeing what they could do and giving either of them a shot given Wilson started multiple games already even when it should have been Rose? Seems like both would have a good chance of playing time if they stayed.

Unless they both spoke with Beck and he told them otherwise.

[The Miami Ute]

This happens all the time in all sports. Neither Rose nor Wilson is a Beck guy. I’m just thinking that when you bring in a new OC, a lot of times both the players and the coordinator are more comfortable starting with a blank slate, meaning the player going somewhere else and the coordinator looking for someone specific to run his system. That being said, I wasn’t opposed to both Rose and Wilson staying at Utah. Remember, they’re not being cut or put on waivers. This is them saying that they want to leave Utah. Can’t do much about that given the current system.

[Charlie]

Good view Miami, there may be more positives to this than negatives. I know nothing about the locker room but I think their may be some chemistry issues. The thing with Glover makes me wonder and the lack of a RB stepping up given the opportunity this year leaves me with unknowns in the RB room. The rumors around Wilson also make me wonder and the lack of a QB taking advantage of the opportunity this year leaves me with unknowns in the QB room. Add the mystery about why Lud left. Possibly the team chemistry is getting cleaned up. All a guess but I would not expect any communication if so.

We could wring our hands and hang our heads to look at our shoes or we could hope that something is in the works to make us better. Clearly I am an optimist but then again that didn’t work out too bad for ASU fans this year mostly all done in the portal. Hopefully Beck can come in and resolve these issues, real or imagined. I am comfortable with a makeover with QBs and RBs. Rising, if returning, should expect competition for playing time.

[2008 National Champ]

I like the optimism Charlie but Utah is now in roughly the same position Colorado was two years ago when this board pretty close to unanimously said it was not possible to replace whole rooms and build meaningful chemistry in a single offseason. Unless Whitt has a first round QB nephew that I’m not aware of and can bring a former top rated recruit to the party in 2025, as well as attracting talented kids out of the portal at level previously unattained.,,

I’m just not sure sweeping changes to the most talented and deepest roster he’d ever assembled, as opposed to the people designated to get the most out of that roster, was the change that needed to be made. I’ve got my popcorn ready to watch the show the rest of the month as all the future first rounders come to Salt Lake and bring great chemistry with them.

[Rick Walker]

I think the biggest positive is a bunch of guys with no chemistry is better than bad chemistry. Then you can at least hope that the guys build better chemistry

[2008 National Champ]

Kids used to get chemistry in a box for Xmas. It must not be as hard to build as people make it out to be 🙂

[Charlie]

I don’t know that ASU so much pulled a rabbit out of the hat, Leavitt I think was a Y legacy kid. ASU brought in 3 QBs in the portal, had a derby, and came up with a good QB. They got 30 in portal I expect hitting their needs and moved quickly past Colorado with their star players. Scattebo was a rabbit out of the portal the previous year. Anyway, I believe Utah only has the offense to rebuild not the whole team. As an optimist, and a UofA grad as well as UofU, I must believe that we can do anything ASU can do. So yeah, I am hopeful. Still wondering what happened in the QB and RB rooms…

[RoboUte]

No use having a bunch of stuff around you don’t use. Think of it like a garage sale.

[highlandute7]

Given we have had to use 5 QBs each of the past two years, seems like a good chance they would be needed. Having depth at the QB is something every team needs and having one or both on the roster right now would be a plus in my opinion.

Not to mention that the QBs we just signed aren’t QBs that Beck even recruited.

[RoboUte]

We certainly put them on the field during the game but I think I’ve pretty well learned that isn’t that same thing as really using them.

[J Rocksville]

Wide open for a top transfer to come in and get reps.

I’m not worried. I think we’ll get a good qb transfer, a grad transfer backup, and the two incoming guys. Four is plenty 😉

Same equation for Rb. We have Mitchell (so far) and I have this feeling that woods isn’t going to find a better deal or situation. I guess that’s assuming he doesn’t hate Ganther.

We don’t need to be #4 in total offense to compete next year. If we can even be average on O, with a solid D we’ll be 8-10 wins and next year recruits will hopefully have a season of proof of concept to see what the system looks like.

