The Ute football program nees to be rebuilt.

[ProudUte]

The program is a disaster right now for many reasons. We are playing injured QBs who had season ending injuries. CRAZY!!! Our offense is pathetic. Yes, we have had some injuries, but other teams have similar situations and can still score TDs.

I am afraid there will be a mass-exodus in December and that many of our recruits will de-commit.

IMO, we need to stop the bleeding ASAP. I think this can only be done by Whitt agreeing to move on. Scalley needs to take charge and make a lot of changes before Spring ball. I think that our entire offensive staff needs to be replaced. The defense needs some tweaking but not a complete overhaul.

Whitt has been great for the Utes. I want him to move on – on his own terms. I doubt there are many players who want to be part of this debacle we see now. I don’t think Whitt can save this sinking ship. Personally, I wish Whitt would announce his retirement within the next few weeks. This would give Morgan some time to save the program.

Go Utes!!!

[Tony (admin)]

Proud has returned….

[Anfernee]

A 4-8 season filled with drama, guys half assing it, NIL and playing time politics. Our offense is 108/133. Sometimes a mass exodus is needed. That’s part of “rebuilding.” The portal giveth and the portal taketh. Yes we will most likely lose a decent chunk to portal but we will also have ample NIL after Cam, Kuithe, Singer etc are gone to get guys transferred here. Recruiting is literally a year to year, sometimes even month to month thing now. So even if guys decommit we’ll get others to replace them. Lastly, these last two years have me in a “just prove it on the field” mentality with recruits and transfers. Rankings and class size don’t mean s**t when it’s the wrong guys being brought in. Go Utes!

[2008 National Champ]

There just isn’t any data on the effect of an extremely long tenured Head Coach stepping down and the trajectory of the program after. Tom Osbourne, Joe Paterno & Bobby Bowden are probably the only 3 this century that would qualify and Nick Saban is happening in real time. Frank Solich and Jimbo Fisher were able to have success almost immediately – which would be a plus for Scalley taking over – and Penn State obviously had extenuating circumstances.

What we do have a lot of data on is teams that underperform under one coach and then get much better immediately when a new regime comes in. And that has been true both before and after the portal. UW under DeBoer, SC under Reilly, Stanford under Tyrone Willingham for some localish examples.

Anyone who claims to know the right time for Whitt to leave, let alone the better option between promoting Scalley or bringing in a whole HC and staff.,, I just don’t believe you. The right answer can only be viewed in retrospect. So, just like so much else with the Utah program, we have to have faith that Whitt will choose right. He needs to step down before his effectiveness has run out but also while the foundation of the program is such that the next guy is not faced with a major rebuild.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I agree proud Ute. Injuries and the handling of the QBs has been Whitts Achilles heel over the years. Strong defense and running game has always been his strength. Old school football and old school thinking.

Landscape of college football is changing with NIL portal and handling of young entitled players. The generational gap is becoming more apparent. Saban was successful because he changed offensive philosophy and put players in the NFL.

I think Scalley is more relatable to the players and is more open minded to change. He can maintain the culture and bring in a young innovative OC that can inject a new direction for the offense. Hopefully he can convince the the young talent to stay.

Whitt will go down as the greatest coach in Ute history and retire a legend.

[Anfernee]

And even if he can’t “convince the the young talent to stay” he’s an energetic, younger voice. And already a good recruiter. So if guys do leave I think Morgan’s personality, bringing in an aggressive OC (like he wants) and the program having more NIL, we’ll be in good shape regardless.

[oc_ute]

i don’t think whit can play GM and coach. the NIL arrangement is not in his bag of tricks. at the beginning of this year, if you told me i was calling for whit to step down, i WOULD LAUGH IN YOUR FACE. however, what has happened is a disaster and it’s on his watch. the qb position has been a problem in the past and here we are again. now with all the x’s and o’s coupled with NIL, this is more than whit is capable of handling. the game is not just being a coach any more and it requires a tremendous amount of “what if” planning. i don’t think whit is cut out for the critical thinking required of today’s game. he is not GM material.

[press-on]

If we close out on an 8 game skid, Whittingham will break Tom Levat’s infamous 1974 record of 7 straight L’s in a season! Mount that one on the wall!

