Whitt’s presser notes

[ProudUte]

We need to get some of the bumps and bruises healed during the bye week.

ASU is playing well. They are much more productive than last year on offense. They have a great RB and a duel-threat QB. It will be hot, but we are used to that.

His thoughts on going for it on 4th an short vs Arizona. The analytics were very much in favor to going for it. You don’t win many games just getting FGs. We were 0 for 4 on 4th down. There are old school guys who believe they should go for the FG.

Cam Rising is following the recommendations of the medical staff. He said we shall see what happens this week. (This bothers me because a few weeks ago, they said it was up to Cam and Ludwig just before the OSU game. What has changed???)

He said he would be 100% supportive of a mandate to report injuries like the Big10. But, since there is no requirement, he will never disclose anything about a non season ending injuries. He feels that all P4 conferences should be the same.

Who gives you the best chance to win. If an 80% Cam Rising gives us a better chance to win, we would go with him unless playing puts him at risk.

There is a point, if Cam cannot go – we would just go with Wilson for the rest of the season. A lot has to do with the conference race. He said he is not there yet, but there may be a time that they just move ahead with Wilson. (By the way, I agree with this.)

There is no glaring area where Isaac needs to improve. He is a freshman who has to learn. The interceptions he threw were unfortunate.

There is no thought of sitting Isaac for Rose or Huard.

Bernard has been RB1 and doing great. He will be the guy going forward. Mitchell, Stanley are doing well. We may see Glover in the future.

The bye week gives the coaches time to evaluate the team but mostly recruiting off-campus.

He was asked about Arizona’s success in the running game. He admits that they did NOT do a good job in running defense. If we do not get this fixed it will be a long night against ASU since they run the ball so well.

If Cam could come back for an eighth year what would you do – he said they have not looked into it. He said Cam wants to play now.

The next three games are crucial for the Utes. We did not play well against Arizona. It was a disappointing game and we just did not play well.

You can have a good team and play badly. Look at Alabama and USC this last weekend.

On late kickoffs on game days, they have team meetings, meals, stretching, and give them time to rest and take a nap. Hydrating is very important for games like this week.

Cam is very good in the red zone. The target is 70% success is what we want, but we have not done that this year.

My two cents are the same as OC from ESPN700 – just tell the fans the truth about Cam’s status. OC pointed out that many Ute fans including big donors are frustrated. He said it was fine not to say anything initially, but with everything that happened last year and now this year – you need to do something different.

[Rick]

What do analytics tell you about the risk of not making it on fourth down and what it does to your true freshman QBs confidence and the confidence of your entire team in him??? I am so sick of dumb coaching decisions being blamed on analytics. It is the new cop out for coaches. It was a dumb decision and you made it several times which makes it even worse. Had you kicked those chip shots you would have been tied in the fourth quarter with all the momentum in the world. But “analytics” made your decisions for you so oh well, what are you gonna do? Just lame and I for one am not buying it.

[Rick]

Rick,
While I do think it’s silly to blame decisions on analytics, I think going for it on fourth and short in the redzone should happen more often than not. My issue is with the play calling in those situations. It is most often predictable and, as a result, allows the defense the upper hand. I hope there has been significant review and change to the red zone offense during the bye week. Some have said it would be better with Cam. That makes some sense to me, but I’ve seen poor play calling, or perhaps better said scheme, in the red zone for years.

[Rick Walker]

Rick, I agree

[RoboUte]

This is a 10 on the Rickter scale

[2008 National Champ]

Loosie, you got some ‘splainin’ to do

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Analytics don’t take in to consideration of play calling, line blocking or size of your running back. It makes coaching predictable. If you don’t have confidence to get the first down or touchdown on fourth kick the field goal.

[pedro]

Both Ricks are correct.

[ReconUte]

Cam is never playing QB for Utah again. It’s
pretty easy to read between the lines with his interview.
Just hand the duty over to Wilson completely and let’s move on from this fiasco. As a fan, I’m ready to cheer on and support Wilson now regardless. Thank you Cam for what you did for this program!

[Utecity]

Pretty wild that we are now 1.5 years into the “will he – won’t he” with Cam Rising. I love the guy, and I really don’t blame Whit but this has gotten completely out of hand (no pun intended). Let’s hope Wilson can clean up some of the expected freshman mistakes and come back strong against ASU.

[ProudUte]

What bugged me most was that Whitt explicitly said that the decision not to play Cam was made 20 minutes before the OSU game and that he could have played. Now, they are saying that it is the doctor’s decision. What has changed? They are also saying that it is wait and see for this Friday.

It is frustrating to me as a fan, that we were told that he could play, and three weeks later we don’t know if he will ever play as a Ute again. I guess we should’ve known there were bigger problems when we saw Cam wearing that brace on his hand last week.

I am a huge fan of Cam Rising, and I do not blame him for any of this. But, there comes a time when you need to move on. Are we there yet? For me – it comes down to this Friday…

[pedro]

It’s really not that big of a stretch to think that maybe his injury was deeper or worse than it initially seemed. I had a thing once where after 3 weeks of testing, someone thought to do an xray to reveal I simply had a broken rib. Just sayin

[thewiz]

[UteThunder]

I’ll be surprised if Cam plays again this year, and even more surprised if he comes back before the BYU game.

[Xanthis]

If Cam doesn’t play again this year he won’t be playing for Utah next year either.

[Anfernee]

Fans are frustrated. Donors are frustrated. The comments at these press conferences are so tone deaf with how 99% of us are feeling. I feel like Bill Murray hearing the same message on a Punxsutawney radio station every morning. 4-1 and #16 yet it feels very different.

