Press Conference today

[Anfernee]

I believe around 11. Whittingham, Scalley and Beck. I’m assuming mostly recruiting, roster, Beck’s new offensive here etc. I really don’t think it’ll be some announcement like many on Twitter do. It’s the standard Q1 press conference.

[AlohaUte]

Simplest answer is usually the right answer

[UteThunder]

Still though, there’s a chance Whit makes an announcement of his retirement. The timing would be weird but since we already had Scalley as the next head coach, I could see Whit staying on as the head coach to help Scalley finish out the recruiting, transfer portal, and coaching hires in an effort to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Not likely, but possible.

[NarfUte]

I just now learned that Jason isn’t related to John

[lgt4141]

I love how he said he played at the “Team Down South.” That alone is encouraging that as a coach he is bought in. I am excited to see Beck’s offense and to see Whitt play as an underdog this year. I hope we are pleasantly surprised or maybe after 2024 expectations are so low that it won’t take much to be surprised next year.

[pedro]

I loved that he builds the O around the best players on the team and what they do well. That seems common sense, but was one of the frustrations I had with Lud’s offense. Have post injury Kuithe run an end around is a great example of NOT DOING this. I love BK, but he was much slower post injury but we kept running the plays he excelled at pre-injury and the results were not good. Mac had that same problem.

[BD]

When asked about Calhoun and Tanuvasa, Kyle responded that NIL was “the overriding factor”.

We all know that, but BYU fans would deny that NIL had anything to do with Tanuvasa going to BYU.

Bartle:
https://x.com/BartleKSLsports/status/1879227915491266726

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I thought Whitt would retire regardless of record. Something has changed in his thinking to make him stay. He must think he has enough talent to turn things around and not start a rebuild. First time in years he comes in as an underdog which he seems to thrive on.

[RoboUte]

“Something has changed in his thinking to make him stay”

Ya, not wanting two years of colossal f**kup to be the tail end of his legacy. If 23 and 24 were regular years he’d be gone. I think coaching football is probably a bit different, a bit more drawn out, but you see this in competitors a lot. It’s especially clear in combat sports. A former high performer chases the top of the mountain after having been there already, but never quite makes it. And every successive to climb back up gets a little less impressive than the last. Sometimes that goes on long enough for it to become a complete train wreck by the end, a lot of greats have gone out this way. I hope this one ends different and I’m sure that it can. I’m just betting against the continuation of a long insidious trend to have that hope, and I know with certainty that’s a sucker’s bet.

[Utes 69]

I would feel better if Whitt left,, need some change

[AlohaUte]

I’d feel a lot worse if Whitt left.

Far too often a hall of fame coach leaves and the replacement struggles. I know Scalley is a known commodity to Ute fans, but it’s no guarantee he has the chops for head coach or will be successful. I think he’ll be successful, but I know that Whit has what it takes.

[UTE98]

Far too often a would be hall of fame coach hangs on too long and mires in mediocrity.

[AlohaUte]

Would you rather be Nebraska under late Tom Osborne or post Tom Osborne?

[Charlie]

This is, I believe, a concept that is not understood by many. There are precious few programs with the critical mass and momentum to change coaches, replace legions and simply hit the ground running. I so much wish Utah was one but I think I grasp the brutal facts of our reality that Utah is one of the schools in the tier that fight hard just to be ranked often. We are one of the schools that have a shot of a national championship game but not a reasonable expectation to see that as routine. In our tier of schools, Utah out performs others in this tier and is one of the best even given the struggles of the last two years. An unemotional independent analyst looking at us and our piers in this tier would likely warn that a HC replacement would have significant difficulty maintaining our current position and a likelihood of a step back. So much I wish that was not true, I wish even more that I could be proven wrong. But I recognize it is difficult to pass schools with greater resources particularly in the new era of NIL.

There are so many coaching, player, and strategy issues for a HC to juggle to get alignment of so many things to have the opportunity to win a conference championship at our level. Sadly, the last two years Whitt has been unlucky mostly with one issue – starting the season with a QB room than injured its way to broken with development backups that also did not deliver. If Whitt keeps the QB ball in the air without a drop, I think we are back to competing. On the contrary, we can bring in another HC and see if he can keep all the many balls in the air without a drop. Whitt looks like the most direct path, least risk path back to the 2022 level. The other key piece is unknown to me, does Utah have the NIL resources equal to those programs we compete with for the conference championship? It alarms me that we have lost several key players apparently due to NIL opportunities that are greater elsewhere.

[UTE98]

If it’s the same Whitt from 2023 and 2024 I’m with you. Can he allow his OC to run the offense? I have my doubts, the image of him looking indignant at Urban Meyer’s/Mike Sanford’s play calling on offense a couple times during 2004 are burned in my mind.

[RoboUte]

If he has any sense to him he’ll have realized he’s aggressive brain cancer to a productive offense. We’ll see.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Whitt has earned the right to turn the ship around. I hope he is successful!!

[Trailgoat]

He’s earned the right to turn it round. He’s also primarily responsible for mismanaging the program over the last two years. KW’s not going to walk away from that big contract amendment he attained in 2022. If year three ends up of more injury blaming, and sabotaging the offense, he needs to hang it up. He looks MS sounds much more refreshing and up beat. Interesting season ahead. I hope KW has a great year to finish off his amazing career at Utah on a high note. Ready for the Scalley head coach era. Go Utes!

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