Look, if we take a step back to honestly evaluate, it’s a hard call but it really is time to move on. Rebuild! Build back better. Scalley is young and talented. It’s his time NOW to make this program soar!

[Brettski]

One bad year does not make a coaching career.

[Utah]

Nope. But two horrific seasons in a row, 3 conference titles in 20 years, 8 straight losses, every metric going down for two years in a row, naming a HC in waiting that has no experience, etc, etc, etc show a pretty rapid decline.

[press-on]

No one has said it does. But all careers ultimately come to an end.

[USS Utah]

There is no question that this season has been an unmitigated disaster. OTOH, just two years ago the team was on its way to a second Pac-12 title and Rose Bowl appearance. Without living in the past, we can recognize that the program was on an upward trajectory before last season. As bad as this season has been, it could just be a temporary setback, but, yes, is could also be indicative of more long term issues. I think finding the answer to that may be more difficult during the season after an emotional loss, and should probably wait until the season is over.

[J Rocksville]

I don’t know that “rebuilt” is the right term. It definitely needs a reset, but I think the idea of Utah “culture” needs to remain and somehow find a way to adapt to survive in the modern landscape of college athletics.

I also don’t think any of us fully understand the nature of the U’s NIL deals. It’s easy to assume that the X amount of money that is (or was?) being given to Cam, Brant etc is vacated and therefor available to be given to another athlete at the discretion of the program. I think many of these deals are done outside of the program and belong to that individual player. Cam has a helmet deal, when he’s gone, is that deal just going to automatically go to another Utah player on the roster? Probably not. Collectives have some direction from the program where to allocate money, but also some unknown-to-us portion of the NIL pool is private and outside of those collectives.

I do think the revenue sharing model will help standardize a lot of these payouts to players and hopefully takes a step in the right direction insofar as preventing outside influences from forcing players to play when it’s not in their medical best interest. The flip side is also that even if a program like Utah pledges to spend up to the rev share cap, bigger programs will still have more access to private NIL money to do deals outside of the school rev sharing. I think that’s where we still need to try and hang our hat on culture, development, family, stability etc. For now, a Utah DB that is a 2-3 year starter and star on the field, will still get drafted ahead of a backup at a P2 program that has the measurables, but hasn’t proven themselves on the field. So there is still real value to playing in a 2nd tier P4 program, particularly one with a good reputation and a modern history of consistency and success.

[Rick]

I hope Whittingham stays. I think we’ll compete at the top of the league next year if he returns. I already can hardly wait to see what next year brings. The defense is in terrific shape. The offensive line will be good with the potential to be great.

Hanging onto players will be important to maintain the player foundation. There is no question that we need a better quarterback room and a better running back room. The coaches need to create a vigorous quarterback battle in the spring. I’d love it if we could bring in a physical running back. In the NIL era that should be more likely than ever.

We have a terrific coaching staff, we have a terrific defense and two of the best offensive tackles in the league. This program needs to stay together and reload – not rebuild.

[Anfernee]

The 8000 pound elephant in the room: a majority of all that won’t even matter if we don’t bring in the right OC. Kyle is a legend. But his OC decisions and meddling with the offense SEVERELY hurts the program.

[ProudUte]

I do not think that we have a terrific offensive coaching staff. A good offensive staff would work around the injuries and remain competitive.

[Rick]

I guess we disagree on this one Proud. I know it’s laughable to say at this point but if Rising is healthy this season Utah is 9-0 or 8-1 at this point. A good and experienced quarterback is what this team needs. No question the coaching staff failed to get the right back up in place but I also see why. Who wanted to come in and play second to Rising, even with his history?

[Anfernee]

Total offense is 93 out of 133
Scoring offense is 105 out of 133
Passing offense is 80 out of 133
Red zone offense is 86 out of 133
The 2023 season was similar numbers. Other teams have injuries and setbacks on offense and don’t plummet 3 layers below dog s**t.

[Yergensen]

IMO we’ve only seen this (making lemonade out of lemon offense/situation) done once during Whitt’s tenure when Norm Chow took a D2 QB and Mountain West talent to within a couple points of playing for P12 championship.

So, it can be done and our current situation would have been improved with such competence at OC. I just don’t believe that Whitt will go out and get the right OC and then stay out of his way.

[Author]

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