[Torg]

Opposing coaches aren’t buying the gamesmanship , sorry , I meant to say lies, anymore. If you’re a player on the team and your coach has lied to protect his butt while letting rising get trashed… are you buying into the family thing at this point? I suspect some disfunction to come about. Sky is kinda falling in the sense we’re not a playoff team like we hoped and we have the drama still. Still hope we can have some good wins and beat tds this year.

[UTE98]

Anyone else other than me willing to take Whitt’s paycheck and rely on analytics? Sign me up for that job. One year is all I ask. And I promise not to drag QB game time decisions on for the rest of the year.

[RoboUte]

Even if you totally blow it the fanbase will be comically averse to firing you. It’s basically a dream.

[Tony (admin)]

Seems like we’ve gone backward? He was cleared to play medically before, but just “didn’t have zip on the ball.” But now he’s not yet cleared to play medically? What the?

[Ute Dub]

At some point I’m half expecting the coaches to disclose that Cam has Multiple Sclerosis or something and that has been the reason for the non play. It would make more sense than the continuous never ending loop of doom and play not play of Cam Rising.

[thewiz]

[Jim Vanderhoof]

If you were Whitt or Cam wouldn’t you want to let everyone know the extent of the injury and any updates. Much easier than listening to your fanbase bitch all the time about it. We as fans have a right to know the status of our players. Lying about players status doesn’t win games or fans.

[ProudUte]

I’m with you, Jim. I am so tired of this crap. We are not gaining any real advantage by keeping Cam’s status a secret. Whitt is a great coach, but his gamesmanship is out of hand.

[Dallas]

This is surreal—actual talk from our HC about Cam not playing this year!?!

[SteelUte]

F.F.Sake! This is the problem. This close to playing 3 weeks ago, and now its a Dr. decision. Hopefully the league steps in and saves us from this insanity. What we want to hear- “Cams recovery took a step back and we won’t see him for another week or two” or “Cam hurt his hand while handling bags of money” or “Cam’s butler accidentally shut his Rolls Royce door on his finger, extending the recovery time another week or two.”
An 8th year of eligibility?!! Is that where we’re at? Please somebody wake me up from this crazy dream!

[cobraute]

If cam can’t play for the remainder of the year, I look for Whitt to step down prior to now season. Even if cam plays, I bet he looks hard at leaving. 8-4 or 9-3 is a definable possibility. 7-5 could happen as well with key losses on the interior line on either side of the ball.
By the end of the year, Whit will have 30 years in the Utah retirement system. He will also be 65. He will receive no penalties on his pension. He stands to get 60% of his base salary plus a maximum social security distribution. He will also have 100% access to his 401k and independent portfolios with no penalty for early withdrawal. I’d imagine his retirement benefits will exceed his entire base salary after you add things up.
He turns 65 on November 2. He could announce right after the UCF game. There’s no financial planner alive that would recommend another year of being locked in to football 7/24/365 when he has earned the right to be home with his family and do whatever he wants to do.
If he wasn’t turning 65 this year, I’d think a little differently.
I’m 100% certain that when I turn 65, I will work 3 more months to finish the fiscal year so I get a full time bonus full fair share. There’s absolutely no raise possible that would make me stay. Even if they gave me a regional VP of operations job with a $120k raise, I’m out. Money doesn’t buy time off. My family is priceless. For the past 7 years ive been on the road for 23/31 day of the month. 7 western states including Hawaii and Alaska. I’m one yr away from lifetime platinum membership at Marriott. I’m currently concierge level. No amount of money or benefit would tease me enough to stay. I believe Whitt will feel this way tomorrow if he contacted his financial advisor.

[RoboUte]

I’d be pretty surprised if Whitt is at the point of being concerned about his social security distribution and his 401k. He’s finding money like that in the couch cushions.

[The Miami Ute]

Brother, I feel you…I fully retired five years ago a couple of months shy of 54 and it was the best decision I ever made. Of course, I didn’t get married until I was 41 and was able to work my ass off and invest a significant amount of my yearly salary until then to make that happen. You can’t imagine how much better your health gets when you don’t have to meet any deadlines, constantly fly around the world, and know, barring some unprecedented catastrophe, that you and your family are financially set for the foreseeable future.

If I were Whitt’s advisor, I’d tell him to retire and enjoy the “youth” of his retirement years. That time when you’re still physically capable of doing almost anything and have the time and money to do almost anything. He’s the best football coach Utah has ever had and it’s doubtful that anyone will surpass him anytime soon. So, Whitt, no one is pushing you out, we all love you, if you want to hang around like JoePa, so be it, but don’t be like a bunch of guys that I’ve known that have retired millionaires and died without enjoying any of that money.

[2008 National Champ]

don’t hang around so long that someone eventually figures out that sandusky has been taking liberties in the showers though.,,

[The Miami Ute]

That was JoePa’s blind spot…he definitely stayed well beyond his expiration date. Can you believe that JoePa was a month shy of being 85 when he coached his last game at Penn State? I mean, who does that?

[TheNuschler]

My goal is to “retire” in the next 5-7 years, so 59 to 62. It’s a stretch until I hit 62 but will have lots of options to work part-time and enjoy yelling at a little round golf ball more. I do think Whit is in his last year, the “coach in waiting” status for Scalley suggests he has a date. At the latest, maybe after Wilson’s junior season. I believe him when he says he wants to enjoy his family while he’s still “Kyle”, who wouldn’t want that? His calling and election to Utah Football is made “sure” already.

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