Or whitt neuters it and it’s just more of the same.

[USS Utah]

The reality of the transfer portal: Players are going to leave, new players will come in to replace them. Only time will tell on how the change shakes out.

[chinngiskhaan]

Proud, I hope you are okay, you’ve been on quite the depressing streak lately. It’ll be fine. None of the transfers did anything noteworthy while here. None of them were going to make us better next year.

Worst case scenario is we fill our QB and RB rooms with guys that are equally s**tty and we are in the same place we were this year.

Best case scenario is Beck knows how to evaluate talent and recruit guys that fit what he wants to do, and he knows how to teach them to do what he wants them to do.

I think the most likely scenario is we bring in one or two guys in each position group that are ready to help us win football games and can run Beck’s system, and the other guys are gap filler types.

IMO, it seems apparent that our offensive talent evaluation got off track somewhere the last 3-4 years. I don’t know who’s job it is to decide who we recruit, but if that was one of Ludwig’s responsibilities, it seems like he failed there as much or more than anywhere else.

This is a GOOD thing. We needed a restart in some fashion. If Whitt doesn’t retire, at least we have a new offense, with new faces across the board.

[Trailgoat]

Agree, none of Utah’s QBs on the 2024 roster fit the player profile for Beck’s offense. Guessing Beck lands a couple QBs in the portal matched with Becks QB running scheme. Might see Becker also hit the portal being a pro-style QB. Either way, zero expectations for meaningful improvement with KW as head coach.

[AlohaUte]

What a weird opinion to have about Whit. He’s been successful for 20 years and you just think he’s all the sudden a complete failure and incapable of reviving the program? Strange.

[Trailgoat]

Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder. What’s getting weird is many within the SLC bubble refusing to recognize what’s going with Utah football funneling back to KWs mismanagement of the program. I really don’t care who the head coach is at Utah as long as he does his job. KW failed this program over the past two years for what has been flushed out many times on this site. If you think the last two years are outliers of KWs success over the past 20 years as head coach, believe.

[RoboUte]

I will never understand the flawless Olympic level mental gymnastics it takes to watch a coach turn two seasons in a row into the challenger spacecraft launch and not only completely ignore it, but behave as if the whole thing went over without a hitch. I can’t tell if I envy or pity the ability to maintain such a fluid and negotiable relationship with reality.

[2008 National Champ]

Usually tying a record for futility is a game changer

[AlohaUte]

It’s fine with me, clearly we didn’t have much talent and I suspect the new OC is cleaning house.

Fortunately, this is the perfect year for this to happen considering this age of free agency that we are in. Beck will be able to bring in players that fit his system.

We’ll be just fine.

[lgt4141]

This feels like a reset on offense which is what I was hoping for. Beck is going to run his offense with his type of players. Utah hasn’t had an offensive ID for a couple of years. This gives me hope that we will have one next season.

[jshame17]

Regardless of whatever happened in 2024 and with Wilson, we now have to accept the fact that we have lost ~90% of our offensive production, despite how bad it actually was.

No Wilson, No Bernard, No Singer, No Kuithe,

I can’t recall ever seeing a team bounce back after a bad season, when they don’t have some retainment of offensive production, regardless of new coaches or not.

The offense will have zero experience playing together & zero leadership.

Fascinating to see how this plays out, but I am expecting the same as this year. And this also solidifies my opinion that no player should be allowed to transfer with their coach, so I don’t buy that we will just take Dampier & Sanders as the solution.

[Yergensen]

Great, clean slate.

No square pegs, round holes.

Get the guys you want to run your offensive scheme.

Cut all ties between the existing coaching staff and players, and existing coaches are less likely to interfere.

However, Cam Rising is an elephant in the room. Until you tell Cam, the existing team and all prospects that Cam will not be here, it will have a negative effect.

For all the Cam fans, I’m one too, he’s done. He’s a shell of himself. Let someone else work through that process of discovery. Let’s move forward now.

[Utesbyfive]

I don’t think Cam comes back to the Utes. I’ll shove a perfectly good burrito into the trashcan if he does.

[RoboUte]

Don’t you dare treat Beto’s with such contempt

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