This is a boomer problem. Harlan and (maybe less so) Whitt

[Red]

I am a run of the mill middle aged fan. I never post. I don’t follow every recruit. I have no idea about the inner workings the athletic department. The fact that as a casual fan I know that we have struck out on two OC’s is beyond concerning.

This is Kliakoff dooming the Pac-12. This is the Vikings in the 2003 draft. This is Apple in the 90s. This is boomers thinking that they need written resumes and in person interviews.

A business, program, family has to be innovate and flexible. The Ute athletic department is not. Not proactive nor creative. Not respected nor a desired destination. Reactive and defensive – just like on the field.

Harlan should have been fired 10 minutes after his rant. He is a huge liability. He is a joke and has been bad for all sports! Scalley should have been given the ability to reach out to OC’s the minute Ludwig resigned. The fact that we are now on to Jason Beck – and it is well known he was on NOBODY’s list two weeks ago – is laughable.

How is it that everyone knows we struck out on our two top picks – Harlan’s failure!!! to secure the hire and to prevent leaks. WE are going to be everyone’s also ran.

FSU picked up Gus Malzahn 5 seconds after the UCF loss. Have a plan. Execute. I have no idea who the right guy is – but get the guy secured…whether it is the two we lost, Brennan Marion, Tom Herman, Weiss, or someone who will move the needle one way or the other.

I haven’t even ranted about Harlan’s inability to get people to the Huntsman Center with a good team on the court…but even that hiring process has laughable.

I’ll post again in three years.

[EagleMountainUte]

Post more! But I think you are assuming a lot to come to your conclusion. I don’t think we have any basis for saying Utah struck out. In fact with the transfer portal and recruiting class being what it is I would say you are dead wrong.

But I also understand I can’t reason people out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into. So I will just leave it at that.

Go Utes!

[2008 National Champ]

seemed like a pretty reasoned analysis to me. I don’t have to agree, even though I do, but it certainly didn’t sound like he was throwing spaghetti at the wall.

[EagleMountainUte]

You saw that Tavian McNair signed right? The very first paragraph spawns the rest of @Red conclusions.

The “striking” out narrative is literally a false narrative. In fact I would argue you are just repeating information that recruits and players are wise to.

Utah seems to be cutting the fat and preparing for an OC that isn’t so earth shattering.

Now I do agree Harlan gots to go still. Gymnast scandal is what should have done him in.

[2008 National Champ]

I hadn’t seen that McNair signed at the time of my post but it wouldn’t have changed what I said.

I’m fine with people having different opinions than me or even vehemently disagreeing with my opinions as long as they’ll tell me why. It’s not my job to teach people to think the way I do and come to the same conclusions. But I can learn from others if they’ll tell me their reasoning and @Red did so. Heck, I’ve upvoted a lot of posts that I disagree with because they took the time to explain how they got that line of thinking.

[Red]

You’re right. I am just repeating the “striking out” narrative – that is rushing across social media, our fan base, the zoob fan base, the OK fanbase, the TT fanbase, and at lunch with my nonfan collogues. If its a false narrative – then Harlan should just say so – or tell Markham, Bartle, Furlong that the program hasn’t made any offers and is going molasses slow…which is as big a problem as striking out. Booming the process. And don’t fly in a candidate from Texas or give Arbuckle an offer that he refuses. It seems like we brought both guys in and both said no!

[jshame17]

You forgot one of my favorites. Kodak had the patent on digital cameras and hid it because they feared it would take away from film sales.

Reactionary antibodies within Kodak’s leadership rejected the digital camera, fearing it would cannibalise existing business. As Sasson later told the New York Times, “it was filmless photography, so management’s reaction was, ‘that’s cute — but don’t tell anyone about it.’”

[silverliningsurfer]

I saw a picture online that was Rice Eccles in 1994 and then again in 2024, and it was disappointing to see that not much looked different. There are more bleacher seats, and the press box, but look at how a school like BYU does their game operations compared to Utah. There should be more invested there, for sure. I don’t know if you blame that on Harlan or who, but it’s a sign they aren’t modernizing their experience. Admittedly, the wifi has been good add so that’s a credit, but the concourse management is abysmal. When we’re trying to convince the modern day athlete to come here, they want flash, they want energy. Based on the game broadcasts this year, as long as Utah is competitive, we’ll get good game times on ESPN and Fox, but idk, it would be cool to have a more evolved game day experience.

Whitt definitely feels stuck in his ways to me and it is crazy that of coaches of his era, Saban seems to be the only “old school” type of coach who realized that you need to have a modern offensive scheme and skill players to succeed. If he had it his way, I bet Bama would be winning on fundamentals and defense but instead they churned out Heisman candidates at multiple positions.

When I heard the type of offense Scalley wanted, I got optimistic, but it has been frustrating to see that, for whatever reason (I won’t speculate), they can’t lock in a guy who meets that vision. Is it Whitt stepping in to veto? I don’t know, but I am certain that they won’t be able to get the train back on the tracks without nailing this hire. Harlan allegedly low-balling Leftwich based on “experience” is a bad sign. I get the apprehension, but they need young, fresh ideas and I will be tremendously disappointed if they bring in some older JAG type of guy to run the offense. It could set the program back another handful of years if they get this wrong.

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